MERLIN ROCKET RESULTS
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Results / Aspire Merlin Rocket National Championships 2022 (Day 2)

Mounts Bay Sailing Club
31/07/2022 - 04/08/2022
Silver Tiller:
Multi-Day Silver Tiller:
Vintage:
Regional:
Classic:

Day 2 of the Aspire Merlin Rocket National Championships got off to a slow start, perhaps a welcome relief for some of the crews after last night’s very well attended Crews Union. Launching was postponed for an hour while we waited for the wind to fill in, and when a light breeze duly arrived we were released at midday.

I confess, I was one of those crews feeling a little delicate so we gently floated out to the racecourse on a more southerly breeze than the day before. 

The first start under the U flag was postponed with 8 seconds to go, as the eager Merlins had crowded over the line. The trusty black flag was put up for our second start and we were away. Where you started on the line didn’t seem to have too much of an effect but a very swift start from Simon Potts and Lottie Fildes towards the committee boat end had them flying up the right hand side of the beat and rounding the windward mark in first place, which they maintained for the rest of the race.

They were closely followed round the windward mark by Mike and Jane Calvert in second and Tom Gillard and Rachael Gray in third place. These three boats all gybed off after the spreader mark while the rest of the fleet continued on. 

Stu Bithell and Tom Pygall and James Goss and Chris White were the first two boats to continue on down the run, which paid off very well for James and Chris as they were able to get round the leeward gate in second place. They were closely followed by Tom and Rachael in third place and the top three were pretty much set after that.

The rest of the race unfolded quite calmly in light and shifty wind, with nice little gains to be found by reading the shifts well, but overall not a huge change of position.

Our on board catering service (aka me) provided some squashed sandwiches for lunch, which were enjoyed as we floated around for an hour with the AP back up. These are the moments that the width of the Merlin really pays off as it’s more than enough space to lie down. We were awoken by the sound of the AP going down, swiftly followed by the AP over A going up to end racing for the day, as the race team weren’t seeing the required five knots across the race course. 

Practising for the real competition of the week - the Crew’s Race - got underway as 99% of the fleet switched places and the crews flew back towards the beach. There was some frantic swapping back as we neared the beach but it all promises a very competitive Crew’s Race on Wednesday!

So, our race winners were Simon and Lottie, bringing them up to second place overall after three races. Second place was James and Chris, also the first gold boat over the line, and third place was Tom and Rachael, keeping them in first place overall. The first silver boat was Mark Barwell and Lou Johnson meaning they can keep their silver jerseys on for tomorrow, and the first bronze boat was Andy and Aimee Dalby.

Thank you to our sponsors Aspire Financial Advisers, HD Sails, Mounts Bay Distillery, Fernhurst Books, West Systems, Triggernaut Sports Glasses, Robline/DinghyTec and GK Engineering.

