The oldest video footage of Merlin Rocket dinghy racing
by Magnus Smith 11 Aug 2024 12:00 BST
Ian Proctor bending over his Merlin Rocket with Beecher Moore (in the white shorts) watching on © MROA
The Merlin Rocket National Championships start today (Sunday 11th August) so it is a good moment to dig through our huge video archive to see the oldest footage from the class. We have offerings from the 40s to the 90s.
Considering the Merlin (in the pre-Rocket days) was only conceived in 1945, the fact that we have a video from 1946 is amazing! This shows number 8 sailing at Christchurch. The skipper's yachting cap is a bit of a funny choice for a dinghy with a boom low enough to be troublesome.
The next video is silent, and shows dinghy racing at Shoreham, 1953. Numbers 199, 220 and 234 are visible.
If you have time to watch an hour of general dinghy sailing in Emsworth during the 1950s it is a glorious nostalgic trip back. So many classes are visible, but if you just want Merlins then skip to 7m02s, then 16m15s and 22m08s, finally 32m29s and 33m34s (the last time they appear is the longest, and may be an open meeting).
Update: we later found Merlin and Cadet classes at Teddington, 1955
Now we have someone who really went the whole hog to document the Leigh SC open meeting 1962 or 1963 - they start with the car journey, which gives a great feeling for the decade, before we even see the clothes worn when sailing! There is great footage in the dinghy park, and some afloat too.
Coverage of the 1962 Tideway Race at Putney (Ranelagh SC) has huge Enterprise and Merlin Rocket fleets shown.
The next Tideway Race (1963) has the same two classes.
Update: we later found Tideway Race 1963 (extras) and
Tideway Race 1964 and
Tideway Race 1965
Keith Callaghan narrates Merlin Rockets at the Hamble Warming Pan 1972 (he was there, after all). Spot the matching stripey trousers on one crew!
Bala SC mixed dinghy racing 1972 is mostly Merlins, and shows a breezy day in Wales.
Footage from the Merlin Rocket 40th Anniversary (1986) at Upper Thames SC has plenty of people on shore to recognise, and some on-water action in the middle. Speeches are included.
Malcolm Donald narrates his video of the Merlin Rocket Fossil Bowl 1991 at Hamble River SC.
Finally, we have 1994 Merlin Rocket National Championships at Tenby as the last video before everything went digital. There is plenty of footage from the committee boat, and some shore-side.
What of the rest?
Do you know the location of any Merlin videos that show racing fleets from the 1950s to the 80s which we have missed? We would love to share these with other sailors. You can submit video links to us for immediate review.
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