Sail Away
Come watch the races on June 23, 2024 at the inaugural Windjammer Days SPI Cup! This day of R/C sailboat racing hosted by the Maine Model Yacht Club takes place on the first day of Windjammer Days (Boothbay Harbor’s unofficial kickoff to summer!) and will feature some of the best competitors in New England’s R/C sailing community.
All are welcome (on-site parking available) to watch two heats of racing throughout the morning and afternoon on the Spruce Point Inn waterfront. Enjoy an elevated view of the racecourse from the patio of our recently renovated saltwater Oceanside Pool and stick around after the trophy presentation to test your own sea-legs: learn how to sail an R/C racing yacht through a course in our Oceanside Pool!
Raceday Schedule
Sunday June 23, 2024*
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9:00 AM: Registration Opens
9:15 AM: Practice Begins
10:15 AM: Pre-Race Meeting (Skippers)
10:30 AM: First Heat of Racing
12:00 PM: Lunch Break
1:00 PM: Second Heat of Racing
2:45 PM: Awards presentation
3:00 PM: Learn to R/C Sail
4:00 PM: Dinner on the Grandview Deck (a la cart, all welcome!)
*Rain-delay date: June 30th
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ABOUT THE BOATS & RACING
The Windjammer Days SPI Cup regatta features 24 skippers racing DragonForce 95 R/C sailboats. These radio-controlled sailboats harness the power of the wind the same way a full-scale sailboat does. With radio-controlled winches and rudders, skippers trim their sails of their model yacht from the shore to navigate in the breeze on racecourses in ponds and harbors throughout New England and around the world. All the same principals of sailing apply to model yachts, and the racing follows most of the same rules found in full-scale racing.
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ABOUT THE MAINE MODEL YACHT CLUB
MMYC, which is registered with the American Model Yachting Association as Club #396, was created to promote the designing, building, sailing, and racing of model yachts, both sail and power. The Club strongly encourages good sportsmanship and fair play, and seeks to develop members’ skills and understanding of the sport. Many of MMYC’s members are themselves former or current racers of full-scale sailboats too.
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HISTORY OF MODEL YACHT RACING
Since the advent of the modern schooner rigging, hobbyists have tinkered with rigged scale model sailboats in ponds, bays, and harbors around the world. The earliest iteration of the hobby required the skipper to adjust course and sail trim with a long cane standing on the shore or in the bow of a rowboat. The development of radio-control and plastic technology in the middle of the 20th transformed the sport into what we know today, giving skippers the opportunity to create greater precision and speed and more exciting competition. Today there are more than 30 classes of model racing yachts and hundreds of model yacht clubs across America alone.