rocket sailboat review

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Fulcrum’s Latest Rocket Launch

• By Dave Reed
• Updated: December 23, 2020

If one were strolling the shoreline of Bristol, Rhode Island, in late 2020, one might have admired a small craft gliding across Narragansett Bay. Low to water and swift, it was a dinghy for sure. But what the heck was it?

A triangular lateen-looking sail with thick red, white and blue stripes might lead one to believe it to be a Sunfish. Or even a Sailfish. Nope. It was the new Fulcrum Speedworks Rocket prototype. It may have looked old school from afar, but as the saying goes, looks can be deceiving.

The prototype launched that day by Dave Clark, the young entrepreneur and boatbuilder responsible for the pint-sized UFO foiling catamaran, has plenty of back story, and we’ll get to that shortly, but first, we must face the big colorful elephant in the room. Yes, that would be the Sunfish, the most iconic recreational centerboard dinghy of all time.

The Rocket is kind of like a Sunfish, but is not a Sunfish. It is a Sunfish that has been modified in very targeted and specific ways to make it perform better while maintaining simplicity and low cost. Steve Clark, David’s father and co-developer, says this is the combination of attributes sailors and small-craft dealers across the United States are seeking today. If anyone would know, it would be Steve, past president of Vanguard Sailboats, once the dominant builder of one-design dinghies in the States—including the Sunfish. According to both father and son, the Sunfish’s builder, LaserPerformance, has not met this demand and there is an opportunity to deliver “an alternate fundamental product in the marketplace.”

“With the UFO, we already have a very technologically advanced and different product,” says Dave Clark. “It sells well to people who want tectonic change. We wanted to add a boat for those who the UFO doesn’t appeal to as much. The sailing market on this continent gets showered with ‘smarter’ boats time and time again, and for hundreds of thousands of board boat purchases, those people have passed.”

Why, Clark then posits, do so many sailors today still choose to buy iconic boats of the past— new, used, beaters and all? That’s easy: “Simplicity, safety, ease of use, cost.”

With a demand accelerated by a pandemic-induced rush on small boats, Clark’s company, Fulcrum Speedworks , had been looking for an opportunity to add something to its line. The opportunity presented itself when he came across a collection of small-boat tooling listed on craigslist. A score he identified in the pile of molds was the tools for the 14-foot Howmar Phantom. He and a buddy promptly rented a Penske truck and beelined to Bethel, Maine, where he forked over $1,800, dragged molds out of the barn and drove away with a bed full of fiberglass history and the start of his next venture.

“There’s always been a need for a new-model year of this thing,” says Clark who has an obvious fondness for what he says is “a uniquely potent example” of a good board-boat hull. “For those who don’t know the Howmar Phantom, it’s the second-most successful board boat ever introduced—after the Sunfish,” he says. “They sold about 1,000 of them per year for about a decade through the late 70s and early 80s.”

The elder Clark, a student and professor of high-performance sailing, says the Sunfish, Phantom and others of its ilk fall under the category of “board boat,” which he likens to the various scows preferred by American lake and flat-water sailors. “[Board boats and scows] are hard bilged with a bow whose primary entry angle is parallel to the water plane,” he says. “They could also be considered sharpies. In particular, V-bottom sharpies like Lightnings, Windmills and Snipes, but the low freeboard and beam-to-length ratio place them more in the scow genus. Board boats and scows both feature generous low-aspect-ratio sail plans. The result is a high sail area-to-displacement ratio and sail-area-to-wetted-surface ratio with a very low center of effort.”

Translation: they’re wickedly versatile boats across the wind range.

The Phantom was marketed as the recreational family sportsboat at the time, Clark says. During the 1970s, there were numerous attempts to capture a share of the board-boat market and take a slice out of Sunfish’s dominance. Builders littered the continent with cheap clones that were not as good; the Howmar Phantom was an exception. “It was not just a cheaper Sunfish but a slightly larger board boat that brought new performance and features to the party,” says Steve Clark. “I could design a new hull, and I flatter myself that it would be better than the Phantom hull, but we would have to go to some effort to prove that claim.”

So rather than start from scratch with an entirely new design, they simply improved upon the Phantom. “We saw the opportunity to salvage a storied and well-thought hull, and reconfigure it within its own legacy,” says Dave Clark. “This boat was destined to be constantly improved and renewed, so we are carrying on that journey into the 21st Century.”

How so? You have to see it to believe it, as I did on a recent raw winter’s night, meeting Dave Clark after dark at the family farm in Warren, Rhode Island. Inside a barn, alongside a half-restored wooden International 14 and an almost complete new International Canoe, the white-hulled Rocket prototype sat on its dolly, its sail and spars piled atop, ready to launch at any whim. The most noticeable feature is the deck layout—Clark did away with the Phantom’s crammed and enclosed cockpit and stretched it wide open from the centerboard trunk all the way to the transom. Through saving weight with a modern laminate and materials and ensuring it has durability (and yes, he smacked the deck forcefully to show me it could take a bit of blunt-force trauma), Clark says he now has a board boat that “will perform better and be a better family boat than before.” Better foils will certainly help, too.

In the process of 3D scanning the tooling, he says, they started to question a lot of the highly-improvable areas of the boat. Consequently, he butchered the old deck mold to get what he wanted: a more comfortable, more practical, and better-looking craft. The original Phantom eventually weighed upwards of 130 pounds (dry) so Clark set out to shave that down considerably, for the obvious reason that a proper beach boat better be easy to move around and put atop the family wagon.

“Make something light and strong and you’ve already done the best thing for it,” he says. Using a vacuumed-bagged vinylester resin and thermoplastic honeycomb core laminate, he has the hull weight reduced to a respectable 90 pounds.

Light. Strong. What else could he possibly do to redeliver a universal centerboard dinghy that a wide-range of sailors can relate to? That’s easy. He preserved the lateen rig (although, technically, Steve Clark points out, it’s a crab-claw sail), iconic and simple in its setup and trim: one mast, two lightweight spars linked with Spectra strops and a single halyard. “There were countless conversations about putting something more modern on it,” he says. “I can walk up to this thing and start it like a lawnmower. Pull the string, cleat it, and off we go. There’s not a simpler rigging system on the planet than a lateen mainsail. It’s a throwback but for a really good reason.”

Clark says the first hulls of the Fulcrum Rocket will be punched out in January 2021 and he’s already taking orders ($4,600 including North Sails Dacron sail and Fulcrum-made dolly). He’s forecasting a production run of several per week, so step right up, he says, because this Rocket launch is going to the stratosphere. And if, by chance, your goal is to go higher, ask him about the optional “Interceptor” upgrade…the one with the rudder elevators. Because good is never good enough.

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Rocket Sailboat by Fulcrum Speedworks

Shoreline Sailboats is pleased to offer the Rocket sailboat – “The classic – made modern”

Launch into a new adventure on a strikingly innovative execution of a timeless favorite. 90 lbs of hull weight, built for strength, built for fun and built to go quick. Built to take friends along.

Take your daughter for her first sail ever. Share a sunset sail with your spouse. Use its agility and ample storage to backpack by sailboat for a weekend. Kick it off the beach and get some much-needed endorphins as you plane upwind and downwind in a fun medium breeze. Do all of these things on your new Rocket built by Fulcrum Speedworks in Bristol RI. All for $5,200.

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Wait, haven’t I seen one of these before?

In a way- but no. Not even close. The Rocket builds on the strong fundamental positives of the classic American “Board boat”, a boat type which first came into the world about 80 years ago. Hundreds of thousands of board boats have been made over the years by boatbuilders across the continent, from the Sailfish, to the Aqua-finn, to the Sunfish, the Phantom, the Scorpion and countless others, they have become an North American backyard icon on par with charcoal grills, above-ground swimming pools and pickup trucks. Board boats of all kinds have been loved for generations for a good reason. Their simplicity, ease of use, safety and affordability has stood essentially unmatched.

