Craftinsure Merlin Rocket Open Meeting at Rutland Sailing Club
by Ben Archer 8 May 2014 18:51 BST
5 May 2014
Rutland Sailing club played host to the biggest Craftinsure Silver Tiller open meeting of the year, with 37 boats attending. Managing the fleet was no problem for the excellent RSC race team who, despite the shifty conditions and the keenness of the competitors, got the fleet away promptly for the first start without resorting to the black flag.
Race 1 started in the upper range of a force 3 S/SSE breeze, with stronger gusts making an occasional appearance. Given the shifty nature of the wind, the start line was a perplexing place to be but clearly the excellent Merlin Rocket class training event (run at RSC immediately prior to this open meeting) had paid off for Ben Hollis/Caroline Croft who nailed the start and first beat, leading to the windward mark and holding off the pressing pack headed up by Dave Wade/Tim Huntley and Ben's former helmsman Matt Biggs/John Hackett and the classes training supremo, Richard Whitworth/Alex Warren who arrived in fourth place.
The breeze piped up immediately prior to the second race and teams added more rake and reached for their thinking caps as the shift variance grew alongside velocity. After a general recall the fleet got away clean, not so Hollis/Croft who got buried at the committee boat end when left was the way to go and could do no better than 23rd. Instead, it was Andy Davies/Tom Pygall's chance to shine, popping out from the left to round the windward mark first, by the third leg they had established a 150m lead over their closest challengers Whitworth/Warren, who were pressed hard by 3rd the third place boat of Wade/Huntley, who were sailing a very consistent regatta.
Race 3 came and the wind mellowed slightly, but the snakes and ladders shifts stayed in full effect, and this is when Hollis/Croft got their mojo back to finish in Fourth place, but would it be enough to get them in the chocolates? It was Whitworth/Warren who got the best out of the start this time, but their lead was under pressure until the very end of the race, with Davis/Pygall constantly hunting them down and Wade/Huntley maintaining the position they settled into in the first two races, and ultimately being squeezed off the podium by Hollis/Croft in third overall, Davis/Pygall in second and Whitworth/Warren winning on countback; an exciting end to an excellent days racing at this ever popular venue, there really was no better way to spend this bank holiday.
Overall Results:
Pos | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | Pts |
1st | 3703 | Richard Whitworth | Alex Warren | ParkstoneSC | ‑4 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
2nd | 3684 | Andy Davis | Tom Pygall | Blithfield SC/Whitstable Y.C | ‑7 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
3rd | 6 | Ben Hollis | Caroline Croft | RYA | 1 | ‑23 | 4 | 5 |
4th | 3761 | Dave Wade | Tim Huntley | Northampton | ‑3 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
5th | 3735 | David Winder | Pippa Taylor | Hollingworth Lake SC | ‑10 | 4 | 5 | 9 |
6th | 3743 | Matt Biggs | John Hacket | Blithfield SC | 2 | ‑10 | 8 | 10 |
7th | 3691 | Mike Calvert | Jane Calvert | Axe YC | 6 | 6 | ‑10 | 12 |
8th | 3564 | Rob Kennaugh | Rich Adams | MidlandSC | 5 | 8 | (DNC) | 13 |
9th | 3738 | Simon Blake | Chris Kilsby | Cookham/Thames | 9 | 5 | ‑12 | 14 |
10th | 3610 | Richard Dee | Chris Gould | MidlandSC | 8 | ‑12 | 6 | 14 |
11th | 3759 | Sam Pascoe | Megan Pascoe | Weymouth SC | ‑14 | 7 | 11 | 18 |
12th | 3752 | Will Rainey | Andy Douglas | Shoreham SC | ‑13 | 13 | 7 | 20 |
13th | 3744 | Chris Martin | Joe Tosh | Blithfield SC/Midland/Upper Thames | ‑23 | 14 | 9 | 23 |
14th | 3760 | Mark Reddington | Colin Staite | Bartley SC | 11 | ‑15 | 13 | 24 |
15th | 3675 | Mike Fenwick | Penny Fenwick | Weymouth SC | ‑22 | 9 | 16 | 25 |
16th | 3645 | Paul Jenkins | Peter Jenkins | Weirwood SC | ‑20 | 11 | 15 | 26 |
17th | 3711 | David Lee | Juliet Pealing | Starcross YC | 15 | ‑16 | 14 | 29 |
18th | 3674 | Mike Anslow | Chris Winters | MidlandSC | 12 | 20 | ‑22 | 32 |
19th | 3583 | Colin Anderson | Sean Anderson | Reddich SC | 16 | 18 | ‑21 | 34 |
20th | 3716 | Steven Leney | Gillian Leney | Blithfield SC | 18 | 17 | (DNC) | 35 |
21st | 3640 | Pat Blake | Jill Blake | | 17 | 19 | (DNC) | 36 |
22nd | 3442 | Mark Stockbridge | Alyson Rumball | Raneleigh SC/R.I.Y.C | 19 | ‑22 | 18 | 37 |
23rd | 3682 | John Steward | Harry Steward | Wembley Sailing Club | ‑26 | 21 | 20 | 41 |
24th | 3648 | Antonia Wright | Jamie Wright | Shoreham SC | ‑31 | 26 | 17 | 43 |
25th | 3653 | Andy Chapman | Melissa Chapman | Netley SC | 24 | ‑25 | 19 | 43 |
26th | 3518 | Julian Harmes | Timothy Harmes | MidlandSC | 21 | ‑24 | 23 | 44 |
27th | 3607 | Mark Bugler | Rima Bugler | Weymouth SC | 25 | ‑27 | 24 | 49 |
28th | 358 | Martin Smith | Karen Beston | Blithfield SC | 27 | ‑32 | 25 | 52 |
29th | 3713 | Steve Harling | E Thomas | Starcross YC
Exeter | 29 | ‑30 | 26 | 55 |
30th | 3634 | Ben Archer | Phillippa Daniels | Parkstone/Thames SC | ‑28 | 28 | 27 | 55 |
31st | 2997 | Richard Coulter | Christian Hill | Fishergreen SC | 30 | ‑31 | 28 | 58 |
32nd | 3680 | Steve Watson | Andrew Prosser | MidlandSC | ‑32 | 29 | 29 | 58 |
33rd | 3327 | Peter Wainwright | Tracy Smith | Blithfield SC | ‑36 | 35 | 30 | 65 |
34th | 3586 | K Mason | G Mason | Blithfield SC | 33 | 33 | (DNC) | 66 |
35th | 3476 | Henry Mason | Belinda Mason | Blithfield SC | 34 | 34 | (DNC) | 68 |
36th | 3441 | Rob Monbero | Jessica Panko | Grafham SC | 35 | (DNC) | DNC | 73 |
37th | 3578 | Brendan O'Connell | Jane O'Connell | Blithfield SC | (DNF) | DNC | DNC | 76 |

