This is a great hobby, ( pastime, artistic, lifestyle...) A very enjoyable building experience for me, over the course of fifty some years.. sailboats, & powerboats.. very rewarding...
As a kid in the 1960’s I sailed M boats with my dad at the Mill Pond Model Yacht Club in Port Washington, NY. We also had a larger A class boat. Used vane gears. At one point someone gave us an old radio and servo from RC aircraft. We fit it to an M boat for rudder control only and were competitive with the vane boats. Still have my M boat, a thing of beauty.
Just got mine, helped a friend move and he gave it to me. Probably 1920's era, 19 inches long with a very large keel and tin rudder. Steering mechanism functions. Have both vintage sails but the rigging needs to be reworked as it had rope once now thin wire. Know nothing about sailing but I now want more pond yachts.
Great to see Thom again. What a force he has been in spreading the word of wooden pond yachts. An artist and a gentleman, I treasure the time we were able to spend together.
What joy! those boats are amazing beautiful works of art. I would have liked to have explained to me the process of "cold molding" (I think), but otherwise Thom conveyed marvellously the wonder of these yachts. Many thanks. Tom (from France)
Always admired Thom's work when at Redd's pond.Also very good skipper and nice guy to swap model boat build stories..Thanks Thom for just being you.Chris H.
Wonderful film, thank you. I’m wanting to build the boat In the film with the hard chines. It’s cream and green below the waterline. Can someone, preferably Thom, identify that boat for me? You can see this boat at, for example, 30:47 in the video. Are any plans available.
Built a 36inch Chico II in Middle school, Detroit ps, which was thrown away while in Army. I have purchased the plans and started to build it this month. Is there a resource I can go to for help? I will need help with the keel and sails. I love this!!
Have a look around if there is a local club close by. If not, internet forums are a good resource, like Model Boat Mayhem, for instance. I'm lucky that my mom is good with a sewing machine and a friend's uncle is making lamps, and he has the equipment to cast lead-weights.
When I was in shop class many years ago, I made a pond yacht out of a single plank of mahogany using a jig saw. With the table set at 5 degrees, each outline of the yacht looking at it from a plan view, was cut in the same direction, Every piece, smaller than the last, could be wedged in such a way to form a hull. Eventually the pieces are glued in place and shaped with draw knives and gouges to create a finished hull. I cannot find any information or designs for these types of pond yachts. Do you have any idea where I could find information on this type of construction and what the method is called?
