Pond Yacht 'Monarch'

A sleek 1920s Bermudian rigged 36 inch pond yacht with balanced main sail steering gear, painted hull and lead keel. The sails have age with some lovely character to them and the model sits on a newly made stand using old timber.

Dimensions: 150cm/ 59 inches (height on stand) x 19cm/ 7½ inches (max width) x 91cm/ 35¾ inches (length).

The history of pond yachts originates in the early 19th century in Great Britain. During the early 1800s fisherman and sailors carved primitive wooden boat models for their children to sail on regional British ponds. Other craftsman enthusiasts then started making and racing small model sailing boats in London, on public park ponds like Green Park and the Round Pond in Kensington Gardens.

By the 1870s these model sailing boats had become a lot more serious with gentlemen commissioning skilled craftsmen to create one off examples. The Model Yacht Sailing Association was established 1876 formalising rules, class sizes, and competitive regattas. Then, in 1884, the London Model Yacht Club was founded, establishing formal racing on the round pond in Kensington Gardens.

From the 1920s onwards, commercial model workshops were making racing examples that fulfilled specific requirements for the different classes of model yacht. There were technical developments including hull carving techniques ("bread and butter" laminated wood construction) and self-steering mechanisms like the Braine gear, which used weather vanes and pulley-controlled lines to keep boats on a straight course. Also, by this time, many pond yacht sailing clubs existed across the UK, Europe and the USA.

A main sheet steering mechanism on this pond yacht uses balance gear, where the boom is connected with the tiller in such a manner that, when it swings out with a pressure of wind, the rudder is automatically adjusted sufficiently to keep the yacht on course. This will usually involve some sort of return spring (typically an elastic band) so that the mechanism is responsive to the wind.