Scale: 1:48. A modern waterline model of the sailing catamaran ‘Crossbow II’, circa 1976. The model is decked, equipped and rigged. The twin hulls are mounted in a resin and fibreglass seabase and are complete with five scale figures. The rig has aluminium masts, wire rigging and a fine weave terylene cloth for the sails.

This yacht was specially designed for the world sailing speed record by Roderick Macalpine-Downie and owned by Timothy Colman of Norwich. Measuring over 60 feet (18.28 metres) in length, it was unique in that each hull had its own mast and sail which produced a bi-plane rig. Another important feature was that the two hulls were not built square to each other as in the traditional style of catamarans but ‘slewed’ where the leeward one ran several feet forward of the windward one. This was done to reduce the aerodynamic interference of the two rigs. In 1980, ‘Crossbow II’ set the new world record at 36 knots which went unchallenged for a further six years, finally being beaten by the sailboard of Pascal Maka of France at a speed of 38.86 knots.