Selden 70th Merlin Rocket Championships at Whitstable

Selden 70th Merlin Rocket Championships at Whitstable - Day 1

by Tim Fells 23 Aug 2015 22:10 BST 22-28 August 2015

Day 1 of the Selden Merlin Rocket Nationals at Whitstable © Alex Cheshire

It was a bright and breezy morning for Day 1 of the Selden Merlin Rocket Championships at Whitstable but by the time the fleet lined up for the first time the breeze had dropped to a F2-3 SSW. Early regatta excitement and a weather going flood tide led to four recalled starts before the fleet finally got away. As the starts rolled through, the list of front runners on the board of death grew. Nick Craig, Jasper Barnham, Ollie Turner, Ian Sharps and Jon Gorringe were all named as trigger happy helms. As I write, some are protesting their individual BFDs in a case of "show me your evidence".

With a lot of good money feeling that right would pay, there was not inconsiderable shock and awe when your correspondent (ably directed by Oli Wells) nailed the left hand corner to round first with a comfortable lead.

Slowly but surely the fitter, younger, more able members of the fleet wore down our lead and by lap three Chris Jennings and Pete Horn had taken up the lead, chased by Ben Saxton and George Yeoman.

As the breeze built around the second triangle, Simon Potts and Luke Shaw flew down the reaches to join the leading pack, followed by Sam and Megan Pascoe, and Andy Davis and Alex Warren.

With the final beat to a shortened course finish seeing boats raking up in the building breeze, Chris and Pete held on with Ben and George a nose ahead of Tim and Oli, with Simon and Luke a couple of boat lengths back in fourth.

Day 1 of the Selden Merlin Rocket Nationals at Whitstable - photo © Alex Cheshire

The forecast for Monday is extremely wet but nowhere near as windy as originally predicted, dashing the prospects of defending champions Stu Bithell and Tom Pygall, who needed the racing to be cancelled to give time for Stu to return from Rio. Looks like they will just be here for the fun!

More Alex Cheshire photos can be found on Google+ here.

Results after Day 1:

