2008: Pictures of the latest rig for the Merlin Rocket

The New CST Rig on Roger Gilbert's boat started development with The Boatyard at Beer and we are now looking forward to a good 2008 season with results with the development of customised fittings and mast bend.

We hope to work alongside Rogers Sailmaker, Speed Sails and Dave Dubrovnik. All Supplied by The Boatyard at Beer...

...We will also provide a one string system and set up the whole rig on the boat for the customer.

Also new work with Dubrovnik and Rogers re: new development of the T-Foil. For enquiries, please speak to Ian Teasdale or Kevin.

The Merlin Rocket was initially the essence of the Boatyard at Beer. Kevin Driver's first commission, a Merlin for top helmsman Phil King, went on to win a total of six national championships. This partnership continued to flourish with Kevin not only providing the boats but also crewing for Phil. Their results, which include multiple victories of the prestigious Salcombe Week, are unsurpassed.

The 'Let It Ride' Merlin Rocket took several years to develop. By integrating new ideas and principles from the earlier wooden designs, Kevin felt his latest model "had the edge".

The earlier wooden-modified Canterbury Tales design was particularly fast on flat water however Kevin felt the all-round performance of the boat could be improved significantly. The following points summarise his modifications:

For starters, he decided to tweak the shape by giving it a much finer transom. This results in much better downwind performance particularly on sea. The rocker, however, was left unchanged so that the bow remained above the waterline even when the going got tough.

Kevin has also kept the boat's weight to a minimum. The outside hull was made of glass fibre sandwich while carbon fibre was used extensively within. 20kg of lead correctors were fitted as standard to administer any future decline in the class' minimum weight.

The control systems had also been reassessed to make it as user friendly as possible for the crew. Kevin's staggered control system permitted all major control lines were firstly fed to the top of the thwart, and then led outboard to a takeaway system under the inwales. These included the kicking strap, shrouds, lowers, jib halyard and cunningham. The advantage being that crew and helm may now easily carry out rig adjustments even whilst hiking.

Finally, to perfect this hi-tech boat, Kevin elected the circuit proven Alan Jackson's carbon fibre rig with Frank Rowsell's new radial, lightweight Mylar mainsail for extra power. Harken fittings throughout.