Not very good merlin sailor needs some friends to play with..Draycott near Rugby has a new committee and is buzzing at the moment.Am very keen to rebuild a small Merlin fleet on the biggest water in the central midlands.Can anyone advise how to encourage some likeminded, probably new Merlin owners along?

Maybe a training day for a start?(Heaven knows I need one!).

Hi Rod, I was a member of Draycote back in the days when there has a very high powered fleet of Merlins, people like Phil King, Tony lane, David Liddington, even the Haynes came down and sailed with us.
Not sure what caused the demise of the fleet but I suppose fuel costs etc made people join local home clubs and for a while being a member of Draycote was quite expensive and plastic boats were becoming popular whereas Merlins still were wood.
It is a great place to sail, came back a couple of years ago for the Merlin Inlands.
Hope you can encourage a fleet to restart.

Hi Rob, Thankyou for your reply...The rumour is , is that when the reservoir went through a very dry patch the fleet left to go elsewhere, and also the club in the old days could have been seen as clicky. Its all change now, we have just put a full youth programme in place, plus more parties and socials. Just ready for those VERY social Merlin boys. The Merlin Rocket notice board is still in place but a little empty.Will keep working at it...we get lots of positive comments from fellow members, everyone loves a Rocket.

Big fan of Draycote and living in Oxford with crew in Leamington, would work well for club racing.

If there was a good fleet of Merlins and the membership fees where reasonable we might consider joining for some open water sailing a couple of times a month.

Great feedback men, if you fancied a wander over one day, let me know before hand and can be there to show you round and buy you a beer..07976 831710