British Model Multihull Association

The first recorded activity regarding the racing of multihulled model yachts in the UK stretches back to the late 1970's. At that time, interest in the R36 (monohull) class was dwindling, and a group of sailors at the Clapham club in London decided to construct 36" long multihulled boats. A few keen exponents designed and raced their boats for a number of years, with vane steering guiding the boats as they thundered up and down the lake, often on the edge of control.

The vane steered boats never really caught on nationally, possibly because of the difficulty of keeping up with the things when running along the lakeside! Despite the appearance of the odd design here and there, notably the Birkenhead one design catamaran, the idea of racing model multi's didn't take off.

It was not until the early 80's that the idea was resurrected by a group of French sailors. By this time, the advent of good quality radio control gear, and the increasing sophistication of construction materials meant that not only were model multi's possible, but that they could be made positively exciting and controllable!

The first class introduced was the 2m, which are still sailed today. These monstrous machines, with an unrestricted sailplan on a 2.8m high mast proved to be powerful, fast, but not for the faint hearted: there was a need for something not quite so massive, and also less costly. The French skippers formulated a new smaller class, called the CT. The new boats were around 1.5m in length, but suffered from a complicated rating rule similar to that used by the 10r class. This, along with the fact that they were not really that much smaller than the 2m class, led to their demise.

By the mid 80's, a group of skippers around Paris formulated a class, loosely based on a scaled down version of the then popular full size Formula 40 boats. This development (at 1/10 scale of 40ft) produced the Mini40 class, which since it's introduction, has gone from strength to strength, and is currently sailed in 8 countries worldwide. The boats were introduced to the UK at the end of the 1980's, and with the help and sheer dogged persistence of a band of stalwart supporters, have become the backbone of the UK multi activity.

The Association was formed in 1990 to coordinate the activities, and opted to promote the Mini40 class as the main class for racing in the UK. The technical control of the class lies with the Federation Francaise de Voile (FFV), who work very closely with the BMMA to ensure that the development of the boats is guided by the will of the members.