This is not my boat...

green boat
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker.

…but mine looked a lot like this. Perhaps not with a green bottom though.

There we were racing around the pond. I’m in the lead (just) and going well. Then I clip a buoy flipping the boat upside down. No idea how it happened, just lucky I suppose.

This means waiting for the wind to blow my model to the side. None of us had anything suitable to drive the boat rescuing devises – all we had was fast electric and you need slow manoeuvrable models to rescue other boats. Nature and a garden rake had to take its course.

Suprisingly the Slingshot seems to have taken very little water on board. Something must have gone though as a couple of laps into the next race, the propeller screwed itself hard up against the shaft so I stopped dead. These craft don’t have a reverse gear either so that wasn’t an option.

The only thing for it was to return to the bench, take the top off the model and fix things. Still, while I was in there it seemed like a good idea to get painting again.

My racing career isn’t going too well though. I definitely seem to have deja-vu about all this.