We are having a reunion at Bognor Regis Yacht Club on 10th September 05 Peter Frampton and Derek King are coming over form Oz and DK sent this link to some great old pics.  http://www.users.bigpond.com/derekking/

At one stage the webmaster for the MROA was going to have an archive page for old pics and other interesting hisrorical stuff - I send some pics of sailing at Whitstable etc, but could never find it on the pages?

Anyone got a boat for hire for the Champs - I will guarantee a few bottles of bubbly (If I win)

Yes, I'd love to host a few more piccies of the good old days! Am afraid a couple of other projects have higher priority, but I never lose anything I'm sent - it will appear eventually.

Link below was from my predecessor.

These pictures as is may also be viewed on the Ranelagh SC Web Site!

Why not get a collection of Stories together too?
Working title could be: "Short Stories from Tall Yachtsmen" There are tales of derring do from the Storming of the Imperial Hotel Torquay, the destruction of the wind shelter at Bognor Regis Yacht Club, Will the Guzzlers Gallon be reinstuted for the 5th? I'll provide a few stories for starters.

Here's one I wrote earlier.
Bognor  Buggered!

It was late July and the weekend of the Bognor Barrel and Adur Trophy Races at Bognor Regis Yacht Club.
Or it would have been.
Had it not been blowing force eight from the west. Not yachting weather!
Two hundred or so dinghy sailors on the loose in a town the size of Bognor should not present too much of a problem for the authorities. On the whole prosperous, middle class and responsible, you would think!
There is a practical limit to what one can drink.
We tried croquet on the club lawn, but after two broken ankles and a wee fight over possession of a mallet, the ref’ called time out. 
Then Robin, proposed a road trolley race. The thesis was that a launching trolley would be lashed to the front of the road trailer where the car would be usually be, to act as the other two wheels and steering bogy.
A mast or long boom would then be tied to the front of the trailer to the trailing mast support and a spinnaker would be flown from the top of this spar.
The “vehicle would then be let go down a measured distance on Bognor Sea Front, the runs would be timed and the winner would get a firkin of beer presented by Robin. We could all then, hopefully help the winner with his onerous task of drinking it.
Of course first to go had to be Robin.
He set off like a rocket and as he sailed past the end of the run at well over thirty miles an hour,- or so it seemed- it must have been like Trust SSC on board! Then the fault in his cunning plan came to the fore!
Like the Bloody Great Wheel, alas there was no way of stopping it!
We had of course tactfully cleared the general public from the race-track, and asked that toddlers and dogs be kept on a leash!
Robin was faced with three choices, the Ice cream parlour, a flint wall or a wind shelter. Whether by accident or design the Wind Shelter got chosen.
Unfortunately there were three little old ladies seeking shelter in it, and little old ladies do not run very fast.
Fortunately the Merlin Rocket class is endowed with a number of Doctors as competitors and one undertaker. Luckily the latter was not needed.
The crash, (bits of Victorian ironwork glass and wood went flying) is deeply embedded in the memory.
It was a mess.
After the sal-volatale and something stronger had been administered and the odd scratch been plastered over and peace been made, before the police arrived, Robin offered the ladies a lift home with him, or a taxi wherever they wanted to go.
They chose the taxi!
A footnote to this tale is that the Croquet Match that started it all was reported in the local papers complete with a picture of “the pitch” and the Commodore of the Bognor Regis Yacht Club. Somehow this got into the hands of the All England Tennis & Croquet Club, a letter of protest from them appeared in the next issue concluding with the fact that the hoops were too wide at the base! It seems that rule pedants are not restricted to sailing!

These days you'd have to do a risk assesment first!

And then do it!

What might the coroner say?

Note - 92 starters at Ranelagh in 1960!! We used to get up to 40 starters in winter club races. No reservoirs open for sailing. Those were the days.

I'll be at Bognor in September. Somewhere I've loads of pics of M/Rs back to the early 50s including some of Derek, Peter and you Stuart. I'll scan them over the next few days and burn a CD. 

I'm also looking after the Harris family videos of M/R events in the early 60s - Torquay, Poole, Plymouth, Bristol, Aldenham etc.

