 “Merlin” was designed by naval architect Alex Simonis in August of 1993.
The yacht design was commissioned and the yacht constructed under the ownership of Bill Jones, a senior Airbus pilot from SAA who sailed 4 races in her in 1996, including the Cape to Rio race (achieving 4th place overall). Nicholas Brown who was then a student at Stellenbosch University, spotted Merlin at RCYC and contacted Bill Jones. Bill sold Merlin to Hugh Brown (70%) and William Tuppeny III (30%) in 1997.
Hugh Brown enlisted the help of well known sailor Craig Middleton in 1997 to assist in leading the project and in putting a crew together for racing in the established Cape annual race programme which included the following races. Admirals Cup (Hout Bay round the cans racing,) The Mykonos Offshore Race (64 nautical miles [nm] Table Bay to Saldanha Bay) The Spring Regatta (round the cans in False Bay hosted by the False Bay yacht Club), the Double Cape Race (hosted by RCYC from Table Bay via Hout Bay, Cape Point, Simons Bay on to Gordons Bay and back to Table Bay 172 nm), the Durban NCS regatta (hosted by Point Yacht Club), Continental Week in Port Elizabeth hosted by ABYC round the cans in Algoa Bay where she always clashed with rival Simonis 60 “Warrior”) Table Bay week (a series of round the cans and a 50nm medium distance leg in Table Bay Cape Town). Merlin participated in the Governors Cup race in 1999 –(Cape Town to St Helena Island in the South Atlantic - 1695 nm) which led to a very competitive overseas campaign to coincide with the singular event of 150th Anniversary of the Americas Cup (The America’s Cup Jubilee Race) in Cowes in 2001.
Merlin was an amazing boat “off the wind” reaching speeds of up to 27 knots (reaching towards Durban off East London in 1998). Her stability due to her twin rudders always gave her an advantage in that she could carry much more “canvas” than others when reaching or running. Merlin set a number of course records, and proved herself internationally in her excellent result in the famous Fastnet Race in 2001. The entire crew did a great job in powering her to many wins and toiled ceaselessly to plan, organize, load, unload service and prepare the boat, even assisting Jerry Heggie our amazing spray painting and maintenance specialist, regularly giving up their free time and skills which kept maintenance costs down. Our sponsors grew over time, and we must mention RED, TRANSITIONS lenses, SOUTH, SOUTH WEST Breweries, Police Sunglasses, THE ROYAL MAIL, and Tim Jones. We thank Helen Brown, and the esteemed Mr Kevin Beken of Cowes who both took excellent photographs of us sailing in key races.
Merlin was sold in 2003 to an enthusiastic South African entrepreneur in the printing business, who stripped her down, recoated her plates, repainted her blue after refitting her cavernous sparse racing interior into a luxury cruising interior. Her name is now “Doughty” and she is a regular cruiser racer in the Cape. Former Merlin crew members can contact us on this site to put their names down for a copy of the three DVD’s due out later this year. The St Helena Race part 1 and 2, The Cowes Regatta, Fastnet Race and America’s Jubilee campaign of 2001.
• This website is designed to create memories for all who sailed, cruised, delivered, sponsored, watched, or maintained Merlin, and especially for following generations, as a reminder of the excellent racing campaign we ran from 1997 to 2002.
Merlin’s simplified race results |
Race |
Date |
Result |
Admirals Cup Regatta
(Round the cans Hout Bay Cape) |
1997 1998 1999 |
Line honours |
Mykonos Offshore Regatta
(Table Bay to Saldanha Bay Cape West Coast) |
1999
2000 2002 |
A New Record between Table Bay and South Head Saldanha Bay (64nm) in 1999 Previous record was 6hrs 15 minutes (Zeeslang 1967). Merlin completed the distance to South Head in 4 hours 52 minutes ahead of the fleet, however ended 2nd due to a spinnaker failure near the finish line.
