Back in 1971, my dear old Dad and myself followed a series of articles in Radio Control Models& Electronics written by Bob Jefferies to build a Starlet yacht. The intention of the articles was to improve on the original Vic Smeed design by increasing fin and rudder areas and to install radio control. Given the radio control kit available at the time, this was quite ground breaking stuff and we ended up with a well sailing little boat controlled by a single channel McGregor Codamatic giving left/Right Rudder and a workable winch control. A little later we went "posh" and replaced the radio with a Horizon 2 channel proportional radio and sailed for many happy hours at Emberton Park, which is near to Milton Keynes ( which simply existed as a small village then!)
As a follow up, we bought a fibre glass hull for Vic's new Star C yacht , which was an attempt to get a new low cost racing class going . Ultimately although the yacht sailed well, the class never took off, we ended up being gifted an old M class which we sailed with the same Horizon gear, and then as the ultimate in sail power, bought a radio A class Dambuster from one of our fellow sailors as he downsized. Power boats also came into the mix as well.
Years passed and stuff came and went , the Star C and the M getting passed on and the Starlet and the A getting less use until the dreaded "life" relegated them to the garage. Now a recent resurge in enthusiasm following retirement has led to a delve in the bowels of the garage and the digging out of the Starlet for a refit and re-use and a realisation that the RA needs to go as it is a bit large at my age to lug about.
Thinking back, I was always sorry that the Star C went as I realised that at 42" it would make a handy general sailer and could be made to look nice with a cabin similar to Starlet rather than the utilitarian racing set up that the original was built with. Since the plans are still available, along with sails from Nylet, I did consider building one plank on frame but wasn't convinced that my skills were sufficient to carry it through . Given that f/g mouldings were last available in 1971, that was it , I thought. That was until a late night cruise recently through Ebay came up with an add for "Model Yacht Hull Fibreglass ". A close look at the pics showed that it was indeed a Star C hull that had survived all these years. A bit of judicious bidding and I am now the proud owner . When it arrived, it was barely marked so had survived the years remarkably well. Now the fun starts.
Hopefully , before too long I will end up with a mini Smeed fleet of Starlet, Panache and Star C yachts. A new set of sails for each and some time in the workshop should see us there . Might even off set the costs by getting rid of the A!