Anyone that uses the M27/ M3 regularly (and occasionally wanders over the speed limit...) Read Below!

Some of you may already be aware of this, but I have now been informed by three different reliable sources that the Hants Police as of yesterday will be filming a new television series over the next seven weeks which will affect anyone using the M27 or M3.
 
The program is a BBC South commission called "Traffic Cops" and filming will cover the following areas:
 
Ringwood concentrating on Ringwood M27 up to the M3 J9 
The ringroad around Southampton (one unit will be just concentrating on the area in and around Totton).  
Cosham M27 stretch to J5 of the M27 (Southampton Airport turn-off).  
The fourth concentration is working from Winchester Services covering M3 to J10 (Winchester South).  
 
They will be using five unmarked cars, two black Skoda Octavias (03 registrations), a dark red Mondeo (05 reg) and two Volvo saloon cars.
 
The BBC unit themselves will be based out of a unit in Millbrook Road in Southampton and will also be covering the armed police response unit and the Southampton Airport Police Security / British Transport Police team.
 
The BBC team will be in Citroen Picasso MPVs leased from Arriva.
 
To make the programme more effective, the traffic police have authority from the Chief Constable to "work to rule", so please bear this in mind if you 
travel over these routes in the next few weeks.
 
Not that any of us speed of course, but it is just something for you all to bear in mind!

How about a 20+ merlin convoy on a day their filming, at the stupid spead limits that they set for trailers.

I think they started last week - I saw them on the way back from Hythe Marina  (junction 2 roundabout off M27) having stopped a white van, and they were filming that.

I thought that the legal motorway limit for trailers was 60mph.  Given the tiny wheels that's really revolving.  Futhermore many boats and trailers aren't perfectly balanced and would you really want to be smashed into by a runaway Merlin.  Or to damage your beautiful boat.  Having trailed from Warwick to Aberdeen recently in 8.5hours driving time and sticking to the limit all the way (pretty much) I wouldn't have saved a lot of time if I had gone 10mph faster.  I arrived safely!!

Just been down the M27 and actually wondered why there was a video cameraman with the cops, so this aint no hoax folks. 
At least I know my little 205 can barely get to 70 let alone break the speed limit!!!

Call the cops

Don't know if this is related, but saw two marked surrey police cars pursuing a silver vauxhall vectra at speed with lights flashing/sirens on this afternoon southbound down the A3 - Smoky and the Bandit/Cannonball Run came to mind.

Maybe the merlin fleet should be kitted out with CB radio.  Individual monikers could be the name of your boat.

This was ever a problem this is from 1958! Even in those days there were fixture clashes, and in the year in question the clash was Bolton in the North with Cookham Reach in the South.
Both were Inland events.
Our two heroes were head to head and both needing an elusive Inland win to cement victory.
They were friends as well as rivals.
They agreed that the gentlemanly thing to do was to fight it out fair and square at Cookham Reach.
They sailed in the practice races on Saturday and went home Robin to central London Brian to Chipstead in Surrey.
On the Sunday the day dawned bright and Brian was happy, lots of wind and whistling as he rigged his boat with such concentration that he noticed nothing at all.
Until that is: a telegram delivery boy tapped him on the shoulder, “You Saffery-Cooper?” “yes” “telegram sign here”  he did with the curious slightly worried anticipation we all felt on such occasions before telegrams were abandoned.
He need not have worried, Great Uncle George was not dead, and had not left him all his money.
It merely said “Having a lovely time in Bolton wish you were here- Love Robin!”
Both won and therefore the Silver Tiller went to the wire some two weeks later at Rye Harbour.
However there is some justice, when two months later Robin appeared in the magistrates court in Litchfield for speeding (exceeding a 30 mph limit with a two wheeled trailer), he attempted to defend himself by saying the police had not followed him nor had they attempted to stop him.
“What do you have to say to that constable?” asked the magistrate, well your worship my machine (a high power motorcycle) was doing the maximum it could and the accused was still drawing away. Robin changed his plea to guilty paid the fine and reflected on what might have been, or indeed was!
He also ordered a roof rack for his Aston Martin to carry the boat on and thus avoid this occurring again. Robin won that year Brian the next so honour was satisfied.

The first Silver Tiller I ever did was at Sussex Motor (now Shoreham). I sailed to it from Littlehampton as I had no car.  I well remember Robin arriving in his Aston Martin with his Merlin on the roof.  I thought that was rather cool!!

One of the best National 12 sailors in the fifties was Barry Perry who sailed at Minima, Ranelagh and Hamble. Sometime in the fifties Burton Week was held at Scarborough, which is a long way to tow a N12 with an old Ford van. On the drive home Barry was cruising along at a steady 30 mph when he was pulled up by a police car. Barry and his crew were astonished to discover that the speed limit for a van towing a trailer was 20 mph!

They may as well have got out and pulled the trailer/boat themselves at speeds like that!

Typical of the police to piss on your parade.  Funny how it's alright for them to career around the land breaking the speed limit in the name of the law though.  What about the copper who was clocked recently down the M25 at 4am doing about 170mph (or something outrageous like that)?

His defence in court was that he was testing out a new unmarked police car, it was early in the morning with hardly a car on the road and that he was a fully qualified Advanced Motorist thingy.

Yeah right mate, and my cousin is Nikki Lauder!  Just go on a private track like all the other speed freaks.

