Craftinsure Merlin Rocket Silver Tiller Open at Pwllheli Sailing Club

Flat sea for the Craftinsure Merlin Rocket Silver Tiller at Pwllheli © Martin Smith

The weekend of the 4th 6th May saw the Merlin Rocket fleet return to Pwllheli Sailing Club for a 3-day Craftinsure Silver Tiller event consisting of an eight race series.

With a wind strength ranging for 25 to 2 knots and everything in between, there was something for everyone over the three days of racing, the sun was out, yes really, but a little on the cold side.

15 boats arrived on the Saturday morning travelling from Shoreham and Poole in the south to Abersoch, just up the road. The club, again, put on one of the best events of the year, fantastic hospitality, great race management, amazing food and increasable 'one off' shots, they even provided a tractor to pull the boats up that lovely beach, what more do you need for a weekend away.

The racing was pretty epic at times with perfectly set courses from the top race team. From all the visiting boats, we are all soooo grateful to everyone at the club for their hard work and commitment to keep everyone looked after so well, Thank you.

As for what happened on the water... well done to the winning team of Mr and Mrs Pottsey, they didn't have it all their own way and the overall results came down to the final race in the eight-race series. Navigation issues and big shifts kept the fleet on their toes. If you want to see who came 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. look below and if you want to know what happened in the racing, well you should have been there, as we all know what happened and I (Matt) for one, don't think I have every laughed so much during a race. All I am going to say is one person fell out his boat, one boat nearly capsized (due to laughing so much) and then a third boat nearly ran over the person who fell out their boat whilst avoiding a near capsize. All will remain nameless! We are pleased to report no-one was injured, well not in this instance any way... as there was one trip to A&E following a crew hurting their hand after trying a little too hard.

Podium in the Craftinsure Merlin Rocket Silver Tiller at Pwllheli - photo © Martin Smith

It was great to see lots of Silver and Bronze fleet sailors come out to play at Pwllheli, combined taking up two thirds of the fleet. Chris Martin and Jack Tosh continued their winning ways in the Silver Fleet, with Geoff and Helen Kimber, fresh from their training weekend, winning the Bronze fleet with a notable performance of getting in some good starts. Their training is paying off!

A number of crews were not able to make the weekend leaving some top helms crewless. If you are keen to come and get involved in this fleet, get in touch with the MROA, www.merlinrocket.co.uk, and we can point you in the direction of the various club fleets across the country.

The Craftinsure Silver Tiller is sponsored by Craftinsure and Magic Marine is the classes clothing partner for 2019. Next up the Silver Tiller heads to Starcross Yacht Club on 11 and 12 May.

Overall Results: