Aspire 72nd Merlin Rocket Championship at Pwllheli - Day 3
by Chris Martin 15 Aug 2017 23:17 BST
12-18 August 2017
Rooster kit Tuesday of the Aspire Merlin Rocket championships was run in champagne, if slightly tricky, conditions. Three races were scheduled to get us back on timetable ahead of what look to be marginal conditions on Wednesday.
The three races took place in a force three/four and enough swell to make gains if used correctly. It was a bit snakes and ladders in all races with tidal issues also influencing which way to go as the ebb got stronger and then faded away towards low water.
"Outsiders" Nick Craig and Alan Roberts have clearly been riled by my assessment of their chances in the event preview and have recorded a further two wins to plant themselves firmly at the top of leader board at this pre-discard stage. Andy Davies and Alex Warren are a firm second with a pretty consistent scoreline and recording a win in race two today. Lying third are another wild card pairing, Tom Gillard and Tom Lonsdale who are also putting together a decent scorecard though the two leaders have a good cushion before discards.
Further down in the Silver fleet Mark Barwell and Lou Johnson have put in three impressive performances to take the jerseys into tomorrow. Ben Eaves and Sean Anderson have powered the well seasoned Back to the Future to the head of the Bronze fleet in their first championships.
Of the three NSSA entries the lady team of April Whitely and Hazel Newport are still ahead of their rivals, and one or two far more experienced teams.
With the weather tomorrow looking marginal at best. the start has been brought forward two hours to give us the best possible chance of getting a race in.
All to play for throughout the fleet at the halfway stage!
More Andy Green / www.greenseaphotography.co.uk photos can be found here.
Results after Day 3:
| Pos | Boat Name | Sail No | Fleet | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | Messy Monty | 3776 | Gold | Nick Craig | Alan Roberts | Frensham Pond | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| 2nd | Keyser Soze | 3684 | Gold | Andy Davies | Alex Warren | Bartley | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 10 |
| 3rd | Wild At Heart | 3709 | Gold | Tom Gillard | Tom Lonsdale | Sheffield Viking | 8 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 25 |
| 4th | Peer Pressure | 3778 | Gold | Chris Gould | Chris Kilsby | Midland | 15 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 28 |
| 5th | Shiny | 3770 | Gold | David Hayes | Jonny Ratcliffe | Hayling Island | 14 | 5 | 11 | 2 | 32 |
| 6th | Red Mistress | 3759 | Gold | Sam Pascoe | Megan Pascoe | Castle Cove | 2 | ARB [18] | 4 | 9 | 33 |
| 7th | Mockingjay | 3777 | Gold | Simon Potts | Pippa Taylor | Burghfield | 10 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 33 |
| 8th | Bernard | 3658 | Gold | Chris Jennings | Pete Horn | Burghfield | 22 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 35 |
| 9th | Quick Fix | 3691 | Gold | Mike Calvert | Jane Calvert | Axe | 5 | 15 | 9 | 11 | 40 |
| 10th | Robert | 3756 | Gold | Will Warren | Mark Oakey | Shoreham | 9 | 11 | 14 | 7 | 41 |
