Rooster Merlin Rocket National Championships

Rooster Merlin Rocket National Championships - Overall

by Tim Fells 16 Aug 2013 21:49 BST 11-16 August 2013

The final day of this highly competitive championship pitted the four dominant teams against each other in a duel under the sun which looked like it might come to nothing as the breeze did not want to play ball, but ultimately ended in high drama in the best conditions of the week.

The permutations were complex. A top two finish would seal the deal for Jon Gorringe/Toby Lewis but any of Nick Craig/Alan Roberts, Ben and Roz McGrane and Roger Gilbert/James Stewart could take the title with a good result and their competitors slipping up. If they all had bad races, which was highly unlikely, Ben and Roz would win due to the best discard. It certainly looked like a race where no-one would know the winner until the race was over and the calculators had come out!

After a long wait on the water as the North-westerly gradient died, it looked like the last race would be timed out before the 2pm cut off. However, in the nick of time a sea breeze materialised and the race team rushed to get a course and line set. With three minutes to go, race 6 started only for there to be an abandoned start. The PRO kept his cool and fired the warning gun again with seconds to spare and the fleet lined up in a force three south-westerly that was building rapidly.

On a shorter course then the breeze now required and with the ebb tide underneath them, the fleet converged tightly packed at the top mark with lots of boat on boat action. Jon and Toby had impressively kept their nerves to sail a great beat and round first alongside Roger/James who came in on port and tacked on the mark closely followed by Nick/Alan, Simon Potts/DJ Edwards, Dave Winder/Pippa Taylor and Tim Fells/Chris Downham.

By the end of lap two, Nick/Alan had pulled into second and were hunting down Jon/Toby who kept their cool and maintained their lead onto the final run when disaster struck. A broken kicker shackle left them a wounded duck and Nick/Alan, Simon/DJ and Roger/James came through. With a quick final beat with the tide, there was no opportunity for any further place changes.

Nick and Alan took the winning gun and with it the title by one point from Jon and Toby. Roger/James's third place gave them third overall from Ben and Roz who were sixth and had to settle for fourth overall. Rounding out the top six overall, Simon/DJ's second place confirmed their fifth place and Tim/Chris came in fifth to claim sixth overall.

Overall Results: (six races, 1 discard)
If you finished in the top ten at the Merlin Rocket nationals then enter your Gear Guide information here