The Rocket is that classic form made modern by way of careful and sweeping improvements across the entire platform. An old favorite has jumped forward thanks to modern methods and materials. This is what happens when a company that makes hi-tech foiling UFOs gets to execute a classic concept.

Construction and Performance

Made from an intensely rugged and extra lightweight cored composite construction, the Rocket weighs in at 90 pounds, fully 40% lighter than conventional builds of its type. Consider the process of launching and landing it, pulling it up the beach on the dolly etc. Light things are less cumbersome and easy to move around. Your back is already thanking you. The wind likes light boats too. Light boats accelerate more easily and hold quick speeds more readily. They’re easy to handle on the water and safer as a result. At an excellent power to weight ratio, the Rocket can really move! In light wind it’s quick and in good breeze it will plane upwind, downwind and on reaches. Go there faster! It’s no UFO, but it’s an impressively quick dinghy vs. other 14 foot dinghies on the market.

But it’s not just lighter weight and greater speed. The Rocket is also palpably more stable than comparable boats on the market, thanks to having the widest parts of its V-bottom situated directly where you sit. As one customer puts it. “The sailing motion and sea-kindliness is entirely different. It is a more sophisticated motion and not so abrupt as the SF which can be very squirrelly. This is more stable, and sails more consistently and predictable. It points a little better and close-hauled sailing is entirely different and I’m able to sail more consistently and keep my heel angle as desired rather than reacting to the  SF’s abrupt motion.   It’s far more comfortable to move around in and great with a passenger. Better boom clearance for tacks/jibes.”

The Rocket comes with an expansive full length cockpit which stretches all the way to the stern. The cockpit bottom is padded with soft non-slip marine deck foam which is both gentle to the touch and rugged to survive the elements. This allows ample room to bring friends or cargo. Three or four kids can easily take the Rocket for a sail together, two adults can take the Rocket for a sail together.

With 6 feet 3 inches of floor length on the cockpit, there are easily four feet of cargo space in the back for dry-bags while still leaving room to sail comfortably. This makes the Rocket the pickup truck of the dinghy world. Stick your camping gear in the back and use it for sail-powered backpacking, or simply go sailing with the dog and a big cooler. You name it, it’ll go in your Rocket.

Hoisting the sail could not possibly be any easier thanks to the Rocket’s timeless tried-and true lateen sail setup. The sail, boom and gaffe lay down on the deck waiting for the halyard to be pulled. Pull the halyard 10 feet and cleat it. Congratulations! You’re done. Go sailing. Repeat these steps in reverse when you land. There is a good reason why the lateen sail has been uses on millions of production sailing dinghies since the 1950’s. Dollar for dollar, outing for outing, nothing gets the job done more easily.

Contact Shoreline Sailboats for more information about the Rocket

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this is the rocket

Big pimpin'.

Manufacturer’s comment: “Yup! Now we have an exceptional $4600 daysailer, family boat, adventure boat and buoy racer in our product line. Just saying that makes me feel like Santa Claus. We’re beginning deliveries over this spring and I’m extremely excited about it.

Don’t get me wrong, the UFO is having its best year ever. But that doesn’t mean we can’t or shouldn’t also make improvements to the sailboat market that stand outside of the positives that foils bring to play. Fulcrum is expanding in order to bring the broader market one of those improvements.

We call it the Rocket. The Rocket is a magnificent family boat that’s unparalleled in ease of use, value and versatility. And at 40% lighter than similar dinghies, the thing actually rips, too. How’s it so light? We engineered it this year with this year’s materials and techniques, rather than those found in 1950. Ironically, it’s also extra strong and extra stiff.

Composites really have advanced a lot in 70 years, as has everything else. A triton 28 and an AC75 are both composite boats. One is from the past, the other is from the present. And you saw it right, that’s a tried-and true one-string-to-start lateen rig. No rig on the planet is faster to take sailing. If I’m taking my wife out on the river to watch the sunset or launching on a pure impulse to sail for 15 minutes before a zoom meeting, I don’t want to get bogged down in even the second or third simplest setup. Get me out there! Launch the Rocket !”

-Dave Clark

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Fulcrum Rocket

Introducing the Fulcrum Rocket, a remarkable sailboat that combines ruggedness, lightweight construction, and exceptional stability for an unparalleled sailing experience. Crafted from extra lightweight cored composite materials, this vessel weighs a mere 90 pounds, making it effortless to handle both on land and water. One of the standout features of the Rocket is its easy launching and landing capabilities, allowing you to embark on sailing adventures with utmost convenience. Whether you’re a seasoned sailor or a novice, the Rocket makes the entire process hassle-free, and the lightweight and stable construction of the boat ensures a safer sailing experience compared to other boats on the market. Comfort and versatility are also key aspects of the Rocket’s design. The boat is equipped with an easy-to-use sail system and features a full-length cockpit that stretches all the way to the stern, providing ample space for passengers and cargo. Whether you’re planning a solo adventure or a group outing, everyone can enjoy the journey comfortably.  The Rocket is a testament to innovation, combining cutting-edge materials, thoughtful design, and ease of use. This sailboat is a true gem for those seeking memorable adventures on the water. Get ready to set sail and explore the world with the Fulcrum Rocket!

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Sku: rocket fulcrum rocket.

• Description

The Rocket is the ultimate recreational sailboat - designed with the latest construction and materials to be light weight, stable, easy to rig, simple to sail, and sure to make everyone smile. If you're looking for a sailboat for the family, the Rocket is a great fit. The 6' open cockpit has plenty of room for 2 adults and even safe inboard seating for small childern. All of this comes in at just 90 lbs making the Rocket easy for anyone to mange on land and on the water. Plus, that light weight design also give the boat great acceleration and make it esier to maintain higher speeds - all in the name of pure fun.

If having fun on the water with the family is your goal, the Rocket is your boat.

• Light weight hull - Only 90 lbs!
• Easy to rig and simple to maintain lateen style rig
• Inboard seating for small children
• Soft, comfy, non-slip foam grip on the cockpit floor
• North Sails sail with window
• Ratcheting mainsheet block
• Made in the USA
• Length: 14' 2"
• Width: 4' 4"
• Hull Weight: 90 lbs
• Fully Rigged Weight: 110 lbs
• Sail Area: 81 sq ft

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Fulcrum Rocket

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• Description

Built for Fun. Built to go Quick. Built to take friends along!

Launch into a new adventure on a strikingly innovative execution of a timeless favorite. Extremely stable with a spacious cockpit, the Rocket has ample room for friends and/or cargo. Three or four kids can easily take the Rocket for a sail together; two adults can take the Rocket for a sail together.

The Rocket is quick and easy to rign, thanks to the timeless tried-and true lateen sail setup. The sail, boom and gaffe lay down on the deck waiting for the halyard to be pulled. Pull the halyard 10 feet and cleat it. Congratulations, you’re done. Go sailing!

• Hull weighs only 90lbs... a full 40% lighter than conventional builds of its type!
• Expansive full length cockpit which stretches all the way to the stern. 
• With 6' 3" of floor length on the cockpit, there are easily four feet of cargo space in the back for dry-bags while still leaving room to sail comfortably
• More stable than comparable boats on the market, thanks to having the widest parts of its V-bottom situated directly where you sit.
• Cockpit bottom is padded with soft, non-slip marine deck foam which is both gentle to the touch and rugged enough to survive the elements.
• Made in the USA
• True lateen sail setup makes it quick and easy to Rig

Specifications:

• Length: 14' 2"
• Made from an intensely rugged and extra lightweight cored composite construction
• Width: 4' 4"
• Hull Weight: 90 lbs
• Fully Rigged Weight: 110 lbs
• Sail Area: 81 sq ft

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Recreational sailing dinghy Rocket single-handed double-handed catboat

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Jeanneau Sun Fast 3300 review: The pocket rocket inspired by foiling IMOCAs

• August 15, 2019

Jeanneau’s latest Sun Fast is a whole bundle of fun, as Pip Hare discovered on a full test of the 3300 off La Trinite

Product Overview

Manufacturer:, price as reviewed:.

