The 3 man Atlanta contingent plus 2 took our show to Atlanta Yacht Club on Lake Allatoona at the request of former Atlanta Model Yacht Club EC-12 racer and current Snipe racer Ian Elliott. Ian is a long time AMYA member with a number in the 2 thousands. His blue boat, Praise, made the cover and was featured in a sail shape/tuning article in Model Yachting several years ago. He is trying to start an EC-12 fleet at Atlanta Yacht Club.
They have a very nice place to sail under the roof of a good sized lakeside pavilion. On this day the wind blew onshore, offshore and angled to the shore starting out light and getting up to about 4 and maybe 6. One of the constant features of racing model boats on Allatoona is bouncing on motor boat wakes. The EC-12 is probably much better suited to racing in those conditions than smaller craft would be.
We had 6 boats and many AYC members were eager to sail them before they launched and raced their big boats.. From the time we got setup and in the water there were a lot of different people taking the controls of a boat and joining in the ongoing short races. Of course there was the expected good natured kidding, bickering, and giving each other a hard time. Also some very good sailing and racing was done by people who had never sailed a model boat before.
The EC-12 has a way of selling itself to any sailor who grabs the controls and so the boat was a hit with the members. The enthusiasm seems to be there to start and grow a fleet with the help of Ian. Perhaps the Harry Mote “business model” (one enthusiastic person building lots and lots of EC-12s) can be successfully employed here in the south.