EdW

I have no words Bwhahahaha
Richard Cranium was the long distant cousin of Robert Soul, better known as R Soul.
Life is tough if you are part of the 44 South Africans in the world. 😂😂

@CTSMBC How about “Richard Cranium” if you want to be polite 😆

You can take a South African out of South Africa but their sense of humour remains South African

@EdW

I had to chuckle about the "Inebriated with the Exuberance of His Own Verbosity"
If ever I heard a polite way of calling someone a total doofus (well, not that, but it ends with head), this must be it.
To rephrase the often misquoted words of Ingersoll, "If you want to see a man's true character, put him in a position of power."😀

I was a member of a society for many years but when the chairman would not stand again the vote was “steered” to select a new chairman who is unfortunately “Inebriated with the Exuberance of His Own Verbosity”, I left the society. 😞

😁 RNin...never thought of it that way, but yes, only committees will find the means to ruin a perfect race horse.
I know very few sports clubs in the modern world that is managed by committees. Come with the tea! 🙈

Hi Rudy,
You know what 'they' say about committees!

"The camel was the result of designing a horse by committee."🙄
'One hump or two Sir?'
Cheers, Doug😎

We also broke away from the "committee" idea. Been there done that and always felt like asking a 16yo girl on a date when you suggested something. The looks you get was enough.
We do however have a joining fee but the membership is valid for life. (So mine will hopefullly only expire in 23 years)
But...even that is not helping to attract many new members. It seems the old school mindset is hard to swing if its decades in the making.

Here on Long Island, New York, USA I belong to a "group" of like minded RC boaters. It is not a club, we do not have a name, no dues, no rules except for obvious common sense if there is such a thing anymore. It works out quite well as compared to other clubs that I belong to that are not boat related.
Len

First a little history to describe rc scale model boating on the west central coast of Florida.

1974 we created the Suncoast Scale Model Boat Club (SSMBC). First in this area. Lasted about 5 years.

Mid-1980's BAEB was created by different people. It was a very formal club, dues, leadership, charter, etc. I joined in 2011. BAEB fell apart in 2013 as a small group wanted everyone to go rc sailing instead. Arguments ensued,

2014 I re-created the SSMBC. No dues, charter, directors. Very casual.

Unfortunately "casual" comes at a cost. No organized activities probably because that requires volunteers.

As for the virtual ranks I don't think that would work out here. In fact that might discourage people. Some members are local, some over 30 miles away.

It's a shame that rc scale model boats aren't more prevellant here with year round good weather and a good (free) facility.

But we enjoy the basics, model boating and fellowship.

Lew
Florida ⛱️, USA

Hi PhilH
That sounds very familiar. I remember the first day I arrived as a new member (at my now rival club). Not even a hello. No introductions. No welcoming. Not even a membership card. Had to wait 2 years to get one, and it was a laminated piece of paper.
They still exist, but the guy that calls himself "the chairman" is a total dictator (I-specialist).
It's rather sad actually.
The RC boating hobby is slowly dying. Most of the clubs here in SA are growing in facebook "members", but shrinking in active participants. Average meeting size is 6 to 10 persons. Book members are between 40 and 70.
And "committees" are failing in promoting the hobby, limiting news to "those in the know" like little clubs within the clubs (cliques)
Nuff said...😀

At my club they don't even tell me if anyone is going sailing, doesn't make you feel wanted 🤔
Philuk👍

GENTLEMEN SKIPPERS,
no we don't use voice commands as the average of our clubmembers are too young 😊
Our club who exists 120 years next year has 2 sections. One are the steam driven boats and the other one are the electric powered boats. We put at the beginning of the season bows in the water ( every year a different path to follow) Skippers are to navigate around, between the bows. Every pass without touching the bows give points, touching the bows is a minus. We also class the boats A beneath 70 cm, B 70 up to 120 cm, C above 120 cm. At the end of the season we celebrate the best skippers of the season.I must admit your ranking system is indeed well found. I would say enjoy the sailing as we are becoming a disapearing generation

Hi Mike
We experience the same here. The GenXers are few and far between in the scale model boat sections. And younger than that you don't see often. In Cape Town itself, even the Baby Boomers are despondent. They pay subs but you see them once or twice a year at themed events.
As for AI, Let's not go there...some clubs haven't heard of the internet yet. They believe facebook is the only place in cyberspace.😂 So the "new" people will not really see them on places like Tiktok. (I personally am not a huge fan of the Meta Corporation. I think Zuckerberg is worse than Alex Jones of Infowars, and as asleep as Buddy Joe himself.)
As for Voice commands, it has nothing to do with technology. It's a team game. You stand with your back to the water, while your partner tells you where to sail. You have a route to navigate and other models are the obstacles to avoid. Give it a try. You will have a lot of fun (and fights if you ram an expensive model)😆

As for the PS, call me Rudy. Every country has one. (except London)😁

Hello South Africa,
With the clubs the new blood is rather sparse as with the new technologies they tend to move to gaming and tiktok like sites . . A completely different world to the modellers.
But a meeting with like-minded people always brings back fond memories, which we often have in Switzerland.
Yes, and your question about voice commands . . I don't use AI myself, this control centre is in my head and passes the driving instructions on to my hands, which operate the remote control! That's how it works for us Grufftys!
Tinkering greetings
Michel-C.

PS : What is your first name or nickname?