Ah, thanks.
Peterborough is a bit of a trek for me (70 mile round trip), but that is an Impressive gallery. Even the narrow boat looks correct (for once!). I used to own and live on an historic ex-working boat, so I'm fussy about canal boat models!.
I will try to come over one day. I particularly like the preponderence of scale sail, my main interest.

Thanks for the info.

Cheers,
Martin

HI Martin, PAMBC..... Peterborough area model boat club, We meet at Hampton Lakes.
Take a look at PAMBC.org. uk, and there you will find directions to the lake, and photos of a number of boats that we sail.
Hope this throws some light on our club.
Any problems, don't hesitate to come back to me
taff

PAMBC?

What or where is that?

Martin

HI Martin. sorry to hear of experiences, I know not of the "club" that you speak of with large yachts, but it certainly wasn't us !!.
Any time please come and see us at PAMBC any Wednesday or Sunday, from usually 1pm until four and you can be sure of a welcome not forgetting the usual banter.>

HI Dave,
understood and it would be nice to encounter a bunch like you. I am lucky with the waters. There's the Well Creek, a canalised river that has a slipway, by a bridge, so you can get either side. No flow. Fishing lakes with free access when there are no anglers present, wide dykes that meander for miles with frequent farm bridges. I do like to see the scenery going past my models instead of the bobbing cork syndrome.
Many years ago I invited the Cambridge model boat club to display at our fenland village fete. They turned up in droves, including the late, great Miller Agnew with his F1 tunnel hulls. After a display so good that cars were stopping on the main road to have a gander at us, the secretary thanked ME for asking them. He also remarked on how nice it was to perform on a river 20 feet wide and see the scenery rush past. Miller only got one of his F1s going eventually (OPS and RossI motors not playing ball) and there was an audible gasp from the huge crowds both sides of the river. A fantastic day. I don't even know if that club still exists!

Cheers,
Martin

HI Martin
Sorry to hear of your experiences with local sailing groups.
At Crewe and District MBC we welcome all modellers regardless of age, ethnic background, colour or sex. Our only restriction is to require children to be accompanied by a responsible adult.
We are a friendly lot and welcome new members and visitors, and certainly engage them in our poolside banter.
Help in building, setting up electrics and getting the model on the water is freely available, and we will even rescue your boat should it get stuck in the pond.
My original post was to try and help a novice member and I am sure that one of the local clubs will be willing to help.
You are fortunate to live in such a beautiful part of the country with so much water available. For many of us this is not available and a Club is often the only way to find waters on which to sail. 😀

Dave,
living in the Fens, I am surrounded by water, so have no need of a club lake, but I do feel sorry for a keen potential club type who then encounters the attitude I did.
I also found a model sailing group near here. The guy on the phone was very friendly, but after driving down rough farm tracks into bow and arrow country, until I thought I should fall off the edge of the world I finally encountered four old boys with fabulously expensive cars and One metre yachts who nodded a greeting, took one look at my Reliant Fox van and carried on with their unfathomable racing until an unheard bell went off at a particular (early I thought) time and they all high-tailed it off in their pension specials lest their wives should turn into the ugly sisters and their BMW Estates back into the pumpkins they surely had been that morning.
I actually witnessed one lot of old dodderers at another site check their watches at "12-32" and cry "time to go!". Whereupon they too really couldn't stop to chat. it wasn't a rule of the site, I checked. At the model flying field people turn up at 7am and stay till it's too dark to fly any more, chat away and even test your engine for you. All the same age as the boaty types, but like spring chickens by comparison. A pity it costs an arm and a leg to join, though.
Nope, I'll happily carry on on my own, sailing and flying where and when I want.

Martin

HI Martin
Sad to hear that. I used to sail at New Brighton many years ago and we were a friendly bunch. The Hoylake and West Kirby lakes are also nearby so hopefully Stephen will find help at one of the venues. With dwindling numbers participating in our hobby I don't understand why some clubs appear so remote to new members, we certainly welcome any model boater at my club. 😀

I had a look at New Brighton last year on a holiday near there. Three boats, one yacht. The tugs were....tugs, the yacht was without batteries. The guys didn't want to speak to me. The old Royal Enfield next to it was much more interesting. I realise not all clubs are like this, but most I've visited over the years are, unfortunately. (Kings Lynn, Fowlden Mill, Southend, Norwich....)

My Grandad was a founder of the Victoria Park Model Steamboat Club and they are a wonderful bunch, even today.
Long live hydros and straight runners!

Martin

HI Stephen
Welcome to the site. I see you are in the Bidston area of the Wirral so are near to three local clubs at West Kirby, Hoylake and New Brighton.
It can be helpful if you belong to a club when starting out as you can see the types of model available and talk to the owners and find out all the details you need to know.
This is also helpful in choosing a model as you will need a venue to sail and some waters are not suitable for all model boats.

Without knowing the type of model your are interested in building it is difficult make any suggestion. There is a major show, The Model Boat Convention taking place over the 24th and 25th of August at Haydock Racecourse so as this is in your area you may find something of interest from the Traders attending. You will certainly see a large selection of model boats from the model clubs who are attending There is a bring and buy so you may find a built / part built model that takes your fancy

Your Planet set is a good starting point as you do not need to worry about frequency clashes or changing crystals.

As a general rule fast planing type boats lend themselves to Brushless motors and a forward/reverse ESC is useful to get you out of trouble.
Tugs and working/passenger vessels suit brushed motors but brushless motors are available that are suitable, again at an increased cost. Most marine brushed ESC's are forward / reverse.

Batteries come in three main varieties:
SLA - good if you have a large model that need lots of ballast; 6v or 12v with amp hour rates from 1.2 to 18 or more amps. Need to be charged over a period of time at constant voltage. Car battery chargers are npot suitable for this reason.
NiMh - as favoured by the model car brigade - each cell is 1.2v and packs are typicaly 7.2 / 8.4 /9.6 etc. Amp hour rates are usually in MaHr 2300 being fairly typical. Lighter than lead acid and smaller so good for restricted space or where the ballast needs to be near the rear. Can be fast charged at constant current so favoured by the racing fraternity.
LiPo - latest technology now favoured by car and aeromodellers due to the light weight and high power (Watts) available. Each cell is 3.7v and usually sold in packs of 1 to 6 cells. 7.4v and 11.1v are 2 and 3 cell versions. The capacity is again in mA and a 2300mA at 20C means you can draw 46Amps max. The higher the capacity the dearer the cost. LiPos can not be over charged or discharged even slightly so a balanced charger and a voltage cut out on the ESC are essential.

Any servo will be suitable, and are available in most sizes. You won't need a very powerful servo so the cost should be about the £6 mark.

Having shared this info I do urge that you seek help from a local club or modeller as your modelling skills will benefit from their knowledge and guidance, and you will avoid some of the pitfalls we have all suffered.

Good luckl. if you go to Haydock I will be on the Crewe MBC stand 😀