
Sail Making for Model Yachts
The making of sails is an art whether they are to be used on large vessels or on a miniature.

The making of sails is an art whether they are to be used on large vessels or on a miniature.


This is the earliest comprehensive treatment of model yachting that we have encountered. It comes from the English journal Amateur Work, a Victorian periodical with articles on arts, crafts, and some truly frightening electric devices. The article is interesting, and typical for its age, in the way it combines rules of thumb with engineering calculation.

An introduction to hand planes useful in model building.

A turnbuckle, strictly speaking, has two threads, one right-hand and one left-hand. A bottle screw has one. Most people use the term “turnbuckle” for both.

This report doesn't deal with specific rule changes, but it discusses the interesting concept of assigning boats to the Traditional or High Flyer division based on properties of the boat rather than relying strictly on the design year because that is often unknown or murky.


This report discusses more suggested changes to the rule including the use of modern materials and fiberglass hulls. It reviews and discusses nine proposed changes and gives their approval status.

The wave theory described here was attractive to Victorian naval architects because it was fundamentally geometric and could be implemented using the drafting instruments of the time.