Bournville Radio Sailing and Model Boat Club
News
Lake Status
12th October clear to sail
Thank you to all those to helped to make our 2026 illuminated regatta a sucess. The weather could not have been better and we had skippers who had travelled from clubs afar along with a large crowd watching the models on he water. All our visitors were able to partake of the available refreshments served by our refreshments team. Our have a go boats were well recieved again with all donations going to Acorns Childrens Hospice.
Posted 4/10/26
The model was built by a Bournville member Mr Goodwin and first sailed at Rowheath in 1930. It is believed to be one of the very first radio controlled models in the UK.
The vessel was present on our current lake at its opening in August 1933.
12 months ago we became aware that the original model still existed, as was in the care of the original creators family.
Today 6th September 2026 The Maid of Rutland sailed again at Bournville having been restored by the family.
Due to a clash of dates that was missed when our calendar was published last year we have rearranged the September club 500 race day to Sunday 27th September.
We will be supporting Bournville Heritage day on Saturday September 12th 2026 with club history displays, children's competition and displays on the water.
Refreshments and toilets will be available in the boathouse.
The links below will take you to our web page showing the activities planned and the Bournville Heritage open day page
Posted 15/7/26
_JPG.jpg)
The first Wednesday personal Handicap series of 2026 has been won by Alan Bruce Smith.
The Ian Green Trophy was presented to Alan by the current holder, Nigel Lawson, at the monthly pub lunch that was attended by eighteen skippers.
Posted 22/6/26
On a beautiful sunny day with hardly a ripple on the pool we had the perfect setting for our Military Vessels Day. With Visitors bringing models from as far away as Edinburgh and Southampton every available table from the clubhouse was used along with some that our visitors had brought with them. A total of seventy-three boats were on display. At 2pm a fleet revue took place with all available models on the water, a stunning sight for all to see.
During the day we remembered our good friend and Life Member at Bournville, Ken Daniels who sadly passed away earlier this year. Ken had been involved with model boats at Bournville from childhood and went on to hold many roles within the Model Power Boat Association (MPBA). In the presence of his family a plaque commemorating his life was unveiled.
Thank you to all who attended and helped make this our busiest event of the year so far and we look forward to seeing you at future events.
A special thank you to those who provided cakes for the event and supported the day with large quantities of tea and coffee.
Posted 15/6/26
Today we were blessed with warm weather to sail our pond yachts.
This is our second annual pond yacht event and we saw an increased number of yachts and a good variety of yachts on the water with everyone having a good afternoon.
Thank you for all those who took part. A special thank you to those helping in the boathouse providing tea and cakes.
Posted 31/05/26
On a cool day we had submariners from Bolton, Derby, Gloucester, South Wales and Hampshire join our club members to display and sail their submarines. Our pool was occupied with an alligator and a shark in addition to the traditional submarines and other underwater craft. A fun day was had by all and the refreshments provided in the club house helped warm everyone up. Thank you to all those who attended and we look forward to seeing you again. Please keep an eye on our events page for future events. There are more photos of the event on our Gallery pages.
Posted 10/05/26
Twelve skippers competed for the second day’s racing at Bournville RS&MBC where the conditions provided some good challenges.
A fresh WSW breeze stayed with us for the entire day with increasing strength, gusts and rapid shifts. As a result, racing was fast and full of frustrations as boats were headed whilst tacking and then broaching on runs. Rig changes were essential and many opted for conventional rigs rather than swing rigs in the process.
By the end of the day, the fleet had reduced to just six boats on the start line as others encountered rig or electrical problems. Alan Bennett just took first place with 23 points ahead of Tobias Laux with 24 points with several of the races seeing very close finishes. A full set of results are here: RG65 TT2
Many members of the public came to watch, take photos and enquire about the sport on this sunny spring day – one of the first without rain since Christmas!
The RO would like to thank all skippers for their sporting nature throughout the racing with turns being done promptly. The race team of Nick Probyn, Graham Robinson, Vic Bellerson and Peter Hopkins did us proud. Gordon Sears supported the team with HMS spreadsheet results and generally keeping the team advised.
The event proved to be a great demonstration of the RG65 class being sailed skilfully and highly competitively.
Race report by Chris Cook (PRO).
Posted 24/02/26
Discussions among members and the committee over the last few months have resulted in a new sailing berth allocation policy which has been incorporated within the updated 2026 Club Rules. The committee met on 17th February and agreed that the new sailing berth policy should now be implemented. Members can view the details in section 3 of the recent committee meeting minutes that are available in the members area on the website.
Allocated berths will be shown with a new tag showing the name of who the berth is allocated too.
Your support in moving towards a much fairer system will be greatly appreciated.
Posted 21/2/26
Thank you to all those club 500 skippers and marshals who joined in with our new series of club 500 races. 5 skippers braved the cold damp conditions on a virtually wind free afternoon. being our first day of racing everyone was on a learning curve. A new course was set out and our marshals got to grips with the scoring and recording of penalties. The Club 500 Race results are on the club 500 web page along with a link to register for a boat number ready for our next race on Sunday 15th March at 2pm.
Posted 14/2/26
It is with great sadness that we share the news of the passing of Ken Daniels.
Ken was instrumental in the running of numerous model boat clubs across the UK. A Life member of Bournville Model Boat Club, Little Radford Model Boat Club and a long‑serving member of the MBPA and a member of the MYA, he dedicated countless years to supporting, guiding, and inspiring fellow enthusiasts.
His knowledge was vast and generously shared. Ken mentored many modelers over the decades, offering deep expertise in steam, electric, and IC power, as well as competing across a wide range of disciplines including Scale, Straight Running, IC racing, Yachting and more
Beyond model boating, Ken was also an expert in model railways, with a particular passion for N gauge, where his precision and enthusiasm were equally admired.
Ken will be profoundly missed within our hobby. His absence leaves a significant void in everything connected to model boating and model engineering. His legacy, however, lives on in the countless people he taught, encouraged, and inspired.
Thoughts are with his family, friends, and all who had the privilege of knowing him.
A celebration of Ken's life will be held on Friday 27th February at 1:00pm The service will be held at Lodge Hill Crematorium, Weoley Park Road, Selly Oak, B29 5AA. All are all welcome at the service. Following the service the family invite you to gather at the clubhouse in Valley Parkway to share memories and spend time together in Ken's Memory
Posted 12/2/26
As part of the clubs 2025 AGM held on Saturday 24th January 2026 our club president Vic Bellerson presented the trophy's to this years winners
Posted 25/1/26
The Club has received some excellent news to start the new year. The Environment Agency have informed the club this week that they will not be proceeding with the plans to use Valley Parkway as a flood storage area.
The statement from the environment agency is below.
Key decisions made:
-
Valley Parkway – After consideration of numerous design options in conjunction with our consultants Jacobs, we’ve concluded that temporary flood storage here would be too impactful and not cost-effective, even with smaller-scale options. We have made the decision that we will not be pursuing this location for temporary flood storage, and no embankment or wall is proposed in this park.
Posted 7/1/26