Pathfinder was a "Must build" the moment it was seen on the front cover of Model Boats magazine issue dated July 2007. In fact construction of a WW2 aircraft carrier was halted for its build to start and she was completed a year later after 365 hours work. The original design was by Vic Smeed but Tom Gorman had resurrected it and changed it from a "Bread & Butter" hull construction to the plank on frame method I much prefer. His article and the published photos that appeared in the magazine were extremely useful and without them a satisfactory build would not have been possible.

None the less it was necessary to send for the original plans from the Model Boats plans service to get the main dimensions of the vessel, also the deck equipment details etc. A description of the original vessel tells us that Pathfinder was built in Dartmouth for Trinity House in 1953, she was 175'6" overall length, with a beam of 30'4" and a draught of 14'10". She was built specifically to operate out of the Dover station to transport 22 or more Pilots to all the incoming cargo ships that wanted to sail up the Thames to London docks. Pathfinder continued these duties until 1986, by which time most of the London docks had ceased to exist, she was then sold off as a small cruise ship sailing around the Greek Islands, after which she moved to the Caribbean and was converted into a private yacht.

The all wood model has twin 600 motors powered by two 2300mAh batteries, giving Pathfinder a fair turn of speed in spite of her all up weight of 5.7kg. However, she looks at her best on the water when a more sedate rate of progress is adopted and there is a chance to note the considerable amount of detail that has gone into constructing the mass of equipment contained on the deck of the vessel. Apart from two fibreglass lifeboats, the handrails and ladders, all other parts were home constructed, including the two clinker built motorboats for the transfer of Pilots.