RC sailboats

I heard Jake and Nigel (and others) are working on a specific RC class--what is it? I talked to Dave Leonard about it last weekend at Duck and he couldn't remember.

In Norfolk, we have a few CR914s and there is a fleet at Hampton Yacht Club.

There are also a few of us locally and in Richmond that are working on footies!!

Jake--I also heard you had a RC cat--check out mine. I even rigged it with a self-righting system! The mast float is a wheel faring from a model airplane.

THAT IS RIDICULOUS!

where are Ken and Barbie going to sit without a trampoline?

I designed and built a US one Meter r/c boat for starters - carbon, carbon, lead, and more carbon! It weighs 6.2 lbs ready to sail and has a 5lb lead bulb on a 14" keel.

I sold the catamaran (and I think Tad has it now).

The boats we're actively racing now are a strict one design kit boat - the Kyosho Seawind. I raced a regatta last weekend with 14 boats in Asheville, NC...it was a blast.

Tim Owens and I just finished up our Seawinds working together on them (I don't have any pictures yet) and we're working on two more for friends. The Seawind is a relatively good performer for a reasonable price. The boat kit is around $280 and it's a VERY well designed kit. You still have to purchase the radio and batteries for the boat...so you'll have about $400 to $500 in it by the time your done. We're supposed to do some fun sailing tonight - I'll see if I can get some pictures if it doesn't rain on our heads.

Jake has designed and made molds for a US 1 Meter. Very cool boat! The class is a bit on the pricey side if you are not going to make your own. Even then I think the Jake would tell you that it is not cheap.

I was trying to find a boat to introduce to our Yacht Club about 2 years ago. I was considering the CR914 when I found the Nirvana II. CR914 is about 36 inches and sailed by the San Diego Yacht Club. I was thinking it would be nice to have inter-Yacht Club challenges. The price of $800 to $1000 was a bit much for the guys at my club. The Nirvanas were about $200. At 32 Inches I was not sure they would sail like anything other than a cork. I was assured that they sailed almost as well at the CR914s with an added advantage of being able to take the mast off easily for transport.

Before I knew it I had orders of 26 boats. No one had sailed one or even seen them, other than pictures. At such a reasonable price it was easy to build a fleet. They actually do sail well. We have a lot of serious one-design sailboat racers at our club Alamitos Bay Yacht Club and they are all pleased with the performance and the one-design aspect of the boat.

We now have a 96 boat fleet at the club. It has to be good or it would not be popular. The best, probably not, but a solid sailing and racing boat. Also really easy to maintain.

Just for the record, I'd love to own Jake's Catamaran, but I just can't justify the spending request to the War Department to make it happen.

I'll check out the other boats. I have seen the Nirvana on eBay a lot and was curious. I got the Fast Cat catamaran for about $80 on eBay a few years ago and just decided to build it. They are much more expensive new.

The Footy is a fairly new class and is a real "box rule" open class. They fit in a box that is 12"x12"x6". The hull and keel have to actually fit in the box while the rigging can stick out the top as high as you want it. There is a concession for the steering and bow sprit and you are allowed a bumpkin.

They say you can make them for under $100 with a radio, but mine was a lot more. The green boat above is my first Footy. I downloaded the pattern, cut it out in model plywood and glued it together. The keel and rudder are carbon helicopter blades. The mast and booms are carbon, too. The bulb is an 8 oz sinker. I bought the sails in the picture above, but I built the one below out of the film florists wrap flowers in. It has carbon battens.

Class rules allow for two sails, one that is 12" or under (height above the deck) and the other is unlimited.

Btw, the door it is sitting in front of is a really small door under some stairs--it doesn't make for a good frame of reference on how small the boat is.

I sail an RC Fast Cat, V32, and Footy. I love my fast cat. You can see a video of the RC Fast Cat at www.youtube.com/user/itstillertime . I understand the RC fast cat is the only production multihull rc sailboat on the market. We are having a big rc race this July 11th and should be great fun to see the RC Fast Cat fly around the course.

Used to build and sail mini40's. Very quick and good fun, but a bit expensive for my tastes now. Currently designing a footy for racing against mates while waiting for mothing wind!

well...I set out to take a picture of it tonight but I forgot after I put it in the water...here's the bottom of it as it sits perfectly in the back of our Jetta Wagon.

The deck is white and the boat is named "Bonnie Duke" (I couldn't get sail number "01"). Placed in 4th place in a regatta this past weekend with 14 boats. I was in 2nd coming into the last two races and had a couple of bad races (Alex Shaffer took me out!)

Jake,
Very cool ... how long to put the kit together? And for those of us that are less than adept how much more time?

So, if we all (cat sailors) get this we'd effectively have a nice 1design fleet to race at regattas that we frequent.

that's our main thought - we race during the day, hit the dock, crack some beers, race these to the night. The Seawind is a pretty good size boat - 1 meter long and it stands a little over 5' tall. Paint and finishing, by far, takes the majority of the build time so how much detail/effort you put in your paint job will have a big effect on the build time. We happen to have a relatively large fleet in our tri-state area of retirees that are already sailing these boats so we instantly have a fleet to sail with on the off weekend too.

Tim and I built two and started two more last week. From opening the box to having them ready to go on the water took us about 40 hours each (and we did it in 8 days). Without painting at all, you can probably finish it in half that time. If you go with stock kit all the way (and tie knots instead of eye splicing all your 1/64" lines) you can probably be ready to sail it in 15 to 18 hours. The kit is really well thought out and complete.

The class rules do allow you to make a couple of minor enhancements - namely to the main hatch enclosure and the vang on the mainsail - but not much else. We went all out and built new carbon hatch lids (didn't save any weight - they just look cool).

there is medicine for that kind of behavior you know....

That kind of behavior IS my medicine.

Jake probably has carbon fiber toilet paper dispensers.

We chose the CR914's for our area, I think we have about 25 now.

They were $499 for the kit including radios and servos.

It took about 40 hours per boat including painting, etc.

And Jake is promoting the Seawind....so when they both show up to a regatta what is the portsmouth rating?

The CR419 is a nice boat too - they cost about the same by the time you get everything together. The 419 is slightly smaller but has an L-shaped bulb that won't collect weeds - the seawind has a t-bulb that can be problematic in weedy areas.

We've been talking about a handicap system for RC boats within the AMYA but it's not gaining much traction with the management. We'll just have to create one I suppose.

There are about 30 to 40 actively racing Seawinds in GA, SC, and NC and soon to be a handful more.

The seawinds owe the the CR's one beer or rummie per race.

Now thats the kind of racing i can get into!

Finally! A handicap system that works.

Did anybody see the Sailing Anarchy clip of the Quatrefoil cat built by the Brit chap Mortenson(?) who just died. It has 4 selftacking rigs & did almost 12 knots.

I'm not sure that's right. I think it's more like the CRs have to give the Seawinds one Beer or one Rummy. This way, the seawind sailors have to chug it after they cross the finish line. Only THEN are they considered "finished". That gives the CR's a little time to get across the line too.

Lord help me if I get my US1M sorted out.

Here in Montgomery we have a fleet of Nirvana's. None of the guys are really serious sailors, so... I kinda pound them.

I can attest to how well the Nirv sails, especially with some small (legal) rigging changes.

I was kicking around a seawind but now that I know the catsailors are playing with them, I think I might really have to get one.

I need to get working on my CR, but I got the Footy bug. I'm working on my second one, a 507 from Australia.

So, when is the next time anyone on the East coast is going to be at a big regatta where we can bounce the RCs off eachother??

Nigel's pool would be perfect!

Maybe for a footy! I've had my one meter in his pool and I can't turn it around in there....besides, the stone bridge over the pool s quite an obstacle.

Not RC's, but we had a great time at the Hobie North Americans at Harrison, BC last year. All sailors were given a styrofoam block and material to make a sail boat. The race was on a pool with box fans for wind. Round robin races with two at a time. Winner advanced. Race went at least ten rounds. Some made cats, simple design was winner. Great fun for an evening event.
Caleb Tarleton H-17 6446

Anyone sailed one of the Nirvana IIs

http://sailrcnirvana.com/

Mine is sitting right here next to my desk.

How are they? Seems like an awesome deal for 200 bucks

I've got a friend at work that has one - and for $200 it really is a pretty good deal to get into an r/c boat. There are a few improvements it will need right out of the box but it's a reasonable boat at a good price.

You'll want to note that the R/C radios have recently seen a huge improvement. The new 2.4Ghz radios auto search their frequency with the receiver so you can have 80 or so boats (airplanes, cars, whatever) in the vicinity with no channel conflict. With the older FM style, you are limited to fixed frequencies and if you happen to have a conflict, one of you has to change out crystals on the receiver and the transmitter to change frequencies. With AM style, there are only 4 channels period.

The new radios rock...you can go to any location with any fleet and not have to worry about conflicts...in only two years, nearly the entire RC community has switched to 2.4Ghz.

Will my boat capsize and my internet connection drop if someone calls my house though Jake? :P

I think it's a great boat for the money. Big and stout enough to not be a toy and sails quite well.

I've striped mine down (all legal stuff) and made a lot of adjustments. The real gains on this boat are to be had upwind. Downwind there is not a lot of gain with the different adjustments. My boat powers up noticeably faster than all the others....

I wish they would let us have a sail winch instead of the arm type though.

This is the boat with almost 100 in our club. Many great sailors love them for our Friday night outings.

Later,
Dan