The Merlin Rocket is a two person high performance development class dinghy with a spinnaker. It’s a versatile boat and will perform well on both open seas and inland waters. Various hull designs allow crews to choose the particular hull that suits their size, weight and age. The Welsh Harp is ideal for the Merlin, being a mile in length and 100 acres in area with a prevailing south westerly wind, allowing excellent windward sailing.
Merlin Rocket Silver Tiller 2022
The Merlin Rocket fleet descended upon Wembley Sailing club on Sunday 20th March for the Craftinsure Silver Tiller to sunshine and a nice breeze. As is traditional with Wembley, the fleet had a warm welcome with tea & coffee, and a variety of cakes and sandwiches.
The forecast called for the wind to switch off in the early afternoon, so the fleet and the Race Officer were eager to get the racing underway whilst the conditions were good.
25 boats headed out to the first start, with 10 home boats aiming to put the visitors in their place. The relatively short start line made for a full start line, with the first race getting underway on the first attempt. The gusty conditions lead to a real snakes and ladders race, with the top six boats exchanging places around the windward-leeward course. Although put under pressure, Caroline Croft and Rob Henderson managed to secure the race win when it mattered, followed by Simon Potts and Sam Mottershead in second, holding back Tim Saxton and Mary Henderson in third.
The second race got turned around quickly and we rolled into a start sequence. All 25 boats clearly wanted a good start and were pushing hard, a little too hard, leading to a general recall. The Race Officer was having none of it and put up the black flag for the second attempt. With this deterrent, the fleet got underway cleanly and headed around the slightly adapted course. The Henderson family dominated this race, with Arthur Henderson and Livvy Bell bringing up the front, followed by Caroline and Rob, and Tim and Mary.
As soon as the Mars Bars and water was handed out, the wind decided to turn off. The majority of the fleet decided enough was enough and headed back ashore to the agreement of the race committee. Once ashore, the fleet was treated to a first-class curry before prize giving.
Harry and Annabel Steward but in a consistent performance in tricky conditions to secure the Bronze fleet win. Silver fleet was topped by Colin Brockbank and Vana Vlasaki who also came out on top of the 10 Wembley boats. Winners of the centenary prize was Stephen and Gillian Leney finishing 6th overall. Overall, Caroline and Rob were convincing winners with a 1,2 in the tricky conditions.
Big thanks goes to Wembley sailing club for putting on a great event, with a warm welcome and great food!
Next up the Craftinsure Silver Tiller heads to Blithfield Sailing Club on Sunday 27th March. For the full list of events in 2022 visit https://www.merlinrocket.co.uk/index.asp?pg=fixtures Report by Sam Mottershead
| WEMBLEY SAILING CLUB - MERLIN ROCKET SILVER TILLER 2022 | |||||||||
| OVERALL RESULTS - FINAL | |||||||||
| Rank | HelmName | CrewName | SailNo | Fleet | Club | R1 | R2 | Total | Nett |
| 1st | Caroline Croft | Rob Henderson | 3803 | Gold | Lymington Town SC | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| 2nd | Tim Saxton | Mary Henderson | 3807 | Gold | Itchenor SC | 3 | 3 | 6 | 6 |
| 3rd | Simon Potts | Sam Mottishead | 3802 | Gold | Burgfield SC | 2 | 5 | 7 | 7 |
| 4th | Arthur Henderson | Livvy Bell | 3652 | Gold | Salcombe YC / Hampton SC | 8 | 1 | 9 | 9 |
| 5th | Alexander Warren | Jonty Freeman | 3696 | Gold | Shoreham SC | 9 | 4 | 13 | 13 |
| 6th | Stephen Leney | Gillian Leney | 3716 | Gold | Blithfield SC | 5 | 8 | 13 | 13 |