Rank SailNo HelmName CrewName Fleet Club R1 R2 R3 Total Nett
1st 3759 Thomas Gillard Rachel Gray Platinum Staunton Harold Sailing Club 1 2 3 6 6
2nd 3802 Simon Potts Charlotte Fildes Platinum Burghfield Sailing Club 10 3 1 14 14
3rd 3691 Mike Calvert Jane Calvert Platinum Axe Yacht Club 5 5 7 17 17
4th 3788 Christian Birrell Sam Brearey Platinum Parkstone Yacht Club 6 1 15 22 22
5th 2137 James Goss Chris White Platinum South Staffs Sailing Club 13 7 2 22 22
6th 3764 Tim Fells Frances Gifford Platinum Salcombe Yacht Club 4 4 16 24 24
7th 3803 Caroline Croft Faye Chatterton Platinum Lymington Town Sailing Club 9 10 6 25 25
8th 3782 Ed Chapman Chris Kilsby Gold Lymington Town Sailing Club 3 13 19 35 35
9th 3807 Tim Saxton Mary Henderson Platinum Itchenor SC & Brightlingsea SC 20 9 8 37 37
10th 3791 Jon Gorringe Pete Grey Platinum Parkstone Yacht Club 2 31 13 46 46
11th 3778 David Lenz Vicky Lenz Platinum Lymington Town Sailing Club 12 25 9 46 46
12th 3735 Andy Davis Jack Holden Platinum South Staffs Sailing Club 8 24 17 49 49
13th 3746 James Wells Anna Aylward Gold RYA 16 23 11 50 50
14th 3676 Antony Gifford Jo Gifford Platinum Royal Tay Yacht Club 21 17 12 50 50
15th 3796 William Warren Megan Pascoe Gold Shoreham Sailing Club 18 16 21 55 55
16th 3758 David Hayes Jonny Ratcliffe Platinum Lymington Town Sailing Club 14 14 32 60 60
17th 3809 John Turner Richard Parslow Platinum Lyme Regis Sailing Club 31 8 22 61 61
18th 3757 Tim Parsons Andrew Service Gold Lyme Regis Sailing Club 24 29 10 63 63
19th 3780 Sarah Richards Nigel Wakefield Gold Lymington Town Sailing Club 17 11 36 64 64
20th 3799 Paul Rayson Christian Hill Gold Fishers Green SC & SalcombeYC 11 20 33 64 64
21st 3696 Alexander Warren Jonty Freemansh Gold Shoreham Sailing Club 22 28 14 64 64
22nd 3716 Steven Leney Gill Leney Gold Blithfield Sailing Club 26 21 18 65 65
23rd 3683 Arthur Handerson Livvy Bell Gold Salcombe Yacht Club 15 33 20 68 68
24th 3801 Matthew Biggs Beka Jones Platinum Bartley Sailing Club 28 15 25 68 68
25th 3726 Will Henderson Rupert White Platinum Salcombe Yacht Club 30 12 28 70 70
26th 3719 Ian Martin Chris Martin Platinum Burghfield Sailing Club
66.0 UFD
6 5 77 77
27th 3815 Mark Barwell Louise Johnson Silver Lymington Town Sailing Club 37 18 23 78 78
28th 3775 Chris Jennings Pete Nicholson Platinum Burghfield Sailing Club 19 30 31 80 80
29th 3787 Chris Martin John Tailby Gold Midland Sailing Club 7 40 35 82 82
30th 3740 Pat Blake Jilly Blake Gold Lymington Town Sailing Club 34 26 30 90 90
31st 3806 Ben Jones Helen Hilditch Silver Shoreham Sailing Club 47 19 26 92 92
32nd 3666 John Meadowcroft Dan Meadowcroft Platinum Upper Thames Sailing Club 33 22 39 94 94
33rd 3816 Phil Emery Phoebe Paine Silver Whitstable Yacht Club 25 43 27 95 95
34th 3756 Sophie Mackley James Ward Gold Shoreham Sailing Club 35 34 29 98 98
35th 3749 Colin Anderson Sean Anderson Silver Blithfield Sailing Club 23 38 40 101 101
36th 3793 James Goodfellow Rick Cornes Platinum Burghfield Sailing Club 27 45 34 106 106
37th 3684 Tom Low Hannah Burt Silver Queen Mary Sailing Club 29 41 45 115 115
38th 3690 Tim Harridge Rory Gifford Silver Hampton Sailing Club 32 27 57 116 116
39th 3727 Mark Stockbridge James Gifford Silver Upper Thames Sailing Club 61 32 24 117 117
40th 3732 Ben Hollis George Bender Silver Blithfield Sailing Club 40 36 42 118 118
41st 3772 Dan Heaton Tom Gurney Silver Mountbatten Sailing Club 41 39 41 121 121
42nd 3656 Charlotte Gough Dave Gough Gold Starcross Yacht Club 36 42 46 124 124
43rd 3695 Peter Slack Immy Brown Bronze RYA 43 35 50 128 128
44th 3813 Steve Harling Eleanor Thomas Bronze Starcross Yacht Club 48 37 43 128 128
45th 3779 David Lee Kirsten Glen Silver Starcross Yacht Club 46 44 38 128 128
46th 3790 Colin Brockbank Sue Brough Silver Wembley Sailing Club 39 47 44 130 130
47th 3766 Andy Dalby Aimee Dalby Bronze Burghfield Sailing Club 50 46 37 133 133
48th 3811 Stu Bithell Tom Pygall Platinum Parkstone Yacht Club
66.0 DNS
66.0 DNS
4 136 136
49th 3794 Julian Harms Timothy Harms Bronze Midlands Sailing Club 38 50 48 136 136
50th 3817 Geoff Kimber Helen Kimber Bronze Stone Sailing Club 42 48 52 142 142
51st 3767 Ben Archer Olivia Bellini Silver Parkstone Yacht Club 44 53 47 144 144
52nd 3682 Ross Borne John Burn Silver Salcombe Yacht Club 45 52 49 146 146
53rd 3662 Nigel Hudson Freya Hudson Bronze Bartley Sailing Club 49 49 54 152 152
54th 3785 Robin Charles Oscar Simmons Bronze Starcross Yacht Club 51 51 53 155 155
55th 3770 Jon Steward Annabel Steward Bronze Fishers Green Sailing Club 52 54 51 157 157
56th 3619 Guy Browne Andy Hunter Bronze Trent Valley Sailing Club 54 56 60 170 170
57th 3561 Joe Shaw Julie Cronshaw Bronze Wembley Sailing Club 57 58 58 173 173
58th 3800 Richard Bramley Calum Tait Bronze Shoreham Sailing Club 56 55 63 174 174
59th 3750 Neal Lillywhite Freya Lillywhite Silver Burghfield SC & Salcombe YC 58 62 55 175 175
60th 3742 Howard Eeles Bradley Eeles Bronze Bartley Sailing Club 53 57
66.0 DNF
176 176
61st 3586 Kieron Mason Belinda Mason Bronze Blithfield Sailing Club 60 60 59 179 179
62nd 3449 Carl Whitehill Dani Whitehill Bronze RYA
66.0 DNS
59 56 181 181
63rd 3567 Martin Smith Karen Beston Bronze Blithfield Sailing Club 55
66.0 DNS
62 183 183
64th 3574 Marc Candelas John Donoghue Bronze Upper Thames Sailing Club 59 61 64 184 184
65th 3792 Alistair McDonald Lydia Bourne Bronze Berwick Sailing Club & YDSC
66.0 DNS
66.0 DNS
61 193

 


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