Merlin Rocket Allen South East Series 2023 at Round 1 Wembley Sailing Club

by Duncan Salmon 21 Mar 2023 06:43 GMT 19 March 2023

Sunday 19th March 2023, was the first event in the Merlin Rocket Allen South East regional series for the modern, classic and vintage fleets. An excellent turnout of 27 boats with visitors representing Salcombe, Lymington Town, Shoreham, Brightlingsea, Staunton Harold, Stone, Weston, Broadwater together with our more local friends from Fisher's Green and Hampton.

As usual, the competitors were provided with breakfast rolls inclusive within the entry fee to be followed by three back-to-back races with refreshments being served after race two. John Gill and his team of expert helpers on the committee boat had a challenging north-westerly breeze blowing around 8 kt, which is not an ideal direction for the Welsh Harp. Notwithstanding this, the race team were able to run three close races in the light and shifty conditions.

The first race got off to a clean start with John Steward/Blake Newman and Duncan Salmon/Ruth Hanstater, rounding first and second with the chasing pack of Caroline Croft/Faye Chatterton, Alex, Warren/Jonty Freeman, Arthur Henderson/Livvy Bell and the top team of Tom Gillard/Rachael Gray. After some place changing the order settled down Tom/Rachael, Alex/Jonty, Caroline/Faye and Arthur/Livvy, which they held to the finish. Tom Stewart (who it was good to see back in a Merlin) and Rob Allen picked a magic shift up the last beat to secure 5th.

As it had become clear that the wind at the northern end of the Harp was too variable and shifty, the race team made the decision to keep the course within the southern end for the second race. It was pretty clear that the pin end was the favourite and Caroline/Faye did themselves no favours by getting stuck on the mark itself! As we were racing on the southern end of the harp, the course was somewhat shorter, and this led to a crowded rounding of the first mark, but after a lap or so the order settled down to Tom/Rachael, Alex/Jonty, Arthur/Livvy with Duncan/Ruth in fourth. The shorter course and pace of the leaders meant that by the penultimate lap, the leading bunch were lapping the back-markers. As a result of an extremely busy rounding of the leeward mark, Alex/Jonty managed to get into the lead for a short while before Tom/Rachael re-established their first place to hold that to the finish. After the race, all competitors were supplied with bottles of water and Mars Bars to restore their energy levels.

The final race was then run with the same course and for the first time there was a general recall followed by the inevitable black flag. The fleet got away, cleanly on the second start, but a major shift up the beat meant those who had started at the pin, were in some difficulty. Tom/Rachael, Caroline/Faye and Arthur/Livvy (after a good recovery, following a less than brilliant, first mark rounding) took the first three places with Tom/Rob, taking fourth, with Paul Rayson/Chris Hill and Harry Steward/Annabel Steward fighting it out for a fifth and sixth place for team Fishers Green.

After returning to the clubhouse, the competitors were treated to an excellent chicken curry, together with poppadoms which was included in the entry fee, followed by the prize-giving. Overall positions saw Caroline Croft and Faye Chatterton secure third place, Alex Warren and Jonty Freeman second and Tom Gillard and Rachael Gray taking first overall with three race wins.

The generous sponsorship of Allen meant there were a range of prizes outside of the main competition itself, comprising:

Youth
1st Annabel Steward crewing for her brother Harry
2nd Rebecca Bines crewing for her dad Andy

Junior
1st Darcey Smyth crewing for her dad Mark
2nd Hannah Pighills crewing for Nick Yannakoyorgos

• Most consistent (10th every race): Andy and Rebecca Bines
• Lowest placed to complete every race: William Anderson and Russell Hall
• Most improved during the day: Harry and Annabel Steward
• Century Cup 1st combined helm and crew over 100: Tom and Rob Allen
• Classic Fleet: Joe Shaw and Julie Cronshaw
• Vintage Fleet: Stuart Jenkins and Nicola Scadden

Thanks to Wembley Sailing Club for an excellent opener to the Allen South East Series and particularly Paul Dean and Joe Shaw, who led the enthusiastic team of club members who made the day possible.

The next event is on Sunday 7th May at Fisher's Green. There is also an overall club trophy, which Fisher's Green are currently leading in first place from Wembley, so it's game on!

Overall Results:

Pos	Helm	Crew	Sail No	Club	Platform	R1	R2	R3	Pts
1st	Thomas Gillard	Rachael Gray	3759	Staunton Harold	Modern	‑1	1	1	2
2nd	Alex Warren	Jonty Freeman	3696	Shoreham	Modern	2	2	‑8	4
3rd	Caroline Croft	Faye Chatterton	3803	Lymington Town	Modern	3	‑5	2	5
4th	Arthur Henderson	Livvy Bell	3683	Salcombe	Modern	‑4	3	3	6
5th	Tom Stewart	Rob Allen	3812	Salcombe	Modern	5	‑6	4	9
6th	Duncan Salmon	Ruth Hanstater	3702	Wembley	Modern	‑7	4	7	11
7th	Paul Rayson	Chris Hill	3717	Fishers Green	Modern	6	‑8	5	11
8th	Harry Steward	Annabel Steward	3575	Fishers Green	Modern	‑17	9	6	15
9th	Jon Steward	Blake Newman	3770	Fishers Green	Modern	8	‑15	9	17
10th	Julian Bradley	Helen Cafferata	3635	Wembley	Modern	‑14	7	12	19
11th	Andy Bines	Rebecca Bines	3753	Brightlingsea	Modern	‑10	10	10	20
12th	Paul Dean	Hannah Burt	3745	Wembley	Modern	11	‑13	11	22
13th	Mark Smyth	Darcey Smyth	3668	Wembley	Modern	‑20	11	14	25
14th	Colin Brockbank	Vana Vlastaki	3790	Wembley	Modern	13	‑14	13	26
15th	Geoff Kimber	Helen Kimber	3817	Stone	Modern	‑22	12	15	27
16th	Mark Barwell	Louise Johnson	3815	Lymington Town	Modern	9	19	(RET)	28
17th	Richard Eastmond	John Harvey	3637	Wembley	Modern	12	17	‑19	29
18th	Stuart Jenkins	Nicola Scadden	1097	Hampton	Vintage	15	‑18	16	31
19th	James Goodfellow	Silvia Gaia	3793	Weston	Modern	‑18	16	17	33
20th	Joe Shaw	Julie Cronshaw	3561	Wembley	Classic	16	‑25	21	37
21st	Jemma Horwood	Suzy Brough	3704	Wembley	Modern	19	20	(RET)	39
22nd	Jeremy Deacon	Paula Tripp	3673	Broadwater	Modern	‑23	22	18	40
23rd	Nick Yannakoyo	Hannah Pighills	3663	Fishers Green	Modern	‑24	21	20	41
24th	William Anderson	Russel Hall	3628	Wembley	Modern	‑25	24	22	46
25th	Joe Tosh	Jack Tosh	370	RYA	Modern	21	26	(RET)	47
26th	Fred Pargeter	Pai Shan	3535	Wembley	Classic	26	23	(BFD)	49
27th	Steve Long	Simon Hazell	3634	Wembley	Classic	27	27	(RET)	54