Speed Sails Merlin Rocket Caught Speeding at Merlin Rocket Nationals Lyme

Congratulations to Stuart Bithell and Christian Birrell sailing the Speed Sails Speed Machine.

"They sailed off into a commanding lead ahead of some of the country's best dinghy sailors." Tim Fells Y+Y

"Thanks guys, collected the fully complete boat on Thursday - won the first race Saturday - Just amazed with the speed out of the box!" Stuart Bithell 

Overall, the level of performance shown by the leading two teams in dominating such a star studded fleet was something special. Stu / Christian regained the title they held in 2010 with a score line of 1,1,1,2,5 to narrowly beat the 2011 champions Taxi / Tom who scored 2,2,2,2,3. Geoff Carveth and Graham Williamson rounded out a high quality top three overall.

Lyme Regis Sailing Club have put on a fantastic week for the Merlin Rockets. Despite challenging conditions the racing has been superb and Jerry Rook and his race and rescue teams deserve the highest praise. For a small club an event of this size was a real challenge but they have delivered a week that will live long in the class's memory.

Results

Sailboats/Gul/Speedsails Race Team also sponsored by Craft Insure

Do You Want To Be Caught Speeding Like Stuart and Christian were - contact us now to discuss your new sails, spars and complete boat package for this coming autumn and next year.

Another race and our new Speed Sails Phantom Aeroweb 3D Moulded Sail does the job with a glorious win. Read below for a detailed report:

Bright sunshine and Force 4/5 winds greeted the 15 entrants for the first day of the Shoreham Phantom Open Meeting held over the 11th/12th August 2012, the seventh race out of nine for the Phantom Class Association Southern Series.

For the initial briefing the Race Officer detailed a four lap course for all races consisting of triangle two sausages, triangle then finish. This in itself did not appear too complicated but was to later catch out some competitors who appeared cerebrally challenged when it came to working out which leg of the course they should be on.

Race 1 was hotly contested with Simon Hawkes (Wimbleball SC) leading the fleet up the first beat closely followed by Nick Mason (Island Barn SC), Tim Hemlsey (Frensham Pond) and Nick Orman (Castle Cove). The first reach was a real screamer with a number of competitors getting caught out with the combination of Force 5 gusts and rolling waves. Simon Hawkes pulled out a commanding lead to the finish followed in by Tim Hemsley (2nd) and Nick Mason (3rd).

It was more of the same for Race 2 with Simon Hawkes and Nick Orman pulling away followed by local boy Tyler Harmsworth (Shoreham SC) and Nick Mason. On the last lap Hawkes put paid to a second win for the day by forgetting to go onto the reach for the last lap and deciding to do a third sausage. Nick Orman followed while the rest of the fleet went on to complete the proper course, with Tyler Harmsworth taking the honours followed by Nick Mason (2nd) and Mike Tustin of Bowmoor SC making a welcome return to the Phantom fleet in his new boat, finishing third. Hawkes and Orman finished 10th and 11th respectively.

That ended the racing for Saturday with the evening spent by competitors in the club house hotly contesting the 'how many sausages make a course' issue. Hawkes and Orman lost the argument 12 – 3 and in the absence of any formal protest the results stood. Beer and curry was served in the club house and for desert the local Indian restaurant were only too happy to supply Hawkes and Orman a helping of curried humble pie!

Sunday morning dawned for Race 3 with a Force 3 breeze and more sunshine. Again Simon Hawkes led the competitors up the beat and a battle then ensued between him and Nick Orman with Hawkes once again taking the win. The wind was dropping as the race went on and swinging from the East round to the West causing what should have been the beat to become a fetch. The lighter members of the fleet took advantage of this with Mike Tustin working his way up to a credible third place.

With the 180 degree shift the Race Officer hurriedly reset the course and the fleet set of in a force 2 which gradually increased into force 3. Nick Orman achieved what looked like the impossible and led Hawkes around the first mark, however normal order was resumed with Hakes overtaking him on the downwind leg.

Nick Mason and Mike Tustin battled it out for third place downwind and till Tustin decided he wasn’t too bothered about his new gel coat and luffed Nick Mason resulting in a collision. Tustin sailed off while Mason did his penalty turns. Hakes and Orman continued their battle with Tyler Harmsworth chasing them down with Hawkes ending up the eventual winner, followed by Orman (2nd), Harmsworth (3rd) and Tustin (4th).

