Aspire 72nd Merlin Rocket Championship at Pwllheli - Day 1
by Chris Martin on 13 Aug
12-18 August 2017
Day one of the Aspire Merlin Rocket national championship got off to a quiet start in a breeze that barely exceeded 5 knots.
Despite the efforts of the pin boat team, the pin end was certainly favoured and most of the boats in the pound seats at the windward mark came from around that area as Nick Craig and Alan Roberts rounded first of a gaggle of "seeds" and one or two Silver fleet wild cards!
Nick and Alan may have led for the entire race, but the sausage-triangle course certainly kept the fleet together and no position could be taken for granted on this day of snakes and ladders.
So the results of Selden Sunday put Nick and Alan at the top of the leader board with Sam and Megan Pascoe in second and Caroline Coft and Matt Lulham-Robinson in third.
The Silver fleet was hotly contested with Chris Martin and Oliver Maclean winning the group posting a nosebleed inspiring 11th place.
Bronze fleet winners were Steve Harling and Eleanor Thomas in 24th place overall.
Looking to the future of the sport the first of the sponsored NSSA entries were April Whitley and Hazel Newport posting a 31st is this highly competitive fleet.
The Rooster Endeavour award was won by Karen Hiles and John Hodge.
The sun shone on us today, hopefully the wind will come to join us tomorrow.
Results after Day 1:
| Pos | Boat Name | Sail No | Gleet | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | Messy Monty | 3776 | Gold | Nick Craig | Alan Roberts | Frensham Pond | 1 | 1 |
| 2nd | Red Mistress | 3759 | Gold | Sam Pascoe | Megan Pascoe | Castle Cove | 2 | 2 |
| 3rd | The Oldie | 3673 | Gold | Caroline Croft | Matt Lullham‑Robinson | Bartley | 3 | 3 |
| 4th | Keyser Soze | 3684 | Gold | Andy Davies | Alex Warren | Bartley | 4 | 4 |
| 5th | Quick Fix | 3691 | Gold | Mike Calvert | Jane Calvert | Axe | 5 | 5 |
| 6th | Oakey Dokey | 3712 | Gold | Ian Sharps | Ellie Sharps | Burghfield | 6 | 6 |
| 7th | Panther | 3774 | Gold | Jon Turner | Richard Parslow | Lyme Regis | 7 | 7 |
| 8th | Wild At Heart | 3709 | Gold | Tom Gillard | Tom Lonsdale | Sheffield Viking | 8 | 8 |
| 9th | Robert | 3756 | Gold | Will Warren | Mark Oakey | Shoreham | 9 | 9 |
| 10th | Mockingjay | 3777 | Gold | Simon Potts | Pippa Taylor | Burghfield | 10 | 10 |
| 11th | Quicksilver | 3787 | Silver | Chris Martin | Oliver Maclean | Midland | 11 | 11 |
| 12th | | 3786 | Gold | Dave Wade | Rachel Rhodes | Northampton | 12 | 12 |
| 13th | Sylvia | 3711 | Silver | Sam Thompson | Keri Harris | RNSA | 13 | 13 |
| 14th | Shiny | 3770 | Gold | David Hayes | Jonny Ratcliffe | Hayling Island | 14 | 14 |
| 15th | Peer Pressure | 3778 | Gold | Chris Gould | Chris Kilsby | Midland | 15 | 15 |
| 16th | Why Ask | 3740 | Silver | Patrick Blake | Jilly Blake | Cookham Reach | 16 | 16 |
| 17th | Bazinga | 3758 | Gold | Tim Saxton | Jodie Green | Grafham Water | 17 | 17 |
| 18th | Flaming Fast | 3339 | Silver | Tim Male | Rebecca Male | Blithfield | 18 | 18 |
| 19th | The Angels Share | 3779 | Silver | Dave Lee | Juliet Pealing | Starcross | 19 | 19 |
| 20th | The Force Awakens | 3781 | Gold | Dave Winder | Oliver Winder | Hollingworth | 20 | 20 |
| 21st | Point N Squirt | 3746 | Gold | Dan Willett | Pete Nicholson | Brightlingsea | 21 | 21 |
| 22nd | Bernard | 3658 | Gold | Chris Jennings | Pete Horn | Burghfield | 22 | 22 |
| 23rd | Arbuckle | 3760 | Silver | Mark Reddington | Colin Staite | Bartley | 23 | 23 |
| 24th | Duck and Dive | 3713 | Bronze | Steve Harling | Eleanor Thomas | Starcross | 24 | 24 |
| 25th | The Black Boat | 3734 | Bronze | Phil Ashworth | Alison Ashworth | Weymouth | 25 | 25 |
| 26th | Back to the Future | 3583 | Bronze | Ben Eaves | Sean Anderson | Redditch | 26 | 26 |
| 27th | Point Break | 3625 | Bronze | Richard Bramley | John Donoghue | Shoreham | 27 | 27 |
| 28th | Three Dee | 3765 | Silver | Richard Dee | Justin Healey | Midland | 28 | 28 |
| 29th | Strung Along | 3784 | Silver | Mark Barwell | Louise Johnson | Lymington Town | 29 | 29 |
| 30th | Pointer | 3790 | Silver | Colin Brockbank | Martin Hughes | Wembley | 30 | 30 |
| 31st | Out of the Blue 2 | 3557 | Bronze | April Whiteley | Hazel Newport | NSSA | 31 | 31 |
| 32nd | Wizard in Blue | 3449 | Bronze | Carl Whitehill | Samuel Whitehill | RYA | 32 | 32 |
| 33rd | Dark N Stormy | 3619 | Bronze | Guy Browne | Andy Hunter | Trent Valley | 33 | 33 |
| 34th | Never Been to Salcombe | 3582 | Bronze | George Colcomb | Angus Kirk | NSSA | 34 | 34 |
| 35th | Born to be Willd | 3783 | Bronze | Miles James | Colin Simmonds | Pwllheli | 35 | 35 |
| 36th | Light Fantastic | 3555 | Silver | James Cokayne | William Gould | NSSA | 36 | 36 |
| 37th | Loosed Cannon | 3655 | Bronze | Karen Hiles | John Hodge | Shoreham | 37 | 37 |
| 38th | Smoked Salmon | 3518 | Bronze | Julian Harms | Timothy Harms | Midland | DNS [41] | 41 |
Further details at merlinrocketchamps.com