Selden 70th Merlin Rocket Championships at Whitstable

Selden 70th Merlin Rocket Championships at Whitstable - Day 5

by Tim Fells 27 Aug 2015 21:21 BST 22-28 August 2015

Day 5 of the Selden Merlin Rocket Nationals at Whitstable © Nick Champion / www.championmarinephotography.co.uk

Day 5 of the Selden Merlin Rocket Nationals at Whitstable © Alex Cheshire

Thursday was moving day at the Selden Merlin Rocket Nationals. Two races were scheduled including the 'long distance' champagne race, sponsored by Winder Boats. Conditions were perfect with a SW Force 3-5 with sufficient shifts to ensure it was not a one-way track.

Race one started with a pin end biased line and an early left hand shift. Series leaders Tim Fells and Oli Wells were overcome by yellow jersey fever and called it totally wrong to never feature again in the race.

Out in front, the usual suspects of Stu and Tom, Nick and Alan, and Ben and George were soon duking it out for the lead. However, disaster struck for Nick and Alan when their kite halyard jumped the mast sheave and they had to capsize and untie the kite to get it down. They retired from the race to make a repair and with it lost their title chances having been BFD in race one.

This left the battle at the front between the Olympic aspirants and it was the 49er who got the better of the Nacra with Stu and Tom taking the bullet ahead of Ben and George. Olly Turner and Hamish Kilburn sailed an excellent race to take third ahead of Ben and Roz McGrane, Sam and Megan Pascoe and rounding out the top 6, Jasper Barnham and Graham Sexton enjoying their best result of the week.

The second race of the day started with a lot of pin bias and it was Ben and George who again executed a perfect start and were able to extend away into the first left shift and establish a good early lead. Jon Gorringe and Nikki Bass hit the left to follow Ben and George around the first mark, only for Jon in his excitement to jump out of the boat just before the gybe mark.

Day 5 of the Selden Merlin Rocket Nationals at Whitstable - photo © Nick Champion / www.championmarinephotography.co.uk

Nick and Alan took up the chase along with Dave Hayes and Jonny Ratcliffe who were featuring in the leading bunch for the first time this week. Over the next 3 rounds, which provided the best sailing of the week so far with flat out reaches and tactical beats, Stu and Tom pulled through but were unable to get the better of Ben and George in first and Nick and Alan in second.

In fourth, completing a tidy day were Roger Gilbert and James Stewart ahead of the consistent Ben and Roz who jump into second in the overall standings. Dave and Jonny celebrated their sixth place after a disappointing week so far.

Day 5 of the Selden Merlin Rocket Nationals at Whitstable - photo © Nick Champion / www.championmarinephotography.co.uk

Ben and George now take the lead and the yellow jersey, with Andy Dalby and Sally Townend Silver Fleet leaders in 14th and Tim and Rebecca Male heading the Bronze fleet in 44th. The Orange fleet is being dominated by Tim Harridge and Dangerous Dave in a very bright 26th.

The fleet now heads off for a black tie dinner to celebrate our 70th championship with after dinner speaker the legendary Spud Rowsell. Special thanks to Winder Boats for the champagne and HD Sails for supporting the evening entertainment.

Results after Day 5:

Pos	Sail No	Boat Name	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R6	Pts
1	3742	Speed Machine	Ben Saxton	George Yeoman	Grafham Water	2	4	13	2	1	22
2	3739	Dory	Ben McGrane	Roz McGrane	Netley	6	20	3	4	5	38
3	3722	Stealth	Roger Gilbert	James Stewart	Frensham Pond	9	14	4	10	4	41
4	3759	Red Mistress	Sam Pascoe	Megan Pascoe	Castle Cove	5	10	7	5	14	41
5	3764	Fancy Liquor	Tim Fells	Oli Wells	Salcombe	3	6	5	18	11	43
6	3753	Appetite for destruction	Simon Potts	Luke Shaw	Burghfield	4	8	11	13	7	43
7	3707	Monkey Business	Alex Jackson	Phil Dalby	Hampton	12	16	8	8	12	56
8	3673		Chris Gould	Sam Barker	Midland	13	3	10	9	22	57
9	3658	Bernard	Chris Jennings	Pete Horn	Burghfield	1	35	6	7	20	69
10	3770	Shiny	David Hayes	Jonny Ratcliffe	Hayling Island	14	15	16	19	6	70
11	3743	Pokin the Turtle	Matt Biggs	John Hackett	Blithfield	8	1	25	15	25	74
12	3756	Robert	William Warren	Mark Okey	Shoreham	15	13	9	16	21	74
13	3752	The Empire Strikes Back	Will Rainey	Andy Douglas	Shoreham	28	24	14	14	16	96
14	3766	The Bear	Andy Dalby	Sally Townend	Hampton	17	7	37	20	17	98
15	3656	Wild Card	Olly Turner	Hamish Kilburn	Salcombe	BFD	2	15	3	9	101
16	3774	Panther	Jon Turner	Richard Parslow	Lyme Regis	27	12	12	35	15	101
17	3676	Hot Totty	Tim Harrison	Frances Gifford	Ranelagh	25	9	22	22	24	102
18	3758	Bazinga	Jasper Barnham	Graham Sexton	Snettisham Beach	BFD	21	19	6	8	126
19	3763	Dancing Brave	Mark Barnes	Phillippa Daniels	WYC	22	11	36	28	32	129
20	3657	Revolution	Caroline Croft	Rhos Hawes	RYA	11	42	24	27	26	130
21	3685	The Black Pearl	Sophie Mackley	James Warren	Shoreham	16	31	26	30	27	130
22	3539	Gangstar Paradise	Dan Alsop	Jennie King	Lyme Regis	10	18	44	37	28	137
23	3712	Okey Dokey	Ian Sharps	Ally Martin	Burghfield	BFD	17	20	23	13	145
24	3709	Wild at Heart	Tom Lonsdale	Ben Hollis	Upper Thames	21	54	29	25	19	148
25	3775	Night Fury	Stuart Bithell	Tom Pygall		DNS	DNC	1	1	3	149
26	3690	General Lee	Tim Harridge	David Reid	Hampton	33	55	32	11	18	149
27	3754	Didley Pokey	Jon Gorringe	Nicola Bass	Parkstone	BFD	34	18	17	10	151
28	3749	Stanley	Nick Craig	Alan Roberts	Frensham & Burghfield	BFD	5	2	DNC	2	153
29	3641	Puff the magic dragon	Mark Waterhouse	Mat Currell	Parkstone	24	19	42	38	31	154
30	3645	Blue Velvet	Steve Hall	Simon Haighton	Burnham	32	25	23	54	23	157
31	3746	Point‑n‑Squirt	Dan Willett	Pete Nicholson	Brighlingsea	23	26	21	21	RET	163
32	3768	Boat name	Rob Cage	Hattie Cage	Thames	19	22	41	43	42	167
33	3651	Jupiter	Colin Brockbank	Charlotte Cotter	Wembley	29	28	33	42	36	168
34	3773	No 34	Alan Warren	Bill Carroll	Shoreham	35	45	28	24	41	173
35	3684	Keyser Soze	Andy Davis	Alex Warren	Blithfield	7	RET	17	12	RET	180
36	3740	Why Ask	Pat Blake	Jilly Blake	Cookham Reach	18	44	RET	26	30	190
37	3765	Three Dee	Dickie Dee	Phil Scott	Midland	46	29	47	34	34	190
38	3731	Mayhem	Andy Jones	Maddie Jones	Burghfield	42	36	35	40	37	190
39	3772	Velella	Phil Emery	Karen Emery	WYC	38	51	40	33	33	195
40	3751	Strings Attached	Mark Barwell	Louise Johnson	Lymington town	34	40	38	39	44	195
41	3675	White Saucerer	Mike Fenwick	Penny Fenwick	Weymouth	26	32	39	50	50	197
42	3735	Clones Wars	Julian Parry	Bekka Jones	Hollingworth	BFD	27	34	32	35	200
43	3564	Avalon Sunset	Rob Kennaugh	Abi Spurr	Midland	30	43	27	29	DNS	201
44	3547	Moon Dance Assassin	Tim Male	Rebecca Male	Blithfield	37	23	51	51	49	211
45	3730	Blood Sweat and Beers	Paul Hollis	Liese Scott	Blithfield	36	60	48	41	38	223
46	3683	Bluebird	Ben Jones	Helen Hilditch	Shoreham	41	47	50	44	46	228
47	3771	Skip	Laurie Smart	Richard Pausey	Upper Thames	43	50	RET	31	39	235
48	3767	One Love	Sam Thompson	Ben Archer	Parkstone	BFD	37	31	DNC	29	241
49	3692	Nemo	Steve Mitchell	Julie Nuttall	WYC	31	39	RET	59	40	241
50	3672	Bola Bola	John Cooper	Hilary Bradshaw	WYC	20	30	49	DNS	DNS	243
51	3744	Mylo Xyloto	Chris Martin	Joe Tosh	Midland	BFD	53	30	46	45	246
52	3719	Fluff n Stuff	Jeremy Deacon	Alex Pausey	Cookham Reach	40	38	53	48	DNS	251
53	3734	The Black Boat	Philip Ashworth	Alison Ashworth	Weymouth	45	52	54	57	43	251
54	3648	Bang Tidy	Antonio Wright	Jamie Wright	Shoreham	44	49	43	45	RET	253
55	3653	Artemis	Andy Chapman	Melissa Chapman	Netley	39	33	RET	52	RET	268
56	3697	Too Dark‑n‑Stormy	Richard Page	Peter Page	Hampton	48	56	45	49	RET	270
57	3644	Marlene	Jonathan Bloice	Philippa Bloice	WYC	54	63	55	55	47	274
58	3518	Smoke Salmon	Julian Harms	Timothy Harms	Midland	47	41	RET	53	RET	285
59	3625	Point Break	Richard Bramley	Leanne Hibberd	Shoreham	51	62	RET	56	48	289
60	3706	Monkey Puzzle	Charles Anderson	Ani Ridley	Hampton	49	46	52	RET	DNS	291
61	3574	Holy Grail	John Donoghue	David Collier	Sully	52	59	56	58	RET	297
62	3624	Stab in the Dark	Phil Mason	Jamie Mason	Blithfield	50	RET	RET	36	RET	302
63	3769	Disciple	Graham Cranford‑Smith	Fiona Cranford‑Smith	Salcombe	BFD	48	46	RET	DNS	310
64	3463	Smoke on the water	Abbey Zambinski	Donna Hender	WYC	BFD	57	RET	60	51	312
65	3319	Absolute Madness	Richard Ledger	Tom Bruton	WYC	53	61	57	RET	RET	315
66	3607	The Fifth Element	Mark Bugler	Rimer Bugler	Weymouth	RET	58	RET	47	RET	321
67	3555	Light Fantastic	Ian Mackenzie	Luke Tucker	Blithfield	55	64	58	RET	DNS	321
68	3402	Hot Goblin	Issie Bruton	Tom Bruton	WYC	56	65	RET	RET	DNS	337
69	3424	Purple Hayes	Mark Fagg	Ian Hender	WYC	57	RET	RET	RET	DNS	345
70=	3315	Herbie	Richard Davies	Ian Wild	WYC	DNS	DNC	DNC	DNS	RET	360
70=	3351	Gnome	John Boorman	Paul Fincham	WYC	RET	DNC	DNC	RET	DNS	360