Overall Results:

Another race and another win for the Speed Machine...the boys in the Speed Machine finished 1st with one race to spare.   Results from the Tynemouth Enterprise Regatta 2012 can be seen below. 

Results

Whilst the stormy forecast may have kept some away those that did turn up were treated to some interesting wind patterns and good close racing plus the usual Flash hospitability.

Race 1 saw Paul Lennie and Pam Gott (Winsford Flash) 7909 first to the windward mark closely followed closely by son and father team Mathew and Paul Metcalfe-Smith (Ogston SC) 8158 just ahead of Phil Smith and Fiona Nidre (Winsford Flash) 8152. Phil managed to work his way through the fleet to take the gun ahead of Mathew.

After a hearty lunch the squall at the start of race 2 was put to good use by Mike Banner and Pippa Mitchell (Winsford Flash) 8133 who shot off the line leaving mayhem behind them. They extended their lead throughout the race to finish comfortably ahead of both Phil and Paul.

That meant it was all down to the last race, which started in the steadiest wind conditions. Mike, sailing again with his former crew Pippa, tacked onto a shift just after the start to take an early lead only for Phil to slowly claw back resulting in a tense covering duel to the finish with Mike managing to hold on and win the race and the event overall. At the prize giving Ian McLean and Jack Davey (Dee SC) 6833 picked up a bottle of wine each to celebrate their first Albacore Open whilst Mike thanked the club for a well organised event and dedicated his first open win to the late Mary Ayrton, a former Winsford Albacore stalwart and wife of Ken Aytron.

Overall Results:

Enterprises at West Lancashire Yacht Club

24th June 2012

As all the competitors arrived at Ainsdale on Sea to enjoy tidal racing, the OD checked the conditions and cancelled the sea sailing and re-organized the event at the safety of the Marine Lake.

The wind was gusting force 6 with a southwesterly wind and Sunshine broke through later in the afternoon.

Race 1, eight boats crossed the start line and was served a figure of eight course around or through the islands. Andrew Ashworth and Lynn Kissick (WLYC) where first round the windward mark followed by Jonathon Woodward and Alex Halliwell (North Staffs / WLYC) and Mark Lunn & Steve Blackburn (WLYC) were third. The race soon settled down and the wind picked up with aqua planning on the runs. Mark and Jonathon overtook Andrew on the second lap. Mark went onto win the race. Jonathon had bad luck on the second lap with his kicker bracket breaking and retired from racing for the day. Andrew finished second, Clive Porter and Roy Kissick came in third with Alison Payne & Kev Law in forth Place.

Back to back races for race 2, Mark was first to the windward buoy and Andrew was just behind in 2nd and Clive in third. The wind was still providing gusts of force 6 and was very entertaining to watch the Ents planing through the Islands. Mark held onto his first with Andrew in second and Clive in third. Barry Moss and Julie Moore (Shustoke) finished 4th.

Lunch was definitely needed, Chicken Breast in Tomato sauce served with new potatoes and salad and dessert was homemade banoffee cake. The food was certainly enjoyed by all.

Race 3. The wind was starting to decrease but Andrew Ashworth rounded the windward mark first and finished first. Clive finished third, Barry finished third and Paul Young & Phil Harrison (Midland) came in fourth.

A big thank you to WLYC for their hard work.

By Steve Blackburn

West Lancashire Yacht Club
Enterprise Open Meeting 2012

Results

Speed Sails Mark Lunn Wins their 7th Meeting of the Season in the Speed Machine

Mark Lunn has just returned to The Enterprise Fleet making quite an impression and showing that he has not lost his talented skills for sailing the Enterprise. This 2 Day Enterprise Masters Championship, held at Bristol Corinthian YC 16 – 17 June 2012 was supported from all points of the compass, Looe SC were well represented and there were Enterprises from the Dales, Staffordshire, Midlands, South and North Wales.

This Championship was sailed under a different format. A total of 7 shorter Races, 4 on Saturday and 3 on Sunday were all sailed despite some very challenging wind conditions on the Saturday. The wind was averaging a Force 4 but gusts were seen to peak at Force 7 – 8 during the day.

As you can see from the Overall Results, quite a few compettors decided to participate in the racing from the BCYC Club House on Saturday. However the conditions were sailable and to prove it Bryan Smith, at a spritely age 75, with Crew Richard Bateman sailed all the races and came in with a 23rd overall finishing position and took the 1st Helm Over 70 Prize. The Club House sailors could only look on in admiration!!

Sunday's wind was averaging 3-4 but at times ‘flukey’. Race 6 had to be restarted as the changing wind conditions caused Arky Wainwright and his Race Officer Team to re-lay the course. This Masters also had some new helms join the ranks of 40+. The Jane and Nick Scutt, the usual husband/wife team at this event was replaced by Nick Scutt taking the helm (Nick is always crew for Jane) with crew Akshan Jirasinha. Many had not seen Nick helm before and he came in with a very good overall position of 27th, this is particularly good when you consider that Nick did not finish all the races on Saturday.

The other new helm, who did not venture out on Saturday, was Pete Rowley with Crew Steve Graham. (Many will remember Pete from his long term crewing for Richard Estaugh). Pete surprised us all by coming 1st in Race 7 – well done – wish he had braved the wind and white horses on the Saturday. Pete came 20th Overall. BCYC put on a first class Masters Dinner on the Saturday together with Club House Sports.

As usual with the Masters event it was Dinner Jackets and ‘Posh Frocks’. The whole weekend was a real success and thoroughly enjoyable on and off the water – thanks were given to the BCYC Galley, Bar and Race Officer Arky Wainwright, who did an excellent job in what was, at times, very tricky winy conditions. Everyone worked very hard to put on this event – it was very much appreciated by the Competitors and Enterprise Association. If they will entertain our fleet again we will be back.

The competitors were presented with glassware made by The Glass Lady in Southampton - Plaques engraved with the New Enterprise Logo for the first 6 places overall and Tumblers for the special prizes:

1st Lady Helm, Alice Allen / Sharky, BCYC

1st Lady Crew, Alex Halliwell / Jonathan Woodward, WLYC

1st Husband & Wife, Phil / Catriona Bevan, Grafham Water SC

1st Both over 40, Mark Lunn / Steve Blackburn, WLYC

1st Ton-up Helm, Alan Johnson / Paula Fisher, SCYC/SSC

1st Ken Bird Trophy, 50+ Nick Jackson / Tom Key, Burghfield SC

1st Veteran 60+ Alan Johnson / Paula Fisher, SCYC/SSC

1st Helm Over 70, Bryan Smith / Richard Bateman, BCYC

Overall Results:

Pos Sail No Boat Helm Crew Club R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 Pts

1st 55 SPEED MACHINE Mark Lunn Steve Blackburn WLYC 2 3 1 1 3 1 37 11

2nd 23089 SIMPLY RED Jonathan Woodward Alex Halliwell South Staffs 3 1 3 2 ‑14 5 6 20

3rd 19876 SUBSONIC WHINKLE Alan Johnson Paula Fisher SSC/SCYC 1 2 4 3 ‑12 9 9 28

4th 23127 TIME FOR PLAN B Tim Sadler Hannah Sadler Yorkshire Dales 6 ‑17 2 4 11 6 3 32

5th 23015 WEDG E Nick Jackson Tom Key Burghfield 4 6 6 6 7 3 ‑11 32

6th 23193 ZZZOOM Rob Libby Brian Bowdler Looe SC 10 8 8 9 ‑13 7 5 47

7th 22489 SOUTHERN COMFORT Tom Shaw Ivan Jaycock Looe SC 11 7 12 7 5 11 ‑22 53

8th 22501 BLUE JOB Alice Allen Sharky BCYC 8 11 7 11 ‑15 13 4 54

9th 22166 Steve Sargent Callum Dingle 9 5 5 10 ‑20 16 16 61

10th 22933 H.R.T. Ann Jackson Alan Skeens Burghfield SC 37 37 14 14 2 4 2 73

11th 22892 Gavin Willis Phil Bush 5 4 13 13 ‑32 23 17 75

12th 22322 KIRKUPCASTOFFS Keith Tyler Katie Tyler Hunts SC 18 16 11 15 4 ‑25 14 78

13th 22130 THURSDAYS CHILD Matthew Jaycock Chris Jackman Looe SC 13 13 9 8 ‑28 20 19 82

14th 21067 RISE AND SHINE Ian Wakeling Jimmy Millar BCYC 7 12 10 16 ‑22 17 21 83

15th 23275 WIMP Ges Brown Julie Moore Chester SCC 37 37 37 5 1 10 8 98

16th 22075 Jim Hunt Henry Hunt Beaver SC 37 10 37 37 6 2 7 99

17th 22439 FLOOZY Phil Bevan Catriona Bevan Grafham Water SC 15 9 37 37 16 14 10 101

18th 21500 BOB John Allen William Allen BCYC 37 37 15 12 10 12 15 101

19th 22901 OUTOFTHEBLUE Paul Young Megan Ward Midland SC 14 14 18 17 23 ‑24 23 109

20th 23223 Pete Rowley Steve Graham 16 37 37 37 8 15 1 114

21st 22823 Mike Cossey Christine Barron Sutton SC 37 37 16 18 18 18 18 125

22nd 23248 Martin Bottomley Ray Ball EmbertonPark SC 17 15 17 19 33 ‑35 28 129

23rd 22504 FLIC EN FLAC Bryan Smith Richard Bateman BCYC 12 19 19 20 ‑34 31 33 134

24th 21983 John Berry David Jones Etherow SC 19 18 37 37 17 27 29 147

25th 22702 ESPADARTE Nick Scutt Akshan Jirasinha Middle Nene SC 37 37 37 37 21 8 13 153

26th 23043 AOIFE Richard White Rebecca Stapp BCYC 20 37 37 37 19 26 26 165

27th 23008 JGREYMATTER Barry Moss Ian Deeley Shell Island SC 37 37 37 37 9 22 24 166

28th 23140 MY AIM IS TRUE Richard Leach Jane Pickford Penarth YC 37 37 37 37 30 19 12 172

29th 23050 MASTER CLASS Tim Finch Chris Gill Chester SCC 37 37 37 37 26 21 20 178

30th 23272 JUBILENT Dave Staniforth Becky Thickett 37 37 37 37 25 30 30 196

31st 22935 MALABAR Chris Palmer Dee Larkin Penarth YC 37 37 37 37 29 33 25 198

32nd 22345 SUZY DEE Paul Dunn Gary Oswald Looe SC 37 37 37 37 27 28 32 198

33rd 22148 GREEN MACHINE Alan Galloway Trevor Coleman BCYC 37 37 37 37 24 32 34 201

34th 22455 B6DEE Dave Wiggins Jackie Franklin BCYC 37 37 37 37 31 34 27 203

35th 23242 ROXY Andy Grant Graham Ritchie 37 37 37 37 35 29 31 206

36th 19054 John Stone Vicky Stone 37 37 37 37 37 37 37 222

Enterprise Open at Rudyard Lake Sailing Club

By Paul Gimson on 11 Jun10 June 2012

After a week of storms and rain, four visiting Enterprises arrived at Rudyard Lake Sailing Club to find the full lake looking like a Mirror, reflecting the far bank in perfect symmetry. Needless to say there was a lot of umming and ahhing about whether to unpack the boats, (John Berry took no chances and signed up for lunch before registering). Eventually occasional ripples could be seen on the water and someone made a move towards a buckle on a cover, this started a rush and before you could say ‘Jack Holt' the visitors joined the 6 Rudyard boats and the Open began.

After some indecision by the wind as to whether it was blowing and if so in which direction a course was set and the first race was under way. Alan Johnson crewed by Paula Fisher lead round the windward mark closely followed by Mark Lunn & Steve Blackburn. These two battled it out to the end with Johnson defending well to take first place. A little further back there was a great battle for 3rd 4th and 5th between the two visitors Mike Cossey & Christine Barron, John Berry & David Jones and the Rudyard boat of Micheal Jacot & Emma Smith. Eventually finishing Berry 3rd, Jacot 4th and Cossey 5th.

