Please select your home edition
Edition
Noble Marine 2022 YY - LEADERBOARD

Salcombe Yacht Club Summer Series Race 3

by John Burn & David Greening 26 Jun 2023 11:52 BST 24 June 2023

Fast Handicap (by John Burn)

Course M,3, 1, 3, 2

There were just three entrants for race 3 of the Summer Series: Mark Waterhouse and Fran Gifford in a Merlin Rocket, John and Annie McLaren in an RS400, and Mark Savage in his K1.

The Merlin and RS400 quickly broke away from the slower K1 and arrived at the first mark at similar times, they then split strategies with the Merlin opting to head back into the Harbour over the Hipple sand bar and continue down the Portlemouth shore whilst the RS400 chose to stick to the Cliffs and head along the Salcombe Town shore.

As it turns out, they arrived at the next mark again in close quarters, with not much to split them.

As the north-easterly began to cancel out the sea breeze transition zones were now appearing as usual right in front of the Club House. The Mclarens in the RS400 managed to slip away from the Merlin and went on to finish 2 minutes ahead, but unfortunately for them, it wasn't enough to beat Mark and Fran, who on corrected time claimed victory. It was, however, good enough for 2nd position, and Mark in the K1 had to settle for 3rd.

1st Merlin Rocket: Mark Waterhouse and Francis Gifford
2nd RS400: John and Annie McLaren
3rd K1: Mark Savage

Yawl Race (by John Burn)

Course M, 3, 1

Nine Yawls arrived on the start line, and believe it or not, all nine got away cleanly. No one was called over, let alone the victim of an OCS, pointing to lessons hopefully being learned.

Will and Mandy Henderson were quick to get away, and in clear air, they soon formed a reasonable lead over the chasing pack and got round M first.

Dan and Gail Bridger were second around and closely followed by John and Frankie Burn. They remained side by side for much of the downwind leg back into the harbour and arrived at Crossways together, having closed the gap to the Hendersons.

As the fleet took on the loop of the harbour, the front three found themselves all back together as they reached the Watch House.

The sea breeze was dying as the north-easterly attempted to assert its dominance. This left the area in front of the club windless and confusing, not just for the sailors but no doubt also for the spectators.

John and Frankie looked like they might take the lead and sneak through under the Hendersons, but any thoughts of victory were soon put to bed as Will and Mandy were first to pick up the fresh breeze and once again sailed off into the lead.

Dan and Gail hunted down a nice puff to propel them into the more stable breeze and second place, overhauling John and Frankie.

The final leg back from Blackstone can only be described as stressful; there were huge shifts and lots of holes to try to navigate.

Upon rounding the final mark, Will and Mandy headed over to the town shore and started slowly making their way to the finish, while Dan and Gail sailed off towards Mill Bay in what initially looked like a good decision.

Unfortunately for the Bridgers the wind disappeared on them and they floundered helplessly as John and Frankie followed the Hendersons down the opposite side of the estuary in the more stable conditions. Final positions across the line and after the handicaps are applied

1st Will and Mandy Henderson Y168
2nd John and Frankie Burn Y170
3rd Dan and Gail Bridger Y159

Solo Race (by D.Greening)

Twenty-two Solo sailors turned up at the start line on a glorious summer afternoon. Surprisingly, despite the keenness of the competitors and the ebb tide, the fleet got away without a general recall, heading for mark M, located at the Bolt Head side of the Bar. The majority of the fleet headed out on the Limebury point side of the harbour entrance, but those who went toward the cliffs under Bar Lodge found the most wind.

Simon Dobson led around the mark and took a bold course into the tide toward the Portlemouth shore, whilst his pursuers including Mile Hicks, Chris Cleaves and Simon Yates rock hopped along the Salcombe side. An undecided Tim Fells started the run on the Salcombe side, but gybed off to join Simon.

Despite a two mile run on vastly different courses the divided fleet rejoined in close company at Crossways, by which time Hicks had established a decent lead.

On the beat back into the harbour, the gradient wind was clocking to the South East, and was doing its best to nullify the weak sea breeze, resulting in several restarts as the sailors debated whether to go left to find the new breeze, or right to make the most of the remaining sea breeze.

After a trip to Blackstone, the leaders crossed the tide from Millbay, with Chris Cleaves emerging from the pack to take the shortened course win, whilst Bill Jago and Mark Sancken, previously buried in the middle of fleet, kept to the beach side, found the breeze out of Mill Bay, to take second and third places from Tim Law.

Related Articles

Salcombe YC Spring Series race 4
Owning a Merlin, Solo and Salcombe Yawl is known locally as The Golden Triumvirate Teams were confronted with a briskly flooding tide and a solid but gusty 15 knot breeze on this fine day. Much like handicap racing across the UK, Salcombe relies on trusty club stalwarts for weekly handicap attendance. Posted on 31 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
Salcombe YC Spring Series race 2
A brisk 10-15 knot north-easterly, paired with plenty of blue sky and sunshine A brisk 10-15 knot north-easterly, paired with plenty of blue sky and sunshine, set the stage for Race 2 of the Spring Series. Launching once again at low tide turned into a muddy affair. Posted on 17 Mar
Salcombe Yacht Club Spring Series Race 1
Between 0-15 mph depending on where you were in the estuary at any particular time The 2025 SYC Spring Series got under way at Salcombe with grey skies and a North Easterly breeze of between 0-15 mph depending on where you were in the estuary at any particular time. Posted on 9 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
25th anniversary of COGS
Cornwall Offshore Group Series has a new race to Salcombe this year Way back in the summer of 2000, a Falmouth sailor had the idea to get all the local sailing clubs together to start an offshore race series. It would incorporate a number of longer type, coastal and offshore races into a single series. Posted on 20 Feb
Solo Nigel Pusinelli Trophy at Salcombe
36 competitors for the GOAT Marine Western Area Series event 36 competitors descended from various parts of the UK to contest the re-arranged Nigel Pusinelli Trophy, 11 were official visitors but a good proportion of the home fleet live in Surrey so were able to tie in a trip to the second home for the weekend. Posted on 21 Oct 2024
Salcombe RS Aero Open and UK Masters Champs
30kn gusts from a variety of angles alternated with 0kn calms every few seconds The Salcombe RS Aero Open doubled as the RS Aero UK Masters Champs and despite a challenging forecast 7 RS Aero visitors travelled to Salcombe joining the Solos, K1s and the local Yawls to enjoy and be challenged by Salcombe's high sided tidal ria valley. Posted on 4 Oct 2024
YW Dayboats at the Salcombe Town Regatta
The 'various' crews rotated each day giving great experience to younger sailors Twelve YWDB's made the trip to Salcombe again this year to take part in the fun of Salcombe Town Regatta. Whilst two of the leading helms were sprightly grandparents, the 'various' crews rotated each day giving great experience to younger sailors. Posted on 27 Aug 2024