Model Hobby : Valley Sailors Launch Their Miniature Yachts in Weekly Races on the Tranquil Waters of Lake Balboa

It’s not quite the high seas. But once a week, Lake Balboa serves as the watery site of a miniature America’s Cup.

The lake, located in Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area, is the favorite hangout of the Lake Balboa Model Yacht Club, a group which formed about a year ago to pursue the pleasures of model boating.

It’s a hobby that can become quite a passion. Nationwide, the American Model Yachting Assn. has attracted 4,000 members. The San Fernando Valley group is considerably smaller--there are just 15 members. The club was launched after a chance encounter between Gary Kirkpatrick of Sherman Oaks and Perry Schultz of Van Nuys.

Kirkpatrick had built a boat from a kit and was sailing his creation when another boat came sailing by. The two circled each other warily for a bit and then took off in a race.

It was hardly an even match. Schultz was sailing a sleek, custom-built craft that weighed half as much as Kirkpatrick’s ship. “He beat the pants off me,” Kirkpatrick recalls. The men became friends and went on to form the club.

The ships really do sail. There are no propellers and the remote controls are used only to manipulate the rudder and sails. The boats are typically 30 inches to 40 inches long and the masts can be from 5 to 6 feet high.

The weekend sailors get so many inquiries that they printed up a flier answering the most commonly asked questions, such as “What happens if you crash?”

The official answer: “Unlike radio-controlled model aircraft, collisions between model sailboats are typically not catastrophic. Usually, a scratched paint job is the worst damage that occurs.”

One question not on the flier, however, is one that runs through the minds of lots of observers: “Have you ever lost a ship?”

Kirkpatrick has not, but a few years ago Schultz was not so lucky.

“It’s at the bottom of Lake Balboa,” Kirkpatrick says.