What's a Footy Senior you say? Well it's not a smash face rugby battle. It's a member of a loosely formed group of senior sailors in the Northwest who have fallen in love with the Footy--a little sailing yacht that has captured the imagination of many yachtsmen around the world. A mere one foot in length, this little water-bug brings challenges to even the most skilled radio-controlled sailboat skipper. An internationally recognized developmental class (it's an official class in nine countries), the Footy has been around for over three decades. Surprisingly, it has only recently hooked radio sailors in the U.S.--a sizable number of sailors. Many are seniors. I am one of these senior enthusiasts, and I hope to grow our number.

I'm married to a fanatical person who loves to detail each and every project she has ever been involved with. My advantage. We have done many things together but none that has consumed us as this project has. I like to think of ths project as "pay forward" to the many senior citizens who have yet to discover this rewarding yacht building experience. During one of my senior moments, the thought occurred to me that I had taken much over the years from this beautiful world and it was now time to give back. What better way than to get the many seniors in our community involved in the Footy movement? Introducing the Footy to our senior community is now underway beginning with a series of information meetings and demonstration workshops at the various senior centers and senior living communities in our area. This web page will be one of the resources we make available. These meetings will be followed by hands-on build nights and maiden voyages. Voila! Old guys and gals hitting the local pond with their own Footy to sail, race and have a day out with friends. What could be better?

Many Footy sailing enthusiasts have offered us encouragement, but none like the commitment offered by David Gonsalves, founder of MicroYachts in New Bedford, MA. David has sent us several MicroYacht hulls to kick off our effort. His willingness to keep these little boats coming our way is quite astonishing, truly appreciated and way above and beyond. The MicroYacht Express will be our Footy Seniors signature boat. Thank you David. Your Footy hull is a thing of beauty--hand laid up fiberglass with a gel coat finish to boot. With your kit, our Footy Seniors can build a finished product to their liking. What an experience!

This is our club: the one whose members kindly introduced us to r/c model yachting, and then welcomed the addition of the Footy to its roster of four other sailboat classes. Based in the Portland / Willamette Valley area, the OMYC was established in 1950, well before the practical use of radio control. Today OMYC is primarily a radio- controlled model sailboat racing club, registered with the American Model Yacht Association as Club #45 in Region 6, Northwest USA. The Club hosts both sanctioned regattas and casual afternoon sails. Their venue of choice is the Westmorland Casting Pond in Portland, but members often gather at lakes and ponds in neighboring counties. Visitors and prospective members are always welcome at build nights and Sunday sails; and the Club has models available for test sailing, including Footys. A schedule of club activities and more information is available at the Oregon Model Yacht Club website and at the OMYC Yahoo online forum. Email us if you're in the area; we'll be happy to introduce you. Neighboring Pacific Northwest model yacht clubs with websites include the Seattle Model Yacht Club and the Gig Harbor Model Yacht Club (GHMYC). Check the AMYA Club Directory for other Northwest AMYA model yacht clubs.

We invite your comments and suggestions about the Footy Seniors Project and our web page. We'd really appreciate hearing about your Footy building process, particularly any innovations. Of course we'll post any photos you're willing to share. And we'd welcome your company at one of the sailing ponds in the Portland, Oregon area.