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

by Ben Archer 28 Aug 12:49 PDT 22-28 August 2026

Day 6 of the Aspire Merlin Rocket National Championships and today was P&B Race Day!

It was slightly reduced fleet at WPNSA that set sail in what the Race Officer described as 17 knots of breeze upon launching despite this several boats elected not to take part in the final race., the course for the day ST3, with a beat of 0.9 and a bearing of 245.

A near perfect start line on day 6 of the Aspire Merlin Rocket Nationals at the WPNSA - photo © Rob O'Neill

With two boats UFD on their way to start, the rest of the fleet go away with lots of space around them. The majority of the fleet seem to head right to take a look at Castle Cove Sailing Club before heading in and taking quite a conservative approach to the starboard lay line. With the wind building, the first run was an exhilarating affair with crews behind the hoop all the way down to the committee boat and some electing to drop early prior to the second part of the run.

Even in the harbour there were big waves. On the second beat, Tom Stewart and Rob Allen extended their lead from Jon Gorringe and Toby Lewis with Tom Gillard and Rachael Gray, our National Champions with a race to spare, and Ben Whaley and Chris Martin in hot pursuit. Many, including the leading pack, elected not to hoist on the first reach, saving their energy for the secondly slightly broader reach, where they sped down to the leeward mark in an ever-increasing breeze now averaging 20 knots by this time.

Mark Stockbridge and James Gifford approach the windward mark on the first lap on day 6 of the Aspire Merlin Rocket Nationals at the WPNSA - photo © Rob O'Neill

With gusts reaching 28 knots, the RO, Peter Saxton, very sensibly began whiskey finishing boats at the windward mark. It was later reported that some teams achieved 15 1/2 knots of boat speed. What an exhilarating end to what has been an outstanding week of championship racing.

Taking first place and going home with the stunning Silent World Trophy was Tom and Rob, clearly very elated as they went through the finish to plenty of cheers from those watching.

Rob Allen punches the air with joy as they cross the finish line first on day 6 of the Aspire Merlin Rocket Nationals at the WPNSA - photo © Rob O'Neill

Congratulations to our Aspire National Champions 2026, Tom Gillard and Rachael Gray, our Gold Fleet winners James Goodfellow and George Major, our Silver Fleet winners Sam and Leanne Thompson and our Bronze Fleet winners Roman and Ben Archer.

A huge thank you to all involved particularly RO Peter Saxton and his team. Thank you to our incredible sponsors Aspire Financial Advisers, Barton Marine, ClamCleat, P&B and Winder Boats. Thank you to Rob O'Neill for the wonderful photos, more to follow, and for presenting each of the helms and crew with their own framed image to take home. A lovely touch to end a great week.

Ben Whaley and Chris Martin blast down the reach with the harbour enterance in the background on day 6 of the Aspire Merlin Rocket Nationals at the WPNSA - photo © Rob O'Neill

Save the date for 2027 when we head to Penzance from the 8th to 13th August.

The next major event for the class is the 80th anniversary celebrations at Upper Thames Sailing Club on 5th September, tickets are still available here.

Stay tuned for the Allen Inlands at Oxford Sailing Club on 26th and 27th September, entries opening soon.

Overall Results:
If you finished in the top ten at the Merlin Rocket nationals then enter your Gear Guide information

