Previous to radio controlled boats I was very heavily into rockets and control line airplanes then one day I happened along a hydroplane race (glow fueled) put on by the local boat club ( Buffalo Model Powerboat Club) and was hooked. That was the end of the rockets and planes. Later that week I discovered that the club also had a scale division as well as a sail division. I checked out one of each of their races as well. Since I could not decide what I liked best,  I joined the club in 1976 at the age of 13 to try to get a better feel for the hobby. I still could not decide,  so I entered all 3 factions.  My first 3 boats were a Dumas Drag'n'Fly 20, A Dumas 24" Shelly Foss tug, and a Vortex Santa Barbara sailboat.  Over the years I eventually dropped the hydroplane side of things as it became very expensive and I had college to pay for. I am still a member to this day and still race sailboats as well as scale. I have lost count of how many models I have built over the years but it is a large number. There are in excess of 30 completed models in the basement right now with at least another 300 kits/hulls in storage waiting to be built. At this rate I will need to live for hundreds of years but that is what makes it exciting. Current projects are a Model Slipway Aziz and a Oliver Hazzard Perry frigate.

Webmaster:  Don and his wife Renee also own and operate Loyalhanna Shipyard