Help with identifying wooden yacht, and rigging

[Edward Hobbs 3Participant @edwardhobbs3]

Pictures attached here: https://imgur.com/a/CGQf8Tq

I spotted this yacht in a local antique/collector's shop and couldn't resist the absurdly low price tag (£30!!).

I'm completely new to sailing model yachts, having only really had experience with small rc power boats when I was younger, and I was hoping to get some help both with identifying the boat, and then potentially with rigging as I can't quite work out where all the lines go…

It appears to be 36" class, and the mast is around 45/46" tall from the deck. I believe it's been home-constructed from plans, given the design on the deck and "functional" internals.

Any help would be most appreciated, either with identifying the boat design or resources to help me identify the lines and where they should be attached: The headsail in particular is eluding me.

If any more information/extra photos are required please let me know and I'll try gather everything I can

Edited By Colin Bishop on 11/10/2021 08:43:37

[Edward Hobbs 3Participant @edwardhobbs3]

[Malcolm FraryParticipant @malcolmfrary95515]

It is an R36R (restricted 36", radio). No idea what particular design, but it does look a lot like the line drawing that appeared in a list of plans.

Rigging is a fairly standard sort of arrangement – most of it is to either stop the mast falling over, or to relieve strain. The backstay stops it falling forward in a following wind and offers some tension to help sail shape. The masthead crane might be either a rigid fitting or might be a seesaw with a tension line on the other side. The sidestays stop it falling over sideways when the sails are collecting force to drive the boat. They are also very useful when picking the yacht out of the water without bending too far.

Some boats have a forestay to prevent the mast being pulled over backwards by the force of the backstay. Most racing classes dispense with that in favour of using the foresail, which is carried on a luff line on its leading edge and the pivot arrangement that hooks it to the fore deck. To stop the pull of this line stretching the rear edge an adjustable line is fitted from the top to the rear end of the jib boom.

As this looks like a deck stepped mast, all of the support lines are vital for transmitting the forces gathered by the sails down to the fin under the boat via the hull structure.

While the running rigging lines are very tidy above deck, I would prefer a rearrangement. I don't like lines carrying strain going through hatches. Similarly I have misgivings about any line that simply pops out of a flush hole in a deck. Yachts go in windy weather (its what they are for) which usually involves lumpy water which in turn means water on the deck. Any hole is an invite for water inside, where it is not wanted.

[Edward Hobbs 3Participant @edwardhobbs3]

Posted by Malcolm Frary on 11/10/2021 09:04:29:

It is an R36R (restricted 36", radio). No idea what particular design, but it does look a lot like the line drawing that appeared in a list of plans.

Rigging is a fairly standard sort of arrangement – most of it is to either stop the mast falling over, or to relieve strain. The backstay stops it falling forward in a following wind and offers some tension to help sail shape. The masthead crane might be either a rigid fitting or might be a seesaw with a tension line on the other side. The sidestays stop it falling over sideways when the sails are collecting force to drive the boat. They are also very useful when picking the yacht out of the water without bending too far.

Some boats have a forestay to prevent the mast being pulled over backwards by the force of the backstay. Most racing classes dispense with that in favour of using the foresail, which is carried on a luff line on its leading edge and the pivot arrangement that hooks it to the fore deck. To stop the pull of this line stretching the rear edge an adjustable line is fitted from the top to the rear end of the jib boom.

As this looks like a deck stepped mast, all of the support lines are vital for transmitting the forces gathered by the sails down to the fin under the boat via the hull structure.

While the running rigging lines are very tidy above deck, I would prefer a rearrangement. I don't like lines carrying strain going through hatches. Similarly I have misgivings about any line that simply pops out of a flush hole in a deck. Yachts go in windy weather (its what they are for) which usually involves lumpy water which in turn means water on the deck. Any hole is an invite for water inside, where it is not wanted.

Thanks Malcolm, much appreciated!

Looking at it (and the hole in the hatch), I think there may have been something in the hole that has since disappeared. Moving holes seems like a relatively simple job, there's plenty of space inside the hull for running lines so no concerns there I don't think.

In terms of not having exposed holes, is it a case of moving the electronics to where the moving parts are outside of the hull, or is just adding a cover something like the one that's in the hatch enough to keep out the worst?

[Malcolm FraryParticipant @malcolmfrary95515]

My favoured way is to have the line appear above deck either via a small hole in a rearward facing vertical panel, or through the deck using a fairlead, or bit of plastic tube. Or copper or aluminium tube. In any case, with the exit hole facing backward to avoid creating a scoop.

This will invariably put the line where it is not wanted for the final trip between a point on the centre line and the boom (i.e. where the existing hole is). A three-point bridle sorts that. One ring, three adjustable lines each with a hook on the end to fix to three convenient points on the deck. One adjusts fore and aft, the other two centre the ring over where the hole was. Through deck pulleys look nice, but costa lot and provide a hole in the deck.

Electronics are best mounted as high as they will go so that any wet that gets in doesn't slosh into them. That, and generous use of Vaseline and/or something like CorrosionX so that any wet that hits them falls off. And storing with the hatch open so that damp air can dissipate. In the case of a 2G4 radio, they usually only have a short aerial lead. Since the aerial needs to be as high as possible, so does its attached radio.

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