Well-sailed by Joseph Earl on behalf of Olympian owner Dave Forbes, Merlin, sporting new sails, finished 25^th overall and second in Division 2 in last year’s race. The sails proved a boon from the outset in earlier races. Merlin finished 16^th overall and fourth in Division 2 of the 2015 Rolex Sydney Hobart and was the best overall performed boat over 50 feet. In her other three Hobarts, she finished 17^th overall and eighth in Division A in 2003, retired (along with nearly half the fleet) from the difficult 2004 race, and finished 14^th overall and second in Division C in 2006. Merlin placed sixth in November’s Cabbage Tree Island Race.