The Atlantic Model Power Boat Club was founded in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1986, as an enthusiast's club for radio controlled model power boats. Since then we've grown to over 20 members with more than 60 model boats. The club is dedicated to the pursuit and enjoyment of building, running, and racing rc gas, nitro and electric model boats. Large scale gas boats are our real focus.
When the weather is alright you'll find us every Sunday morning at Rocky Lake in Bedford, Nova Scotia, either having organized races or just running our models for fun. Whether or not you have a boat of your own, come out and introduce yourself. We're always happy to share our hobby, and we have many years of tinkering under our belts on which you can draw for help with your own project.
Regular club fun-runs are every Sunday morning, usually dawn till noon, and races are arranged whenever our numbers warrant. We have two bouyed courses.
August 21, 2007 -- Uploaded some pictures to the gallery, from a recent outing at Rocky Lake and from the Atlantic Nationals last month: Gallery. Dominic's Sport 40 rigger had its maiden voyage and ran well. Eric's Zenoah-powered canard looks great with the new paintjob in the pictures from Moncton: Canard in action.
July 2007 -- Had fun at this year's RC regatta at Moncton's Atlantic Nationals Car Show. We sent a crew of 6 with a variety of boats, including a canard, hydro, two cats, a cracker, deep-v Apache and 3 sailboats. They had a fantastic turn-out of 30 or 40 boaters from throughout the Maritimes. Great to see the folks from Bathurst and Sussex again and to meet the guys from Fredricton, although that narrow pond sure got crowded. Friendly Carmen Blois from Need for Speed made the rounds as well. Eric's freshly candy-orange-painted canard scored a plaque for best paintwork, and Bruce's Northwind repeated for best sailboat -- congrats gentlemen. Thanks as well to Great Hobbies for its generous prizes and sponsorship.
June 2007 -- Spring returns, and we seem to have restored full access to the lake. That is, we can get our vehicles right down to the water (last year we were forced to walk the last fifty yards). We're not getting our hopes up, but maybe this will add to our enthusiasm for a new season. We've also started a Facebook group: search Atlantic Model Power Boat Club. See you Sunday.
January 2007 -- The Fall and Winter weather have been so mild Rocky Lake's still wet, and the diehards are still out every Sunday. Only once has a boat been trapped in the ice forming close to shore. We'll keep heading out for as long as the weather holds -- that is, the ice stays away. Got to make the most of global warming I guess.
September 2006 -- We've had two boats run aground this month alone! True to its name, Rocky Lake has a large rock just below the surface about 40 feet outside the back straightaway of our course. First was Richard's brand-spanking-new Miss Bud, on its maiden voyage, and second was Eric's Batman canard. For the latter we were stuck without a retrieval boat so a small amount of swimming was involved. Both boats are repairable.
August 7, 2006 -- Our annual regatta at Rocky Lake was lots of fun for those in attendance. Due to class limitations we did not run formal races this year but the weather was good and a good time was had by all.
July 8, 2006 -- We sent a contingent to the Atlantic Nationals Car Show's rc boat regatta in Moncton, New Brunswick on July 8, 2006. This regatta is intended mainly as a diversion for the thousands of people attending the classic car show, so there were no organized races. The weather was perfect, if hot at 32C, and everyone had a fantastic time.
The pond was nice but too narrow for racing. There was, however, lots of variety: everything from a scary-fast 71-mph Need-For-Speed-Hobbies-powered catamaran from the Bathurst club, to scale electric coastguard vessels, to sail boats. AMPBC brought along a couple of crackerboxes, Eric's attention grabbing batman-themed canard and two sailboats. Dave's crackerbox won "best in class" among the deep-vee's (is a crackerbox a deep-vee?), and Bruce's Northwind won "best in class" for sailboats. Pictures of the event can be viewed in our Gallery.
Current conditions in Halifax. Select "click for forecast" to get Sunday's weather (note it will open in a new window). Think lots of sun, low wind. If the forecast predicts bad weather assume it's wrong.
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