Meet The Crew

We are incredibly lucky to have an excellent team of instructors and assistants at the centres. Many of our staff return year after year for the summer season bringing with them friends they have met at other centres. The fantastic sailing conditions and amazing life Scilly offers for a season is too much of an attraction for many and they keep returning to visit for holidays from their "real grown up jobs" and do a turn at the beach while back. Once you have done a season here and become a member of "The Rat Crew", as they are known locally, it is rare not to return.
 The Rat Crew
Richard Mills
 
The principal and owner of the centres. From Scilly originally he has been at the helm for over 10 years now. Richard is an RYA qualified instructor in all of the disciplines we offer, a keen sailor, windsurfing addict and member of the local Lifeboat crew he is never far from the water's edge. While the running of the centres had reduced his time on the water you will still regularly see him teaching sailing, windsurfing, power boating and generally trying to convince himself he is still as young as the other instructors! 
 
Amelia Mills
 
Clearly the prettier side of the management team. Amelia is dedicated to the beach scene and is the centres chief sunbathing instructor with experience from all over the globe. A keen windsurfer and sailor Amelia is a qualified sailing & powerboat instructor. She has recently completed phase 2 of our future instructor breeding program which has kept her off the water in recent seasons, but should be back in action this year.  
 
Tim Crossman
 
A far superior dinghy instructor than he is singer or cowboy! A senior instructor in both the RYA and Australian Yachting Federation Tim owns and operates our sister centre, Northside Sailing,  back home in Sydney harbour. Tim has been running our Tresco set-up for many seasons now and so enjoys an endless summer being in Scilly June - September and Australia September - May. Many of our staff go back with Tim and work at Northside and then return with some of Tim's team for our season. 
 
 Richard "Pilchard" Smith
 
Our local dinghy sailing expert, he lives and breathes water sports. Richard has worked with us since he was 15, he is now our chief sailing instructor and also qualified to teach windsurfing and power boating. Pilchard learnt at our local club and is now instrumental in the clubs thriving junior section and up and coming race scene, volunteering most of his spare time to it. Dedicated to the sport he will manage to turn any conversation round to involve sailing.   
 Will Streeter
 
A senior dinghy instructor and our chief windsurfing instructor, Will is a very good biscuit taster. This is Will's third season on Scilly, he previously cut his teeth teaching at home on the Roseland in Cornwall and has done seasons in the Med and Caribbean before coming to Scilly to work. He is an exceptional windsurfer and his teaching skills for sailing and windsurfing are first rate. When not at the centre or windsurfing Will can normally be found on top of the capsized high performance sailing dinghy that him and Pilchard have restored and race.
 
Matt Mason
 
Mat is returning to us for his 4th season after a winter at Northside. Mat is a qualified dinghy & windsurfing instructor, he has grown up living all over Europe and recently doing ski seasons so is also fluent in French, German, English and his mother tongue Cockney.
 
Joseph Thomas "Little Joe"
 
Joe has been at the centre longer than any of the other staff, he started hanging out at the beach when he was 8 carrying kayaks, helping with deliveries, washing wetsuits and getting dunked in the wetsuit bin. 10 years on and he is not so "little Joe" and the centre needs a bigger wetsuit bin. Joe is now a qualified dinghy instructor and keen to get stuck in to teaching this season.
 
Emily Sibley
 
Our local belle of the beach, Emily has been on our front line dealing with bookings requests and keeping the rest of the Rat Crew happy and in order for 3 years now. Always smiling, laughing or making a noise, "she may be cute but she is a brute". Emily is now a qualified dinghy instructor and was described by the RYA assessors as "potentially a phenomenal instructor" something we have all known and the reason we have pushed her off the box she stands on behind the desk and into a boat.
 
Sam "Disco" Forty
Disco has been the back bone of the centre for the last 6 years. If it's broke or you can't find it Sam will sort it. A first rate sailor and excellent boat man, Sam has been Richards right arm at the centre and involved in all the maintenance, deliveries and daily running of the centres. Sam is not going to be with us full time this year but we hope  he will be making regular appearances at the centre.
 
Rob Seddon
Robs is starting his second season as a windsurf instructor with us. Now based full time on the islands Rob has previously worked in Greece, Turkey and Egypt. An excellent windsurfer he will miss no opportunity to get out on the water.
 
Harriet Noble
Harriet has been holidaying on the islands for years and this year will be her first season working as a dinghy instructor for us.  Harriet has just returned from a ski season in the Alps, an excellant dinghy sailor but very poor bike rider, she is looking forward to getting out on the water.
 
James Hicks
Another of our local prodigies, James is the son of local boating dynasty and has spent his child hood on boats. Last year James worked alongside our instructors to learn the trade and this year has qualified as a dinghy instructor. Due to join us as soon as he finishes his exams he is sure to keep customers and staff amused all summer.
 
 
Robbie McCartney
Is Amelia's nephew and has been hanging out at the beach each summer since before he could walk. Once big enough to carry kit he joined the pay role freeing up his professional golfing  mothers valuable time and allowing her to get out windsurfing (considerably slower than Richard & Amelia). Rob is now a qualified dinghy instructor and is heading to Dubai for a stint before joining the crew later in the summer to continue his playboy life style.
 
 
Matilda Mills
Her time at the centre is flexible around nursery and keeping the grand parents fit. Most afternoons Matilda runs sand castle building sessions, which are compulsory. Can be a little over protective of her brightly coloured kayaks, you have been warned! 
Martha Mills
Not quite as active on the beach as the big sister, but she is watching you and learning fast!  
 
Legends of Yester Year
 
margin-right: 10px;Loaise Dunphy "LEESHA"
The love of the sailing centres life. Leesha has done several seasons with us and occasionally rocks up to break toppers and hearts. She is currently studying in London, but will appear at some point again.
 
Nick & Matt Praeger "The fog horn brothers"
Completed countless seasons with us, Matt is now a Dr of Physics in Southhampton but still windsurfs and sails. Nick is still based on Scilly, but has a grown up job working as a surveyor on Oil supply vessels, so when not at sea can be seen here windsurfing kiting or dancing.
 
James "Ging "Watt
Is now in Bristol working and living with Amy (see below). Ging has taken his island roots of Gig rowing with him and is heavily involved with Bristol Gig Club, and is just embarking on a campaign to row the Atlantic in 2011 "A Long way to Row"
Amy Slack
Amy did a couple of seasons at the centre and was indeed to blame for Tim's first season. She is now living back in her home town with Ging, who she met at the centre (got you back for giving us Tim!) 
 
Eldred Banfield
With rich Scillonian ancestry Elmo was a natural sailor, he instructed at the centre for most of his teens. He is still on the islands and promises one day to get back in a dinghy or on a windsurf board.
 
Blair Borthwick
The gentle giant was with us for 3 years and was a phenomenal instructor. He too has succumbed to grown up life and now designs fighter jets for a living (this might have been a line spun us!).
 
Carlin De Monford, Doug Holt, & Amahl
These three antipodean musketeers were the first of our down under dream team brought over from Northside Sailing. Several seasons between them, we now recieve regular tales about them from our instructors that survive the away game of the exchange program.
 
These are just a few of the heroes who have worked at the centre and although have ceased working will always be Rat Crew.