Club 500

The better weather recently has seen me back out on the water with the Club 500 model racing boat. It's a bit faster than the Slingshot I'm used to so a few practise laps are in order before the start of the season if I hope to do anything on the leader board.

Batting the boat around a couple of weeks ago I hit a buoy. The top flipped off and only the receiver wire being taped to it allowed retrieval. The collision had caused the motor to jump backward and away from the propshaft. The model was dragged back to the bank, repaired and headed back out again.

A few minutes later, I was hit by another practising 500. This time the top flipped off, tantalisingly floated for long enough to get the long reach pole to the water, and then sank before we managed to get a hold of it. It seems that Club 500 tops don't float, despite being made of plastic.

Despondent, I returned home. Eventually I gave Model Slipway a ring. The very helpful lady on the other end of the 'phone was great - she checked her stock and since they had some slight seconds of the orange tops available, offered to send me one for the cost of postage. Result !

The new top has been fitted and now has a slab of polystyrene fitted in the top. A quick test in the sink shows this will be sufficient to keep it on top of the water in future. As an added insurance, a bit of wire has been tied to the top and attached firmly in the boat. Next time, the top will float and be easy to tow back to the bank !

With the model on the bench I got on with decorating the hull so it stands out in a pack of racing models. I had considered some fancy paint job but in the end decided I couldn't be bothered. These boats aren't about looks, although I think they look smashing, they are about racing. Some white vinyl stripes, numbers and stars will do for me. The result looks striking - probably better than the painted version would have.