Merit 25: practical, fun boat for training, day sailing & racing

The Holy Grail for sailing clubs like Spinnaker Sailing is a boat that is fun to sail, fast, responsive, durable and relatively simple to operate. It needs to be roomy and comfortable enough for a beginning sailing class but also sophisticated enough to be attractive to experienced sailors. And it doesn’t hurt if the boat is nice looking. The Merit 25 meets all those criteria, which is why it forms the heart of Spinnaker’s fleet.

The Merit 25 is a solidly built 25-foot sloop that seats five comfortably in a self-draining cockpit. Despite relatively simple control systems, the Merit has the durability and flexibility for comfortable, all-season sailing in the Bay Area, where typical wind speeds can range from near zero to above 25 knots.

Spinnaker’s Merits are rigged for sailing in good daytime visibility under a full main and working-size roller-furled jib. Most of the club’s Merits can carry spinnakers as well. All the mainsails can be reefed for winds above 18 or so knots. In strong winds, the boat can be sailed comfortably under reefed main and reduced or completely furled jib.

The Merit design is a venerable one. In developing it, designer Paul Yates essentially re-thought the popular J24, attempting to eliminate what he saw as that boat’s drawbacks. The first Merits hit the waters of Southern California in the late 1970s. By the mid-1980s, there were dozens of them sailing and racing on San Francisco Bay. Several Bay Area skippers used them in single-handed ocean racing along the California coast and to Hawaii.

In addition to halyards and sheets, the controls on Spinnaker’s Merit include:

• Mainsheet traveler, which allows the main trimmer to move the sheet’s attachment point to the boat to reduce heel in high wind.
• Adjustable jib sheet fairleads to allow the crew set the shape of the jib in response to wind strength.
• Main outhaul, which lets the crew adjust the fullness of the mainsail in response to wind strength.
• A 15/16ths fractional rig, which means the forestay is attached slightly below the top of the mast and below where the backstay is attached to the mast. That lets the crew bend the mast, thus flattening the mainsail, by hauling on the backstay. That depowers the mainsail, which the crew would want to do in higher wind.
• A cunningham to tighten the mainsail luff. That lets the crew create the ideal mainsail shape.
• Spinnaker controls, including reversible spinnaker pole, adjustable mast ring, pole topping lift, pole foreguy, turning blocks for combined spinnaker sheets/after guys. Some boats also have cleats for spinnaker sheet barber haulers.

In moderate winds, the Merit easily hits 5 to 6 knots. Reaching in good winds, the Merit’s flat-bottomed hull allows the boat to surf down waves. The boat can accelerate well past 14 knots in more extreme conditions, but don’t try that at home, kids!

Merits are great club boats because they are as maneuverable and responsive as boats much smaller. But unlike tiny boats that can capsize or may not be sturdy enough for San Francisco Bay conditions, Merits are tough and reliable enough to keep crew safe and happy.

Merit 25 specifications:   Length Overall: 24.5′   Beam: 8′   Draft: 4′   Length at the waterline: 20′   Displacement: 2,900 lbs.   Number built: 780