Who is going to Rutland this weekend? (We (Natt & I) are taking Chambulls, and Mark has resorted to taking a Laser as no one seems to want his crewing services.)

Ros and I will be there, (3316) 12 noon first start. Good news, BEER £1 PINT at the evening bash, bad news, £25 tickets.

its 10 quid for the party bit i think???

yeh go for the cheapo £10 drinks tickets

I'm going.

Black tie not really my style though so not doing the dinner.

See you there!

But dont u still have to dress in tux n dresses for the party bit?

You sure do

If i read the notice of race right the meal etc is not at the clubhouse, it's somewhere in Oakham.

Thats why we booked our B&B in Oakham!

The party was shit anyway, did you not think?

They are never as good as last years!
That's life and old age!

If you want proper revelling look at the thread on "really old merlin pics" a few down.  Sounds as though we should be watching the over 60's very carefully at the Hayling Champs

Well done to Messrs Whitworth and Winder.Another Merlin 1-2!

Where can we see the results?

Don't know where the results are. But spot me and Natt in the Merlin in this picture, hidden behind a swarm of 420's (and there were lots, if not too many 420's - and the youth squad of the UK seem to be an arrogant bunch of rule abusers, for instance at one crowded gybe mark I called for ages for room and the 420 outside us yelled 'you have plenty of room', when we gybed and the boom smacked him on the head (shame it was carbon(boom not head)) we got 'bl**dy Merlin, what do you ******* think you are doing' the answer was of course 'gybing, what did you expect' )

At least you can get past the 420s relatively easily!

The back end of the fast fleet seemed to be dominated by people who either had no idea of the rules or simply chose not to follow them.

Poorly sailed 4000s are very effective brakes!!

So glad to see that the modern trend to turn Yot racin' into a contact sport continues!

Congratulations on your 11th, Chris - pretty impressive in an old boat!  Just how old is Armed Forces now?  I think mature boats still going as well as this is excellent publicity and does show that Merlins are not the most expensive things on the water by any means

Congratulations to all and sundry for a Merlin dominance at the Tiger - even if our National champ crew and the daughter of a former national champ crew were sailing an RS!

Well done to everyone - can't wait to get back out and playing with you all again.  Take it that the Rooks in 3rd in the Albacore are somehow related to Gerry Rook of Merlin lore?  Taht means merlin people in 5 of the top 12 - not bad!

Thanks Andrew!

She's 15 this year. I suppose the thing is that it's the same shape as the placcy boats and now has virtually the same rig so why should she be much slower?

What sails where you using, they looked nice?

Alvebank Main/No1 Jib/ No1 Spinnaker on saturday, Alverbank Main & JibNo1 Spinny on sunday.

We thought the flatter jib would probably be better in the lighter breeze.

I think you will find that if boats are built to a lesser standard (lighter hull weight!!!) than yours and mine they will not last as well even if they are the same shape

Andrew

There seem to be some well-known crews in other classes - e.g. Stuart Bithell in a 470 and Holly Scott in a 420

> when we gybed and the boom smacked him on the head (shame it 
> was carbon(boom not head)) 

Trust you got him to do his turns...

I told him too but he refused....got that quite alot actually!

Why was the PY 1019?  When did it change, have I missed something?

The RYA web site only has 2004 Yardsticks at the moment, I don't know if perhaps this is a 2005 yardstick, or a local adjustment made by the race committe.

Certainly they were having difficulties with their yardstick numbers on the Saturday and this could even be an error that no one cared about.

Handicap racing is for no hopers.

How arrogant - I think this discussion has been held before Gifford (well (city) lunched) - the whole idea is that handicaps create a level playing field when required.  I have an old boat which will never be able to compete with the latest technology (and I accept that) but my budget will never allow me to get to the level that the new boats can achieve even if I was a good sailor.  So make some allowances occasionally - that's what the handicaps are for.

Indeed but no hopers are no hopers!

WHO IS THIS MARK & WHERE ABOUTS DOES HE LIVE?

I guess by the CAPS that CREW SEARCH is Charlie at Whitstable.

Make contact by e-mail and will exchange some info.