I also tried this group under rather poor conditions last Thursday. The field is quite easy to locate, but even at the zenith, the high prevailing humidity (85-90%) did not allow sufficient transparency. In addition, a very warm (and humid) breeze prevented the seeing from allowing the group to break, even at 297X. For certainty I could see what shaped like a two-lobed shape, with a flickering effect on each lobe (I guess this was the result of the individual components showing on and off). With averted vision the 'lobes" seemed to enlarge in size. Unfortunately, conditions steadily deterioated - to the extend that we could barely see the spiral arms of M51 even with 18 inches... Next moring we awoke under very hazy skies. We'll give it another shot hopefully on Saturday evening...