When Jeanneau decided it was time to replace their popular, 11-year-old Sun Fast 3200 they knew it was time to shake things up, so they invited Guillaume Verdier, designer of foiling IMOCAs , to collaborate with Daniel Andrieu, the Sun Fast’s original architect, and the result is an eyebrow-raising punchy pocket rocket.

Sailing from La Trinité the day after the boat had secured a podium position in the hugely competitive double-handed class at the Spi Ouest regatta. I found a boisterous and adventurous bundle of fun that made my face ache from grinning at the end of each downwind run.

The Sun Fast 3300 has a bold look, accentuated by an orange and grey wrap. It’s got a high volume reverse bow, full-length chines, chamfered toerail and a short, fixed bowsprit. From on deck, the fullness of the bow makes the boat seem short for a 33-footer. It reminds me of a Mini Transat yacht, the 21-footers raced solo across the Atlantic.

Performance under spinnaker is seriously impressive

Despite the radical offshore looks the Sun Fast 3300 is designed to be versatile, for both inshore and offshore racing, sailing short-handed and fully crewed. The concept was to retain simplicity, to make a boat that everyone will want to sail.

Punching upwind

We left the dock in a building breeze, tacking our way out of the channel in 16-18 knots, leaving both of the split backstays off to allow quick tacks among the buoys and the traffic. In the flat water of the channel the boat was easy to handle, and built speed quickly.

Once in open water I found beating into the oncoming waves on the Sun Fast 3300 a physical experience, as the big flat bow slapped the water. This upwind slamming is completely normal for a bow of this design and the ride can be made more comfortable by good, active helming.

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Once I got into the groove the slamming significantly reduced and, despite beating into a reasonable seaway, we achieved an upwind speed of around 6.8 knots with a VMG of over 5 knots. As the cockpit is relatively short, the coachroof should afford a small amount of protection from really big waves.

A central console under the tiller houses controls for mainsheet and the fine-tune for the backstays – the traveller is managed using your forward hand from the side of the cockpit.

The mainsail is powerful and needed to be trimmed through the gusts. The Sun Fast 3300 is available with a water ballast option of 200lt – the test boat had this fitted but due to a technical problem we were not able to try it during the test. I’ve no doubt the boat would have settled down a lot with this extra 200kg of weight on the windward side.

At the end of this year Jeanneau will be putting the 3300 forward for trials as the new double-handed offshore boat for the 2024 Olympics

The water ballast system comprises two independent tanks; both emptied and filled individually using two separate pumps. The benefit of this system over the normal set-up – where water is gravity transferred between tanks for tacking – is that tanks can be emptied quickly even if they are on the low side of the boat.

So if a quick tack is made without time to transfer ballast, the weight can easily be removed. However, it does mean that when coming out of a tack, the boat has no ballast, which in breezy conditions could be slow.

The square head of the mainsail has necessitated the use of split backstays. Managing backstays as well as everything else during manoeuvres can be a challenge for small crews, but by using a coarse and fine-tune system, Jeanneau has made the job simple. Pull the majority of the backstay on using the coarse tune, which goes through a clutch. Small adjustments for trim can then be made with the fine tune cascade system at the central console.

Helsman sits on the side deck where a drop down footrest can be adjusted for leg length and heel angle

Keeping under control

This system also allows for a quick backstay release via the clutch on the coarse tune – essential if having to suddenly bear away. This method of coarse and fine tune is replicated on the mainsheet controls and is a great way of getting tension without needing to use a winch.

The jib uses a 3D trimming ring with a transverse track, a system that I find simple and versatile. The ring can be moved in three directions – in, out and down – which allows inhauling for beating, outhauling for fetching and controls the leech tension without the need for a longitudinal track or changing to different sheets for an outboard lead.

Tacking the Sun Fast 3300 was easy with two aboard. The helmsman can manage the backstays and steps over the tiller during the manoeuvre leaving the rest of the cockpit free for a crew to manage sheets. The tiller is low in the cockpit, quite far aft, and can be gripped between your calves to hold the boat steady while standing to tail halyards or manage sheets.

