David Henshall's article

Keith,
would you believe that I found another bit of Mercury II in the workshop yesterday! I was actually hunting for the wooden base for the Christmas Tree when I unearthed it (all together now, "Bah Humbug"!). I'd been keeping it to one side intending to ask Chris Barlow to turn it into a trophy, it would clean us nicely I think. (not so much a Topmast Trophy but a Topdeck Trophy)
D

Roger D "It was done before that ask Dougal about Mercury, built 1948? smoothie Merlin hull"
Indeed it was an but for a bizarre accident on the shore at Cowes, could well have won the Nationals and set the boat down a very different path. But this was actually the second attempt at a smooth skinned hull and had a whole host of other innovations (not least a self draining cockpit). Without giving too much of the game away, Mercury II may not be lost to us; Indeed, in keeping with it's name, it could make a return as the hottest classic in the solar system!. The details are already written up and could be on here soon - an interesting tale of saving an iconic boat - and then bring it bang up to date! You will (I can assure you) enjoy it! D

Originally posted by patj Originally posted by tgruitt Originally posted by Rupert The Merlins have a much more strict rule set, and have to incorporate the technology into those rules. Carbon fake clinker hulls are the result, and a rig that is 2nd to non when it comes to technology, but has to use the sail plan rules that are currently in place. For me, all it would take to kick start Merlin development again would be to scrap clinker and to free up the sail shape a bit more. However, the Merlins are happy where they are, and I have no intention of sailing one in either form, so it really isn't anything but an academic interest from me. Second that. SCRAP THE CLINKER!!! But it's been done already!!! Obviously so popular that you've all forgotten the MRX, a smooth skin Merlin designed by Phil Morrison. Britain has 1 fleet of MRX but umpteen fleets of Merlins - I think the vote and "survival of the fittest" favours clinker.

It was done before that ask Dougal about Mercury, built 1948? smoothie Merlin.

Originally posted by Chris 249 I've done almost no sailing in Europe but last year I came across the astonishing sailing scene on the Alster, a tiny lake in Hamburg. The lake's circumference is about 6.5km but inside that space there are some 50 active Dragons, several clubs including at least one gingerbread palace, marinas that house up to 50 of one type of small, slow dinghy alone, and big fleets of sailing dinghies for hire.  Interestingly, there was an extreme emphasis on traditional styles; even most of the hire boats appeared to be traditional Zugvogels (?), which are like a 12 Sq Metre Sharpie. There were also some lovely classics, like the amazingly long and low Z Jollen (sort of like a streamlined Rater) and an O-Jolle (predecessor of the Finn) which had been in the same family for something like 60 years. In many ways, the Alster appeared to be the most vibrant sailing scene I have ever come across, and yet apart from the many Lasers and Optis, a very small number of cats and many Congers, just about everyone was sailing a boat that would have been old hat in the sixties. Maybe it's just a German thing, but even if that's the case then perhaps the lesson is that what we sail has to vary according to the locale and its culture.

Edited by Simon Lovesey - 21 Dec 14 at 6:26am

Chris, One thing is for certain! Germany is one of the great powerhouses of International sailing. They have long replaced the UK as the spiritual home of the 505, ditto the Contender. Go south and you'll find great fleets of 470s - not to mentions Tornados, FDs, OKs and other international classes. And, as you noted, there is a lot going on in their stable domestic scene, boats like the Pirat and Korsar. Maybe the answer is in that one word - stable! But if you think that Germany has cracked the path to International success, just head up and across to Denmark and you can find an even more focused approach. Have they got a different mentality regarding the structure of the sport? I think so and if you look at the results, you'd have to say that they achieve more with less. After the 2012 Olympic Regatta finished, I hosted the Chair of Selectors for a small but successful sailing nation as he waited for his flight home. I took him down around Hamble and showed him the Office 'complex' that is the powerbase for the RYA. He was dumfounded that leisure boating should need such a large set of palatial premises. Maybe that is part of the problem, that running the sport has become more important than the activity that they are there to support. But in some ways you are so right with your observations! Twice this year I've been caught on the hop; the first time was at the excellent classic event at Hunts, when the Ian Proctor designed ST (for Sunday Times) dinghies turned up. I was expecting a couple of boats but they kept arriving. That is one happy class that, like the British Moth, continues to occupy a niche but below the radar for most of the more vocal observers. The second time was when I was a guest at the Miracle Nationals - similar thinking to when I was at Hunts but again I was wrong. This is a fleet that happily pulls in more than 40 boats for most of their Nationals; the bottom line is that they just get on with their sailing and having fun! The more you look at things, the more you start to think that stability is really where it is at; classes like the Solo and Merlin Rocket have been around for decades, yet continue to thrive no matter what new classes try to threaten their position. I was at Salcombe this summer, covering Merlin week there. So many of the sailors I spoke to said that this was their 15th week (relative newcomers, many had already had their Silver Anniversary of weeks). And this is what it is all about; these classes where stability is a given also seems to be the classes where the fun is to be had!
D

Edited by Dougaldog - 20 Dec 14 at 9:58pm