Vintage Merlins at Harlow (Blackwater) S.C.
After an easy run from Banbury S.C. to Harlow (Blackwater) S.C. we were welcomed warmly with enquiries of what would we like to drink?
Mervyn Allen had already arrived with 'Kate', No 1. She had a new Alaskan spruce mast, which is a beautiful work of art in its own right, and a new suit of sails. She was the most elegant sight on the water. Our boat 'Ten-Sixty-Six', No1066 on the other hand has never been restored, only repaired over the years, and apart from the addition of transom flaps she remains essentially as she would have been when she was built in 1960, and still sails well with her original terrilene sails.
Two fleets were sailing that day, Merlin's (Vintage, Classic, and Modern) and Solos. Only one Vintage (Kate) and one Classic (Ten-Sixty-Six), we gather the journey had deterred some.
The course marks around the estuary were a wonderful mixture of numbers and names – 'Bay', 'Steeple', 'Cooper', and 'Doctor' for example. The start of the first race was in light wind with the tide coming in. We over took 'Kate' soon after the start and were quite comfortably in front of her and a modern Merlin for half the course only to round a mark and suffer from a sudden slowness, 'Kate' gained speed and slipped past! The problem – weed! Meanwhile the sky was darkening. Racing towards us, and we to it, was a dramatic thunderstorm with flickers of forked lightening. Hail hit the foredeck, followed by torrential rain reducing the visibility to a few metres with awful suddenness! The siren sounded from the clubhouse and we headed for the jetty to hear that such storms can sometimes have F6 - 7 gusts beneath them. The safety of the no longer visible Solo sailors was a concern.
After a cheerful lunch we set out for the second race in some sunshine and very light winds. The tide had turned, and we had an enjoyable sail while with it. Once the course took us against the tide the wind dropped from light, to nearly nil, and nil. When an anchored yacht became an unwanted constant companion we decided to get the paddle out. Few boats finished the course as the lack of wind and the water made some marks unsailable unless one had a real thing about mud.
We enjoyed time at the bar in the Merlin tradition. Both vintage and classic helms were presented with a bottle of 'New Hall' Blackwater wine made from locally grown grapes, yet to be enjoyed (the slow ripening of English grapes leads to an interesting complexity of taste I'm told).
It was an enjoyable different sort of day despite no snow to complete the weather experience. The hospitality of the locals was second to none; many thanks to all that made us so welcomed.
Tim Bury