Sentinel had its maiden voyage on our local club (Ballina R.S.L. Club Marine Modellers) boat lake, and I have to say its performance and appearance on the water exceeded my expectations. The only changes I made to the kit were to replace all the steel wire with brass, as we sail on salt water, and I discarded the cast metal frame of the RIB for one made up from brass. I also cut off the cast spigots from the stabilizers and drilled and inserted brass ones. The motors are as supplied, the two speed controllers are Electronize 43HX, and the radio is a 4 channel Futaba Skysport.

As a matter of interest, our club is affiliated with the Ballina R.S.L. (Returned Services League of Australia) Club, a registered club with outstanding facilities and a membership of over 12,000. They have given the Marine Modellers a substantial amount of money to establish facilities at the boat lake, and together with the local council have been vital to the success of the Marine Modellers. Incidentally, Ballina has a population of about 18,000, rising to over 25,000 during the summer, and is at the mouth of the Richmond River on the far north coast of New South Wales, about an hour’s drive from the Queensland border and the Gold Coast – a magnificent part of the world.