Sunday, July 04, 2010

KMBC open day

KMBC 20 June 2010

Time flies when you are having fun. A couple of weeks ago we have the Knightcote Model Boat Club open day and it's taken me that long to post a link to the pictures.

After the display in the local shopping centre, extra effort had been made to get the bunting out and as much covered space as possible in case any potential new members turned up. Although the weather forecast said we were in a for a dry day, you can never be too careful ! As it was, the gazebos were welcomed for the shade they provided.

The day's events involved some racing for both yachts and Slingshots. The former actually worked well thanks to an occasional light breeze and our modifications to the hedge. The boats actually raced rather than drifted around praying for wind. In the Slingshot races I did OK but couldn't touch the eventual winner who racked up 4 or 5 more laps than me over the five minute session. Needless to say I did emerge with a few "issues" with my boat which I'll write up later. Another first was the apperance of a couple of Club 500 class boats - we'll be racing these properly from next year. And yes I've ordered mine and will be building it for your entertainment.

More impressive was the take-up of the "free sailing" sessions. To date the gaps between events have always been a bit lacklustre and resulted in empty water. Not this time ! The biggest problem seemed to be getting boats off the water so races to take place. I don't know exactly how many miniature vessels were present but I'd guess at over 40.

There were some good 'uns too. I love Pete Munday's conversion of a Tomkat racing boat into a very convincing catamaran ferry. Although freelance it looks like those that I've travelled on to the Isle of Man. The Jet drive was playing up so it didn't get much time on the water but once this is fixed I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more of it.

Now take a look at the photos on Flickr.

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