Craftinsure Merlin Rocket Silver Tiller Open at Rutland Sailing Club

After what was quite possibly the best ever weekend for training purposes, the 18 boat training fleet were joint by about 15 further boats for the Craftinsure Silver Tiller open meeting on Monday. The conditions on Monday were rather stronger than those on Saturday and Sunday which succeeded in putting off quite a few of the - in all likelihood pretty tired - trainees. The fleet of 18 took to the water on what was a rather hairy dead run, especially in the region close to the clubhouse. There were hints of what was to come as a couple of teams took to the water before racing, myself included!

On arrival at the start area the conditions were a pretty solid force 5 with significant gusts. Nobody fancied a general recall and we got away at the first attempt. Mayhem commenced with few spinnakers leaving the chutes and even fewer gybes on the first lap. The race was won by the Chris' Gould and Kilsby, we even have evidence of Chris Gould sitting out. Dave Winder and Pippa Taylor came in second and Matt Biggs and John Hackett came in third. Colin and Sean Anderson's GoPro provided some excellent footage of their pretty good nosedive, and their between race snacks floating away from the upside down boat!

The race team didn't hang around for long after the stragglers had finished and the remaining boats again got off at the first attempt. A few were slightly more gung-ho in this race, Chris Gould and Chris Kilsby took to the water at the first mark, followed by veteran Richard Dee on his first sail for quite some time. The wind was still pretty strong and they were certainly not the only swimmers in this race which was won by Jasper Barnham and Oli Wells who had obviously had enough of swimming after the first. Matt Biggs and John Hackett come in second this time and Mike and Jayne Calvert in third.

I didn't stick round for the third race, but the wind had showed signs of dropping. A much reduced fleet again got underway at the first hurdle and enjoyed the most sensible race of the event. Chris Gould and Killsby took the bullet and the event overall, Dave Wade and Rachel Rhodes came second and Mike and Jayne Calvert came in third.

First overall were Chris Gould and Chris Killsby from Blithfield SC, second were Matt Biggs and John Hackett also of Blithfield and third were Dave Wade and Rachel Rhodes.

Thanks to Rutland SC and their race/safety team who did a great job with no fuss in difficult conditions.

The next instalment in the Craftinsure Silver Tiller is at Lymington on the 14th/15th May.

Overall Results: