On the first and third Sundays of each month, you will find the Olympia Model Sailors (OMS) racing club members near local waters, guiding and competing in their wind-powered model sailboats. But more importantly, the members are also teaching new skippers how to build and navigate these model sailing yachts.
“With our club racing, the main thing is to get new people started and explain the rules on how to race,” says Dan Shier, the self-described “de facto” organizer of the OMS club. Shier says the idea to form the local club came to him a couple of years ago. “It all got started when I was sitting at the lake having a beer with my brother-in-law. I got a couple of remote-controlled boats to sail while I could still have a beer. Now I have 20 boats.”
Olympia Model Sailors Connect Through Facebook
Shier’s 20 boats are stored at his Tumwater home, in what his family has called the “Shier Shipyard.” The model boats are entirely wind-powered. The rudders and sails are guided by operators on shore using hand-held radio controls with a transmitter sending signals to a receiver in the boat. Races are conducted under the same World Sailing Racing Rules that are used for full-sized crewed sailing boats.
Once he became interested in these model boats, Shier created a new Facebook page in 2021 for local experienced and new model boat sailors to find each other, share information about radio sailing and races, buy and sell vessels, and give boat construction and sailing tips. And then the OMS club set sail.
Shier says there are five such sailing clubs in Western Washington, and OMS is the only club located between Seattle and Portland. The Olympia club is informal, with no officers but more than 300 followers on Facebook. OMS sailors typically meet near the Swantown Marina, the Port of Olympia Plaza, and Longs Pond in Lacey. The twice-monthly gathering locations are posted on Facebook, along with other area sailing news, events and regattas. OMS sailors put their boats into local waters to develop and test their skills and can participate in regional, national and international competitions.
Per Flygare of Centralia says he has been remote sailing since 2012 but previously had to travel around the state to sail and compete. Flygare says that with OMS, he can now join other sailors locally. “Just by luck I found OMS on Facebook,” he says. “I found they were sailing in my neighborhood.”
Olympia Model Sailors Invite Skippers to Join Them. No Sailing Experience Necessary
Some OMS participants have experience sailing large vessels, others do not. “It’s a mix of people,” says member Jack Long, who does not have a sailing background but does have remote-control (RC) experience. New member Dan McDuff of rural Olympia says he has sailed crewed vessels and has flown remote-controlled airplanes, but this is his first foray into model RC sail boating. “So I am somewhat familiar with sailing and with remote controls,” he says.
While participants’ RC boat models may vary, many own Dragonflite 95 (DF95) vessels, which are used in competitions and are also good for beginners. These boats do not take much wind to push them through the water. “If you can feel it on your face, that’s enough,” says Long. Long also operates a small model tugboat that places the racing buoys out onto the water for local events and sometimes assists becalmed or stranded vessels.
On a recent Sunday at the Swantown Marina, the morning started out a bit cloudy, but the sun slowly came out, with sea lions and jellyfish making an appearance. Experienced model sailor Ian Beswick showed new member Jerry Yeazell some of the ins and outs of building and sailing these vessels, giving helpful tips. “The great thing about these is – and I race big boats, too – while it seems like an extravagant toy, you save on moorage fees and other costs,” says Beswick. “The level of competition is high with the traveling events, but beginners can still do it.”
The Olympia Model Sailors Club is Now Part of Remote Sailing’s Nautical History
Model sail boating has a long history as a hobby sport around the world, with organized model yachting dating back to at least the 1800s in Great Britain. The first radio-controlled model yacht was demonstrated in Boston in 1934 by a Harvard University student.
The American Model Yachting Association was formed in 1970, now listing an OMS page on its website. That’s because Olympia Model Sailors has become part of this model craft nautical history, which is fitting given the club’s location on the seafaring Puget Sound. For more information on joining OMS and participating in or observing radio-controlled sail boating events, visit the OMS Facebook page.
