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The Merlin Wizards...

Posted 9 months, 22 days ago

The Merlin Wizards...
Nice to see that so many of you have sailed Merlin Rockets...it feels like I've stepped on a landmine with everyone clambering to tell me just how much fun this boat is to sail and exactly how they met their wives/girlfriends/lovers/husbands etc on the circuit...all sounds like great stuff. Check out this brilliant email that just shows how fondly this class is held: I think if you ask a nice person at the Merlin association they will confirm that they saw a couple of years in the late 1960's or possibly early 1970's when there were close to 200 boats for their nationals and they all started on one big line. Look at the years when Alan Warren won everything. Those will be the years. The master always found the front no matter what the traffic jams. I remember a Merlin open meeting held at Sussex Motor Yacht Club in 1969. It blew an absolute hooligan and we had close to 100 boats on the water. (Funny how Health & Safety have altered our fun!). I was ina  rescue boat and we plucked a crew out of the water that had lost their rudder fittings and then generally wrecked everything in the boat with the resulting broach and wipe out. They were both grinning from ear to ear as it was the first time they had sailed on the sea and had never been so fast! Personally I would have been pawing over my precious boat...they were wondering if they could get back to the garvel pit that night and borrow another! One of those unforgettable "Great Spirit of Sport" moments that makes amateur sailing so special! Chris from Luke Street. And now take a look at the social side of the modern day Merlin circuit...how do I join? Full Story »

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