• Team Rooster

    Merlin Salcombe Week Day 2

    We had an early morning start on day 2 of Merlin Salcombe Week, well 10:30 is early, depending how much partying you did the night before. With no general recalls the fleet was off in a fit-fall 5ish knots and a building neap flood. Si Blake and Alex Jackson, slipped past Toby and I to …   Read More

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  • Rooster

    Salcombe Week Day 1

    Flight one started in <5knots and saw a general recall with 5 boats marked OCS. The leader ended up with a 1 minute lead round the windward mark, which, by halfway down the first run saw him lying 8th. This was first beat and run ably demonstrate the snakes and ladders that is Salcombe Merlin …   Read More

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  • Rooster

    Walking on Eggs

    Having had a 2 week sailing break we finally made it out for a sail on Sunday night, in under 7 knots! What is this? no hanging out? no nail biting runs or green water waves swamping the boat (except from Solent Scene)? I love sailing in a blow but the art of light air …   Read More

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  • Rooster

    Settings for Rooster Contender Main

    I’ve been using the current Rooster Contender main since the end of 2010 and have achieved some good open meeting results with the following setup. I’m using a standard Wavelength mast and am 118cm (6ft 2in) tall and weigh around 80kg (12st 9lb). The settings I’m using are really fairly standard for a contender but …   Read More

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  • Rooster

    How much Elastic!

    I need to replace the take up elastic on the Merlin, it just wears out after a bit and your forever balancing up the control lines. I reckon there’s about 50m of elastic on a Merlin, and I dare not think how much “rope” (not that there is such a thing on a boat) there …   Read More

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  • Team Rooster

    Back on the Road…

    Since my last Rooster blog entry “Pasties and Brilliant Sunshine in the South West.” I have continued travelling on the Finn open circuit. Having not been on the road since my late twenties, some 25 years ago, it does not take too long to get back into the groove of preparing and trailing a boat. …   Read More

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  • Rooster

    Why a Graduate?

    Back in 2005 when my daughter Emma was 12 years old I was looking for a boat so we could sail together. I was racing my Laser and Emma was at that stage still racing her Optimist. I thought that it would be good for her to understand the finer points of racing and a chance …   Read More

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  • Rooster

    Practice, Race & Rest

    Well it’s been a mad month so far in the Merlins (and Cadets). After a long racing break, where Toby was part of the Spinnaker Team Racing squad attempting to qualify for the Worlds, the MR was a bit second fiddle. Sadly they didn’t quite make it, although making it to the semis at the …   Read More

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  • Rooster

    Laughs at the local level

    I went out at my local club; Fishguard Bay Yacht Club, last night. It was really great to spend some time with two of our up-and-coming sailors. We just did lots of upwind-downwind sailing, with...

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  • Team Rooster

    ‘The wind’s building’

    An oft repeated weather observation based solely on wishful thinking which is repeated almost chant-like by beach bound sailors when a ripple is spotted on the horizon. This often followed by a ‘rigging frenzy’. A...

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