Day two of the Aspire Merlin Rocket Championships at East Lothian Yacht Club, brought sunshine and even some warmth in the air, along with another 12-15 knots of breeze from the west. It took a while for it to settle, causing yet more headaches for the race officer and his team trying to lay a course, and after a bit of waiting around and one general recall under the U flag, the fleet started race three on the second attempt.
Those on the far left came in on the money with a great shift and pushing less tide, and it was Dave and Vicky Lenz who rounded the windward mark first ahead of Stu Bithell/Tom Pygall in second followed by Christian Birrell/Sam Brearey in third and Dan/Ben Alsop having a blinder in fourth. Unfortunately, Dave/Vicky caught a lobster pot on the second reach of the first triangle which allowed Stu/Tom to overtake underneath them and go on to establish a convincing lead, but by the next windward mark the places behind had changed yet again with Alex Jackson/Chris Kilsby in second just ahead of Christian/Sam and Dave/Vicky in fourth. On the final lap, Stu/Tom held on to take the bullet and the Clyde Quaich, but Alex/Chris were overhauled by Christian/Sam who took second, and Dave/Vicky also managed to claw back third place from Alex/Chris who ended up fourth. Caroline Croft/Chris Gould took fifth and Sophie Mackley/Oliver Meadowcroft finished in sixth. First silver fleet was James Wells/Anna Aylward who managed to sail past Dan Alsop/Ben Alsop, and first bronze fleet was Geoff and Helen Kimber.
During the start sequence for race four, a superyacht appeared by the windward mark and looked to be heading on down the racecourse before being diverted around. Apparently, it was Tom Cruise who had obviously come on over to watch some great Merlin Rocket racing and see what all the fuss was about.
This time, the first beat was all about the right hand side which Christian/Sam absolutely nailed to lead around the top mark followed by Taxi Davis/Pippa Kilsby in second, Stu/Tom in were third and Dave/Vicky in fourth, but alas both Stu and Dave were BFD, which has certainly shuffled up the leader board for now. So Christian/Sam ended up with the win, and taking the West Country Trophy, ahead of Taxi/Pippa in second. Tim Fells/Fran Gifford sailed a great race to take third ahead of Ben Saxton/George Yeoman in fourth, followed by Alex/Chris in fifth and Caroline/Chris in sixth. Fist Silver fleet was Dan/Ben Alsop finishing just outside of the top ten in his beautiful wooden boat, and first bronze fleet was Ben Archer/Olivia Bellini.
Christian/Sam are top of the leader board on day two with the first discard still not in play, Taxi/Pippa sit in second and Caroline/Chris are in third.
With thanks to our sponsors HD sails, SSE, NB Distillery, Fernhurst Books, Triggernaught Sportsglasses and our title sponsor Aspire Financial Advisers.
Photo from Day 2 courtesy of ELYC https://www.flickr.com/photos/caledonian-schlepper/sets/72157719743286145/
Tracking for Day 3 https://enter.sailracer.org/eventsites/live-screen-tracking-club.asp?eventid=221272&labels=S&templ=220014
Rank | SailNos | Helm | Crew | Club | Tally | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total | Nett |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st | 3788 | Christian Birrel | Sam Breary | Parkstone YC | 32 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
2nd | 3735 | Andy Davis | Pippa Kilsby | South Staffs SC | 13 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 10.0 | 2.0 | 18.0 | 18.0 |
3rd | 3803 | Caroline Croft | Chris Gould | Lymington Town SC | 38 | 9.0 | 6.0 | 5.0 | 6.0 | 26.0 | 26.0 |
4th | 3807 | Tim Saxton | Mary Henderson | Itchenor SC | 40 | 7.0 | 5.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 30.0 | 30.0 |
5th | 3795 | Alex Jackson | Chris Kilsby | Shoreham SC | 35 | 13.0 | 13.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 35.0 | 35.0 |
6th | 3764 | Tim Fells | Fran Gifford | Salcombe YC | 21 | 15.0 | 7.0 | 13.0 | 3.0 | 38.0 | 38.0 |
7th | 3781 | David Winder | Oliver Rayner | Hollingworth Lake SC | 28 | 11.0 | 4.0 | 18.0 | 8.0 | 41.0 | 41.0 |
