Hi, I have a winderbox merlin sail number 3079, last season i failed to get the boat to point anywhere near as high as i would expect.  im going to be putting the mast back up at the weekend for the new season of racing at my club. antbody got any tips on setting up the rig?
also how do i get my mast upright to work out rack? thanks

See this photo for calculating the 'upright' position of zero rake.

There are many articles in the library about setting up the mast, but these are all for deck-stepped boats. I assume you have a hog-stepped rig on 3079?

Many years ago when I bought my first Merlin - a Rowsell Smokers Satisfaction - I was very disturbed to find it was outpointed by everything - including Shearwaters and Mirrors! After much messing about looking at details like mast rake and jib angle - we got nowhere.  Then an old Merlin hand took us to one side and suggested we took off the natty double strop mainsheet attachment that the previous owner had added, and reverted back to the old traveller arrangement that Mr Rowsell fitted as standard. The effect was instant and astonishing - we could outpoint the hot local N12 fleet - easily!  Could this be the root of the pointing problem?
 There's an article by Dan Alsop somewhere in the members area that explains the importance of the traveller on a hog stepped mast.

IanL

That is this link. It mentions the 'barn door' rig.

Reducing the jib slot helps a lot too, ours points better when I narrow the slot by pulling the opposite sheet whilst the normal jib sheet is cleated tight - the old boat doesn't have barber haulers or sliding jib blocks.

looks like Ben should attend the MROA training at Rutland.
30 April, 1,2,3 May

I could be being really thick here, but it seems to me that the weight on the halyard method requires that the hull is level pretty accurately. So far I haven't seen any hints on how you decide what is level.

Many thanks

David

Most people rely in the fact that the bow is directly vertical. So a spirit level vertically at the front sorts out getting the boat level.

Do you have a swimming pool.........

Is the top of the cb case generally horizontal by design? Could be an easier option.

That's the problem, generally it's not.  However the stem and transom are much more likely to be vertical.

As long as you set it up the same each time does it matter?

Thanks for the replies. It wouldn't have occurred to me to use the bow, but if that is what most people do, that will do nicely. It seems to me that it *is* important to make these measurements the same way as everyone else if the data shared is to be of any value.

Many thanks

David