| 7th | Colin Brockbank | Vana Vlastaki | 3790 | Silver | Wembley | 7 | 6 | 13 | 13 |
| 8th | Chris Gould | Rob Allen | 3812 | Gold | Salcombe YC | 6 | 7 | 13 | 13 |
| 9th | Paul Rayson | Chris Hill | 3799 | Gold | Fishers Green SC | 4 | 11 | 15 | 15 |
| 10th | Paul Hollis | Paula Mason | 3730 | Silver | Blithfield SC | 11 | 9 | 20 | 20 |
| 11th | Harry Steward | Annabel Steward | 3575 | Bronze | Fishers Green SC | 12 | 10 | 22 | 22 |
| 12th | Richard Cooke | Arabella Suchy | 3715 | Bronze | Wembley | 10 | 17 | 27 | 27 |
| 13th | Colin Anderson | Richard Adams | 3749 | Silver | Blithfield SC | 14 | 14 | 28 | 28 |
| 14th | Jon Steward | Russel Hall | 3770 | Bronze | Fishers Green SC | 17 | 12 | 29 | 29 |
| 15th | Dan Heaton | Tom Gurney | 3772 | Bronze | Mountbatten SC | 13 | 16 | 29 | 29 |
| 16th | Richard Eastmond | Luke Moore | 3582 | Bronze | Wembley SC | 19 | 13 | 32 | 32 |
| 17th | Paul Dean | Francesca Dean | 3745 | Silver | Wembley | 18 | 15 | 33 | 33 |
| 18th | Julian Bradley | Helen Cafferata | 3635 | Bronze | Wembley | 15 | 19 | 34 | 34 |
| 19th | Maurice Cleal | Suzie Brough | 3637 | Silver | Wembley SC | 16 | 18 | 34 | 34 |
| 20th | Joe Shaw | Patricia Hickey | 3561 | Bronze | Wembley | 21 | 20 | 41 | 41 |
| 21st | Joh Donaghue | John Sankey | 3535 | Bronze | Llandegfedd SC | 20 | 21 | 41 | 41 |
| 22nd | Fred Pargeter | Marco Cordeiro | 3466 | Bonze | Wembley | 22 | 22 | 44 | 44 |
| 23rd | John Green | Ricky Bindi | 3717 | Bronze | Wembley | 23 | 23 | 46 | 46 |
| 24th | Jemma Horwood | Martin Hughes | 3704 | Bronze | Wembley | 26.0 RET | 26.0 RET | 52 | 52 |
| 24th | Tom Low | Ed Low | 3684 | Silver | West Hoe SC | 26.0 RET | 26.0 DNS | 52 | 52 |
Merlin Rocket Silver Tiller 2019
Merlin RocketSilver Tiller Open at Wembley Sailing Club
18 March 2018
Despite the truly awful weather forecast 20 Merlin Rockets turned out for the second Craftinsure Merlin Rocket Silver Tiller open meeting of the season on Sunday 18 March 2018. Read full article by Duncan Salmon on yachtsandyachting.com
Race Results
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3684 | Andy Davis | Alex Warren | Bartley SC | 1 | ‑3 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 | 3743 | Matt Biggs | Becca Jones | Blithfield | 2 | ‑4 | 2 | 4 |
| 3 | 3791 | Jon Gorringe | Pete Gray | Parkstone | 4 | 1 | (DNS) | 5 |
| 4 | 3764 | Tim Fells | Fran Gifford | Salcombe YC | ‑3 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 5 | 3673 | Caroline Croft | Matt Lulham‑Robinson | Blithfield | 5 | 5 | (RET) | 10 |
| 6 | 3770 | Jack holden | Rob Henderson | Brun SC/Hayling Island SC | 6 | (RET) | 5 | 11 |
| 7 | 3726 | Will Henderson | Mary Henderson | Salcombe YC | ‑11 | 8 | 4 | 12 |
| 8 | 3766 | Andrew Dalby | Darling Wazza | TVSC | ‑7 | 6 | 6 | 12 |
| 9 | 3634 | Richard Coulter | Christian Hill | Fishers Green SC | 8 | ‑9 | 7 | 15 |
| 10 | 3745 | Paul Dean | Szymon Matyjoszcuh | WSC | ‑13 | 7 | 8 | 15 |
| 11 | 3682 | John Steward | Harry Steward | Fishers Green SC | ‑15 | 10 | 9 | 19 |
| 12 | 3702 | Duncan Salmon | Harriet Salmon | WSC | 9 | 11 | (RET) | 20 |
| 13 | 3637 | Alan Broadbent | Russell Hall | WSC | 12 | (DNS) | 10 | 22 |
| 14 | 3790 | Colin Brockbank | Vana | WSC | 10 | 12 | (RET) | 22 |
| 15 | 3717 | John Green | James | WSC | 16 | 13 | (DNS) | 29 |
| 16 | 3686 | Jeremy Deacon | Mike Janowicz | RYA | 14 | (RET) | RET | 35 |
| 17 | 3675 | David Croft | Rosie Richards | RYA | 17 | (RET) | DNS | 38 |
| 18 | 3715 | Richard Cooke | Luke Moore | Wembley SC | (RET) | RET | DNS | 42 |
| 19 | 3535 | Edward Coyne | Chris Lomas | Welsh Harp Sailing Club | (RET) | DNS | DNS | 42 |
| 20 | 3668 | Mark Smyth | Julie Cronshaw | WSC | (RET) | DNS | DNS | 42 |
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