Thank you Will Henderson for the report.
On 11th and 12th May Brightlingsea S.C. hosted 23 Merlins for the Brightlingsea Merlin Open sponsored by Allen. The Open was held jointly with the Solo Eastern Area Championships. The weather could hardly have been better. The competitors were greeted by warm sunshine and a force 3 to 5 Easterly on Saturday with a quieter Force 1 – 2 on Sunday.
Three races were sailed on each day, all with triangle, sausage, triangle, sausage courses. On Saturday all the beats except for the last couple were across a strongly flooding tide. The reaches were perfectly set so that it was just possible to lay them with spinnakers up. That presented challenges for the skills and fitness of helms and crews. There were many weary bodies at the end of the day. All more than ready for liquid and solid refreshment. Superb homemade cakes were followed after a short interval for more liquid, by a sausage casserole.
Race 1 saw 3791 (Jon Gorringe and Mat Currell), 3726 (Will and Arthur Henderson) and 3775 (Chris Jennings and Pete Nicholson) tack onto port soon after the start and stretch away across the tide to round the first mark in that order, which was maintained until the end of the first sausage when 3775 gybed astutely and took over second place. Those positions were held until the finish. Races 2 and 3 were similar stories, except that in race 2 3812 (Ollie Meadowcroft and Rob Allen) joined the party and pushed 3726 down to 4th place, and in race 3 3726 led around the course with 3775 beating 3791 for second place.
Sunday’s lighter winds brought some relief for tired legs and brought other boats to the fore. In race 4 3812 (Ollie and Rob) cracked the start and the first beat to win the race comfortably. They were followed home by 3746 (James Wells and Anna Aylward) in 2nd, 3799 (Paul Rayson and Christian Hill) in 3rd and 3751 (Rupert and Mary Henderson-White) in 4th. Meanwhile Saturday’s stars languished in 10th (3791), 6th (3775) and 13th (3726). In race 5 Ollie and Rob won again. This time followed in 2nd by the consistent Chris and Pete. 3782 (Ed Chapman and Amy Clay) were 3rd and 3671 (David Conlon and Rebecca Bines) were 4th. 3791 (Jon and Mat) crept around in the lightest winds of the day to 6th. That left all to play for in race 6 after which the second discard would apply. Jon and Mat were holding scores of 1, 1, 4, 10, 6; Chris and Pete 2, 2, 2, 6, 2; Ollie and Rob 8, 3, 8, 1, 1; Will and Arthur 3, 4, 1, 13, 14. Jon and Will re-discovered their starting mojos, tacked onto port soon after the start and were well away in 1st and 2nd, while Ollie and Rob and Chris and Pete were not among the front-runners. In an attempt to pass Jon and Mat, Will and Arthur went on a bad shift and were overtaken by 3751 (Rupert and Mary Henderson-White) and 3796 (Will Warren and Charlotte Stewart). However, they recovered to 2nd down the run. After that there was little change in the front group except that 3753 (Andy Bines and Sarah Conlon) overtook Will Warren and Charlotte for 4th.
In the final analysis, Jon Gorringe and Mat Currell’s counters of three firsts and a fourth gave then a well-deserved first place overall. Chris Jennings and Pete Nicolson were second counting four seconds and Will and Arthur Henderson were third with counters of 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Prizegiving was held in the glorious sunshine outside the clubhouse. Custom hand-crafted plates were given to the helms and crews of the first three boats. Allen Brothers vouchers were awarded. The Club, its many volunteers and its staff were thanked for putting on an excellent weekend’s sailing which was enjoyed by all.
The next event on the Allen SE Series is at Whitstable Yacht Club on 22nd and 23rd June combined with the next Craftinsure Silver Tiller Sea category meeting.
