BRIEF HISTORY OF THE CLUB

        1975

             Organised model boating began in Townsville in 1975 with the formation of the Townsville Model Marine Club which ran high speed model power boats in the large Anderson Park ornamental lagoon. This venue was a bit too small for fast boats so the club moved its operations to Sandy Crossing on Queens Road. Complaints of noise by nearby residents saw the club again relocate - this time to the Borrow Pit at the base of the Ross River Dam wall.

        1978

             By 1978 the club had grown to 31 members racing their models fortnightly. Interclub competition was held with clubs from Ayr, Ingham and Mackay. An interest in scale models had also developed.

        1980

             In 1980 the club hosted the Queensland State Model Power Boat Championships and the State Scale Model Boat Championships.

        1984

             By 1984 power boating was in decline and scale model boats and Marblehead class racing yachts were the main interest. Because of the different needs of scale model boats, the scale modellers separated from the original club  and formed the Townsville Radio Controlled Model Boat Club  which catered for scale and power boat modellers. As the water level in the Borrow Pit was getting very low because of the failure of a series of wet seasons, the power boat enthusiasts began using a section of the Ross River above where the Ski Boats now run and the scale boat people moved their operations to the small lagoon in Anderson Park.

        1990

             During fifteen and a half years of model boating, the main work required by club members at each venue  has been the arduous chore of manually removing water weeds. This problem has been the main reason the club was not  able to retain all of its members over the years. In 1990 the members made the decision to embark on a project of constructing a purpose built model boat lake with a sealed bottom which would be free of the weed problem. The club began working in conjunction with the Townsville and District Model Engineer's Club, to help develop the community Fun Park concept in Lou Litster Park opposite the Townsville Civic Theatre by taking on the model boat lake project.

        1991

            The club's venue was the swimming pool located at the Castle Hill Police Youth Club. The decision to use this site meant that the energies of the club would be directed to the  proposed model boat lake, instead of cleaning the lagoon in Anderson Park which the Townsville City Council plan to fill in when the park is remodelled in the near future, for botanical purposes only .

         1992

             The club constructed a small demonstration pond in the Fun Park and ran models in it on the last Sunday of each month in conjunction with the Model Engineer's minature trains. The club also ran models on the second Sunday of each month at the "Lily Pond" (TROPIC FOREST GARDENS FUNCTION CENTRE) in Bowen Rd., as the Castle Hill venue was only available during Sunday mornings. For fund raising, club started work on constructing hire model boats to be run in the demonstration pond.