The design was built by Merit Marine in the United States. The company built 780 examples of the design, starting in 1978, but it is now out of production.
Design
The Merit 25 is a recreational keelboat, built predominantly of fiberglass, with teakwood trim. It has a fractionalsloop rig, a raked stem, a slightly reverse transom, an internally mounted spade-type rudder controlled by a tiller and a fixed fin keel. It displaces and carries of ballast. The boat has a draft of with the standard keel. The boat is normally fitted with a small outboard motor for docking and maneuvering. The fresh water tank has a capacity of. Accommodations include a forward "V"-berth and two main cabin berths that extend under the cockpit to save space. The steel mast support is at the foot of the "V"-berth. The galley has a sink, plus an ice box used as a companionway step. A stove was a factory option. The portable head is located just aft of the "V"-berth and has a curtain for privacy. The boat has internally mast-mounted halyards, spinnaker-pole lift and outhaul, plus an internally-mounted reefing system. The 4:1 mainsheet traveler is mounted in the middle of the cockpit. A boom vang and Cunningham are standard equipment. The jib is controlled by two blocks on rails and two cockpit-mounted winches. Two additional winches are mounted on the cockpit roof got the halyards. The design has a PHRF racing average handicap of 171 with a high of 185 and low of 165. It has a hull speed of.
Operational history
Richard Sherwood, described the design, "the accent is on racing rather than cruising. Wetted surface is low, lines aft are flat, the keel and rudder are high aspect. She planes." The SpinnakerSailing Club of Redwood City, California has a fleet of 15 Merit 25s. They describe the boats as, "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."
