Craftinsure Merlin Rocket Silver Tiller Open at Whitstable Yacht Club
by John Cooper 26 Jun 2017 08:02 BST
24-25 June 2017
Whitstable Yacht Club hosted its annual Merlin Rocket Silver Tiller event sponsored by Craftinsure over the weekend of 24th-25th June.
A relatively small fleet (compared to previous years) of 18 boats entered which was due to a combination of a full-on breeze forecast and Salcombe Week starting the following weekend.
The absentees missed a cracking weekends sailing in champagne conditions.
Saturday saw three races sailed over a changing tide with no recalls (honest!). The three race wins were shared between Andy 'Taxi' Davis crewed by Alex Warren and William Warren crewed by Chris Kilsby. Taxi and Alex coming out on top with a 1,1,3 compared to William and Chris' 4,2,1.
Sunday arrived with sunnier skies, no less wind but with less water leading to a short postponement.
Taxi and Alex had another battle on their hands this time with Christian Birrell. Both scored a 1st and 2nd and by winning the last race Taxi and Alex won both the Holden Cup for overall and the Melbourne Cup for Sunday's races.
The Merlin fleet reverted to their normal ways on Sunday, when with the aid of the tide under the fleet, the black flag was used for both starts. Lots of great racing in superb conditions, a few swims, a few penalty turns and no protests. Perfect!
Thanks to Race Officer Huw Reynolds and all his team for a fantastic weekend's sailing.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Boat Name | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | 3684 | Keyser Soze | Andy Davis | Alex Warren | Bartley S.C | 1 | 1 | ‑3 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| 2 | 3756 | Robert | W Warren | Curtis Kilsby | Shoreham | 4 | 2 | 1 | ‑11 | 6 | 13 |
| 3 | 3763 | Dancing Brave | Mark Barnes | Alex Horlock | WYC | ‑6 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 15 |
| 4 | 3759 | Red Mistress | Sam Pascoe | Megan Pascoe | Castle Cove S C | 3 | 3 | 4 | ‑6 | 5 | 15 |
| 5 | 3770 | Shiny | David Hayes | Jonny Ratcliffe | HISC | ‑5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 16 |
| 6 | 3658 | Bernard | Chris Jennings | Pete Horn | Burghfield | 2 | 6 | ‑8 | 4 | 7 | 19 |
| 7 | 3735 | The Clone Wars | Simon Blake | Pippa Taylor | Cookham Reach/Thames | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | ‑8 | 27 |
| 8 | 3772 | | Phil Emery | Dave Hawkins | WYC | 9 | 9 | 7 | 8 | ‑10 | 33 |
| 9 | 3685 | Black Pearl | Sophie Mackley | Mary Henderson | Shoreham | 8 | 11 | 9 | 9 | ‑12 | 37 |
| 10 | 3788 | Boat name | Christian Birrell | Stuart Bithel | | (DNF) | DNC | DNF | 1 | 2 | 41 |
| 11 | 3634 | Minestry of Pleasure | Richard Coulter | Louis Lappage | Fishers Green | 12 | 10 | (DNF) | 12 | 9 | 43 |
| 12 | 3672 | Bola Bola | John Cooper | Hilary Bradshaw | WYC | 11 | 12 | (DNC) | 10 | 11 | 44 |
| 13 | 3568 | Misguuided Missile | Mali Harnett | Meia Harnett | WYC | 14 | 15 | 10 | ‑16 | 13 | 52 |
| 14 | 2740 | Why Ask | Pat Blake | Jilly Blake | Cookham Reach | 10 | 8 | (DNC) | DNS | DNC | 56 |
| 15 | 3640 | | Rein Zilvold | | WYC | 13 | 13 | (DNF) | 15 | DNF | 60 |
| 16 | 3692 | Nemo | Julie Nuttall | Steve Mitchell | WYC | (DNF) | DNC | DNC | 13 | 14 | 65 |
| 17 | 3604 | Desafinado | Timothy Barr | Phillip Barr | Thames Sailing Club | (DNF) | 14 | DNC | 17 | DNF | 69 |
| 18 | 3644 | Jon Bloice | Phillipa Bloice | | WYC | (DNS) | DNC | DNC | 14 | BFD | 71 |