Transverse genoa track gives full control of jib leech tension for both inboard and outboard leads without the need to change sheets

By the time we’d crossed the Bay de Quiberon it was gusting in the low 20s and we were feeling overpowered, especially without water ballast. The boat can be controlled in these conditions using traveller, mainsheet and feathering into the gusts, but this is a temporary measure only. If continuing upwind a reef or smaller headsail would have been essential.

Having maximised the sea room, it was time for the fun to begin. We chose our spinnaker and hoisted. Initially the spinnaker struggled to fill because the short bowsprit is blanketed by the jib; this is not a bad thing for hoists and drops but does mean the jib and spinnaker cannot be flown at the same time.

Seriously fun

As soon as the jib started to drop the kite filled and BOOM! Even with my co-skipper on the front of the boat our bow actually leapt out of the water and we blasted off with some pace. The grin I was wearing sailing under spinnaker actually made my face hurt after a while. This boat is seriously fun, powerful and responsive. We sat at 130° true wind angle, playing in the waves, pushing to the limits – our top speed surfing was 14.3 knots and the other side of the bay arrived far too quickly.

Even with a person on the foredeck the bow does not dig in

The spinnaker sheets are led to the windward primary winch via an articulating cheek block and the two-ended kicker, which is on the coachroof, can easily reach the helming position. We inside gybed the asymmetric spinnaker without too much hassle but, due to the short length of the bowsprit, I think outside gybing would be more successful in moderate or bigger winds.

On the limit of reaching under spinnaker, the boat wiped out a couple of times, with little warning that the rudder was losing grip and no chance to get it back again. This is an area which Jeanneau has acknowledged is not right and the two designers will be reworking the rudders to ensure future boats do not have this problem.

Simple practicalities

Below decks the Sun Fast 3300 is basic with few comforts, but there are features to make life more comfortable at sea. The coachroof is shaped to allow standing headroom along the centreline and across the width of the cabin at the bottom of the companionway. This provides a comfortable area to take kit off when coming off watch and has allowed forward facing windows to be placed in the coachroof, so the horizon and jib trim can both be viewed from below decks.

There are two double cabins aft. Access to the rudders and pilot rams is through the back of the starboard cabin, which is quite awkward. There are two settee berths in the saloon and a heads in the bow, separated from the saloon by a bulkhead with a fabric door. If water ballast is installed it takes the place of the two wardrobes in the aft cabins.

The Sun Fast 3300 is like a jack in the box: it’s a brightly coloured package and you know when you lift the lid you’ll get a surprise – and during our test this little rocket certainly delivered on fun. I love how bold Jeanneau has been with the design and already the boat is showing promise on the double-handed scene. In essence, the Sun Fast 3300 is a small boat that is capable of delivering big thrills.

Fulcrum Speed Works Rocket

Draft (board down):, manufacturer:, hull colour:.

The Rocket is fun and fast little sailboat. It is very similar to a Sunfish but with a bigger cockpit which will make it easier to sail with 2 people. The boat comes complete with all the parts needed to go sailing. 

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Merlin Rocket Review

Beautiful, challenging and refined, the Merlin Rocket is one classy lady. Jeremy Evans tests a championship winning version of a dinghy that claims to provide the ultimate twin crew hiking experience…

In January 1946, members of Ranelagh SC launched a new 14ft racing dinghy called the Merlin on the Thames. It was designed by Jack Holt to be built in clinker (overlapped planking) construction, and was given class rules which allowed for the development of hull and rig.

Meanwhile, a group of Tynemouth sailors commissioned Wyche and Coppock to design a half deck 14ft dinghy for racing on the North Sea. The Rocket had more sail, narrower decks and a lighter hull, but despite those differences the two classes merged to create the Merlin Rocket in 1951. And that’s the way it has stayed — a racing class for both inland water and open sea.

As a development class, the Merlin Rocket has provided a great opportunity for designers to make their mark. Ian Proctor, David Thomas and Phil Morrison all found fame with their Rockets, but in recent years the pace of change has slowed down. Ian Holt’s Canterbury Tales design rules the roost more than a decade after its first appearance, with slight variations such as finer entry for better pointing, or flatter stern for more power offwind.

The Merlin Rocket has become a development class in which most boats are similar, though nothing like a fleet of look-alike one-designs! At 2007 Salcombe Week in early July, 72 out of 96 Merlins — a very impressive fleet for a week long, non championship event — were Canterbury Tales or derivatives, and all but nine raced with carbon masts. Most of the modern fleet are now built in foam sandwich, though a handful of owners are willing to pay £20K-plus for a wooden boat that looks more like a work of art.

Last year’s week-long national championship at Pwllheli attracted a fleet of 79 Merlin Rockets, the second biggest entry since 1998. Hulls built by Winder shared the top places, fitted out either by Winder themselves (first and fourth), Pinnell & Bax (second) and Speed Sails (third).

For this test session on a totally modern Merlin Rocket, Andy Davis brought along the Winderbuilt, Speed Sails-finished boat he raced into third place with his crew Ellie Bremer. Andy runs the Speed Sails loft with responsibility for all dinghy designs, and is also Solo national champion; Ellie is an amateur sailing enthusiast, which she combines with studying naval architecture at university.

Build and layout

The Winder Merlin does not have a beautiful wooden hull or deck. It’s built in foam sandwich with carbon deck and bulkheads, but is so light they had to put 18kg of lead on the cockpit floor. That raises the argument why don’t the class lower the minimum weight? Answer: because then wooden boats would become uncompetitive.

Despite being a mere ‘plastic’ Merlin Rocket, this is an awesome-looking boat. The class went wide in the 1960s, when the beam of the winning boat at the national championship jumped from 5ft in 1966 to 6ft 8ins two years later. And that’s the way Merlin Rockets have stayed, with hiking leverage for the crew that is probably only beaten by the racks of a B14. They need it as well, with that signature big top mainsail which makes a Merlin Rocket so easy to spot on the water, and a 10sq m kite with 2.3m poles (carbon of course) that’s designed to be equally potent for running dead downwind in classic symmetrical style, or reaching asymmetric style on the apparent wind.

The cockpit is wide open with slightly incongruous looking buoyancy bags at the back end. Andy Davis explains that you need them to keep the back of the boat floating high in a capsize, ensuring that water in the single bottom cockpit will disappear fairly rapidly through the two large transom flaps. Plus, they make a really comfortable cushion for your legs when hiking on a broad reach!

Popping the carbon mast up is so easy — feather light weight ensures you could almost do it with one hand. But once the rigging is sorted, you are confronted with a mass of controls that could be intimidating for a novice. Anything and everything is provided for the helm and crew to maximise power and control that rig. Not just the normal cunningham, kicker and outhaul, though it’s worth mentioning that the kicker alone consumes an incredible 18 metres of rope! You can also pull a string and move the whole rig while fully powered and sailing. Give a quick tug to move shrouds, lowers and forestay in unison, raking the mast tip 18 inches fore or aft in twoinch increments so you can set the boat up perfectly for all wind conditions.

The modern Merlin Rocket is designed to provide equally refined performance whether you’re roll tacking on the Thames or blasting across coastal waves — the national championship has always been held on open sea, providing a large group of inland racers with the opportunity to experience the delights (and frights) of sailing this highly refined boat offshore. All the controls have been developed to make this possible. For instance, if the wind is light there’s a diddy little traveller on top of the mainsheet hoop which ensures the mainsail can be sheeted to the centreline. If the wind is fresh, the rig can be raked back and the mainsail progressively depowered until there’s nothing pulling at the top at all.

Andy claims it’s easy once you’ve got the hang of it all — there is plenty of guidance to rig control on the excellent class website — but admits the Merlin Rocket is ‘a bit of a handful in a howler’ which goes for any high performance boat and will split the fleet. Downwind, Debbie adds that it’s not unlike rodeo riding, with the crew standing at the back of the cockpit and hanging on to the mainsheet hoop. Then all you’ve got to do is lift the bow for a carefree gybe…

On the water

We sailed the Merlin Rocket in Force 3-4 on flat water and light chop, providing perfect conditions for this highly refined development of a 60-yearold girl. Upwind is a delight — how many boats can point so high and foot so fast so effortlessly? Not only that, but the driver experiences perfectly balanced, fingertip control. Forget other dinghies. The Merlin Rocket provides an exceptional sailing sensation which is truly elitist.

