Merlin Rocket Open at Bartley Sailing Club

by George Bender 11 Sep 11:08 BST 7 September 2025

Craftinsure Silver Tiller, HD Sails Midland Circuit, Classis Series and Youth Championships all in one day

18 Merlin Rockets gathered at Bartley in anticipation of a strong wind event only to find gentle breeze, threatening to wane further.

Of course, this was good news for two teams in particular. Firstly the Calverts, known to be prime snigglers, and secondly the Davis's with twelve year old Harry making his Merlin racing debut and bringing the average crew weight down a smidge. The Calvert's boat, new this year (and controversially not a new shape but rather a new build of an old design), proved fast in the light stuff, which got them into pole over Andy and Harry in race 1.

Dave Winder and Beka Jones were also making themselves known near the front off the back of impressive performances so far this year at Salcombe Merlin Rocket Week and at the nationals in Looe. With Dave's new boat (I believe he gets discounts on them somehow) 'Return of the Jedi', this meant we had three brand new boats, battling it out at the front.

During lunch the fleet kept careful watch over the flags along the dam, pleading with them to make up their minds and to grace us all with some wind we could work with. It picked up a bit for race 2 (as requested) but a large shift meant the course was a bit processional. Mike and Jane got ahead and stayed there while team Davis had a close battle with team North (Dave and Beka), which the northerners prevailed through.

With the wind building into race 3, it looked like some more kicker and, dare I say it, rake would be needed. At last, the breeze (most of us) were hoping for.

Rich Adams and George Bender had a great start and held it together in the face of being hunted down by team Stealth (Mike and Jane). Sadly the course gave little room for tactical decision making and with building breeze and some tight reaches, Mike and Jane dropped back to fourth after team North and team Stella (Rob Kenneaugh and Andrew Prosser) came through.

The event was not only a Craftinsure Silver Tiller but also the Youth Championships, which Dave Lucas and Robyn Taylor won. Harry Davis of course won the first youth crew and we will be watching his sailing career with great interest!

Nobody would have wanted the job of setting a course in Sunday's wind, so we commend the race officers for getting three races away and for the safety crews who were certainly required for one unfortunate mast breakage. Thanks to everyone who gave up their Sunday to allow the event to go ahead.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Boat Name	Fleet	Class	Division	Club	R1	R2	R3	Pts
1st	3829	Mike CALVERT	Jane CALVERT	Back in Business	Modern	Platinum		Axe SC	1	1	‑4	2
2nd	3827	Dave WINDER	Beka JONES	Return of the Jedi	Modern	Gold		Hollingworth SC	‑6	2	2	4
3rd	3765	Rich ADAMS	George BENDER	Three Dee	Modern	Gold		Bartley Sailing Club	4	‑8	1	5
4th	3824	Andy DAVIS	Harry DAVIS	Bonnie	Modern	Platinum	U26 crew	South Staffs SC	2	3	‑8	5
5th	3700	Rob KENAUGH	Andrew PROSSER	Brazilian	Modern	Gold		Midland SC	5	‑9	3	8
6th	3779	David LEE	Angela BRIDGES	The Angels Share	Modern	Silver		Starcross SC	3	6	(DNF)	9
7th	3787	Chris MARTIN	Josh OATES	Quicksilver	Modern	Gold		Bartley SC	‑11	5	5	10
8th	3730	Paul HOLLIS	Paula MASON	Blood Sweat and Beers	Modern	Silver		Redditch SC	9	4	(DNF)	13
9th	3716	Steve LENEY	Gill LENEY	Carbon Footprint	Modern	Gold		Blithfield SC	‑7	7	7	14
10th	3567	Colin ANDERSON	Karen BESTON	Fat Boy Slim	Classic	Gold		Redditch SC	8	(DNF)	9	17
11th	3742	Howard EELES	Justin GEM	Speed Machine	Modern	Bronze		Bartley SC	‑12	12	6	18
12th	3581	David LUCAS	Robyn TAYLOR	Prologue	Classic	Bronze	U26 Helm /Crew	Bartley Sailing Club	‑13	10	10	20
13th	3547	Peter MALE	Tim MALE	Moondance Assasin	Classic	Gold		RYA	‑14	11	11	22
14th	1097	Stuart JENKINS	Nicola SCADDAN	Flinkidink	Vintage	Bronze		Hampton SC	10	13	(DNC)	23
15th	3690	Guy BROWNE	Greg Martin	General Lee	Modern	Bronze		Trent Valley SC	‑16	16	12	28
16th	3624	Simon HARDIMAN	Millie HARDIMAN	Stab in the Dark	Modern	Bronze	U26 crew	Bartley Sailing Club	15	14	(DNC)	29
17th	3805	Mark REDDINGTON	Zachary EELES	Nermal	Modern	Silver	U26 crew	Bartley Sailing Club	(DNF)	15	DNC	34
18th	2805	Ian LAING	Andrew Hunt	Blonde on Blonde	Vintage	Bronze		Hollingworth SC	(DNF)	17	DNC	36

What's coming up

The next HD Sails Midland Circuit combined Classic Series is at Trent Valley Sailing Club on Sunday 21st September.

The next Craftinsure Silver Tiller is at Blithfield Sailing Club on Sunday 28th September.

The Craftinsure Silver Tiller Dinner takes place at Lymington Town Sailing Club on Saturday 18th October, bookings opening soon. Save the date!