Merlin Rocket Craftinsure Silver Tiller Round 4 and Allen South East Series Round 3 at Wembley SC

by Nicola Scaddan 29 Apr 11:52 BST 27 April 2025

A fleet of seventeen Merlins headed to Wembley for the next event in Craftinsure Silver Tiller Series, and the third event in the Allen South-East Series. On arrival we received a very warm welcome from all at Wembley SC.

The weather was bright and sunny with light winds forecast. Geoff O'Neill (PRO) gave a comprehensive briefing and set out his plan for the day. The wind was expected to arrive about 12 noon if at all! The duty team postponed the 11:30 start for 30 minutes, which proved a good decision as the wind filled in at approximately 12:00, although it remained variable all afternoon.

In the first race, Tom Gillard and Rachael Gray took an early lead, closely chased by Matt Biggs/Bekka Jones, James Wells/Anna Aylward, Duncan Salmon/Luke Moore and Stuart Jenkins/Nicola Scaddan, who were sailing the only vintage boat present at the event, Flinkidink built in 1960. Matt/Bekka eventually took second, with Duncan/Luke in third. Stuart/Nicola overtook James/Anna in the closing stages of the race and in the light and shifty winds pulled away from them - almost, but not quite, catching Duncan/Luke at the end to finish fourth, with James/Anna in fifth place.

Tom and Rachael again took an early lead, rounding the first mark in first place, in the second race, followed by Colin Brockbank and Pratik Kakade of Wembley Sailing Club. The race was again won by Tom/Rachael, with Matt and Beka second. The light and fluky winds worked in favour of Stuart and Nicola in their vintage boat, who were able to short-tack on the changeable wind shifts to take third place. James and Anna finished fourth, with Duncan and Luke in fifth place.

With the top two places now sewn up, the battle was on for the next three places.

At the start of the third race the wind dropped. Tom and Rachael were early for the start, causing the Race Officer to raise the X flag. Stuart and Nicola took full advantage of the light winds to reach the first mark in first place and establish a good lead. Tom and Rachael fought their way back through the fleet to round the first mark in third place. Unfortunately for Stuart and Nicola, the spinnaker caught under the bow as it was dropped after the first run. The distraction caused by recovery during the next leg led to them rounding the next mark to port instead of starboard, setting off in the wrong direction and losing their lead dropping down into sixth place. Tom and Rachael won the race, with Matt and Beka second. After a closely fought contest Stuart and Nicola clawed their way back to third holding off James and Anna, and Richard Cook and Russell Hall to the finish line.

A great day's racing was followed by prize-giving hosted by Paul Dean (SE Series Organiser) with individual Allen spot prizes for the youth sailors and furthest travelled. Generously included in our entries fee was tea & coffee, a filled roll on arrival and a fabulous curry lunch.

Special thanks to Joe Shaw who organised the event, Geoff O'Neill for his expert race management in getting three races in back-to-back, Rob O'Neill for the great photos and to all the helpers at Wembley Sailing Club for making the event such as success.

Gold Fleet Winners: 3702 Duncan Salmon & Luke Moore
Silver Fleet Winners: 3715 Richard Cooke & Russell Hall
Bronze Fleet Winners: 1097 Stuart Jenkins & Nicola Scaddan

Allen Prizes:
1st Junior 3668 Darcy Smith (11th)
2nd Junior 3704 Benjamin Hughes (14th)

The next Allen South East Series is at Fishers Green on the 11th May and the next Craftinsure Silver Tiller at Midland Sailing Club on 18th May.

Overall Results:

Pos	Helm	Crew	Sail No	Fleet	Club	R1	R2	R3	Pts
1st	Thomas Gillard	Rachael Gray	3759	Platinum	Sheffield Viking / Staunton Harold SC	‑1	1	1	2
2nd	Matt Biggs	Beka Jones	3826	Platinum	Bartley Sailing Club	‑2	2	2	4
3rd	Stuart Jenkins	Nicol Scaddan	1097	Bronze	Hampton Sailing Club	‑4	3	3	6
4th	Duncan Salmon	Luke Moore	3702	Gold	Wembley Sailing Club	3	5	‑11	8
5th	James Wells	Anna Aylward	3746	Platinum	RYA	‑5	4	4	8
6th	Richard Cook	Russell Hall	3715	Silver	Fishers Green Sailing Club	‑7	7	5	12
7th	Paul Dean	Hannah Burt	3745	Gold	Broadwater Sailing Club	‑13	6	7	13
8th	Julia Bradley	Helen Cafferata	3609	Silver	Wembley Sailing Club	6	‑11	8	14
9th	Colin Anderson	George Bender	3749	Gold	Bartley Sailing Club	9	‑13	6	15
10th	Julian Harms	Tim Harms	3794	Silver	Midland Sailing Club	8	8	‑15	16
11th	Mark Smyth	Darcey Smyth	3668	Bronze	Wembley Sailing Club	10	‑15	9	19
12th	Richard Eastmond	Vana Vlastaki	3637	Silver	Wembley Sailing Club	(OCS)	9	12	21
13th	Stuart Bates	Peter Crompton	3615	Silver	Hollingworth Lake Sailing Club	12	‑14	10	22
14th	Jemma Horwood	Benjamin Hughes	3704	Silver	Thames/ Tamesis Sailing Club	11	12	‑16	23
15th	Colin Brockbank	Pratik Kakade	3790	Silver	Wembley Sailing Club	‑16	10	14	24
16th	David Hall	Maria Richards	3781	Platinum	Blackwater Sailing Club	14	‑17	13	27
17th	Joe Shaw	Liz Guest	3561	Bronze	Wembley Sailing Club	15	16	‑17	31
18th	Timothy Barr	Brian Corking	3677	Bronze	Tamesis Sailing Club	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	42
18th	Nick Yannakoyorgis	Matteo Mancini	3663	Bronze	Welsh Harp/Fishers Green	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	42
18th	Geoff Kimber	Helen Kimber	3817	Silver	Ston Sailing Club	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	42
18th	Joe McLoughlin	Sean Roberts	3054	Bronze	Tamnesis Sailing Club	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	42