Craftinsure Merlin Rocket Silver Tiller Round 1 at Whitstable Yacht Club

by Steve Hall 8 Jun 2021 09:37 BST 5-6 June 2021

The weekend of the 5th and 6th June saw 23 Merlin Rockets descend on Whitstable Yacht Club for a glorious weekend in the sunshine for the first Craftinsure Silver Tiller of 2021. The weekend was shared with the Tasar nationals, the only element missing from the weather forecast was wind!

After a one-hour postponement racing got under way in 3-5 knots coming from the north east, amazingly the fleet got away first time with the tide underneath them. Chris Gould/Caroline Croft lead around the first mark, followed by William Warren/Megan Pascoe and Mark Barnes/Josh Wilce. Warren/Pascoe got stuck underneath a Tasar on the first reach which forced them to gybe away, in hindsight this wasn't a good move. The wind slowly died causing the race to be shortened after one lap, Gould/Croft took the win followed by Barnes/Wilce and Steve Hall/Simon Haighton.

Day two started in a similar fashion, clear blue skies and not much wind, after a one-hour postponement a light sea breeze had filled in and racing got under way. Andy Davis and Becca Jones lead from start to finish, followed by Paul Rayson/Christian Hill and David Winder/Livvy Bell, sadly Winder/Bell had fallen foul of the black flag and were pulled out at the first gybe mark, this allowed Hall/Haighton into third, they slowly closed the gap on second and sneaked past Rayson/Hill on the last lap.

Race 3 and there was slightly more breeze, so the fleet were able to use their toe straps for the first time. Gould/Croft led early on from Davis/Jones only to catch a big lump of weed and fall back to second. They were followed by Barnes/Wilce into third.

Race 4, after a re shuffle of the course following a large windshift to the south. Pat Blake/Anna Blake started at the pin end on port and led the fleet around the first mark, it finished up with Gould/Croft wining from Ian Sharps/Alex Warren and William Warren/Megan Pascoe.

Overall, Chris Gould/Caroline Croft won from Andy Davis/Becca Jones in second with Steve Hall/Simon Haighton in third.

Thanks need to go to Whitstable Yacht Club for hosting the event and lots of credit to their race team for getting good racing in on a very tricky weekend.

Next up the Craftinsure Silver Tiller heads to Graham Water on the 12th to 13th June.

There is still time to sign up to the class training at Lymington Town Sailing Club on 26th and 27th June. This can be done via the website here.

In need of a new spinnaker? The HD Sails Spinnaker Auction is live until Friday 11th June, more information and how to submit your bid can be found here.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Boat Name	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	Pts
1	3803		Chris Gould	Caroline Croft		1	‑5	2	1	4
2	3735		Andy Davis	Becca Jones		‑5	1	1	5	7
3	3645		Steve Hall	Simon Haighton		3	2	5	‑12	10
4	3712		Ian Sharps	Alex Warren		‑7	4	4	2	10
5	3763		Mark Barnes	Josh Wilce	Whitstable Yacht Club	2	‑7	3	7	12
6	3799		Paul Rayson	Christian Hill		6	3	‑10	10	19
7	3758		David Hayes	Will Crocker		4	9	6	(DNF)	19
8	3756		Sophie Mackley	James Ward		9	6	‑11	6	21
9	3796		William Warren	Megan Pascoe		11	‑15	8	3	22
10	3740		Patrick Blake	Anna Blake		10	8	‑12	8	26
11	3745		Paul Dean	Hannah Burt		‑16	10	9	9	28
12	3672	BOLA BOLA	John Cooper	Hilary Bradshaw	Whitstable Yacht Club	(BFD)	11	14	4	29
13	3781		David Winder	Livvy Bell		8	(BFD)	7	DSQ	39
14	3692	NEMO	James Goodfellow	Julie Nuttall	Whitstable Yacht Club	‑15	13	15	11	39
15	3684		Tom Low	Ed Low	Queen Mary SC	‑19	12	16	13	41
16	3633		Phil Emery	Phoebe Paine	Whitstable Yacht Club	22	14	13	(DNC)	49
17	3704		Jemma Horwood	Sel Shar		‑17	16	17	16	49
18	3576		John Gibbons	Martin Akers	Whitstable Yacht Club	13	‑21	20	17	50
19	3723		Geoff Kimber	Helen Kimber		14	(BFD)	21	15	50
20	3644	MARLEEN	Jon Bloice	Philippa Bloice	Whitstable Yacht Club	‑20	20	18	14	52
21	3751		Huw Reynolds	TBA	Whitstable Yacht Club	12	18	(DNC)	DNF	54
22	3774		Richard Coulter	Louis Lappage		18	17	(DSQ)	DSQ	59
23	3600		Tim Barr	Harry Newton	Whitstable Yacht Club	21	19	19	(DNF)	59