Craftinsure Merlin Rocket Silver Tiller at Chichester Yacht Club

by Graham Williamson 28 Mar 2012 12:15 BST 24 March 2012

Merlin Rocket Silver Tiller at Chichester © Ian Payne

Spring at Chichester Harbour: a beautiful day in a beautiful place. Nick Colborne, PRO, is concerned at how slowly the spring tide is filling Chichester Lake; the high pressure of the last few days has kept the water level down – 10mm per millibar. We are educated....

Nature takes its course, and with only a short delay to ensure water across the whole course Race One begins in a gentle Eastish breeze. Three boats quickly form a breakaway group; ‘Faithless’ Richard Whitworth & Sarah, the Monkey Business boys Si Blake & Alex Jackson and Matt Biggs & Ben Hollis in Stealth. Snakes & ladders ensue when Monkey Business takes the lead and Stealth & Faithless swap places before settling on Blake 1, Whitworth 2 and Biggs 3. The following pack is lead by ‘Miss Aigletinger’ (David & Fiona Sayce) ahead of plenty of other Merlin Rocket names.

Race Two: breeze is building slightly with the rising tide. The Monkey Business boys again hit the front at the first mark ahead of the White Saucererer Nick Craig & James Stewart. Stealth found a nice line of breeze to overtake Metachrosis (Colin Smith & Graham Williamson) on the run and these four held their positions to the finish, ahead of Quick Fix (Mike Calvert & Ian Garwood).

Race Three: tide now on the ebb causing some compression at the committee boat. Lots of shouting and Quick Fix going round the end to restart. Faithless and Metachrosis lead the breakaway with Dan Willett and Pete Nicholson in pursuit ahead of local boat Sublime (Martin & Vicky Jones).

Final outcome: win for Monkey Business 3707 (Shoreham SC), 2nd for Faithless 3703 (Parkstone YC), 3rd to Metachrosis 3736 (Hayling Island SC).

A brilliant day’s sailing; proper regatta tea with cake, scones and everything! Thanks to all at Chichester for a warm welcome and a very well run event, and to Craftinsure for sponsoring the Silver Tiller circuit.

Overall Results:

Pos	Boat Name	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	Pts
1st	Spank	3707	Simon Blake	Alex Jackson	Shoreham S.C.	1	1	-6	2
2nd	Faithless	3703	Richard Whitworth	Sarah	P.Y.C.	2	-10	1	3
3rd	Meta Chrosis	3736	Colin Smith	Graham Williamson	Hayling Island SC	-10	4	2	6
4th	Stealth	3722	Matt Biggs	Ben Hollis	Blithfield	3	3	-5	6
5th	Team Gill	3675	Nick Craig	James Stewart	Frensham Pond	8	2	-12	10
6th	Quick Fix	3691	Mike Calvert	Ian Garwood	Axe Y.C.	5	5	-7	10
7th	Miss Aigletinger	3718	David Sayce	Fiona Sayce	Hayling Island SC	4	7	-11	11
8th	Sublime	3724	Martin Jones	Vicky Jones	C.Y.C.	-15	8	4	12
9th	The Black Pearl	3685	Will Warren	Sophie Mackley	Shoreham S.C.	7	6	-9	13
10th	Gangsta Paradise	3539	Dan Alsop	Jennie King	Lyme Regis	6	-14	8	14
11th	Smarter	3627	Dan Willett	Pete Nicholson	Brightlingsea S.C.	-13	12	3	15
12th	Slippery When Wet	3693	Will Rainey	Kelly Miller	Shoreham S.C.	-11	9	10	19
13th	Blood Sweat & Beers	3730	Paul Hollis	James Davis	Blithfield	9	11	-16	20
14th	Truly Scrumptious	3715	Paul Rayson	Nick Yannakoyorgos	Fishers Green S.C.	12	-16	14	26
15th	Cool Cookie	3620	Andy Bines	Derick Gentry	Brightlingsea S.C.	14	-15	13	27
16th	FluffBum Baby Lover	3719	Mike Partridge	Claire Davis	Hayling Island SC	(DNF)	13	17	30
17th	Volsci Queen	3728	Judith Massey	Ceilidh Higgs	Hayling Island SC	16	-18	15	31
18th	Make It So	3556	Alex Jones	Jack Deung	Cookham Reach S.C.	17	17	-19	34
19th	Ministry of Pleasure	3634	Ben Archer	W Carroll	P.Y.C.	18	-19	18	36
20th	Armed Forces	3442	Chris Iles	Kathy Iles	Locks Portsmouth	19	20	-21	39
21st	Point Break	3625	Richard Bramley	Tony Cheal	Shoreham S.C.	20	-21	20	40