are we getting heavier

[roger]

I am......getting heavier, that is.

.....Would it not be better for all just to reduce sail? Or is 'Reef' a naughty word?.....If so, sorry, I won't mention it again......ssssshh!

We had a Wayfarer at the Nats who is normally a very competetive man but decided that a reef would suit his wife so sailed the nats reefed and they BOTH enjoyed themselves. Of course when offered a blast in the F ball he just couldnt say no.

[Steve Bailey]

Was that the Fireball that someone fell out of and nearly got run over by an Albacore?

[roger]

nearly run over by a flying fifteen. Even scarier Keith and Big AL were in said boat. Not sure if they missed deliberatley or not.

[chris]

The early merlins such as Iska no. 6 have weighted boards. about the last ten inches is lead on a wooden board. I don't know how it would behave with a plain wooden one but I expect the boat would just fall over when at rest on the jetty. If nothing else the weighted boat is a counter weight to the 25' wooden mast. Iska has fallen over once when we came ashore on the Thames; we were out of the boat holding it, the sail was down, the board up, a puff of wind on the mast and once it was beyond a certain angle all we could do was to control it a bit as she fell over. (ps the beam is only 4'7" too)

I have several merlin centre boards from early days that show something of development ideas early on. One with the lead half sawn off, one made from 1/2" alloy (quite heavy), One made from a very light timber (might even be hollow) and then a small amount of lead at the tip (would be interesting to see if it has positive bouyancy or not). One from thin steel and various shaped wooden ones.
I would guess that the weighted ones were abandonded soon after the rules shortening the masts from 25' to 22'6" max. came in ( and many boats wents for a lower rig still) 1949.