This Isn’t a Toy — It’s a $10,000 Sailboat and a Lifelong Obsession

A particular subset of people take model yachting very seriously. Typically enjoyed by well-to-do retirees, my natural curiosity led me to wonder about the fascination with model yachts when many of these people could be on the ocean sailing the real thing. The only person I knew of who could answer my question was Will Manidis. 

Manidis is an outlier in the model yachting scene. He’s far younger than his fellow yachtees who religiously show up to sail at Kerbs Boathouse in Central Park. These guys are often about 65 to 70 years old, and as 27-year-old Manidis puts it, they can be a bit grumpy at times. 

Thankfully, my entry into model yachting seemed peaceful and innocent, which was, of course, by design. We arranged to meet at the boathouse at an off-time, when the scene was fairly calm. The laid-back atmosphere paired with ideal summer weather helped me realize why this might be a nice weekend activity. Manidis warned me that there are times when the scene isn’t so picturesque and friendly — Saturday morning, that’s when the serious guys turn out for the weekly 10 a.m. regatta.

“They shut this down and run matches from buoy to buoy. Those dudes take it super seriously and tune everything. They tend to be guys that, in a past life, were very successful big boat sailors,” Manidis remarked matter-of-factly.

The Saturday morning regattas have a rich history in Central Park, dating back to the late 19th century. According to an 1875 New York Times piece, the second Saturday regatta of the season drew at least 5,000 spectators, and the sport of model yachting reached its peak in the 1930s. Today, the Saturday morning regattas feel more like a hidden-in-plain-sight phenomenon – probably because we’re all in a trance looking down at our phones, too distracted to actually stop and realize what’s happening around us.

Enthusiasts work hard to maintain the history. Model yacht clubs like the Central Park Model Yacht Club  established by enthusiasts in 1916 and others like the San Francisco Model Yacht Club – reportedly the oldest, created in 1898 – make preserving its legacy a lot easier. 

While there is something undeniably quaint and charming about model yacht racing, this isn’t some little retirement hobby. In fact, it’s far from it — many model racers are the real deal. 

“The average age for this hobby is about 70 years old … [These guys] are genuinely very impressive sailors. If you put me on a real boat with them, I couldn’t hold my own.” Manidis explained,  “A lot of the guys that sail here are very competitive real boat sailors, and they want to drill or practice on a smaller scale.” 

Before I could embarrass myself by asking how on earth sailing what appears to be a toy boat can help you sail the real thing, Manidis says, “One of the guys who is an international champion was America's top skipper.”

Manidis was referring to Kenneth Read. At 64 years old, Read is one of the most acclaimed sailors in the world. He is a two-time Rolex Yachtsman of the Year, won nine world championships, and is president of North Sails – the world’s leading sailmaker. In 2023, Read won what Sailing World describes as the “grand prix of model yachting” – the North American International One-Meter Continental Championship. 

According to Manidis – who is a lifelong sailor himself – a lot of the fundamentals of model yacht racing and big-boat racing are the same. 

“ You can spend hundreds of thousands of dollars going to a regatta every weekend in Newport to race, or you can practice here. It is a weird subset of people … Some of the guys that are racing here on the weekends are then sailing multi-million-dollar boats out in the Hamptons,” Manidis told Now Frolic.

While Manidis isn’t setting sail on his own yacht quite yet, his passion for model yachting has only grown since he started about five years ago. 

“I know, it’s a weird hobby, but I was here with a buddy and they do rental boats at the boathouse. We rented some boats, it was 25 bucks for an hour and it was sick. It was a great activity. My God, it was an activity that's not either drinking or going out.” Manidis shared. 

Unlike the standard rental boat he first sailed, today Manidis is sailing a 1935 Marblehead that stands out prominently with its wooden, mossy-green hull and large sails. He steers it with decisive confidence and focus.  

Manidis currently has a collection of 12 model boats in his apartment. He builds each of his boats himself in his woodshop, which is the norm among model yacht enthusiasts. With a background in mechanical engineering, he finds the hobby a perfect balance of engaging and challenging.  

“I was a mechanical engineer for like six months in college, so I know how to use tools. Some of the [boats] I’ve done take six or twelve months to build because I’m not great at woodworking,” Manidis said. He nonchalantly added, “I have a woodshop in my apartment now. It’s technically the extra bedroom. My girlfriend isn’t too pleased.” 

While Manidis has no plans to convert his woodshop back into a spare bedroom, he did mention a woodboat-making school in Maine that he has his sights set on. 

“A lot of these guys will go up to this school in Maine called The WoodenBoat School for the summer. Basically, you go for weeks and they teach you how to build a wooden boat because it is genuinely an art.  The facility is super nice. They have cabins and everything. It's very weird, but the guys that take it very seriously up there are really cool,” Manidis revealed. 

The more I talked to Manidis, the more I’m convinced what makes model yachting so alluring to some is that there’s always something to explore. It’s a gateway that allows you to simultaneously connect with history and art, and it also appeals to this idea of something simpler. It also evokes a sense of nostalgia, which is ironic since the only other people I saw at the pond sailing are little kids who rented boats from the boathouse. 

While I’m not sure if I will be setting sail on the pond myself, I have a newfound appreciation for model yachting. 

Walking out of the boathouse that afternoon, I looked back, and Manidis was in a new part of the pond, sailing with the same concentration and care. I noticed a little girl, fiddling with a similar remote, trying to sail her boat. It was dead calm – not catching any wind. 

It was going nowhere, but she still looked very happy and content. 

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