|
by Mark
Steele - Auckland, New Zealand
Someday to
sea with Sweetie, Bogie’s Santana,
and a man and his mullet boats.
|
|
Netherlander
Wim Moonen's clipper Drommen barrels
through heavy seas.
|
An absolutely wonderful photograph (above)
by Hans Staal of the Netherlands
to lead into this months column. The low angle from
which it has been taken makes it a bit difficult to
say whether it is the real thing or a model, wouldn’t
you say ? Get low, get into the water if you have
to …but whatever you do, don’t drop the
camera!
I am always fascinated by small sailing boats built
with intent to tackle often-rough oceans of the world.
Relatively small and certainly `different’ as
far as it’s rig is concerned is the 40’
Sweetie
designed by the son of Wayne Tedder with whom I shared
correspondence with some years ago. The vessel shown
above is now being built by father and son as a full-rigged
ship to one day be sailed to Hawaii. Wayne and I are
in touch again by email and I hope to be still compus
mentis and able to update on the voyage when the Sweetie
does finally set sail from the US mainland. After
that, you never know but someone somewhere may build
an RC model.
|
|
So inspired by the lines of the Sparkman & Stephens
designed Santana once owned and sailed by
actor Humphrey Bogart, and by the RC model of her
in schooner rig built, owned and sailed by Californian,
Don Frakes, Australian Rick Mayes, (builder of the
wonderful model of the Sea Cloud seen in
an earlier months column)
wants to build one and has obtained hull plans from
S & S. That is Frakes and his model above, and
an earlier shot of him building it.
The regatta put on in the waters beside the Calvert
Museum in Maryland last year by the U.S.Vintage
Model Yacht Group, the Great Schooner Model
Society and the Solomons Island Model Boat
Club drew good fleets in the various classes
and proved enjoyable to say the least. If the photos
taken are any indication, the weather was good and
the racing of two sizes of schooners, skipjacks and
vintage style Marbleheads was keen and exciting.
|
Boats on public display
|
There were losers and winners - Marylander Richard
Navickas winning the Skipjack class, Alan Suydam also
of Maryland winning the vintage Marblehead class,
Joseph Cieri of New Jersey, the small schooner class
and George Surgent , the class for large schooners.
George’s wife Marla won the Powder Puff
class for helping wives sailed with Victoria
yachts. As t’is often said `pictures tell a
thousand stories,’ so above and below here are
a few that show another area of model yachting of
which there are so many.
the large schooners racing
|
skipjack
duel
|
holding and waiting |
Not `moody blues’ this one below, since I have
chosen to use this photo in black and white it is
more aptly titled as `moody greys’. It is Richard
Gross of Auckland’s Ancient Mariner
windling group’s impressive study of his Bawley
Anita taken on a very misty early morn.
The picture is one of peace, calm, flat water still
mist-veiled and not yet disturbed by the ducks, and
a working boat ghosting by close to shore on the way
to the fishing grounds. Moments like these are precious
indeed to anyone who has even half a receptive soul
with a bit of romance, a feeling for the beauty of
nature, and a bit of imagination. Yes? (Hey, mind
the wall!)
On day in June this year, eight little rudderless
and brightly painted 15” toy boats from Tippecanoe
(photograph above) carried to sea in a yacht were
set free to roam on the blue waters of the Caribbean.
Where will they go,not even Californian, Mark Paulson
whose idea it was, and who let them go knows at this
stage.
In what is a refreshing new slant to the old `messages
in a bottle, he does know that one already ended up
on the shores of Sir Richard Branson’s 74 acre
Necker island in the British Virgin group. Some of
the remaining seven may of course never make landfall,
they may be attacked by large fish, become encrusted
by barnacles and sink or be destroyed by storms, but
since each of the eight carried affixed engraved plates
asking finders to make contact with Tippecanoe, the
passage of time may tell. I will let you know.
|
Central
Park |
Some, perhaps whose eyes may scan this column, will
be able to say “I once sailed a model yacht
in New York’s Central Park.” Along with
the Round Pond in London’s Kensington Gardens,
Central Park (seen above) must rank as among the famous
venues for sailing model yachts. I have never sailed
there myself but walking past it on the day that I
did, the water was very busy with lots of model yachts.
It was a Sunday and was like Piccadilly Circus with
boat traffic! Like the Round Pond and Christchurch,
New Zealand’s Victoria Water it goes back a
long way indeed. Perhaps given another century or
so, our delightful Auckland sailing venue, Onepoto
may attain some acclaim. (That’s assuming that
some Council doesn’t elect to build houses there.
Quite possible really, given the attitude of some
council members whose eyes view things only through
cash registers!). I won’t be around and somebody
else will have to write about it! Oh I don’t
know… I might just hang about a bit and grunt
my annoyance should it ever happen, better still I
might come back as a spook and haunt the Council members!
mullet boat Nomad
powers into the wind |
|
Dave Moore of Auckland can be described as a New
Zealand mullet boat model enthusiast of the highest
order. He has built four of them now, all different
and all good performers in terms of sheer `get up
and go’ in light winds. Sailing with the Ancient
Mariners windling group, Dave’s boats
have inspired several others to built mullet boat
models also, the type of boat very unique to New Zealand
where in the fullsize arena, the most impressive of
trophies, the Lipton Cup is competed for each year
on the waters of the Hauraki Gulf and is probably
the most impressive trophy for yachting anywhere,
in my opinion certainly more impressive than that
other grotesque goosehead International trophy of
renown!
the man and his first two |
and the third, the vintage Dream
|
Famous full sized boats are often ideal for replication
in model format and the 1898 gaff cutter Rainbow
designed and built by Logan Boatbuilders of Auckland
is a good example. Christchurch Model Yacht Club’s
Commodore, Hugh Hobden scratchbuilt a beautiful RC
sailing model of this crack New Zealand keeler shown
on the waters of the Hauraki Gulf in 1899 (below).
He is seen with the model in another photo. Hugh increased
the draught and rudder area slightly and built the
hull and deck out of cedar timber strips, glassed
inside and out.
At right,
the real one, centre below, the model |
|
|
|
Canadian model yacht sailor, Terry Doble tells me
that he is now sailing a FANTASY 32” full keel
RC boat (seen below) among a growing fleet in Eastern
Ontario. With a skeg rudder, the boat is designed
by Doug Monro in Ottawa and bare hulls supplied by
Frank Scott. Pretty boat that and I can understand
its appeal. You into fantasies? (Oh, all the time!)
May the winds
of fortune sail you, may you sail a gentle sea,
may it always be the other guy, who says “this
drink’s on me !”
Borrowed from
Lattitudes & Attitudes magazine
For
previous columns by Mark Steele, click here
|