Merlin Rocket Youth Training at the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club
by George Major 28 Apr 07:27 BST
18 April 2026
Merlin Rocket Youth Training at the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club © Paul Dean
I, George Major, first jumped into the Merlin Rocket one year ago crewing at the Royal Corinthian Allen South East Series open meeting. Over the year I gradually picked up the controls, quickly finding out how much there is to adjust and experiment with in the boat.
The Merlin Rocket specific youth training was a perfect opportunity to learn how each control changed the functionality of the boat and what effect it would have on performance. Burnham on Crouch was a great place to do this, as we could set up in a straight line and really focus on what to change in the rig, letting us find our fastest setups.
Altogether, there were six of us. Having three Merlin Rockets on the water was perfect to have a good comparison on how the boat was going yet still getting individual/focused coaching from the two great RYA coaches, Courtney and Nick.
Initially, we began with a big discussion of key concepts, as well as creating three main 'wins of the day' or goals for each of us. With several experienced Merlin Rocket sailors and an RYA race coach meant that every question had a clear and in-depth answer.
We then split into pairs and headed down to the boats for a shore-based session. With the boats still on their trolleys, we worked through each control together, discussing what to adjust, when, and what effect it has on the boat, with a particular focus on sail shape and slot between the main and jib.
We then launched and began getting used to sailing with our new partners and thinking about what setup we wanted for the conditions. The wind was ideal, sitting around 10 knots with a couple of nice gusts to play in. To make it even better, it was a really nice sunny day!
A little later on, we then gathered as a group, and all had a nice long spinnaker run down the river. Having the long run meant we could figure out our best setup while comparing against each other.
We then had some more time to adjust the controls and get set up for the slightly different windspeed as well as ask any questions. After this we all lined up following the RIB and began a tuning race in which we all beat upwind, allowing a clear comparison on how each of us had our boats set up. This was really helpful and made it clear whether we were looking for speed or more height against the other boats.
After a couple more tuning races, we had worked our way back to the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club. We brought the boats in and then had a final discussion in which we shared what we had learned to each other. We were then pleased to receive our Merlin Rocket Youth Squad t-shirts!
Overall, the day could not have gone any better and I came away from it with a lot of useful information to help improve. Thank you to everyone that helped to make it work so smoothly, namely the support from the RYA by providing our two coaches, Courtney Bilbrough and Nick Lightbody, MROA's Vice Chairman Paul Dean, Edwin Buckley and Royal Corinthian Yacht Club and of course our experienced Merlin sailors James Goodfellow and Pete Nicholson.
The next training event is at Fishers Green Sailing Club on Saturday 23rd May followed by a regatta. You can sign up at portal.merlinrocket.co.uk/event/1289379