Tuesday, 15 May 2018

Merlin Rocket - "Impala" (for Alan Rayner)

Alan Rayner -  http://alanrayneroutdoors.blogspot.co.uk posted recently about Hollingworth Lake. I replied saying I used to crew for my brother racing a Merlin Rocket at that venue back in the 60s. Alan requested a photo. I only have two and tried to put a link to Dropbox on my comment, but Dropbox, which I have used for years, was having tantrums, so here are the two photos for Alan.

This was taken at Hollingworth, my brother helming with a friend at the club - Ian Midgley, his family had the VW dealership in Keighley

This was on a holiday at Salcombe, brother helming with his wife Anne, both sadly no longer with us.

Ours was a beautiful wooden clinker built racing dinghy, Impala, but only a Mk6. Members at the club were racing Mk16s, and one was an ex-national champion. We were hopelessly uncompetitive, but we had a lot of fun.

at

4 comments:

  1. Roderick Robinson16 May 2018 at 08:54

    It is almost impossible to take a lousy photograph of any boat powered by sail as these photos seem to affirm. Whereas someone staggering along a country lane, borne down by a full rucksack, looks lugubrious at best, penitential at worst. My brief encounter with sailing in the Bay of Biscay and off the Brittany coast opened up a world that I'd bypassed through ignorance and that was now beyond reach. A tiny tragedy to go with the aesthetics of yachting. If I look back I remember two things: the shifting impermanence of the sea and the art-form of the winches. God-made (?) and man-made. There's a liveliness about these two pix which lifts my heart, something to counterbalance the remembrance of Nick at the end.

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  2. Sir Hugh16 May 2018 at 08:59

    RR - I too had similar feelings expressed in your last sentence when I awoke these photos from hibernation.

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  3. AlanR16 May 2018 at 17:26

    Thanks for sharing your photos Conrad. There were a number of small vessels on the lake but I didn’t take photos of them. There were also quite a few paddle boarders which looked good fun. I’m glad that the pictures brought back good memories for you and R.
    Next time I go I will try and pick out the view.

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  4. Sir Hugh16 May 2018 at 19:13

    AlanR - I am pretty sure the photo was taken from the premises of the sailing club, but not sure of the exact spot.

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