Hello. Im new here.
My father owns a Merlin Rocket though he doesn’t sail it now and it has been buried in the garage for nearly two decades – despite me trying to keep the hull in half-decent nick for one of those decades before I moved away (I don’t have a sail number for it, but im sure he does so Ill ask him). Im going to try to talk him into handing it over to me so I can overhaul it this winter for sailing next year. So im here asking some advice.

Firstly, if I get it, its moving to Cork, I know these boats are better for fresh-water, will it still perform in salt-water, on and around the harbor?

Secondly, it’s a wooden plank hull, I expect some nasty surprises when I get a chance to get it out. How would I go about repairing or replacing any failed planks? Is this even possible? Is there some ‘nightmare threshold’ where no amount of money or time can save the boat?

Thirdly, the road trailer was also used as the launch trailer and has disintegrated beyond safe use, so  I need to get a new one? Any advice for moving Merlins – if I cant get a trailer on Ireland I would rather re-purpose a trailer then paying a large fortune to get a specialized trailer across from England.

Salt water is no problem.

These days, people with older Merlins (pre 1960) tend to only race them on rivers and lakes, but they were raced on the sea in their day, and still could be!

Thats encouraging.
dad has confirmed that the sail number is somwhere between 600 and 900, he is going to wade into the garage to find out at some point.

i suppose the real problem now is finding a road worthy traler in Ireland.

Just to add that mahogany is actually more resistant to rot in salt water than in fresh....

You may well need to check that the rig tension doen't cause the hull to work and then leak.

Colin

Excitement! Drama! Sail Numbers!

Dad got into the garage today and managed to get a look at the sails and the boat. The sail number is 1606, however there is a number inscribed on the bench across the center board casing: 763. My father seems to remember that the sails may not have been the original.
Anyone care to dig into these numbers? Is this a Frankinmerlin? a nautical cut-and-shut?
This merlin will have dropped off the radar shortly after the year 1983, it has been inactive pretty much ever since, i would guess that it was on Ireland for a fair few years before that.

She is a Proctor MK6 Built by Chippendale in 1957 and is currently called Ebony. I am sure some of the older menembers can give you some history.

If it has been in the garage all this time then you should not have to much of an issue with rot.

Good Luck.

Oh and the number on the boat (763) will be the correct one. The sail numbers tend to be left on second hand sails and confuse future owners!

Fantastic, thanks for the info! I certainly wont be changing the name, though the irony of naming a wooden boat after a kind of wood which sinks isn’t lost on me 

Dad says he never knew the registered name for her, he called it ‘Billie the Boat’ after my great uncle William McCall, who was a keen boatman (I believe he held a world record for a vane drive modle boat, also in out garage, in pieces.) and helped Dad with the repairs. When Dad got it it was painted a dark green, so he stripped the paint off and re-varnished it. It sailed out of East Down Yacht Club in the final years of the 80’s before being ‘stored’. Dad put a new aluminum mast on it but everything else he got with it in more-or-less working order.

Its good to know that I wont have to worry about rot, but Im still very concerned there will be damage. Its been in there twenty years, sometimes with junk on top of it, cats may have wee’d in it. Fortunately we have some good slipways and shallow tidal ranges in Cork harbor so I can test for any hull integrity problems before taking it to deeper water.
Can I put a modern mast/sail assembly on a hull of this age or am I best sticking with the second hand triangular main? Having the wrong number on the sail sounds like a good excuse to renew the rigging!

Im really excited to have a chance to work on this boat. The main hurdle remains finding / adapting a trailer for her.

Try ebay for a trailer, there are normally allot on there and you may find one close to where you are looking.

Without significant work you won't get a fully modern rig on the boat as the tensions have increased significantly over the years and you would flex the hull to much. You can however buy a Carbon rig that will fit straight in and fit the same sails that we all use on new boats. Alternatively there is a thriving vintage fleet that can advise you on a refit.

Ebony was originally called "Pee-pi-too" and her home was Bolton SC, however a new owner in 1970 had changed her name to "Ebony".  Another new owner by 1975 and a move to Hollingworth Lake SC. A new owner in the 80's and living in Cheshire (no club given).

curious, i have forwarded the information to my dad to see if can let me know how/when he got it. maby we have the wrong number for her, maby Dad was just quick turning her arround... She used to have a decent road trailer (i remember climbing over it as a child) so theres no reason why she couldent have travelled from Cheshire.

