Selden Merlin Rocket National Championship at Penzance

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Selden Merlin Rocket National Championship at Penzance - Day 4

by Tim Fells 17 Aug 2016 19:50 BST 14-19 August 2016

Wednesday at the Selden Merlin Rocket Championships saw a big change in the weather with low cloud replacing the glorious sunshine we have enjoyed since arriving in Penzance last Saturday.

The wind was still stuck on 110 deg as it has been since Monday but, having blown strongly overnight, was dropping off quickly to leave a sloppy sea with everyone struggling to find power to drive through.

With Stu Bithell away for the day on RYA duty, the door was open for his opposition to grab their chance. Roger Gilbert and James Stewart do not need another invitation and navigated a very tight first beat expertly to just round ahead of Jon Turner and Richard Parslow, going very well again, and Chris Gould and Chris Kilsby featuring at the front end of the fleet for the first time.

Over the next four laps, although there were shifts of up to 10 degrees they often did not come with pressure, so not providing the expected gains. Consequently, there were very limited passing places.

Roger and James defended expertly to take a hard earned win and the overall lead in Stu's absence. The Chris(s), one of the pre-event favourites, crossed second to finally get their series underway while Chris Jennings and Pete Horn bounced back from the disappointment of gear failure on Tuesday to take third.

Ben and Roz McGrane took another strong result with fourth, moving them to second overall. Simon Potts and Ally Martin who have been around the leading pack all week, converted to fifth ahead of JT and Richard.

The forecast for tomorrow is now looking like a healthy WNW for the Champagne race but Friday is looking distinctly marginal.

Results after Day 4:

Pos	Fleet	Sail number	Helm	Crew	Club	R2	R1	R3	R4	Pts
1st	Gold	3722	Roger Gilbert	James Stewart	Frensham Pond	2	4	2	1	9
2nd	Gold	3739	Ben McGrane	Roz McGrane	Netley	3	3	8	4	18
3rd	Gold	3776	Nick Craig	Alan Roberts	Frensham Pond	4	5	11	8	28
4th	Gold	3774	Jon Turner	Richard Parslow	Lyme	7	2	15	6	30
5th	Gold	3658	Chris Jennings	Pete Horn	Burghfield	5	10	14	3	32
6th	Gold	3777	Simon Potts	Ally Martin	Burghfield	10	6	12	5	33
7th	Gold	3753	Michael Sims	Richard Brown	Carsington	9	15	1	12	37
8th	Gold	3645	Steve Hall	Simon Haighton	Burnham	6	12	10	10	38
9th	Gold	3764	Tim Fells	Oli Wells	Salcombe	13	8	5	17	43
10th	Gold	3770	David Hayes	Jonny Ratcliffe	Hayling Island	8	7	6	22	43
11th	Gold	3735	Richard Whitworth	Pippa Taylor	Hollingworth	21	9	7	7	44
12th	Gold	3775	Stuart Bithell	Tom Pygall	Hollingworth	1	1	4	DNC	59
13th	Gold	3778	Chris Gould	Chris Kilsby	Blithfield	17	26	17	2	62
14th	Gold	3730	Pete Ballantine	Ben Hollis	Salcombe / Blithfield	12	19	13	19	63
15th	Gold	3754	Jon Gorringe	Toby Lewis	Parkstone	14	14	16	20	64
16th	Gold	3656	Olly Turner	Graham Sexton	Starcross	11	20	9	26	66
17th	Gold	3673	Caroline Croft	Beka Jones	Blithfield	20	13	20	14	67
18th	Gold	3759	Sam Barker	Megan Pascoe	Castle Cove	22	17	19	15	73
19th	Gold	3691	Mike Calvert	Sean Anderson	Axe YC	19	18	28	9	74
20th	Gold	3746	Dan Willett	Pete Nicholson	Brightlingsea	16	29	18	16	79
21st	Silver	3641	Mark Waterhouse	Matt Currel	Parkstone	27	24	23	25	99
22nd	Silver	3685	Sophie Mackley	James Warren	Shoreham	30	30	21	24	105
23rd	Silver	3539	Dan Alsop	Frances Gifford	Lyme/ PSUK	38	23	32	13	106
24th	Gold	3733	Dave Wade	Rachel Rhodes	Northampton	15	16	22	RET	106
25th	Silver	3727	Mark Stockbridge	Neil Davies	Ranelagh	18	34	24	30	106
26th	Silver	3690	Tim Harridge	Lucy Burn	Hampton	25	27	27	31	110
27th	Silver	3740	Pat Blake	Jilly Blake	Cookham	23	22	36	33	114
28th	Silver	3779	David Lee	Tim Laws	Starcross	28	36	26	29	119
29th	Gold	3684	Andy Davis	Alex Warren	Blithfield	OCS	11	3	DNC	120
30th	Gold	3756	William Warren	Chris Downham	Shoreham	DSQ	21	25	23	122
31st	Silver	3744	Chris Martin	Oliver Maclean	Midland	39	25	41	21	126
32nd	Silver	3716	Steve Leney	Gill Leney	Blithfield	42	35	33	18	128
33rd	Bronze	3683	Ben Jones	Helen Hilditch	Shoreham	32	32	30	36	130
34th	Silver	3773	Alan Warren	Bill Carroll	Shoreham	31	39	34	28	132
35th	Silver	3769	Graham Cranford‑Smith	Steve Penfold	Salcombe	24	40	38	32	134
36th	Silver	3564	Rob Kennaugh	Colin Anderson	Midland	26	33	RET	27	139
37th	Silver	3643	Mark Barwell	Louise Johnson	Lymington Town	36	31	37	43	147
38th	Bronze	3767	Ben Archer	Theo Harris	Parkstone	41	42	31	35	149
39th	Bronze	3772	Phil Emery	David Hawkins	Whitstable	37	45	29	39	150
40th	Bronze	3651	Colin Brockbank	Martin Hughes	Wembley	34	37	39	42	152
41st	Gold	3707	David Hall	Mari Shepherd	Blackwater	40	28	RET	34	155
42nd	Silver	3566	James Wells	Liz Wells	Starcross	29	38	DNC	41	161
43rd	Silver	3709	Tom Lonsdale	Rhos Hawes	Upper Thames	33	41	RET	38	165
44th	Bronze	3628	Robin Charles	Dan Newman	Starcross	44	46	35	46	171
45th	Silver	3714	Richard Burton	Alice Markham	Upper Thames	35	47	DNC	40	175
46th	Bronze	3713	Steve Harling	Eleanor Thomas	Starcross	43	44	DNC	37	177
47th	Bronze	3518	Julian Harms	Timothy Harms	Midland	46	43	42	47	178
48th	Bronze	3704	Jemma Hughes	Charlotte Cotter	Thames	45	48	44	44	181
49th	Bronze	3734	Phil Ashworth	Ali Ashworth	Weymouth	OCS	50	40	45	188
50th	Bronze	3511	Andrew Mills	Ellie Mills	Hampton	47	51	43	RET	194
51st	Bronze	3352	John Donoghue	Charles Vernal	TBC	48	49	45	RET	195
DNQ	Gold	75A	Alex Warren	Tom Pygall	Shoreham	DNC	DNC	DNC	11	170