Craftinsure Merlin Rocket Silver Tiller Round 2 at Grafham Water Sailing Club

Craftinsure Merlin Rocket Silver Tiller Round 2 at Grafham © Paul Sanwell / OPP

Grafham Water SC welcomed 24 Merlin Rockets for the Craftinsure Silver Tiller event on the 12th and 13th of June. A beautifully sunny weekend delivered a great day of racing on the Saturday with wind varying from 5 to 12 knots throughout the day. Due to the lack of wind forecast for the Sunday, the PRO Peter Saxton, ran 4 races on the Saturday.

In race 1 Andy 'Taxi' Davies and Pippa Kilsby found a nice band of pressure on the right at the top of the first beat to set-up a commanding lead which they held for the rest of the race. A sausage, triangle course with a leeward gate kept the race open with lots of opportunities to make or lose places on the first lap. Tom Gillard and Rach Rhodes took 2nd with Matt Biggs and Beka Jones in 3rd.

Craftinsure Merlin Rocket Silver Tiller Round 2 at Grafham - photo © Paul Sanwell / OPP

At the end of race 1, Taxi and Pippa had to head into shore to make some emergency repairs to their pole systems meaning that they would unfortunately miss the next race. In race 2 Tom and Rach led around the windward mark followed by James Goss and Chris White. Dave Wade and Ben Rayner as well as Duncan and Harriet Salmon put together a strong 2nd beat leading out to the pressure on the right. At the finish it was Tom and Rach, followed by Dave and Ben with Duncan and Harriet in 3rd.

Race 3 saw James and Chris leading around the windward mark with the rest of the fleet close behind. At the leeward gate the fleet was compacted with a very open race. The 2nd beat saw Chris Jennings and Rick Cornes pick-up some nice shifts to establish a dominant lead. At the 3rd and final windward mark Taxi and Pippa were round in 2nd however with the pressure down to almost nothing a nervous last downwind leg ensued trying to guess where the wind was going to fill from. The wind eventually came back enabling Tom and Rach to pull through into 2nd with James and Chris in 3rd.

Craftinsure Merlin Rocket Silver Tiller Round 2 at Grafham - photo © Paul Sanwell / OPP

Race 4 saw Tom and Rach establish a lead on the first beat which they held confidently to the finish. Coming in from the left of the course on the first beat were Matt and Beka, and Ian Dobson and Charlotte Fildes, who managed to get across before the pressure and shift came in from the right. At the finish it was Matt and Beka in 2nd with Ian and Charlotte in 3rd.

Sunday dawned with warmth and sunshine, unfortunately however the forecast was correct with hardly any wind on the lake. We waited until 10:30 to see if anything might happen before packing up and heading home.

Craftinsure Merlin Rocket Silver Tiller Round 2 at Grafham - photo © Paul Sanwell / OPP

Many thanks to Grafham Water SC, the race officer, and the rest of the race committee for putting on a great event and excellent day of racing!

Next up the Craftinsure Silver Tiller heads to Starcross Yacht Club on 19th and 20th June with the class training the following weekend at Lymington Town Sailing Club, book your spot via the website, www.merlinrocket.co.uk/index.asp?pg=fixtures&eid=1101.

Craftinsure Merlin Rocket Silver Tiller Round 2 at Grafham - photo © Paul Sanwell / OPP

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