Selden Merlin Rocket National Championship at Penzance - Day 3

Selden Merlin Rocket Nationals at Penzance day 3 © Lee Whitehead / www.photolounge.co.uk

Selden Merlin Rocket Nationals at Penzance day 3 © Lee Whitehead / www.photolounge.co.uk

Day 3 at the Selden Merlin Rocket Championships dawned bright and sunny again with a forecast that had the heavier teams salivating at the prospect of some hard core sea sailing. However, what was delivered was perplexing and head scratching.

A strange thermal affect over the town of Penzance meant that while there was a healthy force four up at the windward mark the further down the course you went, the less breeze there was. This zone of no wind pushed up and down the course over the two races sailed.

In the re-sail of race one, the fleet kept tromboning, the leaders extending as they climbed up into pressure then being clawed back as they sailed into less breeze at the leeward mark. The left seemed to have more consistent pressure but the breeze was in fingers down the course, which you could climb up like a ladder of fall out of into a snake.

At the top of the final beat of the three lap race, Jon Turner and Richard Parslow had navigated the ladders successfully to take the lead and were headed for the first championship win for their Genii design. However, Stu Bithell and Tom Pygall deployed their party trick of getting high and surfing down over the top to take the lead at the gybe heading for the downwind finish.

Selden Merlin Rocket Nationals at Penzance day 3 - photo © Lee Whitehead / www.photolounge.co.uk

As the leaders reached the final 200 metres to the line, the wind shut down leading to a painful drift to the line. Stu and Tom held on to take their second bullet by a couple of boat lengths from JT and Richard, followed by Ben and Roz McGrane. Roger Gilbert and James Stewart took fourth, Nick Craig and Alan Robert fifth and Simon Potts and Ali Martin sixth.

After an hour of drifting around the PRO set a new course a bit further out to sea and fired off the start sequence in what looked like a pretty ambitious attempt to get in a second race. However, as if on cue the breeze arrived and the fleet got away cleanly in what was the best conditions of the week so far.

Selden Merlin Rocket Nationals at Penzance day 3 - photo © Lee Whitehead / www.photolounge.co.uk

First to the top mark were Dave Hayes and Jonny Radcliffe with the pack tight on their heels. This time the breeze held and the fleet enjoyed great sailing. Dave and Jonny kept their lead until the final beat where they got a bit too right of the chasing pack. Mike Simms and Richard Brown clawed through to take a narrow lead and were able to hold it down the final two reaches to the leeward finish and take their first ever Merlin championship race win.

Roger Gilbert and James Stewart kept their title hope alive with another second place with Taxi and Alex Warren hitting hard left on the last beat to climb up to third. For the first time this week, Stu and Tom were not able to convert a position in the top bunch into a race win and came home fourth ahead of Tim Fells and Oli Wills enjoying their best race to date. Dave and Jonny, having suffered a pole launcher failure at the last gybe mark, came home sixth.

Selden Merlin Rocket Nationals at Penzance day 3 - photo © Lee Whitehead / www.photolounge.co.uk

The wind then dropped out again leaving the fleet to struggle with a long drift back home. Stu and Tom have the lead at the half way point but Roger and James are keeping them honest.

Results after Day 3: