Merlin Rocket madness..........

At the recent Upper Thames open meeting a leading light was Andy Jones, crewed in his new Laurie Smart merlin by young Ben Jones. Leading, that is, until Ben took an early and entirely un-toestrap-assisted bath. The same weekend saw a gathering of the great and good at Salcombe, where John Bell showed the fleet a clean transom inthe first race, crewed by the not-as-young Graham Williamson.

So, what did they have in common?

Was it:..... a) A toestrap-induced sense of humour failure for John and Graham in the second race at Salcombe?

or: .............b) The fact that both of these two race leaders were using the new 'AKX' Kevlar crosscut mainsail from Batt Sails? And, come to think of it, the new series 2000 maxi' spinnaker a well.

Sure, toestraps are fast if you use them. The new 'Batt' sails are fast all the time.

The new AKX mainsail uses specially commissioned extra-light Kevlar/Spectra/Mylar laminate. Battens are permanently bonded on. Seen here at its inaugural hoisting, Shustoke S.C.