I too have some material which may be of interest.  I have scanned articles of interest from old Light Craft magazines, including one about the building of a smooth skin Merlin (don't fret - it did not get a certificate!).
Dan Alsop

Dan is there a link to these scanned articles?

Check out Yachts and yachting Web Page for a completely unbiased report on a more recent Merlin Rocket Event at Ranelagh.

See anything like this with 92 starters in the olden days Uncle Robert..?

http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/default2.asp?section=11&article=16004

Wow Andy, what a great report, what pressure you must have been under, but hey you carried it off. 
I have always admired the way you Harris's deal with river sailing. Now I've got a Merlin at Tamesis I'm going to try really hard and I may ask you to coach me because in all the years I've just never managed to be as good as you.

Thats great news David, make sure you join the MROA and get some insurance for your boat and then you can even race legitimately.

Of course the MR Silver tiller was proceeded by "tuning week" One took the week off to get the old 9b to peek performance. Participants - George Slack (whos wife, the ever lovely Jackie, refused to call their first son Justin) Mothy Brown, Tim Reynolds (like a massive Rolf Harris)  Colin Lord, Trevor Evans, Alan Simpson (simpkins), Gavin Moy ( Builder of several MR's but the only one to build a Merlin with 6.5 planks on one side and 7 on the other) The great Dennis Ellis (Uncle Dennis)and of course the cause of most of the trouble Ned Sparrow, and many others.

The day would start with a coffee and a bit of fettling of the spinnaker englefield clips, by which time George had the bar open - There was the odd occasion that we went yottin as well - but the weather always closed in around opening times.

Friday was always called Black Friday. This was the last day before the real action, and Ned presented the Sailotch Pot (a little bit of butchers backslang for you) which would be presented to the person who had consumed the most booze in the preceeding day. Rules were strict, but you could collect points by getting a signed chit from any publican - 1 point for a half, one for a shot of spirits etc. 

The last one I remember was coming to its conclusion around 10.30 in the BRYC Bar. There was some difficulty in counting the chits, as most of the comitteee were also competitors. Some bunging for enhanced scores usually took the form of a quick pint, which simply exacerbated the situation. Dennis Ellis came in and was some way behind, but a purchase of a half bottle of scotch brought him up to speed. A late and futile challenge.

Finally the totals were recounted, and written down - but everyone was so pissed it was impossble to sort it out until Saturday Morning (rather late Sat AM)

Following a lot of scrutinising and doulbe checking we were astonished to find that Gavin Moy (special products department of LEC refigeration - otherwise known as Lec Marine)had won by consuming a staggering 49 brown ales!!

I think they must have banned brown ale ever since cos I ve never seen anyone consuming the stuff.

So we were all well tuned for the Silver Tiller and especially the International Croquet matches mentioned above. Again run by Ned Sparrow - but perhaps another time.

Happy Days - wonder were MR 1963 is now?

Happy days they were certainly not.  
As a member of Arun, inconveniently positioned between Bognor and Shoreham, we were vulnerable to raiding parties who pinched our women- George Slack who was more famous for not paying subscriptions to any club (until he married Jackie), than winning the champs, came from the west and pinched our commodore's daughter (Jackie) and Chris Andrews came from the east and pinched Sue (the daughter of another flag officer). We must have been really wet to let them do it!
Talking of wet I am surprised that Gurn did not mention the serious stuff on Black Friday - the race and the water fights.
In those days we didn't have cars so we sailed from Littlehampton to and from Bognor and Shoreham for their events.  Probably just as well; we couldn't get done for drunken driving on the way home.

Perhaps it's time to write all this down?
"Short stories from tall yachtsmen!"
good title even if some of us are dwarves.
Sadly George is no longer with us and Chris barely so, but it diesn't speak well of the men of Arun does it? But there's a book there.
Send me your stories and I'll publish.
HGT

"Wizard stories from Merlins"!!!
"Roistering Rockets"!!!

Feeling sorry I missed the good old days (and I was old enough to have been there).

Old days they were and some were good. However we've all passed a lot of water since then.