Merlin Rocket Craftinsure Silver Tiller Series and Felucca Trophy at Hollingworth Lake Sailing Club
by Caroline Croft 19 Oct 2023 21:33 NZDT
14-15 October 2023
Merlin Rocket Felucca Trophy at Hollingworth Lake © David Winder
Seven visitors turned up to a chilly Hollingworth Lake to join the seven locals for the annual two-day Craftinsure Silver Tiller and Felucca Trophy. Due to the BBC filming a drama at the sailing club the rowing club kindly loaned us their facilities for the weekend.
Race 1 got under way cleanly but with a 90+ degree shift up the first beat; the leaders reached in over the top of those who had headed right on the way to mark F. It was very much a follow-my-leader race with the wind having changed direction and the course been set.
Mike & Jane Calvert lead the fleet for the first half lap before heading to the wrong mark thinking we had a lead boat, but it was just a guy having some fun! This let Matt Biggs & Beka Jones, Caroline Croft & Rebecca Videlo through which were the results at the finish line with Mike & Jane taking third.
Race 2 was a different course with numerous wind and rain squalls for the fleet to deal with and some unfortunate enough to be testing the water temperatures! Matt & Beka took their second win of the day followed by Mike & Jane then Caroline & Rebecca.
With a quick break for afternoon tea and a chance to grab some more warm layers for several cold sailors, race 3 kicked off. This time there were numerous race leaders, but with some confusion of the shortened course (for all), Caroline & Rebecca managed to take the race win from Mike & Jane who had the lead towards the end of the race. Julian Parry & Matt Currell took third, and Matt & Beka in fourth.
Overnight leaders were Matt & Beka, second was Caroline & Rebecca and in third was Mike & Jane Calvert. The sailing club members put on a lovely Spanish tapas evening at the rowing club, for sailors to catch up on the day's events.
Sunday dawned with frost on the covers! A 30-minute postponement went up as we waited for the wind to fill in on the lake. Sailors added more layers than the day before and headed out for the last two races of the weekend.
Race 4 Matt & Beka lead the way with a lovely lead from start to finish with Mike & Jane taking second and Caroline & Rebecca taking third.
Race 5 got off cleanly but a challenging start as it involved a tack to port to cross the line. Mike & Jane lead this race from Matt & Beka whilst third was tussled for by a number of boats. Mike & Jane took the win from Matt & Beka and Caroline & Rebecca fought back to take third.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Fleet | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Total | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | Platinum | 3801 | Matt Biggs | Beka Jones | Blithfield SC | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 5 |
| 2 | Platinum | 3691 | Mike Calvert | Jane Calvert | Axe SC | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 7 |
| 3 | Platinum | 3820 | Caroline Croft | Rebecca Videlo | Lymington Town | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 9 |
| 4 | Gold | 3678 | Stephen Crook | Sally Townsend | HLSC | 4 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 26 | 19 |
| 5 | Gold | 3659 | Julian Parry | Matt Currell | HLSC | 8 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 29 | 21 |
| 6 | Gold | 3679 | Nick Heginbotham | Steve McCann | HLSC | 9 | 4 | 3 | DNF | 6 | 37 | 22 |
| 7 | Bronze | 3810 | Les Bithell | Emma Turner | HLSC | 5 | DNF | 6 | 5 | 7 | 38 | 23 |
| 8 | Silver | 3749 | Colin Anderson | Sean Anderson | Bartley SC | 6 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 9 | 38 | 29 |
| 9 | | 3642 | Stephen Graham | Lee Tennant | Burwain SC | 7 | 8 | DNF | 8 | 8 | 46 | 31 |
| 10 | | 3603 | Tom Daniels | Ryan Richards | HLSC | 11 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 49 | 37 |
| 11 | | 3805 | Mark Reddington | Lewis Fowler | Bartley SC | 10 | DNF | 10 | 11 | 10 | 56 | 41 |
| 12 | | 3615 | Stuart Bates | Lydia Bourne | HLSC | 12 | DNF | DNC | 9 | 11 | 62 | 47 |
| 13 | | 3414 | Ian Laing | Andrew Hunt | HLSC | 14 | DNF | DNC | 12 | 13 | 69 | 54 |
| 14 | | 3557 | Mathew Winder | Tom Winder | Morecombe SC | 13 | DNF | DNC | DNC | DNC | 73 | 58 |