De Guingand Bowl glory for John Merricks II
by Karenza Morton, RYA 20 May 2008 17:51 BST
17-18 May 2008
It was a double celebration for the sailors of the Volvo RYA Keelboat Programme as they swept to their first overall victory as well as taking the tape in the RORC De Guingand Bowl event this weekend (17-18 May).
Joined by Ian Walker, skipper of Volvo Ocean Race Team Green, as
tactician the young Programme crew of the TP52 John Merricks II took
line honours off Portsmouth having completed the offshore course in 16
hours 44 minutes and six seconds.
But even with the handicap taken into account, and a corrected time of
22 hours 43 minutes and 34 seconds, John Merricks II proudly found
herself at the top of the pile despite it being only the Programme’s
second offshore event on the TP52.
Skipper Ed Hill insisted preparation had been the key to the John
Merricks II De Guingand Bowl success. He said: “We've worked hard over
the last few weeks trying to convert what is primarily an inshore boat
into something which we can take offshore. It is hard work prepping a
TP52 with limited time and budget but when you get results like this it
makes it all worthwhile.
“Our aim with the offshore events has always been to bring some of the
team who've got a lot of offshore experience and mix this with some of
the newer Volvo RYA Keelboat Programme members who don't have a lot of
offshore experience. Obviously we are trying to win but we also want to
give everyone a chance to improve and get given an opportunity to try
different positions on the boat.”
John Merricks Sailing Trustee Walker, an Olympic 470 silver medallist at
Atlanta 1996, added: “I was really impressed with the atmosphere on
board, there are no prima donnas. The emphasis was on learning and the
RORC set a course which was ideal for that purpose. The young crew
should be congratulated for their effort and their commitment.”
The Volvo RYA Keelboat Programme was launched in 2003 to provide the
opportunity for talented young sailors aged between 16 -24 to break into
the world of keelboat sailing. The current Programme comprises 47
sailors across three squads.
Next up for the sailors is a return to inshore territory with the Vice
Admiral’s Cup, IRC Nationals and Round the Island Race all next month.
Later this summer, Programme managers are investigating the possibility of defending the World Record passage time for the Big V Sail race to Cork that they set onboard the Farr 45 John Merricks two years ago. However, this is dependent on raising additional funding for the boat,
through sponsorship or a charter for Cork Week itself. Anyone interested in either option should contact Luke McCarthy at 
