Arrghg me hearties, splice the main-brace, shiver me timbers, feed the parrot and pop some batteries in me hold oohh argh. Or something like that. The hoodies of the 19th Century, Pirates abounded on the open waves (fortunately less so now), and though we view them with some romanticism, they were a bunch of pariahs in need of an ASBO. Nevertheless, time (and Jonny Depp) have turned them into the happening hippies of the sea, and this beautifully detailed galleon complete with full rigging, skull and crossbone bedecked sails, gunnels bristling with canons, and even a 'firing' canon in the prow, is if not quite The Black Pearl, at least the coolest and most original RC boat to hit the pond this century. The paintwork is wonderfully detailed and it all looks very rough and rustic, which belies it's rather zippy turn of speed. Powered by twin props, there's a button on the remote that makes the canon rise, emit a sort of banging noise and glow red - it doesn't actually fire anything as that would probably choke fish and alarm any ducks in the area. At 41cm long it's a mighty ship, with rigging, sails, gunnels, the whole malarkey - a wonderfully regressive step forward (if that's at all possible) in RC fun.

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