Rank | Tally | Fleet | Boat | Class | SailNo | Club | HelmName | CrewName | Rating | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Total | Nett |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st | 37 | Merlin | MERLIN-ROCKET | 3791 | Parkstone SC | Jon Gorringe | Matt Currel | 975 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 4.0 | (10.0) | (6.0) | 1.0 | 23.0 | 7.0 | |
2nd | 38 | Merlin | MERLIN-ROCKET | 3775 | Burghfield SC | Chris Jennings | Pete Nicholson | 975 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | (6.0) | 2.0 | (24.0 DNC) | 38.0 | 8.0 | |
3rd | 13 | Merlin | MERLIN-ROCKET | 3726 | SalcombeYC | Will Henderson | Arthur Henderson | 975 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 1.0 | (13.0) | (14.0) | 2.0 | 37.0 | 10.0 | |
4th | 39 | Merlin | MERLIN-ROCKET | 3812 | Broadwater SC | Ollie Meadowcroft | Rob Allen | 975 | (8.0) | 3.0 | 8.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | (24.0 DNC) | 45.0 | 13.0 | |
5th | 33 | Merlin | MERLIN-ROCKET | 3746 | RYA | James Wells | Anna Aylward | 975 | 4.0 | (11.0) | 5.0 | 2.0 | 8.0 | (13.0) | 43.0 | 19.0 | |
6th | 31 | Merlin | MERLIN-ROCKET | 3751 | Brightlingsea SC | Rupert Henderson-White | Mary Henderson-White | 975 | 6.0 | (12.0) | (12.0) | 4.0 | 7.0 | 3.0 | 44.0 | 20.0 | |
7th | 7 | Merlin | MERLIN-ROCKET | 3793 | Burghfield SC | James Williams | Rich Cornes | 975 | 5.0 | 7.0 | 3.0 | (11.0) | (17.0) | 6.0 | 49.0 | 21.0 | |
8th | 41 | Merlin | MERLIN-ROCKET | 3796 | Shoreham SC | William Warren | Charlotte Stewart | 975 | (11.0) | 5.0 | 9.0 | 5.0 | (12.0) | 5.0 | 47.0 | 24.0 | |
9th | 40 | MERLIN-ROCKET | 3782 | CMYC | Edward Chapman | Amy Clay | 975 | 7.0 | (10.0) | (10.0) | 9.0 | 3.0 | 7.0 | 46.0 | 26.0 | ||
10th | 44 | Merlin | MERLIN-ROCKET | 3799 | Fishers Green SC/ Salcombe YC | Paul Rayson | Christian Hill | 975 | (17.0) | 6.0 | 7.0 | 3.0 | (16.0) | 14.0 | 63.0 | 30.0 | |
11th | 22 | Merlin | MERLIN-ROCKET | 3753 | Brightlingsea SC | Andy Bines | Sarah Conlon | 975 | 18.0 | (19.0) | (19.0) | 8.0 | 5.0 | 4.0 | 73.0 | 35.0 | |
12th | 25 | Merlin | MERLIN-ROCKET | 3696 | Shoreham SC | Alex Warren | Rob Henderson | 975 | (13.0) | 8.0 | (11.0) | 7.0 | 11.0 | 9.0 | 59.0 | 35.0 | |
13th | 35 | Merlin | MERLIN-ROCKET | 3671 | Brightlingsea SC | David Conlon | Rebecca Bines | 975 | (16.0) | (13.0) | 13.0 | 12.0 | 4.0 | 8.0 | 66.0 | 37.0 | |
14th | 29 | Merlin | MERLIN-ROCKET | 3702 | Fishers Green SC | Duncan Salmon | Beka Jones | 975 | (15.0) | 14.0 | 14.0 | (17.0) | 9.0 | 10.0 | 79.0 | 47.0 | |
15th | 8 | Merlin | MERLIN-ROCKET | 3672 | Brightlingsea SC | Ben Clegg | Abi Clegg | 975 | 10.0 | 15.0 | 6.0 | (20.0) | (22.0) | 18.0 | 91.0 | 49.0 | |
16th | 36 | Merlin | MERLIN-ROCKET | 3756 | Shoreham SC | Sophie Mackley | George Bender | 975 | 12.0 | (16.0) | (16.0) | 14.0 | 10.0 | 15.0 | 83.0 | 51.0 | |
17th | 42 | Merlin | MERLIN-ROCKET | 3770 | Fishers Green SC | Jon Steward | Graham | 975 | 14.0 | 9.0 | 15.0 | (19.0) | 15.0 | (24.0 DNC) | 96.0 | 53.0 | |
18th | 43 | MERLIN-ROCKET | 3553 | Burnham SC | Flynn Davies | Jo Tribe | 975 | (21.0) | 17.0 | (20.0) | 16.0 | 13.0 | 11.0 | 98.0 | 57.0 | ||
19th | 45 | Merlin | MERLIN-ROCKET | 3745 | Broadwater SC | Paul Dean | Hannah Burt | 975 | (22.0) | (24.0 OCS) | 17.0 | 18.0 | 19.0 | 12.0 | 112.0 | 66.0 | |
20th | 15 | Merlin | MERLIN-ROCKET | 3817 | Stone SC | Geoff Kimber | Helen Kimber | 975 | 19.0 | 18.0 | 18.0 | 15.0 | (21.0) | (24.0 DNC) | 115.0 | 70.0 | |
21st | 32 | Merlin | MERLIN-ROCKET | 3715 | Fishers Green SC | Richard Cooke | Russell Hall | 975 | 20.0 | 20.0 | (21.0) | (21.0) | 18.0 | 17.0 | 117.0 | 75.0 | |
22nd | 46 | Merlin | MERLIN-ROCKET | 3578 | Fishers Green SC | Nick Yannakoyorgos | Hannah Baker | 975 | (23.0) | 21.0 | (22.0) | 22.0 | 20.0 | 16.0 | 124.0 | 79.0 | |
23rd | 11 | Merlin | MERLIN-ROCKET | 3247 | Frensham Pond SC | Clive Epvett | Megan Pascoe | 975 | 9.0 | (24.0 DNC) | (24.0 DNC) | 24.0 DNC | 24.0 DNC | 24.0 DNC | 129.0 | 81.0 |