Aspire Merlin Rocket National Championships at Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy

Aspire Merlin Rocket National Championships at Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy - Day 4

by Megan Pascoe 26 Aug 21:05 BST 22-28 August 2026

An exciting day out on Winder Boats Wednesday. Firstly because it is the Ranelagh Trophy, where the top 21 boats get "Champagne" courtesy of Winder Boats, and second because the wind was lighter than Tuesday and there wasn't much hiking to be had, and only one race scheduled. Third because for the first time in a number of years the stars and wind aligned to have a crews' race.

The fleet was apprehensive at 11am as the wall wind indicators were reading 4 knots but Peter launched the committee boat at 11:45 and called the fleet out onto the water. To be fair to the wind it settled nicely in the SE with a bit of perching weather. It wasn't the easiest first beat to call but making it look easy was the Starcross blue boat of Dave Lee and Angela Bridges leading at the top mark.

Very close racing on the first light day on day 4 of the Aspire Merlin Rocket Nationals at the WPNSA - photo © Rob O'Neill

The majority of the usual suspects were in there as well with Silver leaders Sam and Leanne Thompson in their very beautiful black and white ship Beltie. Silver second place Storm Nuttall and Sally Wakefield were the big movers of the race working their way up into 11th at the finish, with Sam and Leanne in 9th. James Goodfellow and George Major carried on leading gold fleet with a 7th with Meds and Rory just behind in 8th.

The sixth race ended up as another win for Tom Gillard and Rachael Grey on day 4 of the Aspire Merlin Rocket Nationals at the WPNSA - photo © Rob O'Neill

In the Bronze fleet it was the black Parkstone boat of Roman and Ben Archer in 31st just ahead of the turquoise Starcross boat of Steve Harling and Eleanor Thomas. Tom Gillard and Rachael Gray were back on winning form winning the race with Dave Winder and Beka Jones getting 2nd and Taxi Davis and Becky Caiger in 3rd. Jon Gorringe and Toby Lewis have rejoined forces and had a solid 4th. With 3 races left Taxi and Becky are leading Tom and Rach and the two of them have a gap to third so all to play for with 3 races left.

Crews race, and a very competitive start on day 4 of the Aspire Merlin Rocket Nationals at the WPNSA - photo © Rob O'Neill

Onto the crews race which 16 boats stuck around for. The start was hotly contested on a short line and Faye Chatterton and Tim Saxton were a little excited on a U flag. The rest of the fleet got away with Chris Martin and Ben Whaley being very quick and they had a unsalable lead by the top mark. Ollie Goodhead and Ed Bradburn were nicely in 2nd where they stayed all race. Lou Johnson and Mark Barwell (apparently Mark would like the prize for the most reluctant crew) were nicely in 3rd and finished a respectable 6th.

Crews race and Chris Martin is in the lead on day 4 of the Aspire Merlin Rocket Nationals at the WPNSA - photo © Rob O'Neill

Beka Jones and Dave Winder were quick in a straight line but not generally turning corners but they definitely seemed to enjoy themselves. There were many matches going on down the fleet with first Gifford being James Gifford and Mark Stockbridge. Rory Gifford and John Meadowcroft took out Becky and Taxi at the top mark. No idea why but it was a thing apparently. Alex Pausey and Ollie Meadowcroft were quick finishing 4th overall. Myself (Megan Pascoe) and Helen Hilditch teamed up after the ladies champs and let the boys go home for beer.

We stayed out of trouble, had a lovely yacht round and finish 3rd. Thanks to the race team for staying on the water and holding the crews race. It is good to have it back after a few years of being lost to too much wind or too little wind.

This is exactly what Becky thinks about being luffed off the course on day 4 of the Aspire Merlin Rocket Nationals at the WPNSA - photo © Rob O'Neill

We are looking forward to a little more wind tomorrow and the first SW of the week, with the possibility of a trip to the bay that we haven't seen since Sunday.

A huge thanks as always to our amazing sponsors Aspire Financial Advisers, Barton Marine, ClamCleat, P&B and Winder Boats.

Results after Day 4:

Pos	Fleet	Sail No	Boat Name	Helm	Crew	Club	Crews' R	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Pts
1	Platinum	3824	Bonnie	Andy Davis	Becky Caiger	South Staffs SC	7	2	4	3	‑10	1	3	13
2	Platinum	3759	Red Mistress	Thomas Gillard	Rachael Gray	Sheffield Viking SC & Staunton Harold SC		1	1	‑10	7	5	1	15
3	Platinum	3823	Gone with the wind	Ben Whaley	Chris Martin	Swanage SC	1	6	3	(DNF [42])	1	4	6	20
4	Platinum	3826	Dave	Arran Holman	Tom Pygall	Parkstone YC & Holywell SC		‑9	7	4	2	2	5	20
5	Platinum	3833	Didley Watsit	Jon Gorringe	Toby Lewis	Parkstone YC		7	6	1	4	‑17	4	22
6	Platinum	3771	Skip	Oliver Meadowcroft	Alex Pausey	Salcombe YC 7Upper Thames SC	4	4	11	5	3	10	‑13	33
7	Platinum	3827	The return of the jedi	David Winder	Beka Jones	Hollingworth Lake SC	9	5	8	‑14	8	13	2	36
8	Gold	3793	Boris	James Goodfellow	George Major	Ardleigh SC	10	3	10	9	11	(DNC [42])	7	40
9	Platinum	3807	Baloo	Timothy Saxton	Faye Chatterton	Itchenor SC	UFD	11	12	11	5	8	‑20	47
10	Platinum	3804	Rockatross	Sam Barker	Ben Rayner	Castle Cove SC		8	9	17	6	7	‑25	47
11	Gold	3727	Fragile	Mark Stockbridge	James Gifford	Upper Thames SC	5	14	‑19	7	12	6	12	51
12	Gold	3666	Ted	John Meadowcroft	Rory Gifford	Upper Thames SC & Salcombe YC	13	12	‑21	6	16	9	8	51
13	Platinum	3834	Grace	Thomas Stewart	Rob Allen	Waldringfield SC		15	22	2	14	3	‑38	56
14	Gold	3746	Point n Squirt	James Wells	Lorna Glen	RYA		17	5	12	15	12	‑21	61
15	Platinum	3829	Back in Business	Mike Calvert	Jane Calvert	Axe YC		10	2	13	22	15	(DNC [42])	62
16	Gold	3683	Bluebird	Tom Ballantine	Dan Harris	Castle Cove SC		‑21	14	8	13	11	18	64
17	Platinum	3796	Roberta	William Warren	Andy Prince	Shoreham SC		18	15	21	9	(UFD [42])	15	78
18	Gold	3710	Paradigm Shift	Jon Ibbotson	Robert Stewart	Burghfield SC	8	16	18	(RET [42])	19	20	10	83
19	Silver	3801	Beltie	Sam Thompson	Leanne Thompson	RNSA		‑24	13	22	23	21	9	88
20	Gold	3747	Learner Driver	Clive Eplett	Megan Pascoe	Frensham Pond SC	3	13	23	‑25	20	19	14	89
21	Gold	3805	Nermal	Ed Bradburn	Ollie Goodhead	South Staffs SC	2	22	‑25	15	18	18	17	90
22	Gold	3815	The Kraken	Mark Barwell	Louise Johnson	Lymington Town SC & Upper Thames SC	6	19	17	19	21	16	‑22	92
23	Gold	3787	Quicksilver	Chris Martin	Josh Oates	Bartley SC		27	24	16	17	14	‑33	98
24	Gold	3779	The Angels' Share	David Lee	Angela Bridges	Starcross YC		20	‑28	18	24	22	16	100
25	Gold	3781	The Force Awakens	David Hall	Georgia Booth	Blackwater SC	11	23	16	20	‑27	26	24	109
26	Silver	3825	Tea Cup	Storm Nuttall	Sally Wakefield	West Hoe SC		26	27	23	(RET [42])	24	11	111
27	Silver	3806	Blue Tit	Benjamin Jones	Helen Hilditch	Lymington Town SC		25	20	26	‑30	27	23	121
28	Bronze	3767	One Love	Roman Archer	Ben Archer	Parkstone YC		28	‑35	24	25	25	31	133
29	Silver	3830	Amuse‑Bouche	Tom Low	Ed Low	Parkstone YC	12	34	(DNC [42])	31	31	23	19	138
30	Silver	3816	Wild Horses	Phil Emery	Hilary Bradshaw	Whitstable YC		‑31	31	29	29	29	26	144
31	Silver	3600	The Matrix	Mike Partridge	Claire Davis	Hayling Island SC		30	26	30	(RET [42])	34	28	148
32	Silver	3626	Business As Usual	Tim Male	Rebecca Male	Staunton Harold SC		35	30	(RET [42])	28	31	29	153
33	Silver	3488	Carrera	Ben Scroggie	Harry Scroggie	Parkstone YC		33	33	32	26	(DNC [42])	30	154
34	Silver	3766	The Bear	Andrew Dalby	Elsa Dalby	Burghfield SC & Lee on Solent SC	15	29	‑34	34	34	30	27	154
35	Bronze	3760	Moz's Tale	Jerry Ibberson	Liza Hunt	SCYC		32	36	27	33	28	‑37	156
36	Silver	3817	Aura	Geoff Kimber	Helen Kimber	Stone SC		‑38	32	28	35	32	34	161
37	Bronze	3813	Pacemaker	Steve Harling	Eleanor Thomas	Starcross YC		37	29	(DNC [42])	37	DNC [42]	32	177
38	Bronze	3707	Monkey Business	Stuart Jenkins	Peter Walker	Hampton SC & Upper Thames SC		(DNS [42])	DNC [42]	33	32	33	39	179
39	Bronze	3594	Summit Fever	Robin Clifton‑Dey	Michael Clifton‑Dey	Weymouth SC		36	37	36	‑38	35	35	179
40	Silver	3704	Factory Maid	Jemma Horwood	Nicola Scaddan	Tamesis SC	14	39	38	35	36	(DNC [42])	36	184
41	Bronze	3792	Seas The Day	Alistair McDonald	Steven McCann	Berwick SC & Yorkshire Dales SC		40 W	(DNC [42])	RET [42]	DNC [42]	DNC [42]	NSC [42]	208