8th | 3712 | Ian Sharps | Alex Warren | Burghfield SC | 11 | 4.0 | 12.0 | 19.0 | 12.0 | 47.0 | 47.0 |
9th | 3811 | Stuart Bithell | Tom Pygall | Parkstone YC | 41 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 46.0 BFD | 50.0 | 50.0 |
10th | 3758 | Dave Hayes | Will Crocker | Lymington Town SC | 19 | 12.0 | 11.0 | 20.0 | 7.0 | 50.0 | 50.0 |
11th | 3746 | James Wells | Anna Aylward | Starcross YC | 16 | 8.0 | 20.0 | 11.0 | 13.0 | 52.0 | 52.0 |
12th | 3756 | Sophie Mackley | Ollie Meadowcroft | Shoreham SC | 17 | 10.0 | 18.0 | 6.0 | 19.0 | 53.0 | 53.0 |
13th | 3539 | Dan Alsop | Ben Alsop | Lyme Regis SC | 3 | 17.0 | 14.0 | 12.0 | 11.0 | 54.0 | 54.0 |
14th | 3786 | David Wade | Ben Rayner | Northampton SC | 30 | 19.0 | 8.0 | 17.0 | 15.0 | 59.0 | 59.0 |
15th | 3777 | Ben Saxton | George Yeoman | Itchenor SC | 26 | 6.0 | 46.0 DNF | 7.0 | 4.0 | 63.0 | 63.0 |
16th | 3814 | James Goss | Chris White | South Staffs SC | 42 | 14.0 | 10.0 | 21.0 | 18.0 | 63.0 | 63.0 |
17th | 3763 | Mark Barnes | Josh Wilce | Whitstable YC | 20 | 16.0 | 19.0 | 14.0 | 14.0 | 63.0 | 63.0 |
18th | 3796 | William Warren | Megan Pascoe | Shoreham SC | 36 | 18.0 | 16.0 | 15.0 | 17.0 | 66.0 | 66.0 |
19th | 3766 | Andy Dalby | Mark Oakey | Burghfield SC | 45 | 20.0 | 9.0 | 22.0 | 16.0 | 67.0 | 67.0 |
20th | 3778 | David Lenz | Victoia Lenz | Lymington Town SC | 27 | 5.0 | 15.0 | 3.0 | 46.0 BFD | 69.0 | 69.0 |
21st | 3804 | Ian Dobson | Charlotte Fildes | Bosham Hoe SC | 39 | 46.0 BFD | 17.0 | 8.0 | 10.0 | 81.0 | 81.0 |
22nd | 3641 | Mark Waterhlouse | Isobel Stewart | Salcombe YC | 6 | 21.0 | 23.0 | 23.0 | 26.0 | 93.0 | 93.0 |
23rd | 3784 | Mark Barwell | Louise Johnson | Lymington Town SC | 29 | 22.0 | 25.0 | 27.0 | 21.0 | 95.0 | 95.0 |
24th | 3666 | John Meadowcroft | Imogen Wade | Upper Thames SC | 8 | 24.0 | 28.0 | 30.0 | 24.0 | 106.0 | 106.0 |
25th | 3684 | Tom Low | Ed Low | West Hoe SC | 9 | 29.0 | 29.0 | 26.0 | 23.0 | 107.0 | 107.0 |
26th | 3775 | Dan Willet | Pete Nicholson | Brightlingsea SC | 25 | 46.0 BFD | 21.0 | 24.0 | 20.0 | 111.0 | 111.0 |
27th | 3745 | Paul Dean | Hannah Burt | Wembley SC | 15 | 32.0 | 22.0 | 28.0 | 32.0 | 114.0 | 114.0 |
28th | 3757 | Tim Parsons | Sarah Parsons | Lyme Regis SC | 18 | 46.0 BFD | 26.0 | 16.0 | 27.0 | 115.0 | 115.0 |
29th | 3710 | Jon Ibbotson | Robbie Stewart | Burghfield SC | 10 | 25.0 | 39.0 | 25.0 | 28.0 | 117.0 | 117.0 |
30th | 3767 | Ben Archer | Olivia Bellini | Parkstone YC | 22 | 30.0 | 33.0 | 29.0 | 25.0 | 117.0 | 117.0 |
31st | 3751 | Phil Emery | Phoebe Paine | Whitstable YC | 43 | 27.0 | 32.0 | 31.0 | 33.0 | 123.0 | 123.0 |
32nd | 3790 | Colin Brockbank | Sue Brough | wembley SC | 33 | 28.0 | 30.0 | 35.0 | 31.0 | 124.0 | 124.0 |
33rd | 3787 | Chris Martin | Samuel Bailey | Midland SC | 31 | 46.0 BFD | 24.0 | 33.0 | 22.0 | 125.0 | 125.0 |
34th | 3772 | Dan Heaton | Tom Gurney | Mountbatten SC | 23 | 23.0 | 27.0 | 46.0 UFD | 29.0 | 125.0 | 125.0 |
35th | 3723 | Geoff Kimber | Helen Kimber | Stone SC | 12 | 26.0 | 34.0 | 36.0 | 30.0 | 126.0 | 126.0 |
36th | 3774 | Richard Coulter | Louis Lappage | Fishers Green SC | 24 | 31.0 | 31.0 | 32.0 | 34.0 | 128.0 | 128.0 |
37th | 2663 | Chris Howarth | Mike Hamilton | Blackpool & Fleetwood SC | 1 | 34.0 | 40.0 | 37.0 | 35.0 | 146.0 | 146.0 |
38th | 3695 | Pete Slack | Immy Brown | Blithfield SC | 44 | 33.0 | 37.0 | 42.0 | 38.0 | 150.0 | 150.0 |
39th | 3662 | Nigel Hudson | Freya Hudson | Bartley SC | 7 | 46.0 BFD | 35.0 | 34.0 | 36.0 | 151.0 | 151.0 |
40th | 3619 | Guy Browne | Greg Martin | Trent Valley SC | 5 | 35.0 | 41.0 | 40.0 | 37.0 | 153.0 | 153.0 |
41st | 3561 | Joe Shaw | Paricia Hickey | Wembley SC | 4 | 37.0 | 43.0 | 38.0 | 40.0 | 158.0 | 158.0 |
42nd | 3449 | Carl Whitehill | Sam Whitehill | RYA | 2 | 36.0 | 38.0 | 39.0 | 46.0 DNF | 159.0 | 159.0 |
43rd | 3800 | Richard Bramley | Paul Walker | Shoreham SC | 37 | 38.0 | 42.0 | 41.0 | 39.0 | 160.0 | 160.0 |
44th | 3792 | Alistair McDonald | Lydia Bourne | Berwick Upon Tweed SC | 34 | 39.0 | 44.0 | 43.0 | 46.0 DNF | 172.0 | 172.0 |
45th | 3740 | Pat Blake | Jilly Blake | Cookham Reach SC | 14 | 46.0 BFD | 36.0 | 46.0 DNF | 46.0 DNF | 174.0 | 174.0 |