Merlin Rocket Craftinsure Silver Tiller and SW Series at Hooe Point Sailing Club
by Peter Gray 16 Jun 2023 16:44 UTC
10-11 June 2023
A quality fleet of Merlin Rockets linked up in Plymouth Sound (venue of choice for SailGP) for the Craftinsure Silver Tiller and South West Series event on the 10th and 11th June. With most open meeting winners in attendance - Matt Biggs & Beka Jones, Jon Gorringe & Matt Currell, Caroline Croft & Peter Gray, and Tom Gillard sailing with Rachael Gray - it promised to be a great weekend of racing!
Race 1 started with a very long beat across the Sound; two thirds of the way up the very long beat it was anyone's race, but in it was newly formed pairing of Mike Calvert & Chris Gould who mastered the top of the course under the cliffs to take the lead down the first run which, to everyone surprise, was the end to race one!
Race 2 and the wind picked up and shifted dramatically so the Race Officer could set a course away from the cave. Races 2 and 3 blended into one long saga... note to self: don't complain about the length of race one! The fickle conditions were mastered buy Tom & Rachael with Matt & Beka and Mike & Chris hot on their heels.
Race 3 saw some premature starters, resulting in three black flags including Mr Biggs & Beka and Mr Gorringe & Matt.
Race 4 and now the wind had dropped, and the tide increased underneath the fleet, and there were more casualties at the start; a third of the fleet returned to restart including Matt Curell now crewed by John Gorringe.
Three frantic laps of a tighter sausage-triangle course ensued with Mike & Chris taking the win! A tired fleet returned to shore, many of who explored the delights of Plymouth across the harbour!
Sunday dawned to sea fog as dense as City supporters' hangovers. Much shore work was done before the race committee launched the fleet into the Sound to a parade of the Navy's finest vessels. Some of the fleet claimed to have seen dolphins but by the time Race 5 started on Sunday you could barely see both ends of the line the sea fog had rolled in that deep.
The fleet set off up windward-ish into the fog like intrepid explorers of old navigating by nothing more than a Tacktic compass (or the hairs on your face depending on if you remembered your compass). Three laps of very tight racing with lots of place-changing between Mike & Chris, Tom & Rachael, Caroline & Peter with Tom sneaking the win at the final mark and Caroline & Peter coming in third after having done all the hard work guiding the fleet round the first lap in the dense fog.
The final race late into the afternoon in the glorious Plymouth Sound saw crews finally hiking, all dead level and then the windward mark was removed. Some competitors were unsure on the flags that followed, but do not fear, race 6 was soon to start again. Once one of His Majesty's finest had moored at the top of the race course.
Race 6 finally got away, and it looked like local knowledge had finally paid off for James Wells sailing with Anna Aylward taking a slender lead around the first mark closely followed by Mike & Chris needing a victory in the last race to secure the win from Tom & Rachael!
Three more laps of snakes, ladders and avoiding the frigate moored slightly to the right of the windward mark, and some flailing buzzes coming downwind. Mike and Chris emerged as victors of the Sound.
Some say they have been in training so secret even they were unaware. Some say Mike paid off the captain of the ship in his local village poker game, or that they were powered to victory by Jane Calvert's flapjack!
We hope Jane and her flapjack make a safe return to Salcombe next month!
Gold fleet winners were James Wells & Anna Aylward, with Tim Parsons & Andy Service taking the Silver Fleet.
The next Craftinsure Silver Tiller is at Shoreham Sailing Club on 17th and 18th June, with the next South West Series event at Parkstone Yacht Club on 30th September.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Boat Name | Sail No | Helm | Crew | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | Quick Fix | 3691 | Mike Calvert | Chris Gould | 1 | ‑4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| 2 | Red Mistress | 3759 | Thomas Gillard | Rachael Gray | 2 | 1 | 1 | ‑6 | 1 | 5 | 10 |
| 3 | Skadi | 3820 | Caroline Croft | Pete Gray | 6 | ‑7 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 19 |
| 4 | Poney | 3801 | Matt Biggs | Beka Jones | 3 | 2 | (DSQ) | 3 | 9 | 4 | 21 |
| 5 | Arwen | 3726 | Will Henderson | Rob Henderson | 5 | ‑10 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 29 |
| 6 | Point n Squirt | 3746 | James Wells | Anna Aylward | ‑13 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 29 |
| 7 | Ted | 3666 | John Meadowcroft | Ollie Meadowcroft | 4 | 6 | (DSQ) | 5 | 8 | 10 | 33 |
| 8 | Didley Squat | 3791 | Jon Gorringe | Matt Gorringe | 9 | 5 | 4 | ‑11 | 7 | 8 | 33 |
| 9 | Quicksilver | 3787 | Chris Martin | John Tailby | ‑12 | 8 | 6 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 34 |
| 10 | Space Hopper | 3757 | Tim Parsons | Andy Service | 11 | 3 | (DSQ) | 8 | 10 | 6 | 38 |
| 11 | The Angel's Share | 3779 | Dave Lee | Angela Bridges | 10 | ‑11 | 7 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 49 |
| 12 | Stanley | 3749 | Colin Anderson | Sean Anderson | 8 | 12 | 9 | ‑13 | 12 | 12 | 53 |
| 13 | Combat Wombat | 3772 | Dan Heaton | Dan Bevan | 7 | ‑13 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 55 |