Aspire Merlin Rocket National Championship at Looe Sailing Club - Day 1

Sunday 10th August saw the 2025 Merlin Rocket Aspire National Championships kick off at the beautiful Cornish resort of Looe. The 47 teams arrived the previous day to complete registration and scrutineering with all boats being weighed by the expert team of Roger & Christine Mee.

Merlin Rocket Aspire National at Looe Day 1 - photo © Alex Pausey

A couple of crews were seeing eyeing up the lead on the local church roof in order to reach the required weight, until Ed Bradburn came to the rescue. The Looe Sailing Club team did an excellent job making the whole arrival process smooth despite the town being awash with tourists enjoying the idyllic beach and distracting them from checking out the filming locations for the BBC series Beyond Paradise.

Back to today, the Pinnell and Bax Race Day 1, and the racing. The forecast was for a hot sunny day with light winds and this was spot on. With a leisurely 1pm scheduled start, the fleet launched at noon and ambled out to the race area. It was clear this was going to be a challenging day for the competitors and race team. Kudos to the race team postponing attempts to go racing to accommodate a couple of large wind shifts.

Merlin Rocket Aspire National at Looe Day 1 - photo © Alex Pausey

Race 1 - Founders Trophy

After a general recall the black flag was unfurled to return some self-control back and that worked. Once racing started, it felt like it should pay to go right, but Ben Saxton and Matt Rainback led at the first mark out of the left hand side, followed by Mike and Jane Calvert and Simon and Ally Potts. Tom Gillard and Rachael Gray gybed at the spreader mark and catapulted around the outside of the fleet on the first run, eventually taking the lead. There were shifts to be had on the second beat, but this time it really did pay to be right, unfortunately for Ben & Matt. The reaches were tight and the tide was causing a issues, but the race finished Tom & Rach ahead of Ben & Matt. Mike and Jane held on to finish third.

Merlin Rocket Aspire National at Looe Day 1 - photo © Alex Pausey

Race 2 - Beecher's Cup

The first beat of race 2 was a long starboard tack, but somehow the majority of the lead group came out of the right hand side. Of course, Tom & Rach stuck to the textbook and managed to find the only left shift to sneak in from the left, some of their "luck" may be related to being super fast! Will Warren and Andy Prince sailed beautifully into second place, excellently navigating the narrow margins to take the shifts on the second beat. Caroline Gould and Olivia Bell sailed a great race to finish up third. The wind dropped significantly towards the end of the race making for a slow return to shore for the fleet.

Merlin Rocket Aspire National at Looe Day 1 - photo © Alex Pausey

The social programme starts tonight with the Commodore's welcome reception. Monday's forecast is for more wind, however the early signs are this is going to be a light wind week so no hike-a-thon this year.

A huge thank you to all our sponsors Aspire Financial Advisors, Creation Covers, Pinnell & Bax, Sailing Chandlery, ClamCleat, Winder Boats and Copperfish Distillery.

Results after Day 1: