Please select your home edition
Edition
Craftinsure 2023 LEADERBOARD

Merlin Rocket Sondown Cup and Elizabeth Bowl at Tamesis Club

by Peter Impey 25 May 2023 20:51 BST 21 May 2023
Merlin Rocket Sondown Cup and Elizabeth Bowl at Tamesis © Christopher Wade

Thirteen Merlin Rockets turned out on Sunday 21 May at Tamesis Club for the Thames Series, sponsored by CraftInsure. Also, at stake on the day were the Sondown Cup and the Elizabeth Bowl.

While remaining a wonderful place to spend a sunny May weekend the Thames Series at Tamesis Club was not for the faint-hearted this year. The club hosted Merlin Opens on both Saturday and Sunday. Here is a racing report for the Sunday.

Restricted water and unpredictable gusts created challenging conditions. Combined with multiple other river users including the sea scouts, rowers, paddle boarders, pleasure boats, canoeists, tourist steamers (and the occasional swimmer!) the stakes were high.

Given the conditions this year we certainly didn't need Chris Simon, the on-water Rule 42 judge, to whistle up any more wind and neither did he have to blow his whistle for any infringements.

Indeed, with local boat War Horse throwing the riders and already capsized before the start of the first race, competitors knew considerable concentration was required.

Accordingly, everyone concentrated hard to hit line with speed at the gun. However, enthusiasm trumped concentration and in a downstream start with gusts powering up their mains much of the fleet were over the line.

Out came the Black Flag.

This allowed time for the waterlogged War Horse to drain and recover to make the new sequence on time. An orderly start at the second attempt!

Being a full open meeting two wide boats were racing for honours. During the race tricky gusts took their toll with several further capsizes, much broaching and an unfortunate melee of collisions. It proved to be exciting racing for the competitors as well as for the considerable crowd of spectators.

The second race was a calmer affair but important for the positions. Following a DNF in race one Andy Harris and Matty Key in 607 Crescendo pulled out a win, beating brother Richard into second, Luka third.

In the last race, after a hearty lunch, it was again all to play for. Another Black flag start after a general recall. Once away the race turned out to be once again a family battle between Richard and Andy Harris. After the first rounding and on the first long run upriver nearly all the boats were line abreast. Their choice of the wall put both Passing Cloud and Crescendo out of the stronger central stream of the river.

Sister Sara Warren had jumped ship from Crescendo after an overall win on Saturday and was now sailing on Passing Cloud. Maybe the difference was down to her crewing as Richard, in Passing Cloud, inexorably eked out a convincing lead. A second win of the day was enough to claim both the Sondown Cup and the Elizabeth Bowl, for the second year in a row.

In the open series, second place went to Andy Harris crewed by Matty Key and third place to Ollie Houseman and Egle Tumosa.

Once again, the football Premiership table was finalised this weekend. This time without even requiring Manchester City to play to put the points difference to rest. That's five titles in six years and three in a row for Pep Guardiola. We may yet see the same dominance of the various sailing cups.

For readers unfamiliar with Tamesis it is a beautiful oasis of tranquillity in west London. Very picturesque with winds that are predominantly light as the water is not wide or open. The Thames on this stretch is nestled between residential houses, park trees and some larger buildings upstream on the Surrey (Eastern) side. The windy conditions seen in the event were tricky because of the 'helicopter' gusts that flatten down from above in every direction. Long experience pays dividends racing at Tammy.

The club aims welcome guests warmly and the hospitality at this event was second to none. The on-the-water competitive spirits were somewhat elevated by the testing conditions. The club, yet again, excelled in very positively marketing itself as a challenging and interesting place to race.

Overall, a great weekend of sailing beautiful boats with intense racing. You had to see it to believe it, get involved. Many thanks to all those at Tamesis for hosting the event.

The next Thames Series event is at Upper Thames on 17th September 2023.

