76th Aspire Merlin Rocket National Championships at Mount's Bay Sailing Club

76th Aspire Merlin Rocket National Championships at Mount's Bay Sailing Club - Day 2

by Anna Aylward 1 Aug 2022 20:55 BST 31 July - 4 August 2022

Aspire Merlin Rocket National Championships at Mount's Bay - Day 2 © Lee Whitehead / www.photolounge.co.uk

Day 2 of the Aspire Merlin Rocket National Championships got off to a slow start, perhaps a welcome relief for some of the crews after last night's very well attended Crews Union. Launching was postponed for an hour while we waited for the wind to fill in, and when a light breeze duly arrived we were released at midday.

I confess, I was one of those crews feeling a little delicate so we gently floated out to the racecourse on a more southerly breeze than the day before.

The first start under the U flag was postponed with 8 seconds to go, as the eager Merlins had crowded over the line. The trusty black flag was put up for our second start and we were away. Where you started on the line didn't seem to have too much of an effect but a very swift start from Simon Potts and Lottie Fildes towards the committee boat end had them flying up the right hand side of the beat and rounding the windward mark in first place, which they maintained for the rest of the race.

They were closely followed round the windward mark by Mike and Jane Calvert in second and Tom Gillard and Rachael Gray in third place. These three boats all gybed off after the spreader mark while the rest of the fleet continued on.

Stu Bithell and Tom Pygall and James Goss and Chris White were the first two boats to continue on down the run, which paid off very well for James and Chris as they were able to get round the leeward gate in second place. They were closely followed by Tom and Rachael in third place and the top three were pretty much set after that.

The rest of the race unfolded quite calmly in light and shifty wind, with nice little gains to be found by reading the shifts well, but overall not a huge change of position.

Aspire Merlin Rocket National Championships at Mount's Bay - Day 2 - photo © Lee Whitehead / www.photolounge.co.uk

Our on board catering service (aka me) provided some squashed sandwiches for lunch, which were enjoyed as we floated around for an hour with the AP back up. These are the moments that the width of the Merlin really pays off as it's more than enough space to lie down. We were awoken by the sound of the AP going down, swiftly followed by the AP over A going up to end racing for the day, as the race team weren't seeing the required five knots across the race course.

Practising for the real competition of the week - the Crew's Race - got under way as 99% of the fleet switched places and the crews flew back towards the beach. There was some frantic swapping back as we neared the beach but it all promises a very competitive Crew's Race on Wednesday!

Aspire Merlin Rocket National Championships at Mount's Bay - Day 2 - photo © Lee Whitehead / www.photolounge.co.uk

So, our race winners were Simon and Lottie, bringing them up to second place overall after three races. Second place was James and Chris, also the first gold boat over the line, and third place was Tom and Rachael, keeping them in first place overall. The first silver boat was Mark Barwell and Lou Johnson meaning they can keep their silver jerseys on for tomorrow, and the first bronze boat was Andy and Aimee Dalby.

Thank you to our sponsors Aspire Financial Advisers, HD Sails, Mounts Bay Distillery, Fernhurst Books, West Systems, Triggernaut Sports Glasses, Robline/DinghyTec and GK Engineering.

Aspire Merlin Rocket National Championships at Mount's Bay - Day 2 - photo © Lee Whitehead / www.photolounge.co.uk

Results after day 2:

Pos	Fleet	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	Pts
1st	Platinum	3759	Thomas Gillard	Rachel Gray	Staunton Harold	1	2	3	6
2nd	Platinum	3802	Simon Potts	Charlotte Fildes	Burghfield	10	3	1	14
3rd	Platinum	3691	Mike Calvert	Jane Calvert	Axe	5	5	7	17
4th	Platinum	3788	Christian Birrell	Sam Brearey	Parkstone	6	1	15	22
5th	Platinum	2137	James Goss	Chris White	South Staffs	13	7	2	22
6th	Platinum	3764	Tim Fells	Frances Gifford	Salcombe	4	4	16	24
7th	Platinum	3803	Caroline Croft	Faye Chatterton	Lymington Town	9	10	6	25
8th	Gold	3782	Ed Chapman	Chris Kilsby	Lymington Town	3	13	19	35
9th	Platinum	3807	Tim Saxton	Mary Henderson	Itchenor	20	9	8	37
10th	Platinum	3791	Jon Gorringe	Pete Grey	Parkstone	2	31	13	46
11th	Platinum	3778	David Lenz	Vicky Lenz	Lymington Town	12	25	9	46
12th	Platinum	3735	Andy Davis	Jack Holden	South Staffs	8	24	17	49
13th	Gold	3746	James Wells	Anna Aylward	RYA	16	23	11	50
14th	Platinum	3676	Antony Gifford	Jo Gifford	Royal Tay	21	17	12	50
15th	Gold	3796	William Warren	Megan Pascoe	Shoreham	18	16	21	55
16th	Platinum	3758	David Hayes	Jonny Ratcliffe	Lymington Town	14	14	32	60
17th	Platinum	3809	John Turner	Richard Parslow	Lyme Regis	31	8	22	61
18th	Gold	3757	Tim Parsons	Andrew Service	Lyme Regis	24	29	10	63
19th	Gold	3780	Sarah Richards	Nigel Wakefield	Lymington Town	17	11	36	64
20th	Gold	3799	Paul Rayson	Christian Hill	Fishers Green	11	20	33	64
21st	Gold	3696	Alexander Warren	Jonty Freemansh	Shoreham	22	28	14	64
22nd	Gold	3716	Steven Leney	Gill Leney	Blithfield	26	21	18	65
23rd	Gold	3683	Arthur Handerson	Livvy Bell	Salcombe	15	33	20	68
24th	Platinum	3801	Matthew Biggs	Beka Jones	Bartley	28	15	25	68
25th	Platinum	3726	Will Henderson	Rupert White	Salcombe	30	12	28	70
26th	Platinum	3719	Ian Martin	Chris Martin	Burghfield	UFD	6	5	77
27th	Silver	3815	Mark Barwell	Louise Johnson	Lymington Town	37	18	23	78
28th	Platinum	3775	Chris Jennings	Pete Nicholson	Burghfield	19	30	31	80
29th	Gold	3787	Chris Martin	John Tailby	Midland	7	40	35	82
30th	Gold	3740	Pat Blake	Jilly Blake	Lymington Town	34	26	30	90
31st	Silver	3806	Ben Jones	Helen Hilditch	Shoreham	47	19	26	92
32nd	Platinum	3666	John Meadowcroft	Dan Meadowcroft	Upper Thames	33	22	39	94
33rd	Silver	3816	Phil Emery	Phoebe Paine	Whitstable	25	43	27	95
34th	Gold	3756	Sophie Mackley	James Ward	Shoreham	35	34	29	98
35th	Silver	3749	Colin Anderson	Sean Anderson	Blithfield	23	38	40	101
36th	Platinum	3793	James Goodfellow	Rick Cornes	Burghfield	27	45	34	106
37th	Silver	3684	Tom Low	Hannah Burt	Queen Mary	29	41	45	115
38th	Silver	3690	Tim Harridge	Rory Gifford	Hampton	32	27	57	116
39th	Silver	3727	Mark Stockbridge	James Gifford	Upper Thames	61	32	24	117
40th	Silver	3732	Ben Hollis	George Bender	Blithfield	40	36	42	118
41st	Silver	3772	Dan Heaton	Tom Gurney	Mountbatten	41	39	41	121
42nd	Gold	3656	Charlotte Gough	Dave Gough	Starcross	36	42	46	124
43rd	Bronze	3695	Peter Slack	Immy Brown	RYA	43	35	50	128
44th	Bronze	3813	Steve Harling	Eleanor Thomas	Starcross	48	37	43	128
45th	Silver	3779	David Lee	Kirsten Glen	Starcross	46	44	38	128
46th	Silver	3790	Colin Brockbank	Sue Brough	Wembley	39	47	44	130
47th	Bronze	3766	Andy Dalby	Aimee Dalby	Burghfield	50	46	37	133
48th	Platinum	3811	Stu Bithell	Tom Pygall	Parkstone	DNS	DNS	4	136
49th	Bronze	3794	Julian Harms	Timothy Harms	Midlands	38	50	48	136
50th	Bronze	3817	Geoff Kimber	Helen Kimber	Stone	42	48	52	142
51st	Silver	3767	Ben Archer	Olivia Bellini	Parkstone	44	53	47	144
52nd	Silver	3682	Ross Borne	John Burn	Salcombe	45	52	49	146
53rd	Bronze	3662	Nigel Hudson	Freya Hudson	Bartley	49	49	54	152
54th	Bronze	3785	Robin Charles	Oscar Simmons	Starcross	51	51	53	155
55th	Bronze	3770	Jon Steward	Annabel Steward	Fishers Green	52	54	51	157
56th	Bronze	3619	Guy Browne	Andy Hunter	Trent Valley	54	56	60	170
57th	Bronze	3561	Joe Shaw	Julie Cronshaw	Wembley	57	58	58	173
58th	Bronze	3800	Richard Bramley	Calum Tait	Shoreham	56	55	63	174
59th	Silver	3750	Neal Lillywhite	Freya Lillywhite	Burghfield	58	62	55	175
60th	Bronze	3742	Howard Eeles	Bradley Eeles	Bartley	53	57	DNF	176
61st	Bronze	3586	Kieron Mason	Belinda Mason	Blithfield	60	60	59	179
62nd	Bronze	3449	Carl Whitehill	Dani Whitehill	RYA	DNS	59	56	181
63rd	Bronze	3567	Martin Smith	Karen Beston	Blithfield	55	DNS	62	183
64th	Bronze	3574	Marc Candelas	John Donoghue	Upper Thames	59	61	64	184
65th	Bronze	3792	Alistair McDonald	Lydia Bourne	Berwick	DNS	DNS	61	193