2000 line honours
2002 second place |
Durban NCS Regatta
(round the cans in Durban Bay) |
1998 |
Line Honours |
Portuguese Race |
1998 1999 |
Line Honours |
The Governors Cup Race
(Cape Town to St Helena Island [ James Town] South Atlantic |
1999 |
Line Honours |
Surfside Double Cape Race (Table Bay to Hout Bay to Cape Point to Simons Bay to Gordons Bay to Cape Point to Table Bay – 176 nm) |
1999
2000
2002 |
Line Honours 1st on PPHRF
New Course record 1999
Retired 2002 (sail damage) |
False Bay Spring Regatta
(Round the cans in False Bay Cape) |
1998 1999 |
Line Honours |
Continental Week
(round the cans in Algoa Bay Port Elizabeth RSA) |
1998 1999 |
2nd across the line 1998
2nd across the line 1999 |
Table Bay Week
(round the cans Table Bay Cape Town) |
1999 |
Line Honours |
Cowes week- United Kingdom (Round the cans races -Solent Isle of Wight UK) |
2001 |
15th out of 26 in class Super Zero Maxi yacht class) amongst top international yachts |
The Rolex Fastnet Race
(From Cowes to The Fastnet Rock off Southern Ireland and back to Plymouth- 640nm |
2001 |
5th Overall in Super Zero (Maxi Yacht Class) out of 16 top international yachts and 238 entries |
The America’s Cup Jubilee Cowes
(round the island race (Isle of Wight) to commemorate the famous inauguration event in 1851 which saw the yacht America defeat its British challengers which brought about what we know today as the America’s Cup yacht race |
2001 |
Merlin did not qualify to enter due to the RSA not having entered this regatta before, however we were rescued by a very senior admirer and member of the Royal Yacht Squadron at Cowes who chartered Merlin for £1 and she sailed the race under the Royal Yacht Squadron Burgee |
Specifications |
Launched |
1995 (Cape Town) |
IMS GPH |
467 (Certificate No: 72201) |
Sail Number |
SA 1692 |
LOA |
19.9m (65.3 ft) |
LWL |
18.2m (59.7 ft) |
Beam |
5.4m (17.7 ft) |
Mast Height |
25.4m (83.3 ft) |
Draught |
2.2m/4m (7.2ft/13.1 ft) |
Ballast |
5000 kg (11 000 lbs) |
Displacement |
15 020kg (33 044 lbs) |
Main Sail size |
105 sq m (344 sq ft) |
180% reacher sail size |
171 sq m (560 sq ft) |
Spinnaker (0.75-2.2 oz) |
309 – 500 sqm (1014 sq ft – 1640 sq ft) |
Hull Construction |
American Bureau of Shipping Hull Inspection Certificate TIG welded 4mm BHP Hillside plate aluminium hull (contractor Bechtel- USA).
Initially constructed in Mossel Bay Cape RSA 1994. Yacht fitted out and completed in Cape Town RSA 1995 |
Mast and Boom |
Sparcraft aluminium |
Running Rigging |
Glistean, Spectra, Kevlar |
Standing Rigging |
Navtec Nitronic Rod rigging with hydraulic adjustable backstay |
Sails |
Designed by Quantum Sails California USA and made by Quantum Sails Cape Town RSA
Mainsail Kevlar, Storm jib, staysail, jib, Genoa, reacher, 4 spinnakers |
Winches & deck gear |
Lewmar. All deck mounted except for a single Lewmar cockpit grinder system |
Hatches |
Lewmar |
Instruments |
Brooks and Gatehouse cabin wheel and mast mounted |
Paintwork |
Awlgrip Torodor red* hull arctic white deck with grey trim, white anti fouling below waterline all applied with spray guns
*The Press also referred to the boat as “Big Red”. |
Engine |
Yanmar diesel 88hp turbo |
Prop |
Max feathering |
Keel |
Blade with bulb, Optima drop and lifting mechanism 2.2m to 4m operational by electric motor |
Steering |
Twin rudders at 34° with cross pulley SS wire control developed by EADS with Torrington high load aircraft bearings |
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Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing - Cruising in Cape Town |
Keith and Nicholas Brown are afforded a sail on Volvo 65 “Abu Dhabi” with Ian Walker and his crew in Table Bay
in 2015 during their stop-over in Cape Town on the 2014/2015 VOR.
Click here to watch on youtube.
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THE ARCHIVES |
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SEND US A MESSAGE |
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CREW |
The following amateur sailors participated in more than 5 races onboard Merlin from 1997 to 2002 |
Name |
Position |
Craig Middleton |
Skipper – Race Organizer |
Hugh Brown |
Owner (Skipper St Helena Race) and Campaign Director |
William (Brock) Tuppeny III |
Owner –Trimmer |
Jan Clevaux |
(Stand By Skipper) Cockpit, Navigator |
Stephen Koen |
Navigator |
R A S Turner |
Navigator |
Alex Stokes |
Maintenance |
Nicholas Maunde |
Foredeck Captain |
Chris Bertish |
Bowman |
Dave Register |
Cockpit/ Chefe |
Steve Mullin |
Cockpit |
Carol Middleton |
Running Backstays |
Skye Middleton |
Cockpit/Mast |
Sean McCarten |
Bowman/Foredeck Captain |
Russell Sharfman |
Foredeck |
Nicholas Brown |
Foredeck/Mast |
Keith Brown |
Foredeck/Mast/helmsman |
Grant Brown |
Foredeck (Cameraman) |
Lauren Brown |
Sail Packing/Medic |
Stuart Brown |
Mascot |
Lee-Anne Purse |
Foreguy/Spinnaker |
Wayne Peverd |
Foredeck |
Sean DeVilliers |
Mast |
Jerome Matisonn |
Mast/Cockpit |
Jeanette Matisson |
Sail Packing |
Richard Pool |
Cockpit/trimmer |
Eric Potgieter |
Trimmer |
Jenny Jordan |
Sail Packing |
Tim Jones |
Grinder |
Jonathan Jones |
Mast |
Donald Curry |
Mast |
Chris Jones |
Mast/cockpit |
Gary Dix |
Cockpit |
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GALLERY |
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