Pos	Sail No	Boat Name	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	Pts
1	3658	Bernard	Chris Jennings	Pete Horn	Burghfield	1	1
2	3742	Speed Machine	Ben Saxton	George Yeoman	Grafham Water	2	2
3	3764	Fancy Liquor	Tim Fells	Oli Wells	Salcombe	3	3
4	3753	Appetite for destruction	Simon Potts	Luke Shaw	Burghfield	4	4
5	3759	Red Mistress	Sam Pascoe	Megan Pascoe	Castlecoe	5	5
6	3739	Dory	Ben McGrane	Roz McGrane	Netley	6	6
7	3684	Keyser Soze	Andy Davis	Alex Warren	Blithfield	7	7
8	3743	Pokin the Turtle	Matt Biggs	John Hackett	Blithfield	8	8
9	3722	Stealth	Roger Gilbert	James Stewart	Frensham Pond	9	9
10	3539	Gangstar Paradise	Dan Alsop	Jennie King	Lyme Regis	10	10
11	3657	Revolution	Caroline Croft	Rhos Hawes	RYA	11	11
12	3707	Monkey Business	Alex Jackson	Phil Dalby	Hampton	12	12
13	3673		Chris Gould	Sam Barker	Midland	13	13
14	3770	Shiny	David Hayes	Jonny Ratcliffe	Hayling Island	14	14
15	3756	Robert	William Warren	Mark Okey	Shoreham	15	15
16	3685	The Black Pearl	Sophie Mackley	James Warren	Shoreham	16	16
17	3766	The Bear	Andy Dalby	Sally Townend	Hampton	17	17
18	3740	Why Ask	Pat Blake	Jilly Blake	Cookham Reach	18	18
19	3768	Boat name	Rob Cage	Hattie Cage	Thames	19	19
20	3672	Bola Bola	John Cooper	Hilary Bradshaw	WYC	20	20
21	3709	Wild at Heart	Tom Lonsdale	Ben Hollis	Upper Thames	21	21
22	3763	Dancing Brave	Mark Barnes	Phillippa Daniels	WYC	22	22
23	3746	Point‑n‑Squirt	Dan Willett	Pete Nicholson	Brighlingsea	23	23
24	3641	Puff the magic dragon	Mark Waterhouse	Mat Currell	Parkstone	24	24
25	3676	Hot Totty	Tim Harrison	Francis Gifford	Ranelagh	25	25
26	3675	White Saucerer	Mike Fenwick	Penny Fenwick	Weymouth	26	26
27	3774	Panther	Jon Turner	Richard Parslow	Lyme Regis	27	27
28	3752	The Empire Strikes Back	Will Rainey	Andy Douglas	Shoreham	28	28
29	3651	Jupiter	Colin Brockbank	Charlotte Cotter	Wembley	29	29
30	3564	Avalon Sunset	Rob Kennaugh	Abi Spurr	Midland	30	30
31	3692	Nimo	Steve Mitchell	Julie Nuttall	WYC	31	31
32	3645	Blue Velvet	Steve Hall	Simon Haighton	Burnham	32	32
33	3690	General Lee	Tim Harridge	Daved Reid	Hampton	33	33
34	3751	Strings Attached	Mark Marwell	Louise Johnson	Lymington town	34	34
35	3773	No 34	Alan Warren	Bill Carroll	Shoreham	35	35
36	3730	Blood Sweat and Beers	Paul Hollis	Liese Scott	Blythfield	36	36
37	3547	Moon Dance Assassin	Tim Male	Rebecca Male	Blithfield	37	37
38	3772	Velella	Phil Emery	Karen Emery	WYC	38	38
39	3653	Artemis	Andy Chapman	Melissa Chapman	Netley	39	39
40	3719	Fluff n Stuff	Jeremy Deacon	Alex Pausey	Cookham Reach	40	40
41	3683	Bluebird	Ben Jones	Helen Hilditch	Shoreham	41	41
42	3731	Mayhem	Andy Jones	Maddie Jones	Burghfield	42	42
43	3771	Skip	Laurie Smart	Richard Pausey	Upper Thames	43	43
44	3648	Bang Tidy	Antonio Wright	Jamie Wright	Shoreham	44	44
45	3734	The Black Boat	Philip Ashworth	Alison Ashworth	Weymouth	45	45
46	3765	Three Dee	Dickie Dee	Phil Scott	Midland	46	46
47	3518	Smoke Salmon	Julian Harms	Timothy Harms	Midland	47	47
48	3697	Too Dark‑n‑Stormy	Richard Page	Peter Page	Hampton	48	48
49	3706	Monkey Puzzle	Charles Anderson	Ani Ridley	Hampton	49	49
50	3624	Stab in the Dark	Phil Mason	Jamie Mason	Blythfield	50	50
51	3625	Point Break	Richard Bramley	Leanne Hibberd	Shoreham	51	51
52	3574	Holy Grail	John Donoghue	David Collier	Sully	52	52
53	3319	Absolute Madness	Richard Ledger	Tom Bruton	WYC	53	53
54	3644	Marlene	Jonathan Bloice	Philippa Bloice	WYC	54	54
55	3555	Light Fantastic	Ian Mackenzie	Luke Tucker	Blythfield	55	55
56	3402	Hot Goblin	Issie Bruton	Tom Bruton	WYC	56	56
57	3424	Purple Hayes	Mark Fagg	Ian Hender	WYC	57	57
58=	3735	Clones Wars	Julian Parry	Bekka Jones	Hollingworth	BFD	71
58=	3758	Bazinga	Jasper Barnham	Graham Sexton	Snettisham Beach	BFD	71
58=	3775	Night Fury	Stuart Bithell	Tom Pygall		BFD	71
58=	3769	Disciple	Graham Cranford‑Smith	Fiona Cranford‑Smith	Salcombe	BFD	71
58=	3749	Stanley	Nick Craig	Alan Roberts	Frensham & Burghfield	BFD	71
58=	3712	Okey Dokey	Ian Sharps	Ally Martin	Burghfield	BFD	71
58=	3744	Mylo Xyloto	Chris Martin	Joe Tosh	Midland	BFD	71
58=	3767	One Love	Sam Thompson	Ben Archer	Parkstone	BFD	71
58=	3351	Gnome	John Boorman	Paul Fincham	WYC	RET	71
58=	3607	The Fifth Element	Mark Bugler	Rimer Bugler	Weymouth	RET	71
58=	3656	Wild Card	Olly Turner	Hamish Kilburn	Salcombe	BFD	71
58=	3463	Smoke on the water	Abbey Zambinski	Donna Hender	WYC	BFD	71
58=	3754	Didley Pokey	Jon Gorringe	Nicola Bass	Parkstone	BFD	71