Merlin Rocket Felucca Trophy at Hollingworth Lake Sailing Club

by Graham Knox 7 Oct 2013 16:16 BST 5-6 October 2013

In a closely fought series, David Winder and Pippa Taylor won the Felucca Trophy, HLSC's Merlin Rocket Open in a fleet of 16 boats. This was part of the Craftinsure sponsored Silver Tiller Series. This Trophy had been in the hands of Richard Whitworth for 17 times in past years and it was a daunting prospect for any one to challenge on his former 'home' waters.

The first race did not start well for Richard Whitworth/Alex Warren, David Winder/Pippa Taylor and Julian Parry/Becca Jones as all were noted over the start line. It would be no surprise that these 3 boats were the early leaders. From an indifferent start, Matt Biggs/John Hackett made progress to cross the finish line behind Whitworth and Winder and take the win. Club Commodore, Steve Crook, with Sally Townend, sailed steadily to finish second. The second race, sailed back-to-back, was more orderly at the start apart from Whitworth not getting the best of it. Winder had the early lead of 5 boats braking clear but, by the end of the first lap, it was Biggs in control securing what looked like an unassailable lead. Whitworth, meanwhile, was gaining places. On a downwind leg, Winder closed up on Biggs and it looked as if he might break through to the lead, strongly but unsuccessfully contested. Whitworth picked up some good lifts and stormed into third place with Crook fourth.

After a late lunch, another clear start found three boats quickly clear ahead, Winder, Biggs and Crook in that order. Whitworth had suffered on a downwind leg as he held a windward 'lane'. By the finish, with the wind lightening, Winder had a short lead on Biggs and Whitworth had crept up to third place again ahead of Crook. Veteran Guy Winder, with Ellie Davies, finished fifth well clear of the boats behind. At this stage, the win could go either to Winder or Biggs but Whitworth could not be ignored. The usual Felucca dinner provided the right atmosphere for a good social evening and preparation for the day ahead.

With a modest westerly windstream two races were again scheduled back-to-back. The pressure was on and a general recall resulted. This was a race that Whitworth should have won as he held the lead against the challenge of Winder. At the line however, Winder managed to sneak in by the narrowest of margins, with Crook again sailing steadily for third place and Biggs in fourth. The Race Officer decided to fly the Black Flag for the fifth and final race. This time it was Crook who sailed off the line to quickly gain a large lead by being able to cross the fleet on port. Parry looked nicely placed in second, Whitworth and Winder following as local knowledge gave an advantage of the wind streams. Biggs was lying fifth at the end of the first lap battling with Winder. However, Whitworth now found the magic line to take him up to second and Winder escaped from the battle with Biggs, who then lost out badly on the following downwind leg. Although Whitworth made some impact on Crook's lead, it was insufficient and Winder's third place was enough to take the Trophy by one point from Biggs, who discarded his 7th place in this final race. Crook's win gave him third overall on countback.

David Winder smiled happily backing up afterwards!

Overall Results:

Pos	Boat Name	Sail No	Helm	Crew	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	Pts
1	The Clone Wars	3735	David Winder	Pippa Tayler	(OCS)	2	1	1	3	7
2	Po'kin' The Turtle	3743	Matt Biggs	John Hackett	1	1	2	4	‑7	8
3	Wora	3678	Steve Crook	Sally Townend	2	‑4	4	3	1	10
4	Faithless	3703	Richard Whitworth	Alex Warren	(OCS)	3	3	2	2	10
5	Carbon Foot Print	3716	Steve Leney	Gill Leney	3	7	‑8	7	5	22
6	Daddys Boat	3679	Nick Heginbotham	Becky Simmonds	5	5	‑6	6	6	22
7	Out Of The Blue 2	3557	Guy Winder	Ellie Davis	6	6	5	8	‑9	25
8	Zeno	3659	Julian Parry	Becca Jones	(OCS)	11	7	5	4	27
9	Free Bird	3596	Martin Watts	Rene Watts	7	8	‑11	10	10	35
10	Bronte	3663	Chris Haworth	Jonathan Bullen	8	‑10	10	9	8	35
11	Tantrums & Tiaras	3623	Tom Daniel	Jane Clayton	9	‑12	9	11	11	40
12	Filthy Gorgeous	3670	Gerald Whitehead	Oliver Whitehead	10	‑13	12	12	12	46
13	Fifty Shades	3723	Nick Brook	Nicola Brook	4	9	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	47
14	Struck Luck	3552	Alan Robinson	Tracy Heginbotham	12	‑14	13	14	13	52
15	Tickle Pink	3755	Peter Jackson	Mike Wilson	11	‑15	15	15	14	55
16	Holy Grail	3574	John Donoghue	Richard O'sullivan	13	16	14	13	(DNS)	56