Merlin Rocket Youth Training & Championship at Fishers Green Sailing Club
by George Hutcheon 1 Jun 17:54 BST
23 May 2026
Light wind racing during the Merlin Rocket Youth Nationals © Paul Dean
Having sailed single-handed dinghies since the age of six - working my way through the Optimist and ILCA fleets and even representing GBR at the ILCA 4 Europeans in Slovenia - I'm no stranger to competitive racing. However, most of my background is single-handed, aside from occasional stints in a Cadet or Feva. That all changed back in February when I jumped into a Merlin Rocket for the first time. I absolutely fell in love with the boat, and throughout this training series I've sailed the same Merlin, "Stanley", at every session.
Saturday 23rd May marked the fourth and final session of the Merlin Rocket youth training program, hosted by Fishers Green Sailing Club. The day was a hot one, but despite the scorching weather, we had just enough breeze to get some fantastic training and racing in.
We had eight sailors out on the water, allowing us to field four boats. The calibre of the fleet was incredibly high, packed with some seriously talented youth sailors. I was paired up with Jameson again, renewing our partnership from the previous training event at the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club.
Our brilliant coach, Courtney, was back to guide us. After rigging and a thorough morning briefing, we headed out for the training session. In the light conditions, our main technical focus was figuring out how to efficiently pop the top batten to keep the boat moving smoothly. Jameson and I struggled with this initially, but after a bit of trial and error, we found our rhythm and got the boat flowing.
By midday, the heat was intense, so we came ashore for a well-deserved lunch and a cold drink to cool off and talk strategy.
After lunch, it was straight into the business end of the day: a round-robin race series to contest the prestigious Willetts Trophy and crown the Merlin Rocket Youth Champion. The racing was exceptionally tight. Jameson and I put together a solid scoreline of 1st, 2nd, and 1st in the round-robin matches.
The points were so close that the series ended in a dramatic three-way tie at the top. To settle the score, a final fleet race was called to decide the ultimate podium placings. It was an absolute nail-biter. George and Matthew, who was sitting 4th overall and outside of the three-way tie, sailed a brilliant race to take the bullet. We crossed the line right behind him in 2nd place. Because we beat the other tied boats in that final showdown, Jameson and I clinched the overall victory and won the Willetts Trophy!
I have absolutely loved my time sailing the Merlin Rocket this year. Now that the youth training has wrapped up, I am actively seeking more crewing experience in the class, particularly around the East Coast.
Finally, a massive thank you to all the sailors who took part and made the training series so competitive and fun.
2026 Youth Championships Results:
1st George and Jameson
2nd George and Matthew and George and Iosbel
3rd Fran and Hannah
Wrap up from MROA:
We've loved watching the trainees, most of whom have never sailed a Merlin Rocket before, grow throughout the course. This programme was just an idea that we didn't even know would work. The effort that has gone into making it happen has been enormous and we would like to thank the following for all their support in making it happen:
- RYA - Dave Mellor and the support the RYA gave us to enable us to run this programme
- RYA - Courtney Bilborough and Nick Lightbody, our coaches
- MROA Committee for agreeing to take a punt and let us do this
- Pete Nicholson, James Goodfellow, Christian Hill, Bill Noakes - from the Merlin Fleet
- Fishers Green Sailing Club - Commodore Kevin O'Brien and their committee
- Royal Corinthian Yacht Club and Corinthian Otters - Edwin Buckley and their committee
- Paul Dean - MROA Vice Chairman
- Plus, all the other people who helped and we may have forgotten!
Overall, we introduced 12 young people to the class and watching them go from being a bit unsure, to racing the boats hard has been an absolute joy. The class are committed to continuing this programme next year, so watch this space!