Fairly new to boats.

[Mark Grant 1Participant @markgrant1]

Hi All,

I've been lurking for a while, thought I'd say hello.

I'm a long term RC flyer, started on rubber KK planes at school!

About a year ago I decided to build a KK Neptune as I never built one as a kid. I made it RC and took it to Bushy Park. It went OK, here is the evidence!

Last weekend I was in Selsey where one of the Selsey Boat Club members let me have a go on his Victoria which I really enjoyed, I think sailboats appeal in the same way that I prefer gliders to power planes.

Mark.

[Mark Grant 1Participant @markgrant1]

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Mark,

Welcome to the forum, plenty of room here for you, I think we all have a variety of interests here, be it floats, flys or runs on the rails or road, so at the end of the day we are all modellers, and thank goodness you can make what ever we want

I think you will enjoy yachting in miniature as there are many things in common with gliders except the altitude.

I expect you have met Ashley and his crew at Bushy Park ??

Regards Ray

[Tim RoweParticipant @timrowe83142]

Hello Mark

Welcome from another sailboat fan.

Never realized there were so many ducks in Bushy Pond.

Tim R

[Eddie LancasterParticipant @eddielancaster]

Hi. Mark, Welcome and I agree with you that sailing using wind power only is more fun,but this last few weeks have shown me I have a lot to learn.

Regards.

Eddie

[Malcolm FraryParticipant @malcolmfrary95515]

Posted by Tim Rowe on 17/09/2019 11:18:00:

Hello Mark

Welcome from another sailboat fan.

Never realized there were so many ducks in Bushy Pond.

Tim R

I don't know about your ducks, but the ones at Fairhaven usually seem to be laughing at something I've done with my boat. Not without reason, but then again………….

[Dave Cooper 6Participant @davecooper6]

Hi Mark,

My interests are boats, cars, RC gliders and model railways. I also do full-size gliding and am currently designing and building a Le-Mans style sportscar – so, don't worry about having too many interests – keeping the 'grey matter' going (at age 72) is far more important !

Coming back to yachts, after my RAF launch which is nearing completion, I quite fancy a nice yacht….mine will probably be a cabin cruiser. I used to sail full-size and really enjoyed it, however, I quickly learned that when the wind drops it's handy to have some form of auxiliary power. For me this will probably be a small electric motor driving a folding prop.

Something that I have noticed about model boats is how they seem to 'shrink' when on the water (my slowly failing eyesight ?), so this brings me to size: The RAF launch is only 16" long which is really too small for anything with "real waves". The backseat of my car will hold a hull up to about 46", the mast to balance this will, I think, need to be taller than this, so I think will need to be folding or removable for transport. I've not properly researched any of this yet, but, I feel there will be some plans /kits of around this size….

Just like RC gliding, it's all a compromise I guess – let us know your thoughts and plans for a suitable model.

Regards,

Dave

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Mike. Please say hello next time you are down. OR if you DID say hello, sorry, I have forgotten you!

Dave. Not a problem with your eyesight. Did you ever see that episode of Father Ted when he was trying to explain the perspective of cows in the field to Dougal with the help of some toy ones on the table?

Small and near, big but far away….

Sadly a 16 inch boat is very small on the pond and even a 4 footer starts to shrink at distance. Stay close to the bank!

Yachts need either a large car or de-mountable masts. Its quite easy really to have a plug in mast, but you would need either turnbuckle style standing rigging (or hook on types) and a method of attaching any servo operated string.

My Sailing T.G Herald has a spring loaded mast and hook on steel trace wire standing rigging. This hooks on but the spring pushing up under the mast maintains tension. Fishing tackle shops….the place to get sailing rigging items!

Ashley

Edited By ashley needham on 07/12/2019 16:40:06

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi All

This is quite an old post in relative terms after the first one, there was no response from Mark, which is sadly the case these days, still it gets everybody going in odd directions 😀

Just returned from the Maidstone pantomime, really marvellous even took our youngest granddaughter to make up the numbers.

Regards Ray

Edited By Ray Wood 2 on 07/12/2019 18:49:28

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Ray. Yes, the number of people we have spoken to at the pond over the years but no new boaters turn up. Lovely access full pond, free car park 40 yards away ??

bit blowy today but dry and not toooo cold.

Ashley

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hello Dave,

You maybe aware of the 16 ft Silhouette sailing cruiser very popular in the 1960's there is a plan called Chez When for a 34" model published by Sarik, I will build one eventually, not a massive rig which could easily be made to fold down if space were an issue.

Or my small cruiser Wild Duck at 22" long, and would easily fit on your back seat 😀 Also from Sarik.

regards Ray

[Dave Cooper 6Participant @davecooper6]

Hi again Ashley – good to hear that my 'peepers' should last a bit longer ! Sounds like you have a very nice pond down there. I'm currently looking for somewhere in North Wilts'. It seems that Swindon and Portishead both have clubs but are over an hour's drive for me…

Hi Ray: Thanks for the new inspiration of a cabin cruiser yacht – I'll look up "Chez When" (Sarik) soon. Do you think "Wild Duck" would scale up to 33" or even 44" ? Forgot to mention that I have a fairly large estate car, so, with the back seat folded down could probably lay the model on it's side (complete with mast in situ ?).

Both: Am I worrying unnecessarily about auxiliary power ? I just have this vision of being on my own in the middle of a big lake with no wind and no ideas ! Would both designs take an electric motor /shaft /folding prop (just to give me peace of mind…)

Best regards,

Dave

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Dave,

It depends if your sailing On your own I suppose, our club has a rescue dinghy for anybody who gets stuck in the reeds!

Wild Duck is a Yachting Monthly design for home building with a long ballast keel but I have built her with a removable fin keel & bulb for better performance, she would be quite a size at 44" long 😀

PM me your email address and I'll ping you my draft drawing.

Regards Ray

[Dave Cooper 6Participant @davecooper6]

Thanks Ray – PM sent this morning.

Dave

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Dave. Perhaps if the wind was very light Then an executive decision could be made not to sail in case the wind dies completely!.

All sides of our pond are accessible so we don’t have much of an issue, just wait. My 10m fishing pole easily takes care of shallow water rescues. I always have a landing craft in the car and they make great rescue boats.

On a larger model an auxiliary engine could be incorporated fairly easily but it might lead to a small loss in sailing performance? Or not?

Ashley

[Dave Cooper 6Participant @davecooper6]

Ashley – do you think a folding prop would make much difference ? Or, were you thinking of battery, motor weight etc ?

As I won't be racing mine, I think I would trade a small loss in sailing performance for 'get-back-ability' !

Merry Christmas,

Dave

[Dave MilbournParticipant @davemilbourn48782]

Graupner used to make a combined motor/shaft/folding prop unit specifically for this purpose. Someone may have one lying around doing nowt – you never know.

DM

[Dave Cooper 6Participant @davecooper6]

Thanks Dave – sounds ideal. I'll watch out for one….probably will have to be second-hand now as I'd heard Graupner have recently closed down ?

Merry Christmas,

Dave C

[Dave MilbournParticipant @davemilbourn48782]

Yes – I believe there will only be the electronics side still operating, with all of the "model" manufacturing ceasing. Terrible shame.

DM

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