...so given she has had two names, is it worse luck to re name her to the origional name or keep the current second name?

Well i have a driver, and the promice of a trolly, and a house to keep the boat in while i restore her, all without having to go near a yachtclub or buy a bigger house.
The trolly we will be using is designed for a toy class dingey, so there may need to be some hefty adaptations to make a safe passage. any tips for mooving theese boats?

There is still issue over the sailnames but ill run it on the scratty sales this year and have a fresh set for the 2012 season.

Unless I'm mistaken Ebony belonged to Ben and Marie Wilde when it was at Bolton, and was very successful, Ben and Marie always carrying off truckloads of Bolton trophies each season. They sold Ebony and bought Wide Guy, which I think was the first Merlin Guy Winder built.
regards  Nick

Thanks Nick. hopefully i can verify the sail numbers when i get a look at the boat, the number on the centerbord housing is aparently quite badly painted over and will need some archeology work to reed it right.
im stil slightly skeptical that this boat is Ebony due to it being discovered in my uncles guarden in the 80's alredy is a fairley bad state (it was painted green) restored and sailed during the early half of the 80's.
it just dosent sound one hundred precent plausible that she disappeared from cheshire and re-appeared in Down. we shall see.

as mentioned hopefully ill actually get my hands on it sometime over then next few months.

My dad found the origional sails for the boat: 763 is the confirmed sail number. 

Ebony it is then, i cant wait to get up there and bring her back down to the shed for some intensive care over the summer. Depending on the damage i hope to have her floating before winter! Maby we will get her out to one of the irish classic boat regattas. 
Im Very excited to own a small piece of history

Hi everyone. 

regarding a potential re-fit of this boat, what dimentions of sail should i get for her? given that she wont take a new-new sail due to the rig tension. Are there any other recomended re-fits for a boat this age? stuff which is just 'better' now-a-days due to materials breakthroughs or design changes.

I still want her to qualify as a 'classic boat' as i hope to take her on the circut so i cant do anything too crazey.

Have a chat with Dick Batt or Mike McNamara both make sucessfull sails for classic merlins to youre specific requirements

Excellent suggestions, to which I would add Dave Dobrijevic at Dynamic, who has made a number of vintage-style sails for Merlins and Int.14's.

Nick

Good Morning!

We are gradually moving towards getting Ebony down to cork for refurbishment, my father has cleared the garage of junk and the boat looks good according to reports. I have the loan of a road trailer (a rib trolly no less!) which *should* fit the bill.

Im still trying to find a launching trolly for her now, is there any other trolly from a more popular class which would serve her hull design? I dont think there are any other merlins in cork harbour.

Other then that the only other fly in the ointment is winter storage, its causeing me real trouble finding a palce to stow it off-season. It wuldent be right mooving her down without having a home set up for her.

When I restored 1981 two years ago I took the original sails back to Banks Sails who made an outstanding job of reproducing a new set to the old design .They even got one of their older sail cutters to do the job for me .He thinks he may have made the origional set 46 years ago!
The photo of 1981 on the MROA website are the originals,not bad for 46 years!
Regards , Mike.

I was up visiting the family at the weekend, and i managed to get in to see the boat, She is in remarkably good condition, in need of a good varnish but no apparent holes or damp or obvious damage.

here are the photos i grabbed if your intrested:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/coreline/sets/72157627788433415/
i think there may be a few shots involving the boom from my old mirror dingey so please excuse any confusing sticks.

Things are moving slow at the moment due to some rather grave uncertanty about my job in Cork, if i can remain employed through december i hope to get the boat moved down and in the water in time for may.

She looks good, I guarantee you will have a lot of fun sailing her too. We have one a couple of years older and for 20 years we always enjoy sailing her. One thing to be aware of and to check: The glue they used to build it may be near the end of its life. Don't panic though its not the end of the boat by anymeans and I don't want to alarm you. But it is worth really checking points that take a lot of strain like shround anchor points and maybe the bottom board where it joins the keel. Not only is there quite a twist for that board but it is mostly where helm and crew put their weight. Anywhere that seems dodgy use an old hacksaw blade to clean out the joints and reglue with epoxy.  Enjoy!