Aspire 72nd Merlin Rocket Championship at Pwllheli - Day 4
by Chris Martin 16 Aug 2017 18:10 BST
12-18 August 2017
HD Wednesday of the Aspire Merlin Rocket Nationals saw two races scheduled. Most in the dinghy park considered even one race to be optimistic given the forecast, the race team brought the start time forward by two hours in an attempt to give us a chance of getting a race in before the predicted Armageddon in the afternoon.
In much the same way as Monday the sea state was our enemy rather than the breeze. The committee boat radioed back that we had 20-22 knots from 170 degrees, which is well within our guidelines. Flag delta was hoisted and off we went! Launching proved something of challenge in the low tide with a reasonably long wade before pushing off.
Once out there it was clearly going to be hard work. Several boats capsized before warning signal and several of those headed back ashore. The race team started the sequence on time and the race got away again at the first attempt.
William Warren and Mark Oakey rounded first and took to the water shortly afterwards. Andy Davies and Alex Warren took up the mantle before taking to the water after falling off a wave – not an uncommon issue today! Nick Craig and Alan Roberts came through to take the lead after re-rigging their spinnaker on the first run. They held their lead though until the end and took yet another win. Dave Hayes and Jonny Ratcliffe had an excellent race to come in second with Sam and Megan Pascoe taking third.
It had been pretty clear from the second lap that a second race was highly unlikely and most competitors were relieved to see AP over H on the committee boat at the finish line. The conditions had reached 24 knots and the sea state was getting more and more messy as time went on.
Dave Lee and Juliet Pealing took the Silver fleet with a 14th and Guy Browne and Andy Hunter won the Bronze fleet race.
Special mention to Sam Thompson and Keri Harris who managed to sail ashore from just after the windward mark with the rudder and half the transom in the boat after hitting a jellyfish.
Three races are now scheduled for Thursday with another rather iffy forecast for Friday.
Results after Day 4:
Pos | Boat Name | Sail No | Fleet | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Pts |
1st | Messy Monty | 3776 | Gold | Nick Craig | Alan Roberts | Frensham Pond | 1 | 1 | ‑2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
2nd | Keyser Soze | 3684 | Gold | Andy Davies | Alex Warren | Bartley | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | ‑12 | 10 |
3rd | Peer Pressure | 3778 | Gold | Chris Gould | Chris Kilsby | Midland | ‑15 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 17 |
4th | Red Mistress | 3759 | Gold | Sam Pascoe | Megan Pascoe | Castle Cove | 2 | (ARB [18]) | 4 | 9 | 3 | 18 |
5th | Shiny | 3770 | Gold | David Hayes | Jonny Ratcliffe | Hayling Island | ‑14 | 5 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 20 |
6th | Bernard | 3658 | Gold | Chris Jennings | Pete Horn | Burghfield | ‑22 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 22 |
7th | Wild At Heart | 3709 | Gold | Tom Gillard | Tom Lonsdale | Sheffield Viking | ‑8 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 24 |
8th | Mockingjay | 3777 | Gold | Simon Potts | Pippa Taylor | Burghfield | ‑10 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 28 |
9th | Quick Fix | 3691 | Gold | Mike Calvert | Jane Calvert | Axe | 5 | ‑15 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 36 |