As you would expect from a class that’s been a long time on the quest for sailing perfection, ergonomics are excellent. A mixed crew provides a good hiking weight, with a reasonable degree of nimbleness required to negotiate kicking strap and centreboard case at the front of the cockpit each time the boat tacks — which is fast!

Offwind, it’s time to play with the kite which piles on the power and speed. Two very long poles stowed either side of the main boom is standard set-up for the class, allowing the kite to be flown like a rather full and high asymmetric on a reach or gybed from pole to pole downwind. The kite is hoisted from the chute which is moulded into the foredeck, keeping everything well clear of the forestay and jib while on a mission for total control — part of the trick as demonstrated by Ellie, is to keep both corners of the kite absolutely level. For those accustomed to sailing with an asymmetric, the learning curve for a symmetric like this may seem quite challenging — you’ve got to control a lot more drive halfway up the rig, while handling two poles and two sheets each time you gybe. But the rewards are great, equipping the Merlin Rocket with a dual personality that allows it to shine dead downwind in classic dinghy style or sail like a squeeze-and-go skiff which can hold its own on gybe-to-gybe reaches.

Merlin Rocket Review: Verdict

As a true ‘am’ sailor, Ellie Bremer gave her reasons for why she sails a Merlin Rocket in preference to any other dinghy:

1. Beautiful boat — both to sail and look at.

2. Brilliant sailing — hot competition is guaranteed.

3. Great turnouts — very active class and association.

4. Brilliant socials — lots of boys and girls sail them.

5. Hugely rewarding — the input of the crew into strategy, tactics and rig control has a massive impact on performance.

There are potential drawbacks to this highly desirable machine. Merlin Rockets are more expensive than many other dinghies, although it’s a surprise to find the price of a championship winning boat is little more than a Devoti Finn. A modern Merlin Rocket will for sure be difficult to sail well. You need to learn how to manage that rig, and even then it will be a handful in a strong breeze. You need to be careful not to break that carbon mast — do not stick the end in the mud! You will also be up against sailors who have developed their tacking, boat handling and tactics into a fine art. But, by all accounts, they will help and encourage.

As a development class, there is also the possibility that your Merlin Rocket could be totally outdated by an incredible new design. This seems unlikely. The modern Merlin Rocket has found a level where boats are different enough to be interesting, without anything that’s different enough to leave the class behind. All developments are concentrated on making the boat quicker and easier to sail, through tweaks to the rig and slight tweaks to hull design. Best of all you get to race a boat with a very individual character that can be tailored to your own sailing style — a welcome diversion in a world focused on bland uniformity.

Image courtesy of www.merlinrocket.co.uk

Image 2 courtesy of wikipedia

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My Go-To Suitcase Has Built-In Shelves That Make Traveling More Efficient

This year alone, I've been on more than 20 flights — not accounting for any unexpected layovers or flight changes (of which there have been many ). I'm often asked how I manage to travel as often as I do on a standard, single person's budget, to which my response is always the same: frugal travel . Unlike other nomads, my trips often entail stays at boutique hotels and hostels, as opposed to the splashier properties featured on TikTok and the like. The rooms are usually smaller (read: cozier), with less storage space and amenities. But in my experience, forgoing physical space typically opens up more flexibility within my travel budget for other things, like flights, activities, and naturally, a luxurious dinner or two. In short: it's a worthwhile trade-off.

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Kyley Warren is an award-winning writer, editor, and affiliate strategist with more than four years of experience in the publishing space. She currently works as an assistant editor on PS Shopping and is an expert on all things related to shopping and fashion. She previously worked with Entertainment Tonight as a style commerce writer, and her byline has appeared in publications globally.

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