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End of the MPBA?

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End of the MPBA?

Home › Forums › All things floating › End of the MPBA?

Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
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  • 19 August 2026 at 21:37 #128752
    Colin Bishop
    Moderator
      @colinbishop34627

      From the latest newsletter of the MPBA, it appears that the Association my be shortly closing down after 102 years as it is proving impossible to fill vacancies on the National Committee.

      While this is incredibly sad, it is unfortunately a sign of the times in respect of the general decline in organised model boating today which is becoming increasingly fragmented due to a rapidly ageing demographic. As a member for well over 50 years I had some wonderful times during the explosion of interest in R/C Scale boating from the 1970s into the 1990s and served for several years as Scale Secretary along with David Metcalf, Mike Finnis and others.

      So many of the well known names at the time are no longer with us and us survivors of the Golden Era are in our late 70s and later and much less active. We have not been replaced as the subsequent generations have other interests and that is the way it goes. There will always be an interest in Model Boating but it will become very much a niche activity compared with past popularity.

      Colin

      20 August 2026 at 11:29 #128754
      Ray Wood 3
      Participant
        @raywood3

        Hi Colin,

        Yes things change and move on relatively quickly with practical hobbies , we have folk turning up at our lake at Bluewater with boats from loved ones that have passed almost on a weekly basis ! so if anybody wants any of my boats let me know less for my daughters to put on ebay in 20 years time !!  🙂

        Regards  Ray

        21 August 2026 at 17:49 #128765
        ashley needham
        Participant
          @ashleyneedham69188

          I’ve said it before, but i am under no illusion that my boats will be saved when i go up the the great pond in the sky. All my boats are destined for landfill barring perhaps a couple my son might want to keep…the top gear ones perhaps that i made for him when he was young.

          Will be worth nowt on 20 years time and there won’t be the people around interested enough to run them.

          Ashley ( Mr gloomy)

           

           

          21 August 2026 at 19:39 #128781
          Colin Bishop
          Moderator
            @colinbishop34627

            And all the innards will be rusted….

            Colin (a bit further on down the road)

            22 August 2026 at 09:05 #128784
            Richard Simpson
            Moderator
              @richardsimpson88330

              As Colin says, a sign of the times.  We are even seeing the first signs of contraction in that oldest bastion of the model world, railways, with a couple of the big vendors going under and even the Airfix/Hornby/Corgi/Scalextric empire now looking at restructuring.

              The fact is as plain as it has been for many years now, kids, in general, are simply not interested in making things. There are exceptions of course, but there are very few and not enough to support the big vendors, shows and events.

              I even see it in the classic vehicle market where my two old classic bikes, once considered sound investments, are now worth significantly less than I paid for them.  That’s if I can even sell them.

              22 August 2026 at 09:53 #128793
              Colin Bishop
              Moderator
                @colinbishop34627

                Same with cars too Richard, I saw a report hat values are falling there as well.

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