10th | Oakey Dokey | 3712 | Gold | Ian Sharps | Ellie Sharps | Burghfield | 6 | 10 | ‑16 | 14 | 6 | 36 |
11th | Bazinga | 3758 | Gold | Tim Saxton | Jodie Green | Grafham Water | ‑17 | 8 | 8 | 13 | 8 | 37 |
12th | Robert | 3756 | Gold | Will Warren | Mark Oakey | Shoreham | 9 | 11 | ‑14 | 7 | 13 | 40 |
13th | The Oldie | 3673 | Gold | Caroline Croft | Matt Lullham‑Robinson | Bartley | 3 | 13 | 10 | ‑17 | 15 | 41 |
14th | Panther | 3774 | Gold | Jon Turner | Richard Parslow | Lyme Regis | 7 | 12 | ‑17 | 16 | 10 | 45 |
15th | | 3786 | Gold | Dave Wade | Rachel Rhodes | Northampton | 12 | 17 | 12 | 10 | (DNF [39]) | 51 |
16th | The Force Awakens | 3781 | Gold | Dave Winder | Oliver Winder | Hollingworth | 20 | 14 | 18 | 12 | (DNF [39]) | 64 |
17th | Point N Squirt | 3746 | Gold | Dan Willett | Pete Nicholson | Brightlingsea | ‑21 | 16 | 13 | 19 | 16 | 64 |
18th | Strung Along | 3784 | Silver | Mark Barwell | Louise Johnson | Lymington Town | ‑29 | 18 | 15 | 15 | 18 | 66 |
19th | Quicksilver | 3787 | Silver | Chris Martin | Oliver Maclean | Midland | 11 | 22 | ‑23 | 22 | 17 | 72 |
20th | The Angels Share | 3779 | Silver | Dave Lee | Juliet Pealing | Starcross | 19 | 24 | 20 | ‑26 | 14 | 77 |
21st | Why Ask | 3740 | Silver | Patrick Blake | Jilly Blake | Cookham Reach | 16 | 21 | ‑22 | 20 | 20 | 77 |
22nd | Arbuckle | 3760 | Silver | Mark Reddington | Colin Staite | Bartley | 23 | ‑28 | 24 | 23 | 19 | 89 |
23rd | Pointer | 3790 | Silver | Colin Brockbank | Martin Hughes | Wembley | 30 | 23 | 19 | 18 | (DNC [39]) | 90 |
24th | Sylvia | 3711 | Silver | Sam Thompson | Keri Harris | RNSA | 13 | 19 | 21 | (DSQ [39]) | DNF [39] | 92 |
25th | Three Dee | 3765 | Silver | Richard Dee | Justin Healey | Midland | 28 | 20 | 25 | 21 | (DNC [39]) | 94 |
26th | The Black Boat | 3734 | Bronze | Phil Ashworth | Alison Ashworth | Weymouth | 25 | 29 | ‑30 | 25 | 22 | 101 |
27th | Back to the Future | 3583 | Bronze | Ben Eaves | Sean Anderson | Redditch | 26 | 25 | 26 | 24 | (DNS [39]) | 101 |
28th | Flaming Fast | 3339 | Silver | Tim Male | Rebecca Male | Blithfield | 18 | 26 | 27 | (BFD [39]) | DNC [39] | 110 |
29th | Duck and Dive | 3713 | Bronze | Steve Harling | Eleanor Thomas | Starcross | 24 | 30 | 31 | 27 | (DNC [39]) | 112 |
30th | Dark N Stormy | 3619 | Bronze | Guy Browne | Andy Hunter | Trent Valley | 33 | 34 | ‑35 | 28 | 21 | 116 |
31st | Smoked Salmon | 3518 | Bronze | Julian Harms | Timothy Harms | Midland | (DNS [39]) | 27 | 28 | 29 | DNC [39] | 123 |
32nd | Point Break | 3625 | Bronze | Richard Bramley | John Donoghue | Shoreham | 27 | 32 | 34 | 30 | (UFD [39]) | 123 |
33rd | Out of the Blue 2 | 3557 | Bronze | April Whiteley | Hazel Newport | NSSA | 31 | 33 | 32 | 32 | (RET [39]) | 128 |
34th | Never Been to Salcombe | 3582 | Bronze | George Colcomb | Angus Kirk | NSSA | 34 | 35 | 33 | 31 | (DNS [39]) | 133 |
35th | Light Fantastic | 3555 | Silver | James Cokayne | William Gould | NSSA | 36 | 31 | 29 | (DNS [39]) | DNC [39] | 135 |
36th | Wizard in Blue | 3449 | Bronze | Carl Whitehill | Samuel Whitehill | RYA | 32 | (DNC [39]) | 36 | RET [39] | DNC [39] | 146 |
37th | Born to be Willd | 3783 | Bronze | Miles James | Colin Simmonds | Pwllheli | 35 | (DNF [39]) | DNS [39] | DNC [39] | DNC [39] | 152 |
38th | Loosed Cannon | 3655 | Bronze | Karen Hiles | John Hodge | Shoreham | 37 | (DNC [39]) | DNC [39] | DNC [39] | DNC [39] | 154 |
Further details at merlinrocketchamps.com