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Sailing Boats were very popular with the Cygnets members in the
1980’s but died out almost completely in the 1990’s. However in the
early years of the 2000’s, a couple of members started sailing and
soon others were adding yachts to their fleet. With this resurgence
of interest a separate sail section within the Club was formed – the
section continues to grow and approximately 20% of the membership
has yachts, some also have Thames sailing barges. The attraction for
sailing is that for a comparatively low outlay, say £75.00, one can
have a very attractive and simply to construct model which performs
well and looks good on the water.
In 2004 it was decided to run an internal sailing competition based
on a handicap system and run over a ten month (February to November)
series of races. The competition was originally for the Cygnets Sail
Trophy which was presented to the winner at the Annual General
Meeting in December. Late in 2004 one of the stalwarts of the Sail
section, Ronnie Richardson, died and it was agreed the competition
would be re-named in his honour.
The competition has become very popular with a variety of yachts
being entered. However this has caused a few headaches for the race
officials as there were now yachts of varying sizes all competing
for the same trophy. Also, the “original” handicap system was
becoming unworkable and to correct this it would have become a
mathematical nightmare. In 2008 the committee decided to split the
sailing into three separate classes – each class is competing for
its own trophy on a non handicapping basis.
In the past we have convened a Sailing Regatta but in 2009 the
decision was made to incorporate it in our primary fun day Boats on
the Mote which is held annually in July.
From 2005 to 2009 inclusive the Cygnets Model Boat Club hosted the
Championship Finals for the Association of Model Barge Owners (A.M.B.O.).
Again in 2010 we have been asked to host the Finals on the lake in
Mote Park, Maidstone, on Sunday 12th September from 10.00
am onwards. In fact, to whet your appetite we will be hosting a
Championship Round of A.M.B.O. on the 30th of May. You
are very welcome to come along and enjoy the proceedings of the day.
The Sail section of the Club operates almost exclusively on Sunday
mornings throughout the year when many yachts take to the water –
come along and see for yourself. If you have a model yacht of your
own – bring it along and have a sail – you will be made very
welcome.
Sailing a model yacht is a very relaxing pastime in that you
concentrate on the skills of getting your boat to perform and you
can forget your worries (if you have any!!!!!) |
