MERLIN ROCKET RESULTS
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Results / Open Meeting

Hayling Island S.C.
16/05/2015 - 17/05/2015
Silver Tiller: S
Multi-Day Silver Tiller: Both
Vintage:
Regional:
Classic:
A quality turnout of 31 Merlin Rockets joined the Fireball fleet for an intense weekend of racing in the bay. With three races scheduled for each day this would essentially be a Championships worth of racing condensed in to one weekend. Fortunately the race committee got the memo and races were reduced to circa 50 mins each.



Saturday – 15 knots gusting 20, west north west.



Ben McGrane, Nick Craig and Tim Fells each won a race on the opening day, Ben and Roz had claimed to be feeling rusty but still managed to be overnight leaders on (1, 4, 2). We were left wondering what a polished Ben and Roz could achieve as the season progresses. Other notable performances were local father-and-son team Graham and Jeremy Williamson who scored a third before having to head in for babysitting duties for newly born grand-daughter, Ivy. Dave Hayes and Jonny Ratcliffe were getting to grips with their new high modulus Selden mast and put in a solid performance with a 2 and 5 as definite counters. Meanwhile the new pairing of Oli Turner and Hamish Kilburn proved that practice does pay off, having been seen training at various events and putting in extra hours at Northampton, a scoring of (8,2,11) showed promise.



With many familiar faces in racing in both the Merlins and Fireballs the evenings entertainment went off with a bang, the bar staff were kept busy while the kitchen laid on some excellent food for a rather large and rather hungry fleet, rumour has it the steak was the pick of the menu but sadly they had run out by the time certain people made it to the restaurant.



Sunday – 5 knots north west veering south west and building to 20 knots



After a leisurely sail out to the bay in barely 5 knots the wind began to fill-in and veer to the south as the sea breeze started to take over. Racing got under way with the port lay proving the winning decision, Rob Kennaugh and fiancée Abi Spurr from Midland SC rounded first with a hard chasing fleet including Nick Craig, Ben McGrane, Roger Gilbert, Dave Hayes and Tom Stewart, in fact the list goes on. They held their nerve to take second only losing the lead right at the end to Ian Sharps and Ally Martin. Nick Craig only managed a 14th which left team McGrane in the driving seat. Race 5, however, saw the largest shifts of the day with boats having worked the right side of the beat looking good, however, next time around it was the left that was paying. With little regularity in oscillations it was no surprise that even some of the front runners would get caught out. This time Ben and Roz found the snakes and sailed across the finish line in 10th while Nick with Tom Pygall crewing pocketed a rather handy fourth place behind the ever improving Simon Potts (1st), Chris Jennings (2nd) and Dave Hayes (3rd).



It all came down to the wire with just one point between the leading two boats in the final race. Sadly there was no battle royal, instead Nick and Tom did a horizon job taking a very comfortable race win with Ben and Roz crossing the line behind them to finish on equal points (14) and second overall. Dave Hayes was third on 23 points, Tim Fells 26 and Tom Stewart rounding out the top five on 27 points. A great event with high scores reflecting the true depth of the class.



Once we had all had a wild ride (some not for the first time that weekend) back over the bar, we extended our thanks to the race committee who had to deal with challenging conditions plus the bar and kitchen who were kept busy all weekend.
PosSail NoHelmCrewClubR1R2R3R4R5R6Pts
1st3749Nick CraigTom PygallFrensham531‑144114
2nd3739Ben McGraneRoz McGraneNetley SC1425‑10214
3rd3770David HayesJonny RatcliffeHISC25‑1083523
4th3764Tim FellsOli WellsSalcombe YC41777‑826
5th3733Tom StewartPhil DalbyNorthampton67535‑926
6th3758Jasper BarnhamGraham SextonSnettisham Beach SC‑1363491032
7th3712Ian SharpsAlly MartinBurghfield111141‑13734
8th3658Chris JenningsPete HornBurghfield7109‑132634
9th3722Roger GilbertJames StewartHISC‑129696434
10th3753Simon PottsLuke ShawBurghfield9‑1212101335
11th3656Olly TurnerHamish KilburnSalcombe YC82116‑121239
12th3645Steve HallSimon HaightonBurnham SC15‑1881681562
13th3752Will RaineyAndy DouglasShoreham SC1616(DNF)15111169
14th3690Tim HarridgeDavid ReidHampton‑28151418141475
15th3763Mark BarnesJulie NuttallWhitstable YC10‑222211171676
16th3676Tim HarrisonFran GiffordRanelagh SC1719‑2117181384
17th3702Duncan SalmonIan GarwoodWembley1981519(DNC)DNC93
18th3564Rob KennaughAbi SpurrMidland2026(DNC)216DNC96
19th3707Alex JacksonLucy BurnHampton18(DNF)161220DNC98
20th3728Judith MasseyClare BostonHISC2513172023(DNC)98
21st3709Tom LonsdaleAlice MarkhamUTSC232013(DNC)15DNC103
22nd3583Colin AndersonBen EavesRedditch SC‑242319242217105
23rd3751Mark BarwellLouise JohnsonLymington Town SC2221182519(DNC)105
24th3736Graham WilliamsonJeremy WilliamsonHISC3(DNC)DNC2121DNC109
25th3741Simon LyttonJackie LyttonHISC1417(DNC)DNCDNCDNC127
26th3653Andy ChapmanMelissa ChapmanNetley26272022(DNC)DNC127
27th3766A DalbySophie MackleyHSC2114(DNF)DNCDNCDNC131
28th3734Philip AshworthAllison AshworthWeymouth2928232625(DNF)131
29th3585Mike PartridgeClaire DavisHISC3025(DNC)2324DNC134
30th3683Ben JonesHelen HilditchTenby SC2724(DNC)DNCDNCDNC147
31st3491Steve StoreyC EverardHISC312924(DNC)DNCDNC148

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