Merlin Rocket Silver Tiller Open at Whitstable Yacht Club

by Hamish Kilburn 15 Jun 2015 21:29 BST 13-14 June 2015

Merlin Rockets at Whitstable © Alex Cheshire

35 Merlin Rockets turned to Whitstable for the 2015 Merlin Rocket open meeting and to compete for that all-important Silver Tiller event.

This year the fleet welcomed some new faces on to the starting line, many of which are Whitstable Yacht Club locals.

Race one (triangle sausage course) soon got under way and with the shifts remaining fairly consistent, winning the start and finding a clean lane was key. The fleet were in sync and decided that it would pay to sail on the left-hand-side of the course. A steady 20 knots of breeze provided sailors with top conditions to really get a feel of what Whitstable has in store for the fleet later on in the year at the Nationals.

Jasper Barnham and Graham Sexton were first around the windward mark and led the fleet to claim the first race. Hot on their tales for much of the race, David Hayes and Jonny Ratcliffe who were second around the windward mark and sustained their position until, rumour has it, Hayes fell victim to his toe straps coming undone and losing four places as a result, (other reports state that he fell out of the boat, but we are not one to listen to rumours).

Olly Turner and Hamish Kilburn sailed a strong first race and came through to secure second, closely followed by Tim Fells and Olly Wells who worked their way up the fleet throughout the four-lap race.

Race two got underway and Barnham and Sexton squeezed ahead and around the windward mark undisturbed from the rest of the fleet. Simon Potts and Luke Shaw were second around the windward mark with Hayes and Ratcliffe narrowly following.

With one mast breakage, a kicker malfunction and one boat suffering from a disobedient spinnaker halyard, it was a challenging race for some, but in the end Barnham and Sexton took the bullet. It was a battle for second between Hayes and Ratcliffe and Potts and Shaw, but Hayes and Ratcliffe pushed ahead and accomplished second place with Potts and Shaw coming in third.

Merlin Rockets at Whitstable - photo © Alex Cheshire

Wind forecasts for the second day of racing were looking light and with three Silver Tiller races scheduled, 5 new arrivals swelled the fleet. Everyone was keen to go racing. Race officer John Silk and the race committee did their best to find some wind on the bay, however sometimes you have to admit defeat and Silk made the decision to cancel racing leaving the fleet to work on their tan and pack up early. Congratulations to Barnham and Sexton who won the event with two bullets.

Even with three races cancelled the Merlin Rocket fleet still enjoyed some competitive racing over the course of the weekend thanks to the help and support from the Whitstable Yacht Club members and volunteers. If this weekend is anything to go by then we are in for a lively and competitive week of sailing at the Nationals in August.

Merlin Rockets at Whitstable - photo © Alex Cheshire

More photos by Alex Cheshire can be found here.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Boat Name	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	Pts
1	3758	Bazinga	Jasper Barnham	Graham Sexton	Snettisham Beach SC	1	1	2
2	3764	Fancy Liquor	Tim Fells	Oli Wells	Salcombe YC	3	4	7
3	3770	Shiny	David Hayes	Jonny Ratcliffe	Hayling Island SC	6	2	8
4	3656	Wild Card	Olly Turner	Hamish Kilburn	Salcombe YC	2	8	10
5	3753	Appetite for Destruction	Simon Potts	Luke Shaw	Burghfield	8	3	11
6	3766	The Bear	Andy Dalby	C Kilsby	HSC	10	6	16
7	3774	Panther	Jon Turner	Richard Pascow	Lym Regis	9	7	16
8	3696	Tiger Tiger	Mark Oakey	Dan Martin	Shoreham SC	7	10	17
9	3673	Boat name	Chris Gould	Caroline Croft	Midland SC	16	5	21
10	3685	Black Pearl	Sophie Mackley	James Warren	Shoreham SC	14	9	23
11	3763	Dancing Brave	Mark Barnes	Simon Reynolds	WYC	11	12	23
12	3707	Monkey	Alex Jackson	Phil Dalby	Hampton SC	5	19	24
13	3676	Hot Totty	Frances Gifford	Pete Nicholson	Ranelagh	13	16	29
14	3709	Wild at Heart	Tom Lonsdale	Alice Markham	Upper Thames SC	15	14	29
15	3740	Why Ask	Pat Blake	Jen Dodds	Cookham Reach SC	20	11	31
16	3643	Moist	Rein Zivold	Phil Scott	WYC	12	21	33
17	3773	No34	Alan Warren	Bill Carroll	Shoreham SC	21	13	34
18	3690	General Lee	Tim Harridge	Lucy Burn	Hampton SC	17	18	35
19	3772	Velella	Phil Emery	Karen Emery	WYC	19	17	36
20	3658	Bernard	Chris Jennings	Pete Horn	Burghfield	4	DNC	40
21	3648	Bang Tidy	Antonia Wright	Jamie Wright	Shoreham SC	22	22	44
22	3692	Nemo	Steve Mitchell	Julie Nuttall	WYC	24	23	47
23	3697	Too Dark'n Strormy	Richard Page	Liz Dalby	Hampton SC	23	24	47
24	3653	Artemis	A Chapman	M Chapman	Netley SC	28	20	48
25	3677	Indesicion	David Proctor	Teresa Green	WYC	25	25	50
26	3672	Bola Bola	John Cooper	Hilary Bradshaw	WYC	DNF	15	51
27	3644	Marleen	Jon Bloice	Philippa Bloice	WYC	26	27	53
28	3651	Jupiter	Colin Brockbank	Martin Hughes	Wembly/Thames SC	18	DNC	54
29	3319	Absolute Madness	R Ledger	T Bruton	WYC	31	26	57
30	3463	Smoke on the Water	Abby Zambinski	Donna Hender	WYC	30	28	58
31	3555	Light Fantastic	I Mackenzie	L Tucker	Blithfield SC	27	DNC	63
32	3561	Boat name	Kieren O'Farrell	F O'Farrell	WSC	29	DNC	65
33	3424	Purple Haze	Mark Fagg	Ian Hender	WYC	32	DNF	68
34=	3712	Okey Dokey	Ian Sharps	Ally Martin	Burghfield	DNC	DNF	72
34=	3351	Gnome	J Boorman	R Spoton	WYC	DNF	DNC	72