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Hi Guys, I am new here, so please excuse me if this is not in the right part of the forum. My Dad and I were founder members of the Basildon & District Model Yacht Club, in the early 70s. Dad went on to become a successful Marblehead skipper, and I believe he became National Champion at least once. I thought I had already posted here a year or more ago, when I found an old yacht in my parents loft, which I had built (with a lot of help from my Dad) as a young teenager (52 years ago), but as I can find no mention of my (imagined?) post here, that was possibly another forum. The 36R model is from a Vic Smeed design called the Gosling. It was of very light construction, and when it was complete, the structure was so airtight, the deck could be seen bulging if the boat was left in sun. I decided that was probably not good for its longevity and elected to drill a 1/16" diameter breather hole through the deck a few inches aft of the mast. After a few sessions sailing it, I decided girls were quite good fun, and it stayed in the loft until I had to deal with my parents estate. Despite the huge swings in humidity and temperature in the roof space of their semi-detached chalet, the model survived its time in storage totally unscathed. I like to think that was helped by giving it a vent. Anyhow, when we get time, my wife (whom I discovered a couple of years after building the Gosling) and I go to Maldon boating lake and sail the model. It fits in the car fully rigged. Please feel free to add your photos and stories below (or tell me where to repost this).

Very nice Jef. Here's a yacht my dad made, probably in the early 60's. I can remember us taking it down to the yacht pond at Dovercourt in the mid to late 60's. The reason I think it was built in the early 60's is that it's named after me, my pet name was 'Jim' - no one calls me Jim any more. A girl friend did a double take when my mother called me Jim and I responded. Sunny Jim was my baby name, I had a sunny disposition then, the Force breakfast cereal character was Sunny Jim, I can remember that being a breakfast favourite at times. Dimensions are: 36" LOA (ex. bow sprit), 7" beam, 8" deck to bottom of keel. Looking a bit sorry for itself, hasn't sailed since late 60's or early 70's.