For Peter Meixner of Delmar, the perfect day for sailing is sunny, 75 degrees with low humidity.
“Wind out of the southeast, about 10 to 12 miles per hour. What could be better than that?” Meixner asked.
But instead of driving up to Lake George to hit the water, Meixner, 70, is the commodore of the Capital Area Model Boat Association (CAMBA), where he races radio-controlled, miniature sailboats with about 20 other men in the pond at The Crossings of Colonie.
The group, which holds races on Tuesdays and practices on Thursdays, is sanctioned club No. 32 of the American Model Yacht Association (AMYA) and sails the Soling 1 Meter design. This design resembles a model of an Olympic sailboat, and CAMBA follows the basic rules from the AMYA. Some rules include having the boat be a minimum of 10 pounds and “no more, no less” than a 600-square inch sail area, Meixner said. Penalties, like doing a complete 360-degree circle, are given out when boats collide and don’t follow the rules of right-of-way.
“These are in fact sailboats, just like a 25-foot sailboat is a sailboat. They’re only moved by the wind. We control them — the essential sailing qualities — just the way a full-sized sailboat would be,” Meixner said. “With our radio transmitter we can control a mechanism inside the boat that takes the sails in or out. The other function is the steering. We control direction and sail angle. I think it probably sounds obvious, but since they’re so small we have to stand on the shore.”
By using the same boat design, each club member has the same chance of winning a race. The boats, which are usually ordered online, can be bought as a kit (about $300) or completed (about $600).
“A boat that a factory makes is just as competitive on the water as mine,” said Meixner, who built his boat. “No one boat is inherently faster than another one, except that the skipper of it may be better at adjusting his boat than somebody else.”
As Fleet Captain, Ted Smith of Clifton Park creates the course for the club’s races. Colored buoys are position in the pond for the sailboats to go around. Smith, 71, determines the pattern, which differs from race to race. Although the boats are built so they cannot capsize, a rescue toy tugboat named “The Urger” is always ready if something goes wrong.
Meixner said the club likes to have about six races on official race days so “everyone has a chance to win or improve.”
“We’ll select the buoys depending on the wind direction and sometimes the wind strength, too. We might make it a longer course if it’s a fairly windy day than we would if it was a really light wind day,” Meixner said.
Smith, who also has a 24-foot sloop in Lake George, is retired but wanted to continue to pursue his hobby.
“I love sailing. I like to race. It’s hard to race when you reach a certain age like I am. You gotta get crew and you gotta have good balance,” Smith said. “So (with model boats) I can keep on sailing without the bother.”
CAMBA runs from May to October, with three seven-week periods of scoring. Like golf, a lower score is better. After each period, a trophy is given to a winner. The races aren’t always about winning, however.
“People that don’t win a lot still have fun,” Meixner said. “Sometimes the most interesting race is the race within that race where maybe fifth, sixth and seventh are very tightly grouped and trying to beat each other. They’re having just as much fun.”
Plus, Meixner said, “no lead is safe with these boats.”
“You gotta sail hard all the way to the end,” he said.
The pond at The Crossings works as a perfect location for the club. Meixner said wildlife has never been an issue, but Smith hasn’t been so lucky.
“On the back of the boat, there’s a little black thing called a bowsie, used to adjust the rig. A duck came up and thought it was a bug. He started attacking it. It was a slow, no wind day. Everyone thought I was crazy for yelling at the darn duck,” Smith said. “He went after the boat and starting pulling on it trying to get the ‘bug’ off it and then it just gave up. It didn’t taste good, I guess.”
Although the current club members are mainly retired men, Meixner said anyone is welcome to try it out. CAMBA will hold a regatta at the The Crossing’s Harvest Fest on Sunday, Sept. 16 at 1 p.m.
Other Harvest Fest events will include old-fashioned wagon rides, children’s activities, musical performances, puppet shows, a hole-in-one contest, crafts, food and more. The event runs from noon to 5 p.m. For more information on Harvest Fest, visit colonie.org.