For the start of Race 2 the wind momentarily filled in. This time Lunn took the lead, he was constantly challenged by Johnson but held on for the win. A little puff of wind then brought the rest of the fleet home. After a splendid lunch the wind still showed little sign of playing ball so a short windward leeward course was set. Again it was Lunn and Johnson at the front matching each other tack for tack with Lunn again first over the line to take First Place Overall. Johnson was 2nd and Cossey with two 3rd places taking 3rd.

Overall Results:

Pos Sail No Helm Crew Club R1 R2 R3 Pts

1st 55 Mark Lunn Steve Blackburn West Lancs -2 1 1 2

2nd 19876 Alan Johnson Paula Asher Southport 1 -2 2 3

3rd 22823 Mike Cossey Christine Barron Sutton -5 3 3 6

4th 21983 John Berry David Jones Etherow 3 -4 4 7

5th 15942 Michael Jacot Emma Smith Rudyard 4 -5 5 9

6th 21145 David Burnham Margaret Burnham Rudyard -6 6 6 12

7th 22903 Patricia Ordsmith Bradley Clark Rudyard -7 7 7 14

8th 16365 Toby Sanderson Grace Nugent Rudyard 8 -9 8 16

9th 20543 Arthur Wilson Mary Wilson Rudyard 9 8 (DNF) 17

10th 2207 Megan Smith Amy Sanderson Rudyard 10 10 (DNC) 20

Full Results of the NE Areas at Ogston SC

1st - E55 - Mark Lunn & Steve Blackburn - West Lancs 

2nd - E23219 - Russell Short & Kate Short - Ogston SC 

3rd - E23127 - Tim Sadler & Richard Sault - Yorkshire Dales SC

4th - E23275 - Ges Brown & Julie Moore - Chester SCC 

5th E23089 - Jonathan Woodward & Alex Halliwell - South Staffs&West Lancs6th E22933 - Ann Jackson & Alan Skeens - Burghfield SC

7th E23223 - Steve Graham & Chris Blundell - Midland SC 

8th E23135 - Brian GArrison & Tom Taylor - Hallamshire 

9th E23169 - Matt Rawson & Jess Law - Ogston SC 

10th E22512 - Noel Wilson & Paula Wilson - Ogston SC 

11th E23171 -Simon Law and Joy Mapp - Ogston SC 

12th E2319 - Samuel Woods & Rick Hayton - Glossop SC 

13th E22418 - Andy Gomm & Sarah Gomm - Ogston SC 

14th E22901 - Paul Young & Megan Ward - Midland SC

15th E22564 - Alison Payne & Kev Law - Toddbrook SC

16th E23036 - Bryce Howard & Lottie Howard - Ogston SC

17th E19007 - Mike HEap and Liz Law - Ogston SC 

18th E472 - Philip Wilson & Amy Wilson - Ogston SC 

19th E22911 - Jon Ward and Julia Ward - Ogston SC

20th E23272 - Dave Staniforth & Becky Thickett - Ulley SC

21st E22929 - Ken Mckenzie & Steve Mead - Ogston SC 

22nd E20687 - A M Fenby & C L Hartley - Ulley SC

23rd E19097 - Simon Fleetwood & Drew Fleetwood - Rotherham SC 

24th E20573 - Richard Rawson & Alister Joyce - Ogston SC 

25th E22876 - John Mann & Aidie Harrison - Ogston SC

 

By Scammondon water SC & Steve Blackburn

Scammonden Water Sailing Club Enterprise Open Meeting 27th May 2012 Sunday  27th May – in glorious sunshine and with a fair bit of wind from time to time, SWSC hosted the second Open of the season, this time for the Enterprise.

Twelve boats turned out to race and overall winners were Alan Johnson and Paula Fisher from SCYC and Southport.  In second place was Mark Lunn and Steve Blackburn from WLYC and in third was James Morley and Rachel Burtitt from Ulley.  Royston Taggart and Lisa Woods finish fourth overall. Mike Goodwin and Matt Bancroft fought hard and were the first SWSC boat home. 

The food after the first race was cow pie and vegetables with dessert. The food on the Enterprise circuit is just best and Scammonden Water was no exception. Two races shortly followed soon after with the wind increasing and by the last race the wind went very shift as it was a North Easterly direction. After the Prize giving Alan Johnson thank Scammonden for the friendly welcome and well organized races. we all finished the event with a nice beer to cool us down!

