I know Glen specialises in swimming against the tide in the Merlin department..........but........Whitstble........get a taste of the future !!!!!

Nice one guys keep these wood Let it Rides up the front. I will join you when i learn to sail!!!

Erm, I might be missing something here but...

Weren't the top 2 boats overall winder wonders?

Jim & Glen came 4th which is bloddy good considering the boat is all wood and nearly 10 years old. Anyway look at the amount of plastic winders & EZR's that finished up behind them. I think you are definitely missing the point here old bean!

Just to let you all know, I wasn't trying to start mind games before the nationals.  I did not write this.  I have a sneaking suspicion who did though!

Non the less, it was quite amusing. Do the more mature let it ride boats qualify for the old boat prizes this year? (Jan 96)

See you all at Thorpe Bay on Sunday!

You will indeed. Hurrah hurrah its my first sail of the year. AT LAST.

Jim

I haven't got my year book to hand to confirm, but I seem to recall both Stormcloud and my own 3546 Gilt Complex were built in 1997.  Either way, the Tenby champs Notice of Race states 3535 and below for the old boats prize, but there will be some very quick boats that qualify next year!

Dave Lee

Indeed, which (in my opinion) makes a joke of the whole thing...

Which goes to show after 60 years of development the last 10 years have been very minor tweaks, as you might expect. 

Maybe time to think 'out of the box' on prizes that encourage more participation by sailors who don't/can't afford to spend a fortune on the latest and greatest, which is clearly what the 10 year old boat prize was meant to do.

Random thoughts
- prize for a boat with sails over 1 year old
- prize boats over minimum weight
- prize for boats without carbon

Sorry, heres another one,

a prize for boats that the owner would be prepared to sell for £2,500.

That would elimate taking a 9 year old boat and spending approximately the price of a new Winder on it to bring it up to spec.

Or just accept that you aren't going to ever win anything and enjoy your sailing week racing against the guys who are there to do the same.  (Sounds like the Vintage Wing and the CVRDA to me!!)

"That would elimate taking a 9 year old boat and spending approximately the price of a new Winder on it to bring it up to spec."

Alan, why would we want to "eliminate" people taking old boats and making them smart?

You're absolutely right about needing fresh ideas on what is an "old" boat but please don't change it next year as it's probably the only chance I get to compete for the "old boats" prize in the Midland circuit without having to race against canterbury tales.

Surely something along the lines of what the club champioships used to use:  if you've been in the top 5 of an open meeting or top 10 at Salcombe/Nationals then you're not eligible...  Or something.

Where a wooden Canterbury Tales (or variant) has been well maintained and has good sailors on board then these boats are not far off the modern FRP boats. Armed Forces (1990) has always shown good speed again the more modern FRP boats. Richard Dee and Chris Martin won the Midland Series in 2004.

The important thing is to encourage people to maintain these boats so we could end up debating the handicaps again. 

With a number of well sailed and quick boats coming of age (10 years) next year, there is always the possibility the the 'Old Boat' trophy will be won by a top 5 boat, even maybe the championship winner! I don't think someone's ability should be a reason for making the boat ineligible.

Isn't this good- old and new boats, glass and wood all being competitive together. I always thought that this was the raison d'etre for the one design concept.
Lokk at it another way (and I'm sure that Alan Chapman will bear this out) Wayfarer 88, well sailed and maintained is still up in the top few boats in the Class (built in the early Sixties?)

Maybe,just maybe wood is as good as glass but then I'm biased, owning a wooden Laurie boat that if given a good fettle and a decent helm could give some of the new Glass Class a run for their money

My boat will be 10 soon, and i would not hesitate to say it will make fanny adams difference to whether i win or not. People like Glen and Jim may win the old boats prize, but it is because they can sail the thing!!! I am sure they would go just as quick in my boat but i am just not up to the job!

jon 'elimate' taken out of context, deepy was more on my thought train

I must admit i felt quite guilty winning the old boats prize at the champs in Armed Forces, but she was at the time 14 years old - that surely counts as an old boat in 
any fleet, ableit an extremely fast old boat.

It has to be good for the class that you can get competetive older boats for around £4k and give much newer ones serious worries if you can sail well.

I think you're missing the point.  A ten year old boat is not old... it's only ten!!!

I don't think they are. Think about it in car terms - a ten year old car is an old car. A 50 year old car is vintage, and a 30 year old car is calssic.

Plenty of various 'old' boat prizes up for grabs in the 'vintage wing 3 day regatta' at the nationals. Sorted!

Go easy chaps!

In confirmation "Storm Cloud" 3543 is exactly ten years old. (Launched Salcombe 1996)

But given the fact absolutely everything is brand new (except the hull which was refurbished to new condition) I personally give its age little consideration!

The truth behind the boat was purely that after sailing Davo's Rong Number 3573 at last years Nationals, we decided we'd ideally like a brand new Driver Let It Ride, but given the non compliant design & timescale adventures Mike had with 3626 (Which was unmodified and slow at that point) we didn't have the balls to risk it!

Jim already owned Storm Cloud 3543 and we recognised this as a vehicle to achieve the same effect with less risk and to date this decision has not disappointed us.

Fortunately Mike made some well informed design changes on 3626 during the winter months and another bullet fast wooden Driver entered the fray.....good on him!

The question is which team will win the nationals?

In my eyes at least.........(In no particular order obviously!)

Team Winder "Plastic" =

Tom Stewart 3655
Dave Winder 3662
Richard Whitworth 3670
John Bell 3652
Alan Warren 3673
Pat Blake 3676

Team Driver "Wood" =

Mike Calvert 3626
Team Davo 3573
Team Truswell 3543
Dan Alsop 3539

While heavily outgunned by numbers and arguably pedigree, I’d like to see team wood prevail thus maintaining a healthy balance within the class.

Rumour has it that someone has ordered a wooden boat, is the tide turning ??

The FRP boats have undoubtably saved the class and  (arguably) made the Merlin much more accessible, so clearly the majority of future new boats will be plastic.  However, right now we do seem to be in a nicely balanced position where the discerning yotter can choose a beautiful wood boat and still compete at the top level.

Whilst I have enjoyed racing both my previous Winder and the current on loan Easy Roller (thanks John!), for me they just cannot compete with 3546 on pride of ownership. I know I'm not the only one who prefers the look of beautifully varnished wood decks, which is why it's puzzling no-one to date has taken the excellent compromise of a Winder or Easy Roller hull shell with a wood top.