A Bit of Our History

John Rowley picture

In 2003, John Rowley, together with his longtime friend, Ken Morrison, with whom he raced big boats in Hawaii, set up The Sumter Landing EC12 Model Yacht Club and registered with the AMYA. They began regular sailing at Ashland Pond after negotiating with The Villages Recreation Manager John Rohan for improvements along the north side of the pond.

Then one Saturday in 2008, after a weekend EC12 regatta, a couple of guys from South Florida showed them a great new boat, the Micro Magic! This new boat was very appealing, as it is much smaller and lighter than the EC12, making it easy to transport fully rigged. John contacted the owner of the hobby shop that used to be in Wildwood, and found he would have to order a minimum of six boats. After finding five others to buy in, they started a fleet of Micro Magics, and the new “The Villages Micro Magic Racing Fleet” was formed and registered with the AMYA.

The EC12 group continued under the leadership of Alan Perkins, and eventually became “The Villages Model Yacht Squadron”. As new models of boats have come on the market, different fleets were added to the Squadron including Soloing one-meters, DF-65s, and DF-95s.

The Villages Micro Magic Racing Fleet continues as a separately organized and registered group.



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