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Vintage Merlin Rockets with CVRDA at Hunts Sailing Club

by Mike Liggett 22 Sep 2011 11:08 BST 17 September 2011
Classic and Vintage dinghies at Hunts © Gair Matthews

With little water at Banbury, their vintage DeMay meeting was relocated to Hunts SC on 17 September. The event was sailed in conjunction with the CVRDA meeting, with a total of 25 boats of various classes and vintages on the water.

Seven Merlins prepared to take to the water but as strong winds were forecast Mike Liggett decided not to risk his wooden mast on 235 but take the safer option of crewing for Tim Bury in 1066. Six Merlins then took to the water for the first race.

This was the signal for the wind strength to increase considerably and savage blustery squalls, frequently accompanied by rain were the order for the rest of the day. Needless to say there were frequent capsizes and retirements.

Charlie Morgan in his IXb “Lady Jane” took the first race convincingly from Mervyn Allen in “Chimp”. Nobody was able to catch Charlie in the next two races either, pulling out a considerable lead on Ian Laing in “Atilla the Hunt” in the second race and Tim Bury in “Ten-sixty-six” in the final race.

Not content with winning the Merlin event Charlie took 4th place overall in the CVRDA classification.

Merlin Rocket Results:

Posn.No.NameHelmCrewClub
11978Lady JaneCharlie MorganHayley ManningTamesis Club
21066Ten‑sixty‑sixTim BuryMike LiggettBanbury SC
32410Atilla the HuntIan Laing‑‑‑‑‑‑Hollingworth Lake SC
41477Lady LuckBen MarshallSel ShahMinima YC
51357ChimpMervyn AllenLora StockRanelagh SC
6252GannetGarry RucklidgeThomasShearwater SC

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