Also, I'm sure my father Barry has mentioned Robin before, re: arriving at open meetings in the Aston with Merlin atop.  Bit of a lad according to my old man.

I would hesitate to call a Wealthy, Harrovian, graduate of UCL, a Stockbroker "A bit of a lad." But certainly, a character, an extremely nice person, a man of quality, always helpful, with sadly tragedy in his life, now an international juror, a photographer and painter living quietly in Bermuda. Where the opportunities are very few (If any.) for speeding in any form!

Depends how you define 'a bit of lad' Ancient Geek.  And I thought we all lived in a classless society.

I can't believe you can get a merlin on to the roof of a car, it is so big!!!  Do you have any photos?

Not to mention Heavy!! Would'nt get a modern one on there!!!

They weren't 7'4" in those days

Gladly it is not a "Classless" society Tony Blair has seen to that, though the class divisions are not what they were, just be grateful you don't have to sail with junkies, and people doing ASBO's! Yes there are pictures of Robin's Merlin on the roof of both his Aston-Martin DB" and his subsequent Coombes Jaguar (A souped up Morse Mk11.), I'll scan and fwd to Mags.

I crewed Robin a few times and can assure you that he did put his Merlin on the roof of the Aston and his Hornet too. I think he used the Jag to tow his Soling to European regattas.

Robert is absolutely right except he used a superanuated beer lorry for both his Dragon and the Soling loaded in cradles where the beer used to go! Got pictures of that as well and Colin Stokes Merlin on the roof of an Austin A55 en route to Salcombe with another behind on a trailer! A thought RWH should put his memories on paper with pictures, he made it to the Elvestrom Book (1st edition!) crewing Robin at the Hornet Worlds at Rungstead in Denmark.

I crewed Robin in the Soling European Champs at Hanko, Norway in 197-something or other. I flew out and back but I'm pretty sure he was towing with the Jaguar. Paul Elvestrom won, we were fifth.

As for the 196-ish Hornet pics with Robin off Copenhagen they demonstrate that it's not a good idea to gybe a Hornet in half a gale with the mainsheet right out! We would have won overall if we hadn't capsized that day, in the end we were second.

Maybe that could be a new Government initiative - Junkies/ASBOs in special community projects involving the caddying/towing/ferrying of boats to open meetings around the UK. Supervised of course. Character building stuff with sailing rewards for good behaviour.  :)

Thinking of it though, Merlin Rocket sailors (an eclectic community) are a lucky bunch (as is anyone involved in any kind of sailing).  It's nice to be able have the dilemma of how to transport your boat to the next open meeting at all.

Such advanced thinking! 
Perhaps young Mr. Mourant would consider canditature for the Conservative Party Leadership!
On refelection thogh I'd sooner keep those serving ASBO'S no matter how supervised off the roads!

And away from my boat!!

Talking of ASBO's Germans had a good way of dealing with out of control youth's  Met a man at Dusseldorf boat show who's job was to issue short sharp shocks to some of the more out of control kids.  He would take them sailing from Bremen and when a few miles offshore, and out of sight of land, he would  inform them that the next stop was New York.  Aparently by taking a few at a time they achieved some stunning results. All governmant funded too!

Back to Lucy's less entertaining start to this thread, I have seen the Mondeo and one of the Volvos in action on the M27 this last weekend, so there's definitely an anti-speeding campaign along with the noble benefit of helping police budgets with a bit of reality TV.

The late Les Ward had a rhyme about coppers being bereft of parent's or at least knowin their fathers! Les once pre M4 drove from Ranelagh to Cheddar in 2 1/2 hrs on a May Saturday Morning all through Slough and everything in an Austin A55 towing Merlin! His usual car though was a ss100 that he'd had from new! Fantastic Car. Oh yes where was I? The M27 is not the only road so blighted the A3 and the A12 are too! Perhaps there is a business op' delivering boats to regattas?

Well they don't seem to be working Saturdays - or at least they weren't in evidence on the M27 this week when this vehicle shot up the inside of me after the M3 joined and then wove in and out under and over taking and cutting between lanes!!
Just like buses they're never there when you want them.
And no I wasn't towing - we'd been to the chandlery and Towsure's sale for various spares.

you never know where they are (were) 'til you get the letter!

they have put speed cameras on the stretch of the M3 that has roadworks at the mo (J3-J4), so thought I'd let you know that they do actually mean speed cameras where they've put the signs up for a change!

There are speed camaras in the road works on the M25 between M4 J15 and Staines J13. Went through with the merlin yesterday to Kingston and there is a 40 mph limit and very narrow lanes!

They are quite hot on speed checks around Staines, as I found out to my cost last year (6 points and 250 quid)- mobile video speed trap.

The AA has an updated warning site on their portal.
I believe one of the many (GKW) sat nav systems is automatically updated and warns you in real time if you have it on that is!

Apparently Vanish is hot on staines too!

the most speed cameras i have ever counted were on the m11; 27 mobile gatzos on the northbound roadworks up to stanstead, not counting the ones on the other side! (and they were working)

smile please!

Useful to have cruise control in sections like like.

Or a driver!

i saw an ex merlin sailor who lives in our village Histon near Cambridge who used to sail a Merlin regularly at the Cam sailing club-Roger wisbey and he often raced against Robin and had to help him lift the merlin onto the Aston martin,.