Well it all started for me when I was treated to a Birkenhead Star Yacht after a sun drenched visit to Wroxham in Norfolk back in the early 1970s. I'll never forget it; the yacht was such a tactile object painted in glossy red paint with a sharp metal keel and lovely cloth sails. I still had it up to a few years ago when it was discovered buried at the bottom of an old tool box and far too worse for wear. It was the perfect introduction to model boats and my interest has never waned since, despite being constantly distracted by all forms and subjects of plastic/wood/metal modelling and all things R/C, including aircraft and vehicles (I am master of none of them!) That pretty red pond yacht will always be one of those 'trigger points' in my life and to build on a previous editorial by Graham, I also believe that sowing the seed early enough will encourage more people into the hobby. With the latter in mind, I am a firm believer that within this multi-dimensional hobby of ours, you never, and should never, stop learning. I think that 'old dogs' can be taught new tricks and I for one am one of them! However, I'm going to ease myself back into model boat building with a couple of projects. The first is a Mantua Model Mincio Art.703 in a manageable 1/20 scale which has everything you need in one box apart from the R/C gear, while the other is a little more challenging in the shape of a Sarik Hobbies 1 /8 SGSK 22' Gentlemans Runabout. Both of these will be 'bread and butter' builds to the more experienced, but for me, it will be a refresher course that I wish I had taken a few decades earlier. Hopefully, both of these projects will help me to ease back into the model boating world and, you never know, I may even blog the builds on the website; Don't worry, I would not dare make them into an article in the magazine - I'm here to gain readers not lose them!

It really is an honour to take the helm of this illustrious magazine and I would like to say a big thank you straight away to Graham Ashby for his help and support. His handover was one of the most comprehensive that I have ever experienced, with no stone left unturned and not a single one of my dubious questions left unanswered. Graham was instrumental in offering me this position and I shall be forever grateful for the opportunity. As many of you will know, he will be returning to RCM&E and I wish him the best of luck in his 'new' role; although I get the impression that may already have got the hang of running that mag!

Hartyn Chorlton