General Sailings on the Pond 01 August 2025 at Southport

Sailings at Southport Model Boat Club Open Day 270725

See the latest projects sailing at SMBC

See the latest projects sailing at SMBC

See the latest projects sailing at SMBC

TeThe Fifie is a design of sailing boat developed on the east coast of Scotland. It was a traditional fishing boat used by Scottish fishermen from the 1850s until well into the 20th century. These boats were mainly used to fish for herring using drift nets, and along with other designs of boat were known as herring drifters.
Design
While the boats varied in design, they can be categorised by their vertical stem and stern, their long straight keel and wide beam. These attributes made the Fifies very stable in the water and allowed them to carry a very large set of sails. The long keel, however, made them difficult to manoeuvre in small harbours.
Sailing Fifies had two masts with the standard rig consisting of a main dipping lug sail and a mizzen standing lug sail.[1] The masts were positioned far forward and aft on the boat to give the maximum clear working space amidships. A large fifie could reach just over 20 metres (66 ft) in length. Because of their large sail area they were very fast sailing boats.
Fifies built after 1860 were all decked and from the 1870s onwards the bigger boats were built with carvel planking, i.e. the planks were laid edge to edge instead of the overlapping clinker style of previous boats. The introduction of steam powered capstans in the 1890s, to help raising the lugs sails, allowed the size of these vessels to increase from 30 feet (9.14 m) to over 70 feet (21.34 m) in length. From about 1905 onwards sailing Fifies were gradually fitted with engines and converted to motorised vessels.
Isabella Fortuna 830820
There are few surviving examples of this type of fishing boat still in existence. The Scottish Fisheries Museum based in Anstruther, Fife has restored and still sails a classic example of this type of vessel named the Reaper. The Swan Trust in Lerwick, Shetland have restored and maintain another Fifie, The Swan, as a sail training vessel. She now takes over 1000 trainees each year, and has taken trainees to participate in the Cutty Sark Tall Ships Races to ports in France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Ireland as well as around the UK. The Isabella Fortuna is owned by the Wick Society.st

TRACKER DUNDEE PILOT BOAT
FORTH Ports, the UK’s third largest port group, has placed an order for two new pilot boats to join their fleet working on the Rivers Forth and Tay. The investment in the vessels to work on the busy waterways will see the arrival next year of the next generation of pilot boats built by Holyhead Marine.
Pilot boats are important vessels on the river as they transport maritime pilots to the ships that need guided safely into port through the lock gates in Leith and Grangemouth, to a berth at a quayside in Dundee or Rosyth or to one of the deep-water anchorages in the River Forth. As the statutory river authority for the Forth and Tay, Forth Ports marine team operate over an area of 280 square miles of navigable waters.
The two pilot boats have been designed in Scotland by Camarc Design and will be built this year by Holyhead Marine in Wales. The pilot boats are 16.6 metres long and are the most advanced boats in operation with an updated hull design and engines offering increased efficiency. In the future, the engines would be capable of operating on HVO fuel (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil) which could result in a C02 emission reduction of up to 90%. [**NB: further tech info is listed below]
Alan McPherson, Chief Harbour Master for Forth Ports’ Scottish operations, said: “It is important that we invest in our marine fleet to deliver the best service for river users and at the same time, decarbonise our vessels using the very latest engine technology. The Rivers Forth and Tay are two of the largest and busiest waterways in the UK with thousands of vessels using the rivers each year, ranging from very large offshore drilling rigs in Dundee, to container vessels heading to Grangemouth and cruise liners sailing into both rivers. We look forward to receiving the new pilot boats next year.”
Forth Ports currently has 5 pilot boats and 11 tugs operating across the River Forth and Tay.

I am inserting some photos of the Amerigo Vespucci Italian Navy training ship.
Many details can be useful for static and dynamic modeling.
In any case it was a pleasant visit, I took advantage of the fact that it stopped at the port of Civitavecchia

Here is some information about the ship.

"The Amerigo Vespucci is a sailing ship of the Italian Navy, built in 1931 in Castellammare di Stabia (NA), as a training ship for the training of officer cadets of the normal roles of the Naval Academy of Livorno.

From 1946 to 1952 it was the only sailing training ship of the Italian Navy until the entry into service of the Ebe, a brigantine schooner purchased by the Navy in 1952 and which had been built in 1921. Starting in 1955 it was joined by another sailing ship purchased from France and renamed Palinuro. Currently the Amerigo Vespucci is the oldest ship of the Italian Navy still in service.
On the occasion of the 1960 Rome Olympics, the Amerigo Vespucci transported the Olympic flame by sea from Piraeus to Syracuse.
Some sources report an anecdote, which dates back to the meeting that took place in July 1962 in the Mediterranean with the US aircraft carrier USS Independence, according to which the latter would have flashed its light signal: "Who are you?", receiving in response: "Training ship Amerigo Vespucci, Italian Navy". The US ship would then have signaled: "You are the most beautiful ship in the world"
In 1992, among other things, it participated in the Columbiadi, a large regatta organized on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus.

It also participated in the Tall Ships' Race in 2000, the competition that compares the Tall Ships, the tall-masted sailing ships of the training ships from all over the world.
In six months, the Amerigo Vespucci traveled over 10,000 miles, arriving second, behind the German Gorch Fock.
The training ship also participated in The Tall Ships' Races 2007 Mediterranea.

In Ontario, Canada, we don't have a lot of spots to sail our models where there's water. They put up signs & now our favorite sailing area has a fountain & those dam geese have set up their home there also.

A group of 10 modellers joined in sailing our military craft to celebrate the victory in Europe 80th anniversary.

One of our club members built two dories that sailed in Spencer's pool in Burlington. The oars operated to propel the dory. Alex the Dory man is no longer with us . He had a tiny bottle of Skreech in the bow that someone walked away with. The lyrics describe Codfish Dan harpooning Halley's Comet, using the Big Dipper as a pot, and cooking fish on the sun—all while sailing through the cosmos in his golden dory. It’s classic Stompin’ Tom: full of Canadian pride, storytelling, and a catchy rhythm. Today's Question was about Dories, so I remember Alec's & his dory with fondness. The Moon-Man Newfie Stompin' Tom Conners.

A few of the Confederation Modellers members went to the Leander boat dock on Saturday, May 10, 2025, for test runs since the weather was great for sailing, and there were no weeds or green algae.