The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum’s (CBMM) Model Sailing Club will race model sailing skipjacks on Sunday, September 21, with the public invited to watch from the museum’s St. Michaels waterfront.
Club members will race radio-controlled (RC) model skipjacks along CBMM’s Fogg’s Cove, with the races scheduled to begin at noon. The club holds monthly races at the museum from May to October each year, with the schedule posted to the CBMM website.
Built in the early twentieth century, the sail-powered skipjack was once a cost effective working boat used by watermen for oyster dredging. Today, only a few remain working on the Chesapeake Bay.
The club races RC models of these two-sailed bateaux, which at full size can vary from 38 to 48 feet in length. The 48-inch skipjack models are built from scratch from plans sold by the club at the Museum Store.
Started in 1983 as the Saint Michaels Model Boat Club, the Model Sailing Club continues today at CBMM through its many members and volunteers, and meets regularly throughout the year to build and race these models. To learn more about the races, or to join the club, contact Commodore Richard Clayton at 410-745-2372.
For more information about CBMM, call 410-745-2916 or visit www.cbmm.org.