From tall ships, to multi-million dollar yachts, to fireboats, many spectacular vessels can be seen in Greenport. But for some, the most fascinating ones are not the most gargantuan.
Testing the waters in the Greenport harbor by the Shelter Island Ferry, The East End Seaport Museum’s model yacht club met for the first time last month.
Ed Chimney, an organizer at the museum and founder of the club, said that the club will meet every third Saturday of the month through October at the museum starting at 1:30 p.m. Upcoming events will be held on July 18, Aug. 15, Sept. 19 and Oct. 17.
“I’d always felt the museum had potential but needed something to liven it up,” he said. “I used to build model boats, so I thought they might be interested in forming a club. We’ve been testing the models in Mitchell Park since February.”
To start, the club sailed a CR-914 model, which is roughly three feet long and six pounds and is equipped with a radio. The 914 millimeter-long CR-914 is based on the original design of the International America’s Cup Class, and sails well in the extremely wide range of wind velocities found on the East End of Long Island.
“Eventually down the road we’d like to have classes on how to construct model boats as well,” said Chimney. “It’ll be great if more people start come out and we can build a following.”
The first meeting attracted nautical enthusiasts of all ages from across the North Fork. Owen Kanz of Peconic said he has been teaching his son, Thomas, about model boat racing for several years.
“I actually built a model boat while I was in school,” he said. “We like to race our sunfish, so this is just on a smaller scale.”
Larry Rubin of Southold said he and his son Andrew, who is a longtime member of the Southold Yacht Club, have always shared an interest in model yachts, planes, and cars.
“We’ve built a very easy model boat, but have never done anything like this,” he said. “I was interested in it as a kid and I pushed him into it as well. It’ll be great once they can start doing races.”
For more information contact Ed Chimney at (631) 697-5118 or [email protected] or visit the club’s Facebook page here.
