Dinghies and Small Yachts by Keith Callaghan
Profile of the designer
My interest in sailing, boat design and boatbuilding started in about 1960 when I was 14. My family lived near Robert Tucker in Enfield, North London, and my father got hold of the first set of plans for his 21ft Ballerina Mk2 sloop. Like many of Tucker’s designs, it was a hard chine bilge keeler, and was sold as suitable for amateur construction in plywood. It took my father, my brother and I two years to build the hull of “Alicia”. Due to moving house, the boat was actually completed at my father’s cousin’s boatyard in Leigh, Essex. Then we learned to sail in her at the Up River Yacht Club, Hullbridge, Essex. The URYC had a growing fleet of Merlin Rockets, and I started crewing occasionally in these dinghies. When “Alicia” was sold at the end of 1964, I turned to thinking of designing and building a Merlin. And so it happened that by the early 1970s I had designed many Merlin Rockets (14ft UK 2 person national development class). About 110 Merlins were built to my designs between 1968 and 1977. They were quite successful, winning the Silver Tiller series in 1971, 1973 and 1974, and being placed in the first 6 at the National Championships 7 times between 1972 and 1976. During this period I also designed the Harrier, a GRP single-hander (70 of which were built), and a National 12 and International 14 or two.
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