Yachting with the BCMYC – Step-by-Step

The Blue Crab Model Yacht Club isn't the determiner of what kind of yacht you should own, any more than a "real" yacht club would try to tell you what kind of boat to buy. You decide what you want to float.

Regardless of your boating style or background - if boating is in your blood, or you're a boating amateur in need of a hobby - model yachting can provide an outlet that is free (mostly) of the geographic and monetary limitations full-sized boating imposes. So YOU decide what you want to do with your yacht. Do you want to build a beautiful replica of a real ship or yacht? Do you want to race power boats? Are you a sailor by nature? Perhaps you would like to experiment with submarines! You'll be amazed at what's out there.

Determine the boat you want to buy or build. First decision: Power or sail?

Power boats can be classified into three groups:

• Scale – replica of full-sized boats, yachts, ships (some can be 12 feet long!), and even submarines.
• Competition – designed for closed course racing, typically "hydroplane" type vessels
• Recreational – not designed for competition, just fun, and available at many local hobby shops and toy stores.

Sailboats can be similarly classified.

• Scale – there are several classes of true scale sailboats, designed and built to look just like their full-sized counterparts.
• Competition – While these designs are inspired by real racing yacht designs, certain liberties are taken to improve performance and make the boats practical to sail.
• Recreational – like recreational power boats, these are intended for recreational sailing, and while they could be raced, their performance takes a back seat to small size and ease of handling.

There are dozens, if not hundreds, of web sites presenting clubs, retailers, hobbyists, and organizations tied to the categories above. Try a Google search for "model yacht" or "scale model ship" or any of gazillions of combinations, and you'll find more than you can digest.

The founding class at the BCMYC is the CR-914. Many, but not all, of our members are interested in competitive sailing. Without repeating all of the information on this and numerous other web sites, in summary this class’s popularity is attributed to its blend of performance, size, comprehensive kit packaging, one-design rules, and price.

If the CR-914 is for you, then the next decision is what package to buy: kit, partially built, or finished. The prices are about $475, $700, and $900 respectively. These decisions apply similarly to many of the competition sailboat classes.

Regardless of what package you buy, you will need to select a radio channel that hasn’t already been assigned to a club member. Go to our Frequency Table page to determine which channels in the 75MHz band are available, and request one of them when you order your boat.

Once you’ve done that, you should join the American Model Yachting Association. The dues are reasonable and the quarterly magazine is attractive and informative.

Finally, once you’ve ordered your CR-914, you need to register it with the Class Secretary. The registration fee is a one-time $5 charge. In return you get a sail number and instructions for how to place the number on the sail.

If the CR-914 ISN'T your boat, that's fine with us. We encourage variety. If you'd like advice, send a note to the Commodore with your questions, and a response is guaranteed!