Thank you Tom Ballentine for the report.
The 19th of October saw 18 Merlin Rockets head to Shoreham Sailing Club for the final stop of the 2024 Merlin Rocket Allen SE circuit. The fleet were welcomed by a perfect weather window of sunshine and 8-15knots, sandwiched between torrential downpours on Friday night/Saturday morning and storm Ashley on Sunday. 3 races were sailed, each consisting of three laps of a sausage/triangle/sausage course. The race team did a great job to ensure fair racing in the shifty, variable breeze and strong spring tide.
In race 1, the fleet got away on the second attempt under U flag into a bumpy 8-10knots. The start bore witness to a few raised voices from Alex Warren, whose Grandfather Alan might have been taking some liberties on the line to avoid the U flag. Chis Gould and Sophie Mackley as well as Caroline Gould and Livvy Bell made an early jump on the rest of the fleet to lead at the windward mark, with Tom Ballantine and Rob Allen recovering well from a poor start to stay in the mix. On the following laps, a tight battle for the lead ensued between Chris/Sophie and Caroline/Livvy. Tom and Rob had a great battle with Mark Stockbridge and Tre Jacobs on the bottom reach of the triangle, with plenty of overtaking opportunities from the following waves. By the final lap, there was nothing separating Chris/Sophie and Caroline/Livvy. Caroline/Livvy protected the inside on the final run to round the bottom mark ahead of Chris/Sophie. Chris took a little stumble while rounding the mark, which gave Caroline/Livvy plenty of breathing room for the short beat back to the finish to take a well-deserved win. Chris/Sophie took second, with Tom/Rob not far behind in third. The fleet was well compacted, and it was nip and tuck for places throughout, such is the quality of the sailing on the Allen SE circuit.
By race 2, the breeze was up to 10-14knots, with the ebbing tide also running much stronger. Just before the start, the wind clocked left to the benefit of the boats starting down at the pin. The first mark rounding was tight between the top three from the previous race, who were joined by Paul Rayson and Chris Hill, William Warren and Andy Prince as well as Alex Warren and Jonty Freeman. William/Andy and Tom/Rob went for an early gybe at the top in an attempt to get out of the stronger tide offshore. The big left shift on the previous beat meant that they lost out to the front runners and were also rolled by Mark/Tre who sailed a good run to get themselves in the mix by the bottom mark. The wind stabilised in the new direction for the following laps, with tight racing throughout the fleet. By the finish, Chris/Sophie and Caroline/Livvy had managed to pull out a comfortable lead on the rest of the fleet, with Chris/Sophie getting the better of Caroline/Livvy on this occasion to set up a wife-and-husband battle for the event win, with a winner takes all final race. Alex/Jonty sailed smartly to keep the rest of the pack behind them, rounding out the podium in third.
The breeze had now built to 12-15 knots for the final race of the day. With the spring tide running at full-flood and the line set with a reasonable amount of pin bias, the fleet were unsurprisingly a bit keen. A black flag was sufficient deterrent to get the fleet away on the second attempt. William/Andy and Chris/Sophie had good starts towards the pin, with Chris/Sophie tacking out shortly after the start and crossing the fleet on port. However, William/Andy and Tom/Rob continued on into the left corner, to round the windward mark in first and second, closely followed by Chris/Sophie. Tom/Rob were beginning to get the hang of the Shoreham waves and sailed a good run to get into the lead by the bottom mark, closely followed by James Wells and Anna Aylward, who were also going quickly on the downwind leg. James/Anna sailed a great second beat to keep themselves comfortably in front of Chris/Sophie and Caroline/Livvy. On the second reach of the triangle, Caroline/Livvy were engaged in a close battle with Chris/Sophie for the overall event win when disaster struck. A broken shroud saw Caroline and Livvy’s mast disappear over the side, along with their shot at the event win. On the following lap, Tom/Rob kept it steady to take the final race win, followed by James/Anna and Chris/Sophie.
Overall, Chris and Sophie took the event win, Caroline and Livvy second, with Tom and Rob in third.
The fleet returned to shore and eagerly awaited the overall Allen SE Series prize giving which is becoming a legendary event in its own right!
After a sumptuous Thai meal and plenty of ale, the fleet then enjoyed the prize giving hosted by Paul Dean in his own irreverent style! There were prizes galore supplied by our generous sponsors Allen and plenty of trophies shared out amongst the competitors. The resident DJ arrived and the fleet then strutted their stuff until the wee hours.
A big thank you to the organisers and volunteers at Shoreham Sailing Club for hosting a perfect finale to the SE circuit, and to Allen for sponsoring the series. Next weekend, the fleet heads to Stone Sailing Club for the End-of-Seasons and Craftinsure Silver Tiller prize-giving.
Please order your dinner here by Wednesday 23rd October https://www.stonesc.org.uk/booking/type/catering
