Or is Merlin the magician up to his old tricks again?

A year or two ago I was passed on some bits and pieces from Merlin 54. the hull had been destroyed in the '50s but the owner kept the two sets of cotton sails, rudder, centreboard and all the other fittings. He lived near Guildford. Many of these parts are now in the restored merlin 36. I passed one set of sails on to John but kept the other set as they are a useful smaller, Storm/cruising, size. They are dated 1949 and in excellent condition. I have tried them out on Iska, merlin 6, and they work well. I thought I would look at changing the number on the sails and noticed that under the '54' was old stitching showing that they once belonged to 216. This was a surprise as I know that the person that had owned Iska from 1947 to 1951 also owned 216 at the same time. In fact one of Iska's sails and sailbags is ex 216. At the time Iska was called Seal and 216 was called Sealgh. This owner,  Mr. John Henderson lived at Peaslake also near Guildford, and was for some time keeper of the Merlin records.
Looking even closer I could see another set of old stitching, in the centre underneath the letter 1 of the 216. this number was...yes, you've guessed it ...a number 6.

After nearly fifty years Iska has back another set of sails that originally belonged to the boat.
Chris, Merlin 6 and 507

I was interested to see your reference to John Henderson. He was keeper of the class records when I was chairman in the mid 60s so I saw quite a lot him. John was meticulous in his record keeping and relentless in his pursuit of missing boats and members. He was a Scot and on the Clyde he was better known for his single-minded resurrection of the beautiful Gareloch class of keelboats. John sailed 216 Sealgh at Tamesis Club.

I have copies of a couple of letters John Henderson wrote to a previous owner in the'60s, in one he refers to being in Scotland for Clyde Week. His letters are very interesting and he describes in detail the past owners and what he knew of Merlin 6., Thanks for your note.
Chris barlow

Pat Jones has sent me some photos from the CVRDA Roadford event recently. See the gallery. Numbers 6, 36 and 2121 are shown.

Further to Robert's reference to John G D Henderson and his interest in the Gareloch One Design Class. I retain a signed copy of the book, Gareloch Goddesses, he wrote in 1959 that tells the story of his successful efforts to "bring the boats home" to the Clyde. The book includes many beautiful pictures, construction drawings, sail plan, specification, class rules, cup winners and a list of original owners. If anyone wishes to know more about these boats please contact me and I'll read the book again.
He also gave me his Rhodesian Ridgeback dog in return for researching the West of England class Redwings for him!