The Beginnings of the Australia Model Yachting Association. (Later to become the Australian Radio Yachting Association). In the Beginning as the story goes there was one club (the Model Yacht Club of Melbourne) and the date was 1 st July 1865, the place at the Sandridge Lagoon near Port Melbourne. This is the first reported model yacht club in Australia. The next club, (I won t say the second for as yachtsmen know in sailing, the famous words uttered no Ma am there is no second ) was the Sydney s Moore Park Club that started in 1868 at the famous Centennial Park. From this auspicious beginnings the Melbourne club, the Albert Park Yacht Club followed. This was a full size club at the site of the present Albert Park before the lake was built 1877. The Albert Park Model Yacht Club got into full swing about 1903 with gaff cutters and schooners 2 ft to 6 ft in length. (see photo 1).
In the mean time, the Sydney club was racing right from their inception shortly after in 1868. They had a pond that was rectangular and at the time was coated with tar to keep the water in for it is very sandy soil around that area, even today. (See photo 2).
There was a Naval report from a British Naval Squadron that was on a visit to Australia in 1869 who gave a report about the models sailing in Moore park at that time and the only photo of that Squadron is when it was visiting Hobart town in Jan 1870, in the book One Hundred Years of Sailing by Webster (1936). (See photo 3).
There is a report in 1888 in the English Magazine The Model Yachtsmen of a letter to the Editor from one, J.M. Donaldson of Darlington April the 10 th 1888 in Sydney, that makes interesting reading about the boats that were sailing in that era. (See photo 4).
Right from this earliest period, we had strong links from Mother England. For we became a nation in 1901 at Federation. However Melbourne was still considered to be the nation s political capitol city. I find it a bit of a worry that we had these early clubs in Australia and they were not talking because they probably didn t know about each other s existence owing to the fact that we are geographically a big land mass and the communications were a big problem in those days. This showed itself when in 1965 we in Sydney didn t know with whom we were to affiliate with? From the earliest beginnings in England of their Model Yacht Association in circa 1913 the club in Melbourne was affiliated with the MYA as the Colonial Member Club for Australia. In fact when Don McPherson of the Albert Park Model Yacht Club raced in England in 1932, he represented as a Colonial Member of the MYA. And again in 1948 he again enters as a colonial member for the English All Nations Race in that year. This situation continued right up till 1964. In around 1964, a couple of families arrived in Adelaide (SA) from some of the vane sailing clubs in Bournville and Fleetwood [England] and wanted to race under the Australian flag. I have not actually seen any paper work on this happening. The AMYA was held by one club in those days and the paperwork would be with that clubs historical records. So I m surmising a bit here but I was told that the model yacht people in Melbourne were a little put out with this happening. Now I only heard this many years ago from some of the old members in the Albert Park Model Yacht Club and I can only rely on the veracity of it from them. These couple of families were formulated in to a basically power boat club with the name of Model Ship and Power-Boat Club of South Australia. This club had a venue of a small round pond called Bonython Park in Adelaide that was not really suitable as a sailing venue. They considered they were the founders of the AMYA and were affiliated with the IMYRU and the MPBA of GB. I do know that when the Sydney Model Yacht Club started in circa 1965, that we did not know to whom we were to affiliate with. Like was it
Melbourne or Adelaide? As it was not clear-cut at that stage, even then [1965]! Anyway it eventually got sorted out. What I didn t mention was there were some clubs that didn t sort of fit in to the story, so far and this was the NSW Model Yacht Club from c1934. This club was also affiliated with the MYA as a colonial member. Here was a Scotsman V. Blacket, who ran this club who started a class called the Australian B Class on a reduced formula of the A class rules with the prime purpose of beating Marbleheads or to be comparable to this class that was sweeping the World at that time. He didn t like them and the Aussie B was his answer to them. This club and other clubs, namely, the Newcastle Miniature Model Yacht Club and the Society of Model Engineers in Sydney NSW, raced from 1934 to c1955. There registered boat numbers were in the middle 30s. All these boat were Vane Steered. These clubs had 6 metres in them as well. It also must be remembered that model yacht making was considered a hobby in most places or towns that had School of Arts. These were community type Adult schools. One prominent one was the Kempsey one in NSW that had a large model yacht class circa 1922. (See photo 5).
About the end of the 1960 s a Queensland Model Boat Association Group got going and this was the start of a National Association that is represented in most states and territories in Australia, today. Stephen Crewes. Historical officer July 2008.