Puzzling Pond Yacht

[Jonathan KinghornParticipant @jonathankinghorn16230]

I recently bought a pond yacht on eBay and wonder if anyone here recognizes the design? She was sold as dating from the 1950s but is clearly much younger, perhaps from the 1970s or 80s. She is a bit of a puzzle—a free sailing model too small for club racing but too sophisticated to be a toy. The rigging for the main sheets to the Braine gear quadrant is missing and there is no sign of blocks or fairleads for it ever having been fitted to the deck. But there is monofilament fishing line rigging set up to connect the jib boom to the quadrant. (I can’t figure out how this should be set up and am thinking now that the main sheets may have been rigged to the jib boom in error, although there is no horse for jib sheets.) Most of the rigging is braided line, with neat round bowsies on the booms and rectangular bowsies elsewhere. I am beginning to wonder if this boat was built from a kit, but the adjustable step for the mast and the Braine gear quadrant are clearly home-made. Curiously, the selvage of both sails is on the luff rather than the leach. She is 30 inches ( cm) long with a beam of inches ( cm). Any thoughts?

[Jonathan KinghornParticipant @jonathankinghorn16230]

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Hello Jonathon

I don`t recognise the model

That`s probably why you have not had a reply?

Just a few questions…….

I note it has vane steering and also note that the Vane is missing which would control the rudder

The Vane is fixed to the rudder and is normally set by the user to set a course across the pond

You need a pond where you have complete access to your model as it arrives at the pond edge

I think the Vane has some attachment to the sail setting too

You really need to make contact with a keen yachter, who will provide the nitty gritty info.

Look through the earlier postings and seek out anybody with a similar interest

Best of luck

Bob

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

If no one on here can help you could try the Vintage Model Yacht Group.

http://www.vmyg.org.uk/index.htm

Colin

Edited By Colin Bishop on 05/10/2021 10:08:15

[redpmgParticipant @redpmg]

At one stage Hobbies of Dereham sold a ready made display yacht and supplied bits & pieces to convert it for sailing. Possibly one of those ? . Nothing on their current website – but I will dig through my old catalogs and see what I can find .

Also have some digital articles on vane steering if you wanted those.

[Jonathan KinghornParticipant @jonathankinghorn16230]

Thank you all for the responses. I have been in touch with the UK VMYG about another of my yachts, but so far without any response. Hobbies of Dereham is a great suggestion, and would explain a lot about this model, thank you so much for that suggestion.

The steering on this model is of the Braine gear type, and should indeed be connected to the main sheets and mainsail but this rigging is currently entirely missing. The jib boom, however, is set up to connect to the Braine quadrant, which is an unusual refinement on such a small and simple yacht. This is what makes me suspect that the rigging has been set up wrongly.

I will certainly search earlier posts to see what I can learn and who I might bug.

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Jonathon

Search for Gareth and Elizabeth Jones

Famous for free sailing yacht sports

Bob

[redpmgParticipant @redpmg]

Hi Jonathon – Regret I have been unable to locate the catalogs – we moved and a lot of boxes are not yet unpacked . Bobs suggestion would seem to be the best solution , Elizabeth has rescued many old model Sailing vessels from what I have read. When I do find the catalogs will let you know if there was anything re the yacht.

.

Edited By redpmg on 06/10/2021 11:25:56

[Jonathan KinghornParticipant @jonathankinghorn16230]

Thanks for looking redpmg, I really appreciate it.

I was buying from Hobbies and using their catalogues in the late 70s and early 80s when helping my mother with her doll house hobby, and wonder if this may be why this model yacht looks strangely familiar?

I will certainly search for Gareth and Elizabeth Jones to see if I can pick their brains about my yachts.

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