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

Aspire Merlin Rocket National Championships at Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy - Day 5

by Dave Lee and Starcross Yacht Club 28 Aug 06:29 BST 22-28 August 2026

Heavy rain and thunderstorms went through overnight, clearing away ready for 2 sunny races out in Weymouth Bay. The breeze filled in from the South West.

Initially it was a lovely force 3-4, which built gradually throughout the afternoon, to provide fantastic sailing conditions. However, just to add some jeopardy, there were some lighter spots and a challenging wave set due to the residual swell from the South East. This did result in few teams taking a quick dip!

First race conditions just don't get any better than this on day 5 of the Aspire Merlin Rocket Nationals at the WPNSA - photo © Rob O'Neill

Race 7 started on the dot of 1200 with the whole fleet on their best behaviour. The leader at mark 1, with a small lead over the leading contenders, was Jon Gorringe and Toby Lewis in 3833. Not far behind were Ben and Harry Scroggie in 3488 (the oldest boat in the fleet by a good margin!) also sailed a superb first beat to round mark 1 in 4th place.

At the leeward mark, the leader was still 3833 with her beautiful Welsh dragon spinnaker, but Tom Gillard and Rachael Gray (3759) were in hot pursuit. Jon and Toby gradually pulled away to take their second win of the week, closely followed by Tom and Rachel, Tom Stewart and Rob Allen (3824) and then James Wells and Lorna Glen (3746) in 4th. Overnight leaders, Andy 'Taxi' Davis and Becky Caiger (3824) kept themselves in overall contention with 5th place.

Tom Stewart and Rob Allen power down the reach with the Weymouth seafront behind them on day 5 of the Aspire Merlin Rocket Nationals at the WPNSA - photo © Rob O'Neill

First Silver fleet boat was the consistently quick Sam and Leanne Thompson sailing 3801, with Jerry Ibberson and Liza Hunt (3760) taking bragging rights for first Bronze fleet boat.

The race team quickly turned things around for race 8. After the highly uncharacteristic series of clean starts so far through the Championship, the fleet finally reverted to form with a general recall. The Race Officer and his team undertook a very slick reset to quickly get a second sequence under way, this time under the black flag, and just one boat was pinged on the second attempt.

Tom and Rachael (3759) once again lead the charge at mark 1, but relinquished the lead to Oliver Meadowcroft and Alex Pausey (3771) on the first run. Arran Holman and Tom Pygall (3826) rounded close astern with James Wells and Lorna Glen (3746) once again in 4th place.

A rear sight - Tom Gillard hitting the gybe mark on day 5 of the Aspire Merlin Rocket Nationals at the WPNSA - photo © Rob O'Neill

After some very close racing, Arran and Tom (3826) had broken through to lead at the final windward mark, but another shake up on the final run saw Oliver and Alex (3771) and Tom and Rachael (3759) charge through to finish in that order. James and Lorna (3746) held on for their second 4th place of the day, making them first gold fleet boat in the race. Perhaps a strong bid for re-admittance into the Platinum fleet? Snapping at their heels was the Welsh dragon spinnaker of Jon and Toby (3833) in fifth.

The ever consistent Sam and Leanne Thompson (3801) were first Silver fleet boat in 16th place, whilst Roman and Ben Archer (3767) reestablished their dominance in Bronze fleet ahead of Jerry Ibberson and Liza Hunt (3760).

Sam and Leanne Thompson 3801 in the pack on the reach, first race on day 5 of the Aspire Merlin Rocket Nationals at the WPNSA - photo © Rob O'Neill

Given that the forecast for tomorrow looks a bit spicy, the Race Officer has brought the start of the final race forward, with the expectation of racing inside Portland Harbour. There is still lots to play for throughout the fleet so stay tuned for the exciting finale!

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

Results after Day 5:

Pos	Fleet	Sail No	Boat Name	Helm	Crew	Club	Crews' Race	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	Pts
1	Platinum	3759	Red Mistress	Thomas Gillard	Rachael Gray	Sheffield Viking SC & Staunton Harold SC		1	1	‑10	7	5	1	2	2	19
2	Platinum	3833	Didley Watsit	Jon Gorringe	Toby Lewis	Parkstone YC		7	6	1	4	‑17	4	1	5	28
3	Platinum	3824	Bonnie	Andy Davis	Becky Caiger	South Staffs SC	7	2	4	3	10	1	3	5	‑12	28
4	Platinum	3823	Gone with the wind	Ben Whaley	Chris Martin	Swanage SC	1	6	3	(DNF [42])	1	4	6	7	8	35
5	Platinum	3826	Dave	Arran Holman	Tom Pygall	Parkstone YC & Holywell SC		9	7	4	2	2	(PRP [17.6])	9	3	36
6	Platinum	3771	Skip	Oliver Meadowcroft	Alex Pausey	Salcombe YC & Upper Thames SC	4	4	11	5	3	10	‑13	8	1	42
7	Gold	3793	Boris	James Goodfellow	George Major	Ardleigh SC	10	3	10	9	11	(DNC [42])	7	6	7	53
8	Platinum	3827	The return of the jedi	David Winder	Beka Jones	Hollingworth Lake SC	9	5	8	14	8	13	2	‑18	15	65
9	Gold	3727	Fragile	Mark Stockbridge	James Gifford	Upper Thames SC	5	14	‑19	7	12	6	12	10	6	67
10	Gold	3746	Point n Squirt	James Wells	Lorna Glen	RYA		17	5	12	15	12	‑21	4	4	69
11	Platinum	3804	Rockatross	Sam Barker	Ben Rayner	Castle Cove SC		8	9	17	6	7	‑25	15	11	73
12	Platinum	3807	Baloo	Timothy Saxton	Faye Chatterton	Itchenor SC	UFD	11	12	11	5	8	‑20	13	14	74
13	Platinum	3834	Grace	Thomas Stewart	Rob Allen	Waldringfield SC		15	22	2	14	3	‑38	3	16	75
14	Gold	3666	Ted	John Meadowcroft	Rory Gifford	Upper Thames SC & Salcombe YC	13	12	‑21	6	16	9	8	12	21	84
15	Gold	3683	Bluebird	Tom Ballantine	Dan Harris	Castle Cove SC		‑21	14	8	13	11	18	11	10	85
16	Platinum	3796	Roberta	William Warren	Andy Prince	Shoreham SC		18	15	21	9	(UFD [42])	15	14	9	101
17	Gold	3710	Paradigm Shift	Jon Ibbotson	Robert Stewart	Burghfield SC	8	16	18	(RET [42])	19	20	10	17	13	113
18	Silver	3801	Beltie	Sam Thompson	Leanne Thompson	RNSA		‑24	13	22	23	21	9	24	17	129
19	Gold	3747	Learner Driver	Clive Eplett	Megan Pascoe	Frensham Pond SC	3	13	23	‑25	20	19	14	21	19	129
20	Gold	3815	The Kraken	Mark Barwell	Louise Johnson	Lymington Town SC & Upper Thames SC	6	19	17	19	21	16	‑22	20	18	130
21	Gold	3805	Nermal	Ed Bradburn	Ollie Goodhead	South Staffs SC	2	22	‑25	15	18	18	17	22	23	135
22	Gold	3779	The Angels' Share	David Lee	Angela Bridges	Starcross YC		20	‑28	18	24	22	16	16	25	141
23	Platinum	3829	Back in Business	Mike Calvert	Jane Calvert	Axe YC		10	2	13	22	15	(DNC [42])	DNC [42]	DNC [42]	146
24	Gold	3787	Quicksilver	Chris Martin	Josh Oates	Bartley SC		27	24	16	17	14	‑33	19	32	149
25	Gold	3781	The Force Awakens	David Hall	Georgia Booth	Blackwater SC	11	23	16	20	‑27	26	24	23	20	152
26	Silver	3825	Tea Cup	Storm Nuttall	Sally Wakefield	West Hoe SC		26	27	23	(RET [42])	24	11	29	24	164
27	Silver	3806	Blue Tit	Benjamin Jones	Helen Hilditch	Lymington Town SC		25	20	26	‑30	27	23	26	27	174
28	Silver	3816	Wild Horses	Phil Emery	Hilary Bradshaw	Whitstable YC		‑31	31	29	29	29	26	25	22	191
29	Bronze	3767	One Love	Roman Archer	Ben Archer	Parkstone YC		28	‑35	24	25	25	31	32	26	191
30	Silver	3488	Carrera	Ben Scroggie	Harry Scroggie	Parkstone YC		33	33	32	26	(DNC [42])	30	27	30	211
31	Silver	3766	The Bear	Andrew Dalby	Elsa Dalby	Burghfield SC & Lee on Solent SC	15	29	‑34	34	34	30	27	30	28	212
32	Bronze	3760	Moz's Tale	Jerry Ibberson	Liza Hunt	SCYC		32	36	27	33	28	‑37	28	29	213
33	Silver	3830	Amuse‑Bouche	Tom Low	Ed Low	Parkstone YC	12	34	(DNC [42])	31	31	23	19	36	BFD [42]	216
34	Silver	3626	Business As Usual	Tim Male	Rebecca Male	Staunton Harold SC		35	30	(RET [42])	28	31	29	33	31	217
35	Silver	3600	The Matrix	Mike Partridge	Claire Davis	Hayling Island SC		30	26	30	(RET [42])	34	28	31	RET [42]	221
36	Silver	3817	Aura	Geoff Kimber	Helen Kimber	Stone SC		‑38	32	28	35	32	34	35	36	232
37	Bronze	3813	Pacemaker	Steve Harling	Eleanor Thomas	Starcross YC		37	29	(DNC [42])	37	DNC [42]	32	34	34	245
38	Bronze	3707	Monkey Business	Stuart Jenkins	Peter Walker	Hampton SC & Upper Thames SC		(DNS [42])	DNC [42]	33	32	33	39	37	33	249
39	Bronze	3594	Summit Fever	Robin Clifton‑Dey	Michael Clifton‑Dey	Weymouth SC		36	37	36	‑38	35	35	38	35	252
40	Silver	3704	Factory Maid	Jemma Horwood	Nicola Scaddan	Tamesis SC	14	39	38	35	36	(DNC [42])	36	39	DNC [42]	265
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]	RET [42]	DNC [42]	292