Merlin Rocket Open Meeting at Ranelagh Sailing Club

by Chris Whitehouse 2 Mar 2010 09:06 GMT 28 February 2010

The first Silver Tiller open meeting of the season, hosted by Ranelagh SC, was held on a blustery river Thames. The Thames Barrier had been shut, allowing 22 enthusiastic boats – representing 9 clubs – a competitive sail in the comparatively slack tidal stream.

After a brief postponement to allow the rowing eights to clear the race track, the officer of the day – Margaret Stokes – got the fleet away first time. Quickest out of the blocks were the Dalby brothers sailing the ‘General Lee’ who led the fleet up river towards Hammersmith Bridge. However, by the first turn at Crabtree, it was Matt Biggs and Ben Hollis in ‘Two Pints of Lager’ who had seized the initiative.

These two sailed impeccably, stretching out their lead at the front of the fleet for the remainder of the race to record a comfortable victory.

Those further down the order found the racing a little trickier. There was some impressive tactical duelling for the places from 2nd to 5th – with Duncan Salmon and Ian Garwood sailing ‘Salmon en Croute’ eventually taking the runners up spot and Alex Jackson and Chris Downham in ‘Monkey Business’ finishing third.

The rest of the fleet were kept on their toes by the gusts rolling down the Middlesex bank. A few were caught out – taking impromptu dips. The five Ranelagh boats enjoyed plenty of jostling for position, with Phil Plumtree and Liam Dempsey sailing ‘Shenandoah’ achieving home honours in eighth place.

The meeting was rounded off with beef stew and chocolate brownie/ice cream dessert in the club house. A good time was had by all.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	BOAT	HELM	CREW	CLUB	Round 1 Pos	Round 2 Pos	Round 3Pos	Round 4 Pos	Finish Pos
1	3705	Two Pints of Lager	Matt Biggs	Ben Hollis	Blithfield SC	1	1	1	1	1
2	3702	Salmon en Croute	Duncan Salmon	Ian Garwood	Wembley SC	4	4	4	2	2
3	3707	Monkey	Alex Jackson	Chris Downham	Shoreham	5	5	5	3	3
4	3690	General Lee	Andy Dalby	Phil Dalby	Hampton SC	2	2	3	5	4
5	3649	Millie	Andy Harris	Fran Gifford	Ranelagh SC	3	3	2	4	5
6	3563	-	Paul Hollis	Richard Elliott	Blithfield SC	6	6	6	6	6
7	3650	Headcase	Laurence Tosh	A Maddison	Banbury	8	7	7	7	7
8	1631	Shenandoah	Phil Plumtree	Liam Dempsey	Ranelagh SC	7	8	8	8	8
9	3583	Back to the Future	Chris Martin	Ben Hendon	Blithfield SC	9	10	10	9	9
10	3571	Hakuna Matata	Andy Jones	Maddie Jones	Parkstone	11	9	9	10	10
11	3637	Delirium	Alan Broadbent	Russell Hall	Wembley SC	13	12	11	12	11
12	3555	Light Fantastic	Tim Harridge	Ben Harridge	Hampton SC	10	11	12	11	12
13	3480	Sweet Inspiration	Jon Steward	Nick Yannakoryogos	Wembley SC	12	14	13	11	13
14	3599	Harry	Ken Duffell	Brian Corking	Tamesis	19	18	14	14	14
15	3288	Atlantis	Christopher Edwards	Rachel Morris	Ranelagh SC	15	17	16	16	15
16	1993	Joker	Ellie Bremer	Chris Whitehouse	Ranelagh SC	16	15	15	15	16
17	3368	Urban Warrior	Mark Smith	Jemma Horwood	Wembley SC	21	21	20	18	17
18	2444	Scoobeedoo	Thomas Stolper	Anton Stolper	Ranelagh SC	20	20	19	17	18
19	2406	Merlin's Moon	Chris Gould	Sophie Pickford	Ranelagh SC	17	16	21	19	19
20	3579	Mango Tango	Chas Morgan	Richard Mourant	Tamesis	18	19	18	20	20
Rtd	3697	Too Dark n Stormy	Richard Page	?	Hampton SC	14	13	17	Rtd	Rtd