Tom Gillard and Rachael Gray were winners of the Shustoke SC Merlin Rocket Silver Tiller
Counting two race wins Tom Gillard and Rachael Gray finished with a two point advantage ahead of Matt Biggs and James Dawes (2, 1) and Simon Potts and Holly Scott (2, 2) who were tied on four points.
Fourth place went to Chris Martin and John Tailby (2, 4) with six points and in fifth were Paul and Ben Hollis (5,4) with nine points.
Gillard and Gray got off to a flying start in race 1, and led from start to finish.
There was a good battle between the next three boats in the gusty conditions with some snakes and ladders. Eventually Potts and Scott managed to break through into second with Biggs and Dawes taking third.
The second race was turned around very quickly as the wind got even more gusty with a number of squalls blowing across the racecourse.
Gillard and Gray showed consistency in the difficult conditions and went on take the second race with a convincing lead.
Chris Martin and John Tailby finished in second place. And following an early capsize, Potts and Scott recovered to take third.
In the third and final race, Gillard and Gray’s traveller decided to combust during the starting sequence.
This gave the rest of the fleet a chance to get away with Biggs and Dawes rounding the first mark with a small lead which they continued to extend as the race went on, taking a convincing win in the tricky conditions.
Potts and Scott took second place with Gillard and Gray recovering to take third, which they were able to discard to confirm the overall victory.
Merlin Rocket Craftinsure Silver Tiller – Shustoke SC – Sunday 13 March 2022
1st 3759 Tom Gillard and Rachael Gray, Staunton Harold 1 1 -3 – – 2 pts
2nd 3801 Matt Biggs and James Dawes, Bartley SC 3 -5 1 – – 4 pts
3rd 3802 Simon Potts and Holly Scott, Burghfield SC 2 -3 2 – – 4 pts
4th 3787 Chris Martin and John Tailby, Midland SC -4 2 4 – – 6 pts
5th 3730 Paul Hollis and Ben Hollis, Bartley SC 5 4 -6 – – 9 pts
6th 3746 James Wells and Anna Aylward, RYA 7 -9 5 – – 12 pts
7th 3794 Julian Harms and Tim Harms, Midland SC -8 7 8 – – 15 pts
8th 3670 Mark McKeever and George Bender, Midland SC -11 6 10 – – 16 pts
9th 3702 Duncan Salmon and Ruth Hanstater, Wembly SC 9 -20 7 – – 16 pts
10th 3749 Colin Anderson and Howard Eeles, Blithfield SC -13 8 9 – – 17 pts
11th 3662 Nigel Hudson and Freya Hudson, Bartley SC -14 11 11 – – 22 pts
12th 3619 Guy Browne and Greg Martin, Trent Valley 10 13 -20 – – 23 pts
13th 3805 Mark Reddington and Michella Evans, Bartley Chase -20 10 15 – – 25 pts
14th 3449 Carl Whitehill and Danni Whithill, RYA 12 -20 13 – – 25 pts
15th 3716 Steven Leney and Gillian Leney, Blithfield SC 6 -20 20 – – 26 pts
16th 3567 Martin Smith and Karen Beston, Blithfield SC -20 12 14 – – 26 pts
17th 3547 Peter Male and Tim Male, Blithfield SC 15 -20 12 – – 27 pts
Next up in the 2022 Craftinsure Silver Tiller is Wembley SC on Sunday 20 March, pre-entry here . . . https://www.wembleysailingclub.co.uk/
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