Marbleheads started pre-radio back in the early 1930s in the town of the same name in Massachusetts. During that very decade it became a National Class (1932), then an International Class(1937). At the 1936 Olympics in Berlin it somehow had a Championship aligned with the Games.

Radio controlled racing appeared in the mid-1970s and their popularity quickly gained ground.

It was often known as the “Marblehead 50/800”. Those were the two basic rules – 800 sq inches of sail maximum and a length of 50 inches plus or minus a quarter of an inch. It is said that the 50 inch length rule was chosen because it would fit across the back seat of a normal American car of the time.

Here are two interesting articles, if you’d like to read more:-

https://usvmyg.org/the-marblehead-50-800-class/

https://usvmyg.org/history/marblehead-history/