Hi Will,

I have not seen that brochure before - and it is an example of the product being re-named to suite a different countries preferred marketing.

My assumption is that it is French, but it could be another country that speaks using the French 🇫🇷 language and the French currency at that time?

It looks like the alternative decals are included in the kit to name them Trident or Espadon to complete the marketing.

Good find - well done 👍

Bob

Not in colour like your Lesro brochure, but have you seen this before Bob?

Trident being the same as the Arrow,
Espadon being the same as the Stiletto.

Will

I suppose it would be rude of me not to add a picture of my newly acquired LesRo Sportsman to this particular thread?

The model needs some restoration work that is likely take some time to get it looking good and making white water on our Southport Club lake, but it is the only one that I have found after years of looking for one.

A separate build blog is being written (on this forum) to cover my (slow) progress as I restore this model, but this is what it looks like now in my workshop (shed).

Bob.

My own part restored LesRo Javelin is looking a bit “RED” at the moment.

The original plan was to have some large white script running down the sides with the name “Javelin “ but my pal who used to make these for our large scale racing cars etc has sadly passed away so I will have to have a rethink about this.

Bob.

The LesRo Rapier shares exactly the same hull as its rather more successful cousin the Javelin, but has a different cabin style.

The Javelin sold really well and so there must be a lot of them around somewhere - but I have never seen one on the water !

The much rarer Rapier was a flop by comparison as it hardly sold any kits and was never re-kitted at any time.

Javelin models have been re-kitted at least twice making three different sources of kits over the years.

My Javelin is seen here not long after I first bought it on eBay alongside my Rapier for comparison.

I scraped the paint off back to wood where I wanted to glue on some strakes and then stuck them on with superglue .

The position of the strakes were marked and a narrow chisel was dragged along to scrape the paint back to bare wood along these lines.

Bob.

I do like my classic power boat models to make white water Chris - driving them quickly (maybe quite fast) is just one of my motivations for building, rescuing, and restoring them.

…….and to see them go as well (or better) than I remember them performing when they would have been powered by hot glow motors - even though I now have to use those “soul-less” (but very clean) brushless motors……..

…..I also really like to remember and bring back to life those classic model power boats that I missed the first time around in the 1950/60’s when model boats like them were probably at their peak .

Bob.

It does look good on the water and handle well. Said it before, but that hull is a gem. And the spray and wake looks good as well.

This old LesRo original can still put on an impressive show (for an old ‘un) shown here on the Southport lake this morning Wednesday 27th August 2025.

It is the same old fuel soaked twisted wreck that I pulled out of a skip at the start of the Covid lockdown to give me something to do when we were all “confined to barracks”

It has been in constant use since I restored it and we were allowed out to play again and so it has clocked up over 100 hours of mainly fast running.

The original out-runner motor that I fitted was changed for the one one seen here today to reduce the boat’s speed and improve its run time, so although it is not as fast as it was, it is fast enough for our small lake and I get longer run times on each battery.

If it has a water stained box, it has the stamp of originality 😂

As you suggest, he is a very lucky chap. I have been looking for a Sportsman (new/used/kit/wreck) for some time but I have just not seen anything at all for sale or swaps for several years.

I don’t spend hours searching for one every day I have to admit, but I don’t think there can be too many of them about, and I have never seen one on the water anywhere either.

You suggested that you could be tempted to buy a new kit (your first actual “new” kit) for the current Sportsman and build it without the latest style of “fishing balcony” .

This could be all that is needed to make a retro version and produce a new build model of the Sportsman that has eluded us both ?

Will has the kit plans for the original Sportman, so with a copy of these for reference and a new kit it shouldn’t be too difficult to make one.

Hi Bob - just gone on the Mahem Facebook Group and a lucky chap has acquired an original unbuilt Sportsman kit. And the box is water stained! 😁

Thanks Will - that is very encouraging 👍

You have TWO original Sportsman models?

Wow - I have not been able to find ONE - and I have been looking for years !

Get them out on the water Will, they will make a very pleasing (and rare) site - and don’t forget to take some pictures of them to share with us!

Bob.

Bob, I'll have to check my laptop, I can't remember if I've got a copy of the Sportsman plan.
Also, if memory serves me right (had a lot going on this last 6 months, so model boats have been far from my mind), I think I've got 2x Sportsman 🙄, both the early design without the flying bridge.
I'll check and get back to you.
Will

The NorStar Fisherman pictured here was given to a friend of mine recently, but it it not really his “thing”.

My lengthy hunt (over several years) for an original LesRo Sportsman has failed completely.

I am still hoping to find an old unmade kit that has been “resting” in that damp loft that seems to turn- up so many others one day…😱

A ready made original (in any condition) has also been on my search list - or even an old kit plan to pass on to Chris so he can convert it to a set of working drawings.

Absolutely nothing has turned yet, but I will keep looking.

In the meantime my friends NorWest Fisherman may be available to me as a swap for something I have that he would prefer to have instead (!), and if that should happen I would have a very similar craft to enjoy sailing .

Certainly looks like it.

This NorStar Fisherman looks a lot like the original LesRo Sportsman.

Does anyone have a copy of the plans to see if Les Rowell had a hand in this one as well?

It’s about the same size….

Will take a closer look look at the original Wavemaster hull I have built and compare it with the similar length Sea Commander.

The plans for the HMM Wavemaster are drawn by L.J. Rowell……so maybe the Sea Commander that followed it has some design similarities?

If you have a good hull design and can use it for other variations then do it. Copy and paste make some cabin alterations, change the art work on the box, and send it out.

Happens all the time.

Ronald - the Arrow and Stilletto and the bigger versions Javelin and Rapier certainly were. Wouldn't be surprised if the Wavemaster and the likes of Sea Queen are as well?

I think there was a discussion on here about the original Sportsman around trying to find drawings. I think we drew a blank in the end?

Even a kit drawing, if there was one, without the frames etc. as I could soon draw them up.

Maybe a SLEC kit in the end as my first ever kit and remove the flying bridge as I prefer the simpler look of the original.

Are many of these hulls the same design, just different designed structures above the deck?

I just came across this picture of an old HMM Wavemaster kit that I bought a few years ago - another design thought to have come from the pen of Les Rowell.

I have a Javelin that I restored some time ago - one of my many unfinished projects - I will get a motor and radio gear in it and get it on the water where it belongs.

I designed a “flying bridge” for it - one of those that seems to be carried by a lot of off-shore boats these days to mount the radar and radio masts higher above the deck - they look a bit like a wing, but I don’t think they have any aerodynamic use.

Not sure why my last post came up as Zooma too Chris, but I have logged on again as bobs2 ......(I think..).

Some of the LesRo kits have been re-released under different brand names - including the Sportsman that has now gained a “flying bridge”

As you know, I like the original classic models and I would love to find an original Sportsman kit - or even a ready made Sportsman that needs a good home - or one that is in need of restoration.

The Rapier has never been re-kitted as it was not a good seller in its day, the the same hull with an off-shore racer superstructure the Javelin sold very well and has been re-kitted (and renamed) more than once.

The same goes for the two smaller versions of the same boat insomuch that the Stiletto was not at all successful but the Arrow sold very well and has also been re-kitted......but not the Stiletto.

Nice find on both counts, the kit and the brochure! As you say it can be difficult to find old marketing etc. stuff on occasion.

I do like that Sportsman. Maybe a future build once I've finished my Fairey mission!