MERLIN ROCKET FORUM

Topic : How Competitive ????

Hi All

So How competitive is a nsm 1, low bow tank with hog stepped mast be.

Let me know you're thoughts.

James MR2293


Posted: 12/04/2005 11:03:36
By: James Taylor
Where are you sailing it?
What are you competing against?


Posted: 12/04/2005 11:09:24
By: Jon
At the moment sailing at sea total weight about 23 /24 stone but what to come up from cornwall to have some fun doing merlin events.

James


Posted: 12/04/2005 11:15:30
By: James Taylor
You should have got your salcombe entry form in months ago!

I have such a boat (3245) and don't believe it holds me back...but then I'm not very good at racing! Perhaps you should give it a bash, and when you see people pointing higher all the time, and zooming effortlessly past you on the reaches, then its time to upgrade.

Oh, make sure you've got a big (new rules) spinny...


Posted: 12/04/2005 13:39:10
By: Mags
I am thinking about upgraging as the minute I have a one off design no spinny chute and trying to teach the fiance to sail with bags are a problem even if you know what you are doing other wise we would have been there. Thinking about 3451. Just trying to work it all out.
as it does need some work.

any body know the boat???


Posted: 12/04/2005 14:02:38
By: James Taylor
Sorry boat number wrong. Does any one know much about 3251


Posted: 12/04/2005 14:34:23
By: James Taylor
I am now very suspicious of the "needs a little tender loving care" bit in adverts.  All too often this means "I was really shocked to see how awful the boat looked after 2 winters outdoors under a leaky cover but I still need to sell to someone who will do more sailing than me".  Look very carefully for failed joints especially in structural areas (centrecase, anywhere within 9" of the shrouds, mast gate, king post) or rot and softened wood particularly near the transom or the centrecase on the hog.  Bear in mind that replacing half a dozen fittings that don't work because they have corroded and getting hold of a reasonable 2nd hand suit of sails because the ones with it are knackered may well cost you over £400.

Having said all that, in fact it is a buyer's market at the lower end, and you can get hold of a well-maintained Merlin with enough equipment for competitive club racing for £700 or so if you persevere. I haven't seen 3251 at all.


Posted: 12/04/2005 22:38:43
By: Andrew M
Hi James

If you drop me an email I can let you have a contact number for Nick Turner. Nick worked at Rowsells about the time 3251 was built and may remember her, or even have built her.

An NSM would be a good boat for your club racing on the sea at Penzance, and is fairly stable and good natured in a blow. However, at open meetings you will really struggle offwind when racing against more modern designs such as Canterbury Tales, particularly on the sea. That said, Andy Hayes races 3125 Footloose at Starcross with some success - upwind or down the run he can often stay with the modern boats, but on planing reaches he does lose out. As Mags suggests, pick restricted venues like Salcombe and an NSM will still give you some close racing and provide a great introduction to the class.


Posted: 12/04/2005 22:43:28
By: Dave Lee
I owned 3247 a Rowsell NSM1 a while back and it was a good boat in most conditions (especially after I did a bit of surgery and moved the jib tracks forward about a foot). Excellent Merlin to build up experience on-less difficult to sail well than some other designs of the time.


Posted: 13/04/2005 20:19:54
By: Geoff Wright
Have a look at the Tamesis winter series results to see how a wide variety of Merlins from 847 to 3656 performed on the Thames over the winter.

http://www.tamesisclub.co.uk/MerlinWinterPoints.htm

Posted: 14/04/2005 22:18:27
By: Brian
For main page

http://www.tamesisclub.co.uk/Merlin.htm

Posted: 14/04/2005 22:20:51
By: Brian
Hi I own 3236 a Rowsell Omega NSM1 there are some photos of her in the photos section on this site to give you an idea of what you should find. What I havent yet done is to scan some old photos of the way she looked prior to this, the good news is spud used Epoxy on the construction of these boats and generally it's held up pretty well. Some of the previous posts mention the places to have a good look at, just about anything can be fixed it's just a matter of time. There dead right about performance common sense suggest the more recent CT etc will be faster in certain conditions you just have to pick your events and try & outfox them. Just because they have got a modern boat doesent mean they can point it in the right direction!(although most are)
And don,t forget the 'old age handicaps' published in the yearbook they help considerably at Club level.
If you are serious about the NSM give me a call & I can tell you what defects I found. All the best Barry.


Posted: 15/04/2005 17:09:54
By: Barry Watkin

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