Twenty eight boats competed in the Merlin Open at Hampton Sailing Club.

The visitors from Cookham, Tamesis, Parkstone, Wembley and Ranelagh Sailing Clubs as well as a large turn out of Hampton boats enjoyed 3 races in excellent sailing conditions, with a fair south westerly wind blowing throughout the day.

The first pair of starts had boats from the Red and Yellow fleets being followed 10 minutes later by the Green and Blue flight.

The Red and Yellow start saw 3702 from Wembley Sailing Club helmed by Duncan Salmon, crewed by Ian Garwood open up a big lead on the first lap and to hold this advantage throughout the whole race. Second place was to be taken by 1079 from Tamesis helmed by Richard Harris, crewed by Martin Evans coming from well down the fleet on the first lap.

The Blue/Green start had 3707 from Shoreham helmed by Alex Jackson, crewed by Frances Gifford take first position with 1097 from Tamesis helmed by Mike Stephens, crewed by Matt Perrigrine-Jones finishing in second place.

Race two had Red/Green and Blue/Yellow starts and the first of these was to see 1097, Mike Stephens, lead from throughout the race followed home this time by the oldest boat in the race, 607 from Tamesis helmed by Berry Ritchie, crewed by Sue Harris. The Blue/Yellow start had 1079 , Richard Harris lead for two thirds of the race before being pushed into second place by 3702, Duncan Salmon.

Race three had Yellow/Green and Red/Blue starts, the Yellow/Green start saw 1761, helmed by Phil Dalby, crewed by Suzi Bell take an early lead only to be overtaken on the last lap by 1079, Richard Harris. The last start of the day saw some significant changes in positions throughout the race, with the eventual winner 1222, helmed by Richard Page, crewed by his daughter Liz from Hampton coming from 3rd. Second place going to 607, Berry Ritchie having moved up from 5th.

Final results were 1st 3702 Duncan Salmon crewed by Ian Garwood from Wembley Sailing Club 2nd 1079 Richard Harris crewed by Martin Evans from Tamesis Sailing Club 3rd 1097 Mike Stephens crewed by Matt Perrigrine-Jones from Tamesis Sailing Club 4th 3707 Alex Jackson crewed by Frances Gifford from Shoreham Sailing club 5th 607 Berry Ritchie crewed by Sue Harris from Tamesis Sailing club