Opening day of the Salcombe Gin sponsored Merlin Rocket Week, hosted by Salcombe YC, saw two flight race completed for the 116 entries.
Winners of Race 1 for the Red and Green flights were Thomas Gillard and Aaron Holman ahead of Tim Fells and Frances Gifford, later penalised for a starting infringement, with Andy Davis and Pippa Kilsby finishing in third place.
In the Race 2 for the blue and black flights, winners were Richard Whitworth and Jemima Scroggie, ahead of Simon Potts and Holly McArthur with Chris Gould and Caroline Croft in third place.
Overall the joint leaders are Gillard and Holman, and Whitworth and Scroggie each with a race win.
In second place are Potts and McArthur and in third place, Gould and Croft tied on three points with Davis and Kilsby.
The morning Race 1 started in very little breeze, which filled in from the West, but still very gusty and shifty wind, to produce a close finish.
For the afternoon Race 2, the South-westerly was fully in with some powerful gusts to make the runs exciting for sailors and spectators alike, and competitors were treated to a classic tour of the harbour.
Salcombe Gin Merlin Week – Day 1 – 2 Flight Races (116 entries)
1st 3759 Black – Thomas Gillard and Aaron Holman – – (61.0 DNC) 1 pts
2nd 3703 Green – Richard Whitworth and Jemima Scroggie – – 1 (61.0 DNC) pts
3rd 3802 Black – Simon Potts and Holly McArthur – – (61.0 DNC) 2 pts
4th 3803 Blue – Chris Gould and Caroline Croft – – (61.0 DNC) 3 pts
5th 3735 Green – Andy Davis and Pippa Kilsby – – 3 (61.0 DNC) pts
6th 3795 Blue – Alex Jackson and Mary Henderson – – (61.0 DNC) 4 pts
7th 3722 Red – Roger Gilbert and Jane Gilbert – – 4 (61.0 DNC) pts
8th 3726 Blue – Will Henderson and Arthur Henderson – – (61.0 DNC) 5 pts
9th 3807 Green – Tim Saxton and Mary Henderson – – 5 (61.0 DNC) pts
10th 3691 Black – Mike Calvert and Jane Calvert – – (61.0 DNC) 6 pts
11th 3676 Green – Antony Gifford and Jo Gifford – – 6 (61.0 DNC) pts
12th 3788 Blue – Christian Birrell and Ali Potts – – (61.0 DNC) 7 pts
13th 3804 Green – Ian Dobson** and Charlotte Fildes – – 7 (61.0 DNC) pts
14th 3678 Black – Steve Crook and Will Smith – – (61.0 DNC) 8 pts
15th 3611 Red – Jenny Dodds and Chris Dodds – – 8 (61.0 DNC) pts
16th 3749 Black – Colin Anderson and Sean Anderson – – (61.0 DNC) 9 pts
17th 3812 Red – Peter Ballantine and Rob Allen – – 9 (61.0 DNC) pts
18th 3799 Blue – Paul Rayson and Christian Hill – – (61.0 DNC) 10 pts
19th 3687 Green – Matt Greenfield and Hannah Greenfield – – 10 (61.0 DNC) pts
20th 3679 Blue – Nicholas Heginbotham and – – (61.0 DNC) 11 pts