Merlin Rocket Open at Chichester Yacht Club
by David Brecknell 21 Apr 2008 17:27 BST
20 April 2008
The weather brightened up on Sunday, April 20th for the Merlin open meeting at Chichester, with an entry of thirty-one boats from widely-spaced clubs. This was a
Speed Sails Silver Tiller event, with points to be earnt in the "Open Water" category. The wind was still north-easterly, but down to force 3 to 4, and the sun was shining, so that everything felt a good deal more cheerful.
The sailing was close at the head of the fleet, with a good deal of place changing and even the leaders glad of the discard system to get rid of some less good results. The fleet was sent round a fairly convoluted course which gave them an exercise in navigation and a test on most points of sailing!
Matt Biggs and Rob Kennaugh from Blithfield won the first and third races, but fell to sixth in the second, but with the discard system in place they secured first prize and the Nick Yeoman Challenge Trophy.
Tom Steward and Liam Dempsey, from Northampton SC, won the second race, but could only count a seventh, which pushed them down the prize list. Second overall were William Warren and Chris Robinson, who counted two seconds, while Andy Davis and Ellie Bremmer from Chase SC had a second and two thirds.