Sharps Doom Bar Merlin Rocket Week at Salcombe Yacht Club - Day 1

Sharps Doom Bar Merlin Week day 1 © Malcolm Mackley

Sharps Doom Bar Merlin Week day 1 © Malcolm Mackley

The first morning of the much anticipated Sharps Doom Bar Salcombe Merlin Week saw the sun come out and a building breeze. In fact the forecast looked pretty spicy with the afternoon due to have a South-Wester gusting up to 30 knots. For the morning race, there were some hefty gusts which took their toll on some more experienced teams and gave plenty of entertainment to the watching crowds.

Red v Greed flights. Course 1,4,1,7,2,3

With the start pretty much on the top of the tide, it was the bias towards the Portlemouth end of the line which was key. Defending champion Richard Whitworth and old hand Jon Turner both were overly excited and started their weeks with an OCS under the black flag.

After a shifty beat to Blackstone, William Warren and Mark Oakey popped round ahead of Alex Jackson and Chris Downham. With big gusts bringing boats up from behind it was a hard run to defend but by the time the leaders came back up through the town, William and Mark had established a solid lead and were able to defend from Matt Biggs and John Hackett who had been the biggest gainers.

The circuit out through the Bag to Gerston provided some passing opportunities and it was one of the pre-event favourites, Chris Gould and Chris Kilsby, who worked their way through to second but not quite close enough to give William and Mark any headaches. Matt and John completed the podium ahead of Alex and Chris and a very strong performance from Phil Dalby and Fran Gifford. Caroline Croft and Beka Jones took an excellent sixth for a light weight team in such tough conditions.

Blue v Black flights. Course X,7,2,5,2,3

The afternoon race was raced in epic conditions. Sailed under wall-to-wall sunshine, with 30 knot gusts slamming down the harbour through the start area and a weather going tide throwing up a big seaway, this was going to be a race to remember.

At the start, Ian and Ellie Sharps nailed the Portlemouth shore and crossed the fleet on port to much fist pumping and whooping! Tim Fells and Oli Wells scorched out of the middle of the line and led to the laid mark X, between Mill Bay and Blackstone. Taxi and Alex Warren followed closely with Simon Potts and Ali Martin on their tails.

Andy Davies and Alex Warren on day 1 of Sharps Doom Bar Merlin Week - photo © Nigel Brooke

All the leaders did not hesitate and hoisted kites for a wild, screaming run through the town. All survived and it was Taxi and Alex who took the lead and after a good transition of the Bag had the upper hand over Simon and Ali coming back into the town. With only 35 minutes on the clock but with overstretched rescue cover, the PRO had seen enough and the shorten course flag went up. Tim and Oli rounded out the podium from Mike and Jane Calvert who were going very well for a light weight team. Jon Gorringe pulled up to fifth ahead of Steve Crook and Sally Townend.

The forecast continues to look breezy for the next couple of days, so we have a lot of fun action to look forward to.

Day 1 Results:

Sharps Doom Bar Merlin Week day 1 - photo © Malcolm Mackley