This event the fourth in the 2012 Enterprise Midland Area Double Chine series sponsored by Speed Sails was held at Barnt Green Sailing Club on Sunday 13th May.

The seventeen boat fleet included visitors from Beaver, Chester, Emberton Park, Midland, South Staffs, Sutton and West Lancashire YC to enjoy a moderate but gusty South Westerly wind which increased throughout the day giving some close exciting racing.

Mark Lunn crewed by Steve Blackburn (West Lancs YC) had the best start in race one ,but it was Ges Brown crewed by Julie Moore (Chester SC) who rounded the windward mark first ahead of Mark and Steve , with Jim Hunt crewed by Henry Hunt (Beaver SC) in third place. Ges and Julie continued to lead for the first two laps until Mark and Steve passed them on a run. On a following run Ges and Julie regained the lead which they extended to finish first. Second was Mark and Steve with third Jonathan Woodward crewed by Alex Halliwell (South Staffs/WLYC).

After an excellent lunch the second race start on a new course, this time Ges and Julie again lead at the windward mark and held onto to this for the first lap. Later both Mark and Steve and also Jim and Henry overtook. Mark and Steve then continued to lead for the next four laps to the finish to win this race, closely followed by Ges and Julie, with Jim and Henry third.

It was all to play for in the last race sailed in the strongest winds of the day giving excellent planning conditions. Jon and Alex rounded the windward mark first, ahead of Ges and Julie with Mark and Steve third and Jim and Henry fourth. Jon and Alex extended their lead over Ges and Julie whilst Jim and Henry moved into third. As the wind picked up Mark and Steve pulled through to second, later overtaking Jon and Alex on the fourth lap to win both the race and the meeting. Second in this race was Jon and Alex with Jim and Henry third.

Winning crew Steve Blackburn thanked everyone at Barnt Green SC for a great day's racing.

Overall Results:

Pos Sail No Helm Crew Club R1 R2 R3 Pts

1st 55 Mark Lunn Steve Blackburn West Lancashire Yacht Club. 2nd 1st 1st 2

2nd 23274 Ges Brown Julie Moore Chester Sailing and Canoeing Club 1st 2nd Dnf 3

3rd 23089 Jonathan Woodward Alex Halliwell South Staffs SC/W.L.Y.C 3rd 4th 2nd 5

4th 22075 Jim Hunt Henry Hunt Beaver SC 5th 3rd 3rd 6

5th 22901 Paul Young Iain Leiper Midland SC 6th 5th 4th 9

6th 22823 Mike Cossey Christine Barron Sutton SC 4th 7th Dnf 11

7th 18427 Bob Suggitt David Allenby Barnt Green SC 9th 6th 6th 12

8th 23248 Martin Bottomley Ray Ball Emberton Park SC 7th 11th 7th 14

9th 22320 Martin Davies Laurence Davies Rugby and Daventry SC Dnf 9th 5th 14

10th 22932 Mike Pickworth Donald Pickworth Barnt Green SC 8th 8th 8th 16

11th 22103 Richard Tuckett Karen Barnt Green SC 10th 10th Dnf 20

12th 22428 Gordon Padmore Rose Padmore Barnt Green SC 13th 12th 9th 21

13th 22869 Merlyn Wilcox Calum Piper Barnt Green SC 11th 14th Dnf 25

14th 21444 Richard Easton Gill Easton Barnt Green SC 12th 13th Dns 25

15th 22978 Stuart Howe Nina Wilson Barnt Green SC 14th 15th Dns 29

16th 17717 Rob Farquharson Helen Farquharson Barnt Green SC 15th Dnf Dnf 33

17th 16696 Phil Deeley Kalvin Hodgson Midland SC Dns Dnf Dnf 36

©Robin Brown

Speed Sails have put together this Mirror tuning guide to help you set your boat up close to its ideal settings. These settings should be regarded as a starting point for fine tuning as individual boats and crews may need to alter them slightly for best performance. When you have your boat set up, remember to mark everything so that the settings can be reproduced quickly.

Speed Sails Mirror Tuning Guide