Pos	Boat Name	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Fleet	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Pts
1	Stanley	3749	Nick Craig	Alan Roberts	Gold	7	1	1	4	3	1	10
2	Didley Pokey	3754	Jon Gorringe	Toby Lewis	Gold	1	4	9	1	1	4	11
3	Stealth	3722	Roger Gilbert	James Stewart	Gold	3	2	4	2	5	3	14
4	Dory	3739	Ben McGrane	Roz McGrane	Gold	2	3	2	6	2	6	15
5	Appetite for Destruction	3753	Simon Potts	D J Edwards	Gold	6	13	10	7	4	2	29
6	Fragile	3727	Tim Fells	Chris Downham	Gold	4	18	19	5	6	5	38
7	The Dark Side	3733	Tom Stewart	Phil Dalby	Gold	BFD	8	11	8	8	7	42
8	Faithless	3703	Richard Whitworth	Sarah Bines	Gold	5	7	12	11	10	13	45
9	Bernard	3658	Chris Jennings	Oli Wells	Gold	10	15	8	14	9	8	49
10	Shabazzle	3729	Jon Turner	Richard Parslow	Gold	BFD	11	6	10	17	12	56
11	The Black Boat	3734	David Hayes	Jonny Ratcliffe	Gold	BFD	6	22	12	7	11	58
12	Wheres Wooster?	3745	Steve Cockerill	Sarah Cockerill	Gold	9	9	5	18	19	19	60
13	The Clone Wars	3735	David Winder	Pippa Taylor	Gold	8	21	7	16	20	10	61
14	Wild Card	3656	Olly Turner	Alex Warren	Gold	13	14	15	9	12	15	63
15	Monkey Business	3707	Alex Jackson	Sam Pascoe	Gold	14	19	16	15	11	9	65
16	Robert	3756	William Warren	Chris Robinson	Gold	12	24	13	47	14	14	77
17		3732	Dave Wade	Ben Rayner	Gold	BFD	10	14	13	24	18	79
18	Pokin' the Turtle	3743	Matt Biggs	John Hackett	Gold	15	26	18	19	13	17	82
19	Point N Squirt	3746	Dan Willett	Pete Nicholson	Gold	11	16	25	17	15	BFD	84
20	Needlemakers	3610	Richard Dee	Chris Gould	Gold	17	22	20	25	16	16	91
21	Hot Totty	3676	Tim Harrison	Fran Gifford	Gold	20	12	27	20	18	30	97
22	Who Dares Wins	3688	Ben Hollis	Caroline Croft	Silver	19	28	17	27	25	21	109
23	Paradigm Shift	3710	Jon Ibbotson	Sophie Mackley	Gold	BFD	23	24	29	21	20	117
24	Gansta Paradise	3539	Dan Alsop	Sarah Warren	Gold	18	17	31	21	31	32	118
25	Tiger Tiger	3696	Alan Warren	Will Carroll	Gold	22	20	21	39	30	25	118
26	Puff the Magic Dragon	3641	Mark Waterhouse	Nikki Bass	Silver	24	29	34	22	26	23	124
27	Rong Number	3573	Simon Bond	Mark Bailey	Silver	16	30	26	31	28	26	126
28	Mylo Xyloto	3744	Chris Martin	Nick Copsey	Silver	21	40	41	28	22	24	135
29	Carbon Footprint	3716	Steve Leney	Gill Leney	Gold	27	35	23	23	33	31	137
30	Keyser Soze	3684	Andy Davis	Tom Pygall	Gold	DNC	5	3	3	DNC	DNC	143
31	Mayhem	3731	Andy Jones	Maddie Jones	Silver	28	37	32	26	23	43	146
32	The Black Pearl	3685	Mark Oakey	Jamie Pidduck	Silver	35	32	29	30	27	34	152
33	Brazilian	3700	Phil Emery	Karen Emery	Silver	41	34	46	24	29	27	155
34	Moist	3643	Tim Harridge	Andrea Ralph	Silver	23	27	40	33	39	35	157
35	Chill Out	3633	Dave Bursey	Frances Bursey	Silver	31	36	33	38	38	29	167
36	Headcase 3650	3650	Rob Kennaugh	Abi Spurr	Silver	25	25	30	DNF	DNC	22	168
37	Sea Wolf	3711	David Lee	Juliet Pealing	Silver	32	44	43	32	36	28	171
38	Out of the Blue 2	3557	Rory Mackenzie	Calum Mackenzie	Silver	29	47	28	35	35	DNF	174
39	Blue Velvet	3645	Paul Jenkins	Peter Jenkins	Silver	38	31	36	55	32	38	175
40	White Sauce Er Er	3675	Mike Fenwick	Penny Fenwick	Gold	33	38	37	44	34	52	186
41	Strings Attached	3751	Mark Barwell	Louise Johnson	Silver	34	52	38	36	45	36	189
42	Fluff 'N' Stuff	3719	Jeremy Deacon	Phil Scott	Silver	48	43	51	37	40	37	205
43	Bola Bola	3672	John Cooper	Hilary Bradshaw	Silver	26	51	52	41	41	50	209
44	Artemis	3653	Andy Chapman	Melissa Chapman	Silver	30	48	48	42	43	47	210
45	Salmon en Croute	3702	Duncan Salmon	Harriet Salmon	Gold	BFD	33	39	49	48	41	210
46	Nemo	3692	Steve Mitchell	Julie Nuttall	Silver	39	41	42	40	50	49	211
47	Ministry of Pleasure	3634	Ben Archer	Rebecca Jones	Silver	36	39	54	52	46	42	215
49	Painkiller	3718	David Mitchell	Ellie Davies	Gold	44	45	45	45	DNF	40	219
48	Why Ask	3740	Patrick Blake	Jilly Blake	Gold	42	42	35	34	DNC	BFD	219
50	Armed Forces	3442	Mark Stockbridge	Matt Greenfield	Silver	43	46	50	51	37	DNF	227
51	Smart Cookie	3559	Laurence Tosh	Joe Tosh	Silver	51	58	55	43	42	44	235
52	Bluebird	3683	Ben Jones	Helen Hilditch	Silver	46	54	DNC	50	47	39	236
53	Trigger Happy	3628	Robin Charles	Dan Newman	Silver	45	57	56	54	49	33	237
55	Back to The Future	3583	Colin Anderson	Sean Anderson	Silver	49	49	44	58	55	45	242
54	Duck & Dive	3713	Steve Harling	Eleanor Thonas	Silver	40	59	47	53	51	51	242
56	Nearly All Over	3617	Tom Chadfield	Karen Beston	Silver	50	53	53	48	44	48	243
57	Heaven Scent	3511	Andrew Mills	James Warren	Silver	47	55	58	46	53	DNF	259
58	Jupiter	3651	Colin Brockbank	Oliver Lythgoe	Silver	37	50	49	DNF	DNS	DNF	268
59	Holy Grail	3574	John Donoghue	Luke Tucker	Silver	53	60	59	59	54	46	271
60	Wild Knight	3632	Marcus Robb	Graham Webb	Silver	52	61	57	56	52	54	271
61	Time Zulu	3569	Duncan Bell	Alice Markham	Silver	DNF	56	DNS	57	DNF	53	298
62	Light Fantastic	3555	Ian Mackenzie	Angela Mackenzie	Silver	54	DNF	60	DNC	DNC	DNC	312
63	Point Break	3625	Richard Bramley	TBA	Silver	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	330
63	Zeno	3654	Julian Parry	TBA	Gold	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	330
63	Slippery when Wet	3693	Will Rainey		Gold	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	330