Merlin Rocket Silver Tiller Open at Salcombe Yacht Club

by David Greening 14 Apr 2015 08:33 BST 11-12 April 2015

Merlin Rocket Silver Tiller at Salcombe 2015 © Margaret Mackley

With forty Merlin Rockets, twenty five Solos and a sixteen strong Handicap fleet, there was plenty to keep the race team busy.

Race officers Simon Ballantine and Dan Bridger gave the Merlins a cruise of the creeks on both mornings, when there was plenty of water in the harbour, but went for the default Gerston Blackstone option on Saturday afternoon and a race around the harbour on a windy Sunday afternoon.

One of the joys of the dinghy racing is the opportunity for Corinthian sailors to compete against the very best simply by turning up, and the Merlin Open benefited from the presence of London 2012 silver medallists Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell racing against each other Stuart Bithell and Katherine Kimber dominated day one, with two bullets, from Chris Gould and Caroline Croft in the morning and Matt Biggs and John Hackett in the afternoon.

Sunday saw a Force 4/5 on day two straight down the estuary and more than a few bleary heads. Luke Patience and Andy "Taxi" Davis established had big lead going to Gerston, but it was Sam and Megan Pascoe who eventually developed a strong lead from Jon Gorringe and Nicky Bass.

Half the fleet decided to give the afternoon race miss after two days of solid racing. Once again Patience and Taxi took the lead at the windward mark only to capsize allowing Alex Jackson and Fran Gifford to take took over the lead. After lots of place changing and capsizing Olly Turner and Hamish Kilburn came through to take a convincing win in an increasing wind from Stuart Bithell.

Overall Results:

Posn	Sail No.	Helm/Crew	R1	R2	R3	R4	Pts
1	3742	Stuart Blithell/Katherine Kimber	1	1	[4]	2	4
2	3754	Jon Gorringe/Nikki Bass	[8]	3	2	4	9
3	3673	Chris Gould/Caroline Croft	2	[6]	3	6	11
4	3759	Sam Pascoe/Megan Pascoe	6	[9]	1	5	12
5	3684	Luke Patience/Andy Davis	4	[8]	5	3	12
6	3656	Olly Turner/Hamish Kilburn	[10]	5	8	1	14
7	3743	Matt Biggs/John Hackett	3	2	13	[39]	18
8	3707	Alex Jackson/Fran Gifford	[11]	4	7	8	19
9	3756	William Warren/Mark Oakey	5	12	11	[31]	28
10	3611	Jen Taylor/Chris Dodds	9	7	[16]	16	32
11	3690	Tim Harridge/Lucy Burn	14	[26]	10	12	36
12	3735	Dave Winder/Pippa Taylor	7	18	[39]	13	38
13	3764	Tim Fells/Oli Wells	17	16	6	[39]	39
14	3685	Sophie Mackley/James Warren	16	[19]	17	7	40
15	3710	Jon Ibbotson/Chris Kilsby	21	[24]	9	11	41
16	3702	Duncan Salmon/Harriet Salmon	[23]	14	15	14	43
17	3694	Steve Tyler/Amy Tyler	18	20	[21]	10	48
18	3744	Chris Martin/Jo Tosh	[27]	21	19	9	49
19	3703	Richard Whitworth/Chloe Brennan	25	13	12	[39]	50
20	3769	Graham Cranford‑smith/Fiona Cranford‑smith	15	25	[39]	15	55
21	3700	Richard Adams	12	34	14	[39]	60
22	3539	Dan Alsop/Jennie King	24	15	22	[39]	61
23	3709	Tom Lonsdale/Alice Markham	13	10	[39]	39	62
24	3580	Mike Mackey/Claire Knight	31	22	20	[39]	73
25	3675	Mike Fenwick/Penny Fenwick	28	29	18	[39]	75
26	3751	Mark Barwell/Louise Johnson	22	27	26	[39]	75
27	3564	Rob Kennaugh/Abi Spurr	19	17	[39]	39	75
28	3730	Paul Hollis/Rebecca Male	26	30	23	[39]	79
29	3765	Richard Dee/Phil Scott	20	23	[39]	39	82
30	3683	Ben Jones/Helen Hilditch	30	31	25	[39]	86
31	3547	Peter Male/Tim Male	29	32	27	[39]	88
32	3749	Christian Birrell/Tom Pygal	[39]	11	39	39	89
33	3566	James Wells/Liz Wells	33	35	24	[39]	92
34	3725	AJ Squire/Laura Squire	32	28	[39]	39	99
35	3561	Keiron O Farrell/Fionn O Farrell	36	33	[39]	31	100
36	3734	Phil Ashworth/Ali Ashworth	34	38	28	[39]	100
37	3451	Jemma Hughes/Philippa Daniels	35	39	[39]	39	113
38	3770	David Hayes/Jonny Ratcliff	[39]	39	39	39	117