From the Admiral’s Desk

• The CapeWest Promise

  

  Being the owner of a model RC boat places a lot of pride in one’s heart. The pain-staking detail and the amount of time put into it can never be rewarded enough. As the Cape’s best RC club we want to make you a promise. We promise that: We will never charge a membership fee for social sailing at public venues. We will never ask you to remove your boat from the water as another activity takes preference. The sea is full of ships. Every ship and small boat has the right to be there. That is why captains and skippers need to navigate the ocean. The idea of removing all power boats to allow sailing boats in the Atlantic Ocean is absurd. Why should you then be treated differently in a dam with model boats?  

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• CapeWest MBC terminates membership fees

  

  The national lockdown has given us all a beating of one kind or another. Some lost their jobs, their loved-ones and even their lives. It is with this great peril in mind that we have opted to cancel all membership fees moving forward. But that is not the only reason why we are the Cape’s only Free-to-join Radio Controlled Model Boat Club. It would have been nice to claim that we are the exclusive permit holders to a specific water body, but we all know that making such a claim is not only false but also unconstitutional. Public parks and dams are created for each and every citizen to enjoy; not just for an elected few. Why then should we charge a membership fee? The exception to this is however our Officer’s Mess. This is for the serious model boat enthusiast who likes to show their skill and detailed models and obviously their achievements. Joining the Officer’s Mess is R420 and your membership will remain valid for as long as you attend any of our Ranking Events. These events allow you to move up in the ranks of the club and eventually become part of the command structure. The longer it takes you do move up the ranks, the greater the chances of another person beating you to it. And the ranks get fewer as you move up. But, as the club also need to maintain the reputation of the model boating fraternity, it is inevitable that we will need funding of some sort to keep the sport alive. One expense that we need to cover is the monthly hosting and maintenance of our website and the digital membership card system. If you can afford it, even if you are not into model boats, feel free to join as a friend of the club. Your contribution will allow us to keep going for another two months.

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• The future in a post-COVID model world

  

  There is no doubt in my mind that the national lockdown since March 2020 has taken its toll on the model shipping industry. For many of us, it was the ideal opportunity to complete that long forgotten project, and some even ventured into the world of shipping innovation. But for others, the lockdown yielded some rather disturbing consequences. One of the biggest disasters of the ANC’s disaster management efforts, was the closure of a few of our favorite Hobby shops. It is with great sadness that we had to learn of a few stores that had to abandon ship and some opted to continue their online sales only. A recent search of the internet for online shops supplying the model shipping industry, had some disappointing results and it appears that the RC world remains dominated by the Air and Road model transport sector. The upside is that it created an opportunity to re-evaluate our vision for the model boating sector and we are proud to announce that CapeWest has created its own online store specifically to supply the model ship modelers.  Greatermans Hobbies, the official store for the Model Boat Building, Racing and Yachting, will be opening very soon to provide a one-stop solution for model boat enthusiasts. Greatermans will also provide FREE delivery to all CapeWest Club members, regardless of the value of the order. Club Members will also benefit from the shop and can use the “Pre-Owned” and “Classifieds” sections of the online store to advertise their well-loved models, components and parts. Further news is that CapeWest will be opening a Boat Yard which offers consignment and custom built models as well as ship repair.  This service will include the construction of wooden models purchased from Greatermans on a Labour & Consumables fixed fee per length. Greatermans will offer RC and Static built options with every order of compatible wooden model kits. In order to further promote the Model Yachting industry, a “rental” service will also kick-off, which allows any person to try out one of the model sailing yachts at the Sonstraal and Kraaifontein ponds. With these developments, you have to ask yourself, why you haven’t joined the Cape’s best model boat club yet?

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