| 11th | The Oldie | 3673 | Gold | Caroline Croft | Matt Lullham‑Robinson | Bartley | 3 | 13 | 10 | 17 | 43 |
| 12th | Oakey Dokey | 3712 | Gold | Ian Sharps | Ellie Sharps | Burghfield | 6 | 10 | 16 | 14 | 46 |
| 13th | Bazinga | 3758 | Gold | Tim Saxton | Jodie Green | Grafham Water | 17 | 8 | 8 | 13 | 46 |
| 14th | | 3786 | Gold | Dave Wade | Rachel Rhodes | Northampton | 12 | 17 | 12 | 10 | 51 |
| 15th | Panther | 3774 | Gold | Jon Turner | Richard Parslow | Lyme Regis | 7 | 12 | 17 | 16 | 52 |
| 16th | The Force Awakens | 3781 | Gold | Dave Winder | Oliver Winder | Hollingworth | 20 | 14 | 18 | 12 | 64 |
| 17th | Point N Squirt | 3746 | Gold | Dan Willett | Pete Nicholson | Brightlingsea | 21 | 16 | 13 | 19 | 69 |
| 18th | Strung Along | 3784 | Silver | Mark Barwell | Louise Johnson | Lymington Town | 29 | 18 | 15 | 15 | 77 |
| 19th | Quicksilver | 3787 | Silver | Chris Martin | Oliver Maclean | Midland | 11 | 22 | 23 | 22 | 78 |
| 20th | Why Ask | 3740 | Silver | Patrick Blake | Jilly Blake | Cookham Reach | 16 | 21 | 22 | 20 | 79 |
| 21st | The Angels Share | 3779 | Silver | Dave Lee | Juliet Pealing | Starcross | 19 | 24 | 20 | 26 | 89 |
| 22nd | Pointer | 3790 | Silver | Colin Brockbank | Martin Hughes | Wembley | 30 | 23 | 19 | 18 | 90 |
| 23rd | Sylvia | 3711 | Silver | Sam Thompson | Keri Harris | RNSA | 13 | 19 | 21 | DSQ [39] | 92 |
| 24th | Three Dee | 3765 | Silver | Richard Dee | Justin Healey | Midland | 28 | 20 | 25 | 21 | 94 |
| 25th | Arbuckle | 3760 | Silver | Mark Reddington | Colin Staite | Bartley | 23 | 28 | 24 | 23 | 98 |
| 26th | Back to the Future | 3583 | Bronze | Ben Eaves | Sean Anderson | Redditch | 26 | 25 | 26 | 24 | 101 |
| 27th | The Black Boat | 3734 | Bronze | Phil Ashworth | Alison Ashworth | Weymouth | 25 | 29 | 30 | 25 | 109 |
| 28th | Flaming Fast | 3339 | Silver | Tim Male | Rebecca Male | Blithfield | 18 | 26 | 27 | BFD [39] | 110 |
| 29th | Duck and Dive | 3713 | Bronze | Steve Harling | Eleanor Thomas | Starcross | 24 | 30 | 31 | 27 | 112 |
| 30th | Smoked Salmon | 3518 | Bronze | Julian Harms | Timothy Harms | Midland | DNS [39] | 27 | 28 | 29 | 123 |
| 31st | Point Break | 3625 | Bronze | Richard Bramley | John Donoghue | Shoreham | 27 | 32 | 34 | 30 | 123 |
| 32nd | Out of the Blue 2 | 3557 | Bronze | April Whiteley | Hazel Newport | NSSA | 31 | 33 | 32 | 32 | 128 |
| 33rd | Dark N Stormy | 3619 | Bronze | Guy Browne | Andy Hunter | Trent Valley | 33 | 34 | 35 | 28 | 130 |
| 34th | Never Been to Salcombe | 3582 | Bronze | George Colcomb | Angus Kirk | NSSA | 34 | 35 | 33 | 31 | 133 |
| 35th | Light Fantastic | 3555 | Silver | James Cokayne | William Gould | NSSA | 36 | 31 | 29 | DNS [39] | 135 |
| 36th | Wizard in Blue | 3449 | Bronze | Carl Whitehill | Samuel Whitehill | RYA | 32 | DNC [39] | 36 | RET [39] | 146 |
| 37th | Born to be Willd | 3783 | Bronze | Miles James | Colin Simmonds | Pwllheli | 35 | DNF [39] | DNS [39] | DNC [39] | 152 |
| 38th | Loosed Cannon | 3655 | Bronze | Karen Hiles | John Hodge | Shoreham | 37 | DNC [39] | DNC [39] | DNC [39] | 154 |
Further details at merlinrocketchamps.com