Aspire Merlin Rocket National Championship at Looe Sailing Club

Aspire Merlin Rocket National Championship at Looe Sailing Club - Day 2

by Tim Fells 20 Aug 2019 06:58 NZST 17-23 August 2019

Aspire Merlin Rocket Nationals at Looe day 2 © Neil Richardson

Looe turned on the style for the second day of the Aspire Merlin Rocket Championships. A force 3-5 from 240 deg with sunshine and waves meant that everyone in the fleet could enjoy a superb day on the water.

It was a two race day and PRO Nigel Denchfield again chose the Sausage - Triangle - Sausage format for both races, keeping the fleet close and opening more tactical options on the runs. Racing was of the highest calibre with everyone able to drive their boats to the max and play the 5-10 degree shifts and find the pressure lanes downwind.

In the first race of the day for the Beecher's Cup, Nick Craig and Toby Lewis (recovered from his first day sickness) extricated themselves from an average start and headed into the right hand corner to lead around the top mark. Defending champions and race one winners Christian Birrell and Sam Brearey were soon giving chase and engaged in a race long battle with Nick and Toby. Going onto the last sausage Christian and Sam had just gained the upper hand but Nick and Toby were able to gybe into pressure to retake the lead at the leeward gate and take their first bullet.

Ben and Roz McGrane, who had been travelling very fast on day one until they dismounted near the bottom gate, were back on form to take a strong third ahead of the Chrises Gould and Kilsby who had replaced their broken mast and were none the slower for it. Taxi and Pippa rounded out the top five for the second time.

Aspire Merlin Rocket Nationals at Looe day 2 - photo © Neil Richardson

For the second race for the Clyde Quaich Trophy, the breeze was switching around a bit as some rain clouds passed the course. Christian and Sam went right initially but them crossed back in the leading bunch to pick up a leftie at the top and lead around. Those who gybed at the spacer prospered in more pressure and it was Jon Gorringe and Pete Gray who rounded the gate in second.

Aspire Merlin Rocket Nationals at Looe day 2 - photo © Neil Richardson

Roger Gilbert and James Stewart were going well after a challenging first day when they lost their tiller extension and briefly got the better of Jon and Pete. Meanwhile, the Chrises were again steadily moving forward and on the final beat had eased past Roger and James to take third behind Jon and Pete and the flying Christian and Sam who took their second bullet. Simon and Ally Potts came home in fifth after your correspondent binned it on the last run.

Stars of the silver fleet were Andy Dalby and Pete Horn who were flying around at the front of the fleet and secured two top 15 results to move up into 13th overall.

Aspire Merlin Rocket Nationals at Looe day 2 - photo © Neil Richardson

In the Bronze fleet. John Cooper and Becci Wigley were going very nicely towards the sharp end of the fleet in the first race and ended the day in 38th overall.

Results after Day 2:

Pos	Boat Name	Sail No	Fleet	Helm	Crew	Founders Cup	Beechers Cup	Clyde Quaich	Pts
1st	Blue My Mind	3788	Gold	Christian Birrell	Sam Brearey	1	2	1	4
2nd	Messy Monty	3776	Gold	Nick Craig	Tobytastic Lewis	3	1	6	10
3rd	Didley Squat	3791	Gold	Jon Gorringe	Pete Gray	2	10	2	14
4th	Keyser Soze	3684	Gold	Andy Davis	Pippa Kilsby	5	5	7	17
5th	Stealth	3722	Gold	Roger Gilbert	James Stewart	13	6	4	23
6th	Khaleesi	3802	Gold	Simon Potts	Ally Potts	6	13	5	24
7th	Okey Dokey	3712	Gold	Ian Sharps	Alex Warren	7	11	10	28
8th	Dory	3739	Gold	Ben McGrane	Roz McGrane	14	3	12	29
9th	Fancy Liquor	3764	Gold	Tim Fells	Fran Gifford	11	16	8	35
10th	Metachrosis	3736	Gold	Roger Phillips	Will Crocker	9	14	19	42
11th	Bernard	3658	Gold	Chris Jennings	Chris Martin	8	24	15	47
12th	Arwen	3726	Gold	Will Henderson	Arthur Henderson	4	20	24	48
13th	The Bear	3766	Silver	Andy Dalby	Pete Horn	20	15	13	48
14th	The Oldie	3673	Gold	Caroline Croft	Tom Lonsdale	16	22	17	55
15th	Goon	3795	Gold	Alex Jackson	Mary Henderson	15	19	23	57
16th	Roberta	3796	Gold	William Warren	Rachel Rhodes	22	9	27	58
17th	Speed Machine	3742	Gold	Pete Ballantine	Rob Allen	L05	25	18	58
18th	Red Mistress	3759	Gold	Sam Barker	Megan Pascoe	31	12	16	59
19th	Panther	3774	Gold	Jon Turner	Richard Parslow	26	17	22	65
20th	Mockingjay	3777	Silver	George Yeoman	Sophie Yeoman	24	21	26	71
21st	Wild at Heart	3709	Silver	Rob Henderson	James Ellis	21	23	28	72
22nd	Something	3803	Gold	Chris Gould	Chris Kilsby	DNF	4	3	73
23rd	Pokey	3801	Gold	Matt Biggs	Beka Jones	18	26	35	79
24th	The Force Awakens	3781	Gold	David Winder	Liv Bell	17	34	30	81
25th	Sylvia	3711	Silver	Sam Thompson	Leanne Thompson	32	29	21	82
26th	Strung Along	3784	Silver	Mark Barwell	Louise Johnson	33	36	14	83
27th	Doris	3786	Gold	David Wade	Ben Rayner	12	8	RET	86
28th	Night Fury	3775	Gold	Dan Willett	Pete Nicholson	23	38	25	86
29th	Quicksilver	3787	Silver	Chris Martin	Samuel Bailey	19	30	38	87
30th	Robert	3756	Silver	Sophie Mackley	James Ward	29	51	9	89
31st	Baloo	3807	Gold	Tim Saxton	Jodie Saxton	RET	7	20	93
32nd	Never Been to Salcombe	3582	Silver	Ben Pickering	Nathan King	34	35	31	100
33rd	General Lee	3690	Silver	Tim Harridge	Claire Mills	27	40	34	101
34th	Peer Pressure	3778	Gold	David Lenz	Vicky Lenz	RET	28	11	105
35th	Stanley	3749	Silver	Ben Hollis	Colin Anderson	28	41	37	106
36th	Enchanted Evening	3666	Silver	John Meadowcroft	Oliver Meadowcroft	44	31	32	107
37th	Quick Fix	3691	Gold	Mike Calvert	Jane Calvert	25	18	RET	109
38th	NKS	3732	Bronze	John Cooper	Becci Wigley	42	27	41	110
39th	Rockatross	3804	Silver	Andrea Brewster	Charlotte Fildes	45	37	29	111
40th	Why Ask	3740	Silver	Patrick Blake	Jilly Blake	36	39	36	111
41st	Puff the Magic Dragon	3641	Silver	Mark Waterhouse	Mat Currell	30	33	49	112
42nd	Disciple	3769	Silver	Graham Cranford Smith	Rob Langley	38	48	39	125
43rd	Outnumbered	3745	Silver	Paul Dean	Russell Hall	37	47	44	128
44th	The Clone Wars	3735	Gold	Dave Hall	Paul Constable	RET	32	33	131
45th	Pointer	3790	Silver	Colin Brockbank	Suzy Brough	40	46	45	131
46th	Ichthys	3794	Bronze	Julian Harms	Timothy Harms	41	54	42	137
47th	Velella	3772	Silver	Phil Emery	Phoebe Paine	49	44	47	140
48th	Fluffy	3719	Bronze	Rob Martin	Jan Martin	35	43	RET	144
49th	DES	3723	Bronze	Geoff Kimber	Helen Kimber	43	49	54	146
50th	Brambles	3800	Bronze	Richard Bramley	Liam Weighill	47	52	51	150
51st	One Love	3767	Bronze	Ben Archer	Olivia Bellini	48	50	55	153
52nd	Armed Forces	3442	Bronze	Matt Smith	Jared Lewis	DNC	42	46	154
53rd	Nostra Dormouse	3577	Bronze	Joe Tosh	Will Lowe	UFD	45	43	154
54th	Factory Maid	3704	Bronze	Jemma Horwood	Sel Shah	51	55	48	154
55th	Heaven Sent	3511	Bronze	Andrew Mills	Ellie Mills	50	59	52	161
56th	Monkey Puzzle	3706	Bronze	Lawrence Tosh	Jack Tosh	RET	56	40	162
57th	Light Fantastic	3555	Bronze	Emma Robertson	Carl Weighill	53	61	50	164
58th	Urban Warrior	3668	Bronze	Mark Smyth	Julie Cronshaw	46	53	DNC	165
59th	Carbonator	3639	Bronze	Dan Heaton	Rory Hunter	39	RET	DNS	171
60th	Wizard in Blue	3449	Bronze	Carl Whitehill	Samuel Whitehill	DNC	57	53	176
61st	Heavy Particle	3482	Bronze	Richard Burton	Patrick Burton	55	58	DNC	179
62nd	Dark `n` Stormy	3619	Bronze	Guy Browne	Greg Martin	52	DNF	DNC	184
63rd	Shiny Happy People	3695	Bronze	Pete Slack	Connor Langan	54	DNF	RET	186
64th	Snorting	3561	Bronze	Joe Shaw	Hannah Burt	RET	60	RET	192
65th	Narnia	3751	Bronze	Huw Reynolds	Phil Scott	RET	RET	RET	198