Aspire Merlin Rocket National Championship at Looe Sailing Club

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Aspire Merlin Rocket National Championship at Looe Sailing Club - Day 1

by Tim Fells 18 Aug 18:57 BST 17-23 August 2019

For their 2019 National Championships the Merlin Rocket's have returned to one of their most popular venues, picturesque Looe on the south Cornwall coast. Generously sponsored for the third year by Aspire Financial Services, the week promises a combination of great sea sailing with a full social programme in the ever-welcoming Looe Sailing Club.

Great organisation between the club and the class meant that 65 boats were delivered down the tiny back streets, berthed around the beach wall and harbour and scrutineered with the minimum of fuss.

As the fleet gathered on the Sunday morning, the sun was out and the sea looking decidedly rough with white water showing looking downwind. The race officer confidently reported that the wind was 18 knots gusting 24 from 250 degrees with six foot waves. A nervous fleet judiciously took to the water for a screaming run down to the start.

Under a U flag, the fleet were away first time with Christian Birrell and Sam Brearey leading the charge out left with Nick Craig and Toby Lewis. Half way up the beat there was a 10 degree right hander that brought Jon Gorringe and Pete Gray into the lead at the first mark from Christian and Sam.

Conditions were superb - breezy but manageable - with close quarter racing as the lines of pressure and associated shifts came through. Christian and Sam eased up into the lead by the second beat with Chrises Gould and Kilsby climbing fast up to second. Unfortunately, their race was to end in calamity. Having missed the spacer mark, they then blew up their mast on the final reach.

Jon and Pete gratefully accepted second behind the flying Christian and Sam, with Nick and Toby climbing to third on the final beat. Will Henderson, on the back of a dominant Salcombe Yawl win the previous week, sailed an excellent race for fourth with his son Arthur, holding off the challenge of Andy Davis and Pippa Kilsby.

Results after Day 1:

Pos	Boat Name	Sail No	Fleet	Helm	Crew	Founders Cup
1	Blue My Mind	3788	Gold	Christian Birrell	Sam Brearey	1
2	Didley Squat	3791	Gold	Jon Gorringe	Pete Gray	2
3	Messy Monty	3776	Gold	Nick Craig	Tobytastic Lewis	3
4	Arwen	3726	Gold	Will Henderson	Arthur Henderson	4
5	Keyser Soze	3684	Gold	Andy Davis	Pippa Kilsby	5
6	Khaleesi	3802	Gold	Simon Potts	Ally Potts	6
7	Okey Dokey	3712	Gold	Ian Sharps	Alex Warren	7
8	Bernard	3658	Gold	Chris Jennings	Chris Martin	8
9	Metachrosis	3736	Gold	Roger Phillips	Will Crocker	9
10	Fancy Liquor	3764	Gold	Tim Fells	Fran Gifford	11
11	Doris	3786	Gold	David Wade	Ben Rayner	12
12	Stealth	3722	Gold	Roger Gilbert	James Stewart	13
13	Dory	3739	Gold	Ben McGrane	Roz McGrane	14
14	Goon	3795	Gold	Alex Jackson	Mary Henderson	15
15	Speed Machine	3742	Gold	Pete Ballantine	Rob Allen	L05
16	The Oldie	3673	Gold	Caroline Croft	Tom Lonsdale	16
17	The Force Awakens	3781	Gold	David Winder	Liv Bell	17
18	Pokey	3801	Gold	Matt Biggs	Beka Jones	18
19	Quicksilver	3787	Silver	Chris Martin	Samuel Bailey	19
20	The Bear	3766	Silver	Andy Dalby	Pete Horn	20
21	Wild at Heart	3709	Silver	Rob Henderson	James Ellis	21
22	Roberta	3796	Gold	William Warren	Rachel Rhodes	22
23	Night Fury	3775	Gold	Dan Willett	Pete Nicholson	23
24	Mockingjay	3777	Silver	George Yeoman	Sophie Yeoman	24
25	Quick Fix	3691	Gold	Mike Calvert	Jane Calvert	25
26	Panther	3774	Gold	Jon Turner	Richard Parslow	26
27	General Lee	3690	Silver	Tim Harridge	Claire Mills	27
28	Stanley	3749	Silver	Ben Hollis	Colin Anderson	28
29	Robert	3756	Silver	Sophie Mackley	James Ward	29
30	Puff the Magic Dragon	3641	Silver	Mark Waterhouse	Mat Currell	30
31	Red Mistress	3759	Gold	Sam Barker	Megan Pascoe	31
32	Sylvia	3711	Silver	Sam Thompson	Leanne Thompson	32
33	Strung Along	3784	Silver	Mark Barwell	Louise Johnson	33
34	Never Been to Salcombe	3582	Silver	Ben Pickering	Nathan King	34
35	Fluffy	3719	Bronze	Rob Martin	Jan Martin	35
36	Why Ask	3740	Silver	Patrick Blake	Jilly Blake	36
37	Outnumbered	3745	Silver	Paul Dean	Russell Hall	37
38	Disciple	3769	Silver	Graham Cranford Smith	Rob Langley	38
39	Carbonator	3639	Bronze	Dan Heaton	Rory Hunter	39
40	Pointer	3790	Silver	Colin Brockbank	Suzy Brough	40
41	Ichthys	3794	Bronze	Julian Harms	Timothy Harms	41
42	NKS	3732	Bronze	John Cooper	Becci Wigley	42
43	DES	3723	Bronze	Geoff Kimber	Helen Kimber	43
44	Enchanted Evening	3666	Silver	John Meadowcroft	Oliver Meadowcroft	44
45	Rockatross	3804	Silver	Andrea Brewster	Charlotte Fildes	45
46	Urban Warrior	3668	Bronze	Mark Smyth	Julie Cronshaw	46
47	Brambles	3800	Bronze	Richard Bramley	Liam Weighill	47
48	One Love	3767	Bronze	Ben Archer	Olivia Bellini	48
49	Velella	3772	Silver	Phil Emery	Phoebe Paine	49
50	Heaven Sent	3511	Bronze	Andrew Mills	Ellie Mills	50
51	Factory Maid	3704	Bronze	Jemma Horwood	Sel Shah	51
52	Dark `n` Stormy	3619	Bronze	Guy Browne	Greg Martin	52
53	Light Fantastic	3555	Bronze	Emma Robertson	Carl Weighill	53
54	Shiny Happy People	3695	Bronze	Pete Slack	Connor Langan	54
55	Heavy Particle	3482	Bronze	Richard Burton	Patrick Burton	55
56	Armed Forces	3442	Bronze	Matt Smith	Jared Lewis	DNC
56	Wizard in Blue	3449	Bronze	Carl Whitehill	Samuel Whitehill	DNC
56	Snorting	3561	Bronze	Joe Shaw	Hannah Burt	RET
56	Nostra Dormouse	3577	Bronze	Joe Tosh	Will Lowe	UFD
56	Monkey Puzzle	3706	Bronze	Lawrence Tosh	Jack Tosh	RET
56	The Clone Wars	3735	Gold	Dave Hall	Paul Constable	RET
56	Peer Pressure	3778	Gold	David Lenz	Vicky Lenz	RET
56	Narnia	3751	Bronze	Huw Reynolds	Phil Scott	RET
56	Something	3803	Gold	Chris Gould	Chris Kilsby	DNF
56	Baloo	3807	Gold	Tim Saxton	Jodie Saxton	RET