Photo: Kim Tunnicliffe / WBZ
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) – The sailing season may be over, but that’s not stopping a group of Dartmouth men from continuing their sailboat racing competition.
Ira Perry, along with a dozen other boaters, race their four-foot tall miniature remote-controlled sailboats every Sunday morning at the New Bedford Yacht Club.
Normally, the group would be racing competitively with their actual sailboats, but they switch gears during the winter months.
“We do competitive races,” Perry said. “We sail from mid-November to May and then it’s time to do the big boats again.”
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During the summer, the group races against each other using their actual sailboats. Perry said the same circle of boat enthusiasts race against each other regardless of the time of year.
“When we pull the big boats out of the water in the winter,” Perry explained, “we start sailing the model boats.”
Similar to a life-sized boat, the winds determine the speed at which the model boats travel. It also helps Perry and the group keep their motor skills alive.
WBZ’s Kim Tunnicliffe (@KimWBZ) took one of these boats for a spin:
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