Pos	Fleet	Sail No	Boat Name	Helm	Crew	Club	Crews' R	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	Pts
1	Platinum	3759	Red Mistress	Thomas Gillard	Rachael Gray	Sheffield Viking SC & Staunton Harold SC		1	1	‑10	‑7	5	1	2	2	4	16
2	Platinum	3833	Didley Watsit	Jon Gorringe	Toby Lewis	Parkstone YC		‑7	6	1	4	‑17	4	1	5	2	23
3	Platinum	3824	Bonnie	Andy Davis	Becky Caiger	South Staffs SC	7	2	4	3	‑10	1	3	5	‑12	6	24
4	Platinum	3823	Gone with the wind	Ben Whaley	Chris Martin	Swanage SC	1	6	3	(DNF [42])	1	4	6	7	‑8	3	30
5	Platinum	3826	Dave	Arran Holman	Tom Pygall	Parkstone YC & Holywell SC		‑9	7	4	2	2	(PRP [17.6])	9	3	5	32
6	Platinum	3771	Skip	Oliver Meadowcroft	Alex Pausey	Salcombe YC & Upper Thames SC	4	4	11	5	3	10	‑13	8	1	‑12	43
7	Gold	3793	Boris	James Goodfellow	George Major	Ardleigh SC	10	3	10	9	11	(DNC [42])	7	6	7	(DNC [42])	53
8	Platinum	3834	Grace	Thomas Stewart	Rob Allen	Waldringfield SC		15	‑22	2	14	3	‑38	3	16	1	54
9	Gold	3746	Point n Squirt	James Wells	Lorna Glen	RYA		‑17	5	12	15	12	‑21	4	4	8	60
10	Platinum	3827	The return of the jedi	David Winder	Beka Jones	Hollingworth Lake SC	9	5	8	14	8	13	2	‑18	15	(1 W)	65
11	Gold	3727	Fragile	Mark Stockbridge	James Gifford	Upper Thames SC	5	14	‑19	7	12	6	12	10	6	‑15	67
12	Platinum	3807	Baloo	Timothy Saxton	Faye Chatterton	Itchenor SC	UFD	11	12	11	5	8	‑20	13	‑14	9	69
13	Platinum	3804	Rockatross	Sam Barker	Ben Rayner	Castle Cove SC		8	9	17	6	7	‑25	15	11	(DNF [42])	73
14	Gold	3666	Ted	John Meadowcroft	Rory Gifford	Upper Thames SC & Salcombe YC	13	12	‑21	6	16	9	8	12	‑21	11	74
15	Gold	3683	Bluebird	Tom Ballantine	Dan Harris	Castle Cove SC		‑21	14	8	13	11	‑18	11	10	7	74
16	Platinum	3796	Roberta	William Warren	Andy Prince	Shoreham SC		18	15	‑21	9	(UFD [42])	15	14	9	10	90
17	Gold	3710	Paradigm Shift	Jon Ibbotson	Robert Stewart	Burghfield SC	8	16	18	(RET [42])	19	‑20	10	17	13	17	110
18	Silver	3801	Beltie	Sam Thompson	Leanne Thompson	RNSA		‑24	13	22	23	21	9	‑24	17	19 W	124
19	Gold	3805	Nermal	Ed Bradburn	Ollie Goodhead	South Staffs SC	2	22	‑25	15	18	18	17	22	‑23	14	126
20	Gold	3747	Learner Driver	Clive Eplett	Megan Pascoe	Frensham Pond SC	3	13	23	‑25	20	19	14	21	19	(DNC [42])	129
21	Gold	3787	Quicksilver	Chris Martin	Josh Oates	Bartley SC		27	24	16	17	14	‑33	19	‑32	13	130
22	Gold	3815	The Kraken	Mark Barwell	Louise Johnson	Lymington Town SC & Upper Thames SC	6	19	17	19	21	16	‑22	20	18	(DNC [42])	130
23	Gold	3779	The Angels' Share	David Lee	Angela Bridges	Starcross YC		20	‑28	18	24	22	16	16	‑25	20 W	136
24	Platinum	3829	Back in Business	Mike Calvert	Jane Calvert	Axe YC		10	2	13	22	15	(DNC [42])	(DNC [42])	DNC [42]	DNC [42]	146
25	Gold	3781	The Force Awakens	David Hall	Georgia Booth	Blackwater SC	11	23	16	20	‑27	26	24	23	20	(DNC [42])	152
26	Silver	3825	Tea Cup	Storm Nuttall	Sally Wakefield	West Hoe SC		26	27	23	(RET [42])	24	11	‑29	24	22 W	157
27	Silver	3806	Blue Tit	Benjamin Jones	Helen Hilditch	Lymington Town SC		25	20	26	‑30	27	23	26	27	(DNC [42])	174
28	Bronze	3767	One Love	Roman Archer	Ben Archer	Parkstone YC		28	‑35	24	25	25	31	‑32	26	24 W	183
29	Silver	3816	Wild Horses	Phil Emery	Hilary Bradshaw	Whitstable YC		‑31	‑31	29	29	29	26	25	22	25 W	185
30	Silver	3830	Amuse‑Bouche	Tom Low	Ed Low	Parkstone YC	12	34	(DNC [42])	31	31	23	19	36	(BFD [42])	18	192
31	Bronze	3760	Moz's Tale	Jerry Ibberson	Liza Hunt	SCYC		32	‑36	27	33	28	‑37	28	29	16	193
32	Silver	3600	The Matrix	Mike Partridge	Claire Davis	Hayling Island SC		30	26	30	(RET [42])	34	28	31	(RET [42])	26 W	205
33	Silver	3488	Carrera	Ben Scroggie	Harry Scroggie	Parkstone YC		33	33	32	26	(DNC [42])	30	27	30	(DNS [42])	211
34	Silver	3766	The Bear	Andrew Dalby	Elsa Dalby	Burghfield SC & Lee on Solent SC	15	29	‑34	34	34	30	27	30	28	(UFD [42])	212
35	Silver	3626	Business As Usual	Tim Male	Rebecca Male	Staunton Harold SC		35	30	(RET [42])	28	31	29	33	31	(UFD [42])	217
36	Silver	3817	Aura	Geoff Kimber	Helen Kimber	Stone SC		‑38	32	28	35	32	34	35	‑36	23 W	219
37	Bronze	3813	Pacemaker	Steve Harling	Eleanor Thomas	Starcross YC		37	29	(DNC [42])	37	(DNC [42])	32	34	34	DNC [42]	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	DNC [42]	249
39	Bronze	3594	Summit Fever	Robin Clifton‑Dey	Michael Clifton‑Dey	Weymouth SC		36	37	36	‑38	35	35	38	35	(DNC [42])	252
40	Silver	3704	Factory Maid	Jemma Horwood	Nicola Scaddan	Tamesis SC	14	39	38	35	36	(DNC [42])	36	39	(DNC [42])	DNS [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]	RET [42]	292