Nat 12 vs Merlin

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Garry R
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Post by Garry R »

In terms of classic boats which is the more tippy - a National 12 or a Merlin Rocket.
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Post by stu »

A merlin without doubt.

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Mark
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Post by Mark »

Age on age there is not much to choose, once the classes went wide they both became a lot more tippy
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Rupert
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Post by Rupert »

Merlin more powerful 12 more twitchy. You get wet either way...but possibly have more time in the merlin to realize its happening. Still can't do much about it, mind!
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Ed
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Post by Ed »

Everything above is true.....but also remember that both classes had many designs (often by same designers) and some designs were much tippier than others...in both classes. My Proctor IX Merlin was stable enough....but the MkVIII had a reputation as being very tender.

Of course the MkVIII and most holt designs were aimed squarely at river use....I wonder if there is any correlation between the river designs and tippiness....any thoughts Rupe? It would not suprise me if the river designs in both N12s and Merlins were a bit tippier than their sea-designed siblings?

Any thoughts

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Post by Mark »

In the Merlins the Procter XII certainly was, and also very prone to the 'death roll'
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Post by jonathanR »

My Uffa King is ultr tender and crash dives on a broad reach/run. Fun, fun, fun.
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Post by chris »

Narrow merlins are great on rivers/inland, but hard work hiking out for a long time. They can be tippy in gusty conditions but not that bad. They have plenty of room for crew and carry weight better than nat12. I have some modern cut sails for 507 (Holt, Riant, 5ft beam) which I use most of the time and it sails well, but I have discovered the joys of older design sails which have much less up top (no comments please!) and make the boat very 'safe' . Old design sails can still 'go'. My wider merlin (6ft)(proctor 9d) is great for scooping up water. Yes, different designs are very different to sail.

Nat 12 672(holt 500 design) can nose dive sometimes, a little tippy but again much more so with modern sails. With the old cotton sails (and iron centre plate) fairly safe but can roll downwind. (use of whisker pole helps a lot). For us the big downside was crew space..low boom and kicker in the face. Youngster as crew seems ideal.
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