Merlin Rocket Open Meeting at Cookham Reach Sailing Club

by Richard Cartwright 24 Apr 2011 22:08 BST 17 April 2011

Whilst the dominating high pressure did nothing for the strength of the wind, it did persuade 29 boats to enter this year’s Craftinsure Silver Tiller event for the Cookham Shield. OOD David Phillips, had no alternative except to postpone the start allowing the competitors more time to prepare for the challenge ahead and enjoy the hospitality of this most welcoming of Thames sailing clubs.

The fleet was split into four flights and finally released from shore for the first race. However such were the conditions 13 boats did not finish. The flight winners were 1079 Passing Cloud – Richard Harris and 1097 Flinkidink – Mike Stephens.

The OOD and his team were given a real challenge throughout the day and for the second race after lunch re-sited the start line. Conditions were still testing, but whilst the wind direction was variable, the strength was definitely improving. As a result only two boats did not finish. 1079 was again a winner with the other start being won by 774 Quiver – Martin Hunter. They were followed by 3702 Salmon en Croute – Duncan Salmon and 1097- Mike Stephens

The safety boat crews were having a pleasant restful time but were brought into action with a dismasting and a bizarre capsize by 3650, Lawrence Tosh crewed by his son Joe. The excuse was that the helm wanted to adjust his racing flag! Despite this, 3650 was still able to take part in the third race.

Race 3 had the most wind of the day with the northerly bias allowing spinnakers to be flown on the downwind leg. The challenge for the OOD was now trying to guess for how long he could keep the race going in the late afternoon when the wind could suddenly fail at any time. The flight winners were 1079 and 774 followed by 1097 and 3702 respectively.

Throughout the day and in each flight there had been close competition with everyone having experienced their own disaster or bit of luck. The final results were very close.

The Peter Flanagan Trophy (kindly donated by his widow, Christine, and to be awarded to the highest placed Cookham boat) was won by 3645 Blue Velvet – Jeremy and Jo Deacon.

The Cookham Shield went to 1079 Passing Cloud – Richard and Harry Harris. Tamesis SC.

Overall Results:

Pos	Boat	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	Pts
1	Passing Cloud	1079	Richard Harris	Harry Harris	Tamesis SC	1	1	1	2
2	Quiver	774	Martin Hunter	Jack Tosh	Upper Thames SC	2	1	1	2
3	Flinkidink	1097	Mike Stephens	Name lost!	Tamesis SC	1	2	2	3
4	Salmon en Croute	3702	Duncan Salmon	Harriet Salmon	Wembley SC	4	2	2	4
5	Shenandoah	3088	Andrew Harris	Francis Gifford	Tamesis SC	2	3	3	5
6	Monkey Business	3707	Alex Jackson	Lady Sadie	Shoreham SC	3	4	4	7
7	Headcase	3650	Lawrence Tosh	Joe Tosh	Banbury SC	3	DNF	4	7
8	Shoestring	1136	Joe McLaughlin	Tom McLaughlin	Tamesis SC	5	5	3	8
9	Blue Velvet	3645	Jeremy Deacon	Joanne Deacon	CRSC	5	3	5	8
10	Needlemakers	3610	Richard Dee	Chris Gould	Midland SC	4	4	DNC	8
11	Light Fantastic	3555	Tim Harridge	The Gray	Hampton SC	8	6	5	11
12	Delirium	3637	Alan Broadbent	Russell Hall	Wembley SC	7	5	7	12
13	Cobra	3465	Graham Webb	Mary Webb	CRSC	DNF	6	6	12
14	Hot Totty	3676	Pat Blake	Jilly Blake	CRSC	DNF	7	6	13
15	Encore Fumee	3371	Paul Dean	Nicki Della Porta	Wembley SC	6	10	8	14
16	Wild Knight	3632	Marcus Robb	Rebecca Roberts	CRSC	DNF	8	7	15
17	Lovebyte	3334	Alex Singleton	Kevin Singleton	CRSC	7	9	10	16
18	Hakuna Matata	3571	Andy Jones	Maddie Jones	Parkstone SC	9	7	DNF	16
19	An Bradan Fease	3535	Anthony Rickaby	Mayuri Shah	Wembley SC	DNF	9	8	17
20	Mornington Crescent	3290	James Hall	Josh Hall	CRSC	DNF	11	9	20
21	Crescendo	607	Berry Ritchie	Sue Harris	Tamesis SC	6	DNC	DNC	22
22	Second Thought	3570	Roy Reuter	Nick Reuter	CRSC	DNF	8	DNC	24
23	Snorter	3627	Dan Willett	Pete Nicholson	Brightlingsea SC	DNF	DNC	DNC	32
23	Midnight Flight	3681	Douglas Maxwell	Nigel Harniman	Wembley SC	DNF	DNC	DNC	32
23	Rioja 'n' Roll	3717	David Charlton	Celia Charlton	Brightlingsea SC	DNF	DNF	DNC	32
23	Tenacious	3456	Martin Evans	Chris Evans	CRSC	DNF	DNC	DNC	32
23	Eureka	3106	Brian Clarke	Nick Wilson	Ranelagh SC	DNF	DNC	DNC	32
23	Die Fledermaus	3344	Clive Evison	Tricia Evison	CRSC	DNF	DNC	DNC	32
23	Summit Fever	3594	Alan Markham	Alice Markham	Upper Thames SC	DNF	DNC	DNC	32