Good luck tomorrow. I look forward to seeing the photo's.

Well, another long day is now over. Sadly the weather wasn't very good with constant drizzle and some spells of heavier rain during the morning, but things did improve during the afternoon, so the attendance was down on previous years - Not surprising really, as I'm sure a lot of people would have looked at the forecast and decided not to make a long journey!

Anyway, we still had our normal good turnout from Scotland, and others from various parts of the UK. Stuart Badger and his wife Ros made the trip over from Naxos in Greece - A supreme effort by them to attend a small model boat show!

In all we probably had 24-25 models present, and most of them got on the water at one point or another, especially during the afternoon.

Stuarts model of the RMS Connaught sailed majestically almost the entire day, with various people taking the transmitter, and yes I was one of the lucky ones who got a turn at the sticks!

Kim Maclean (Talisman) and his wife Susan came down from Glasgow as Kim wanted to sail some of his paddlers, and whilst they were there they setup a small display stand to show off some of the products that they do under the name of Clyde Model Boats. Although the numbers that attended were down, they still seemed to do a reasonable trade throughout the day.

Everyone that came was asked to vote for the model they considered to be Best model on the water, and Stuarts model of the Connaught won hands down - Not surprisng really as it was just magnificent!

Everyone that registered to sail got a raffle ticket, and at the end of the day the raffle was drawn.  The prize was a hull and a set of drawings for the Marchioness of Lorne, which was kindly donated by Clyde Model Boats. I beleive I'm right in saying that it was won by Pete Ritchie, but I'm sure someone will correct me if I've got that wrong!

So, a long tiring day that didn't get off to the best start weather wise, but in the end things improved and everyone that did come seemed to enjoy it..... So here's to next years event, which will be our 5th show - Who said paddlers weren't popular?!

Pictures will follow in the next few days....

Regards
Eddy

Hi Eddy,

i am so sorry to hear about the weather, but it seems it wasn't to bad

It was hard for Daniel, Joerg and me not to be with you all, but i tell you we will be there next Year and hopefully many of you too.

Can't wait to see the pictures, best regards from you Swiss-German friends, Daniel, Joerg and me

Thanks Hans,

You, Joerg, and Daniel were missed - You even got a mention when Ian Archibald (or club secretary) did the presentations at the end of the day!

Given that the weather wasn't very good, I think the turnout was better than most of us had thought. Next year we'll have sunshine I promise!

I'll look forward to seeing you all again next year - Even Stuart might join us again from Greece if his health allows it. Thankfully he got a bit of good news from the hospital on friday to say things were better than the doctors had thought, so he may have more time than they first said.

Regards
Eddy

Eddy
An excellent day and many thanks to you and the rest of the guys in the club for a very warm welcome. Made good time on the way back up and Connaught is safely installed in Balloch. Haven't unpacked the crate as I was scared of damaging anything in poor light. Will be out first thing in the morning to remove it from its cocoon and bring it indoors. There is a Queue of people waiting to see it.

We all knew that this was going to be something special from the build log but to see it in the flesh, so to speak, was incredible. Like you I got my hands on the transmitter and she handles beautifully, a true lady. Stuart has done a fantastic job and I'm really glad that he achieved his ambition to sail her at Darlington. Fortunate for the rest of us too, I think everyone was enthralled.

As you know my sister and brother travelled  to see what all the fuss was about but didn't tell me that they were coming. A lovely surprise and an added bonus as I don't get to see them that often since they migrated South of Hadrian's Wall. They were suitably impressed by Connaught and indeed the rest of the models on display. Both said that you couldn't meet a nicer bunch of people, they were made very welcome. Thanks again for this.

Regards

Andy

Eddy,

We are safely back in the home of the Sir WW, and all is well.

I would just like to thank you and the rest of the club members for making organising such an event, and making us all so welcome, and with that, the weather doesn't really matter.

A great day was had by all, as always, roll on next year.

Peter

Hi All,
A great day despite the weather, great food, great company, well organised, excellent boats, roll on next year.....

A couple of pics -

more...

more..

Last one .....

Our sincere thanks to All involved in the organisation and especially the Ladies in the kitchen and the superb cake & sandwiches ! .... I'm now on a diet ....

Regards,
Kim

Very many thanks to all of the members of Darlington & District MBC who worked so hard to make the 2010 Paddler Day so enjoyable. The facilities you have are superb but really it's the friendliness of everyone you meet that really makes the day. I too am now going on a diet after all the wonderful food served up by the hard working ladies in the Community Hall and the enormous curry we enjoyed in such great company on Saturday evening.
It is always a pleasure to have our annual live meet with the Thursday evening Skype crowd in person.
This year's event may have been a little smaller than last years because of the weather - or was it that the rest had gone to see the Pope? - but it was made memorable by just seeing Stuart's 'Connaught' gracing the water. That was a moment to remember.
As usual I ended up coming home with yet another boat - Bob's Princess Elizabeth - so will be spending the week getting it up and running for Sunday in Edinburgh. It's probably just as well we didn't have a bigger car with us as a few more might have been making their way North!

Many thanks again to you all for another wonderful day. I'll get some pics posted later.

Andrew

Just got back to Cornwall in one piece and wanted to say a big 'Thank you' to the club for organising such a great day. It is the first model boat meet I've ever been to and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was so nice meeting such friendly and like-minded people. Connaught had to be the highlight of the day, - closely followed by winning the raffle! (Hate to think what the lady wife will say when she finds out I'm going to build another one!)
Thanks again, - see you next year.
All the best,
Pete

Hi All,
I too wouldlike to thank Eddy and the darlington club for a very enjoyable and friendly day.  i will definatly be back net year.

A few photos taken by Andrew Gray (ajg141) from Edinburgh...

And a few more from Andrew Gray....