Overall Results:

PosBoatSail NoHelmCrewClubR1R2R3
1stPassing Cloud1079Richard HarrisSara WarrenTamesis1‑21
2ndCrescendo607Andrew HarrisMatty KeyTamesis(DNF)12
3rdLuka3560Ollie HousemanEgle TumosaChew Valley2‑33
4thKeyser Soze3864Tom LowEd LowTamesis3‑55
5thMasquerade995Matthew Peregrine JonesLyra WadeTamesis‑544
6thAndromeda3259Charlie MorganTim GinnTamesis46(DNF)
7thAvenger1004Ken DuffellJoe WoodsTamesis68(DNS)
8thIndecision3677Timothy BarrChris MartinTamesis77(BFD)
9thShoestring1136Peter JohnsonPaul JamiesonTamesis9‑107
10thSaltarello1602John AdamsRos Warwick‑HallerTamesis89(DNS)
11thWar Horse1939Peter ImpeyPaul NebelTamesis(DNF)DNS6
12thBambusa847Peter MasonRichard MasonTamesis(DNF)DNSDNS
12thHullabaloo1692Rob CageSarah WhiteThames SC(DNF)DNSDNS

Related Articles

Bartley SC have to postpone Merlin open meeting
Unexpected drop in water level makes the event unviable Sadly Bartley SC are having to postpone the Merlin Rocket open meeting on 30th March 2025 due to an unexpected drop in the water level making the event unviable. Posted on 28 Mar
Merlin Rocket Silver Tiller at Salcombe
David Greening is as good a race officer as any class could wish for The 2025 Salcombe Craftinsure Silver Tiller and Allspars South West Series open meeting sponsored by Helly Hansen looked like it was going to be a long damp weekend with light winds, but this little haven in the South Hams had other things in mind. Posted on 25 Mar
Allspars sponsor Merlin Rocket South West Series
The series kicks off this weekend with a two-day opening event at Salcombe Yacht Club The Merlin Rocket Owners' Association is delighted to announce Allspars as the title sponsor for the 2025 South West Series. Posted on 19 Mar
Merlin Rocket Allen South East Series at Burnham
An opportunity to have 3 races that weren't sausage/triangle/sausage The Merlin Rocket fleet were welcomed at the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club in Burnham for the Allen South East Series 2025 by barista coffee, pastries and the opportunity to have three races that weren't sausage/triangle/sausage courses. Posted on 18 Mar
Helly Hansen to sponsor Merlin Rocket Week
Salcombe YC also announce Silver Tiller event Salcombe Yacht Club (SYC) is thrilled to welcome Helly Hansen as the official sponsor for Merlin Rocket Week (28th June - 4th July 2025) and The Merlin Silver Tiller (22-23 March 2025). Posted on 8 Mar
Winter Series at Fishers Green overall
24 races with 35 boats, won by a Merlin Rocket The highly anticipated winter series at Fishers Green Sailing Club kicked off when back when on the 1st December, a 24 race series. The winter series now certainly added to the list of ones to win at the green. Posted on 7 Mar
Merlin Rocket Class Training at Hayling Island
Perfect perching weather for 9 boats The Merlin class has been running organised class training since the Olympics were last held in Spain. If you're under 30 it's a while ago. Posted on 6 Mar
Gillard & Gray take Merlin victory in the Tiger
Finally almost perfect conditions in the Seldén Sailjuice Winter Series Even when they switch from the Scorpion to the Merlin Rocket, Tom Gillard and Rachael Gray come out on top of a 110-boat fleet at a mostly mild and benign Tiger Trophy on Rutland Water... Posted on 5 Feb
Merlin Rocket Class Training is back for 2025
Something for everyone, this March in Hayling The Merlin Rocket class is running training on the 1st and 2nd March at Hayling Island Sailing Club. Open to all Merlin Rocket Owners' Association members, it is a great start to the season. Posted on 16 Jan
Gould and Mackley's Merlin wins at Grafham
In the Seldén Sailjuice Winter Series Gill Grafham Grand Prix Across three handicap racing fleets at the Gill Grafham Grand Prix, Chris Gould and Sophie Mackley race their Merlin Rocket to overall victory in a field of 130 monohulls and multihulls, with 10 different classes in the combined top 10 rankings. Posted on 31 Dec 2024