It's all happening in the International OK Dinghy class at the moment with lots of new developments across the world. The class is growing almost exponentially. Here at Synergy we have also been developing our product and the time has come to replace our existing mould set. Over the last few months we have been working towards a new design closely based on our 2016 & 2017 World Championship winning design.

The game has moved forward for the class in terms of hull design, analysis of shapes and CNC machined plugs. With this in mind we are working with respected designer, Dave Hollom, to create our perfect OK Dinghy. Along with the top sailors currently in Synergy boats we will be incorporating some of the latest ideas.

The first stage has been working with SurfDev, who previously worked on the Petticrow Finn. Neale there has provided us with an exceptionally detailed 3D scan of our 2016 World Championship winning boat as a starting point. The new design will be finalised over the coming weeks and then we move forward with full CNC machined plugs.

Our aim is evolution rather than revolution but with some small but essential changes to the overall product. Orders are already coming in for the first batch of boats for delivery later this year. More soon!

CAD render of the new Dave Hollom Merlin Rocket Design in development at Synergy Marine

Exciting news for 2019!

Synergy Marine has started development of a new Merlin Rocket designed by Dave Hollom. We will be producing a new mouldset over the course of the year with the intention to have the first boat sailing towards the end of the year. 

Here Dave describes the design of the boat, 

"As can be seen the boat amidships has a V section and a distinct chine both of which reduce drag when on the plane. 

V sections have less drag when on the plane than U sections, for a multitude of reasons that I will not go into here, but when was the last time you saw a U sectioned planing powerboat without a chine? 

The V in the centre of the boat also allows a narrower waterline beam than a U section whilst still complying with the rise of floor measurement. The narrower waterline beam reduces wetted surface area, which will help in lighter airs, but also, because the water doesn’t have to go as far to get around the boat, reduces velocities in this area. This is useful because lower velocities mean less suction (Bernoulli’s theorem) and the less the suction the more easily the boat will rise onto the plane. It also, again for reasons I will not go into here, reduces lift induced wave drag which will allow the boat to sail either higher or faster or a combination of both when on the wind. 

This V section morphs into as much of a U in the bow as is possible with a clinker hull together with a reasonably flat stern The idea is to move the displacement lost in the middle of the boat to the ends of the boat and thus increase prismatic which reduces wave drag at most of the speeds of interest, without making the bow waterline any courser. 

In particular, a high prismatic reduces drag at the important hump speed and so allows the boat to get onto the plane more easily. The characteristics of both the International 14 and the National 12 are that they plane sooner and once on the plane are faster. Merlin’s are very nearly capable of planing to windward with advantage but aren’t quite there yet. I fully expect that this new design will break through that barrier and be capable of planing to windward with advantage."

We will provide regular updates of the development of the boat over the coming months but anyone with a serious interest in this design or potentially purchasing one of the first boats please get in touch!

Our old website was in serious need of an update and a recent server crash gave us the opportunity to update some of the information.

We'll try and keep this one a bit more up to date!

© Copyright 2019 - Cox-Olliff Limited trading as Synergy Marine
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