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 |