Merlin Rocket Midland Circuit at Bartley Sailing Club

by Martin Mcfly 24 Apr 2012 09:29 BST 22 April 2012

17 boats gathered at Bartley SC to take part in the first Merlin open to be held there in a number of years. The clubs fledgling fleet were keen to impress and made us feel most welcome.

PRO Steve Ward, Assisted by Leigh Wilson, set a good course with a hint of port bias to the line. The fleet got away at the first attempt and quickly were down to business. The oscillating westerly breeze was not the easiest to read and in this race was quite strong at times coming through in the the showers.

A three way tussle tussle for first was won by Matt Biggs and Ben Hollis with Rich Adams and Chris Gould second and Simon Potts and John Hackett third.

Race two was after lunch, and by now the wind had dropped slightly and gone round to the north a bit. Once again the line was pin biased, but the right hand side of the course paid with Matt and Ben rounding first and Chris Martin and Tom Dunne on their heels. The race was again won by Matt and Ben, Rich and Chris second and John and Simon emerginf from a tussle with Chris and Tom to take third.

By the time of race three the thunder was starting to rumble and the wind dying rapidly. A postponement was soundd and we went out a few minutes later only to find the wind all over the place. Steve and Leigh were trying their best to lay a square line, though i'm not sure it was quite necessary to ram Simon Potts - I'm sure he'd have moved if asked!! Anyway, the two Ods were facing an impossible task and we got underway eventually on a starboard biased line. Rich and Chris were first round and never challenged, with Chris Jennings and Nix Middleton-Stewart second. Mr reliable for the day was Simon Potts, 3rd again.

Bartley did the Merlins proud putting on a great event at short notice to bring the Midland Circuit back up to 10 events. Prizes were kindly donated by Hartley boats to spend in thier chandlery. Thanks to Mark Reddington, Steve and Leigh for their hard work prior to the day and to everyone who helped behind the scenes. We look forward to returning next year.

Overall Results:

Pos	Helm	Crew	Club	Sail No	R1	R2	R3	Pts
1	Matt Biggs	Ben Hollis	Blithfield SC	3722	1	1	(DNC)	2
2	Rich Adams	Chris Gould	Midland SC	3650	-2	2	1	3
3	Simon Potts	John Hackett	Blithfield SC	3723	-3	3	3	6
4	Chris Jennings	Nix Middleton-Stewart	Burghfield SC	3658	-5	5	2	7
5	Paul Hollis	James Dawes	Blithfield SC	3730	4	-6	4	8
6	Chris Martin	Tom Dunne	Blithfield SC	3583	-7	4	5	9
7	Andy Bownes	Howard Eeles	Bartley SC	3568	-8	7	6	13
8	Mark Reddington	Colin Staite	Bartley SC	3581	6	-9	9	15
9	Colin Anderson	Sean Anderson	Redditch SC	3508	-14	8	7	15
10	Mike Anslow	Andrew Prosser	Midland SC	3674	9	-10	8	17
11	Steve Watson	Phil Scott	Midland SC	3680	-12	12	10	22
12	Mike Whitehouse	Karen Whitehouse	Chelmarsh	3662	11	11	-12	22
13	Martin Smith	Karen Beston	Blithfield SC	3567	10	-14	13	23
14	Andy Beardshaw	Charlie Noakes	Redditch SC	3612	-13	13	11	24
15	Kieron Mason	Belinda Mason	Blithfield SC	3548	(DNF)	16	14	30
16	Ian MacKenzie	Angela MacKenzie	Blithfield SC	3346	-15	15	15	30
17	Ian Laing	Andrew Hunt	Hollingworth Lake	2410	16	17	(DNF)	33