Moonbeam Maiden Sail

[BanjomanParticipant @banjoman]

First outing of my Moonbeam model yacht

[BanjomanParticipant @banjoman]

Well! And well! again!

At long last, decent weather and no chores decided to happen on the same Sunday morning, so off I went to the club pond just outside Mechelen, and finally got to put my Moonbeam on the water for her maiden sailing!

The wind was variable in all senses, both in strength and direction, but as reputed, Moonbeam glided off quite niceley even under only the weakest hint of a waft, and, whenever the wind picked up a little, went like the proverbial clappers!

I also found her extremely well balanced, and with the sails set just so she would move in what at least from shore looked like a perfecty straight line without the need of any rudder at all.

She tacks beautifully, and goes about on a penny with no hesitation at all, no matter whether tacking or luffing.

All in all huge fun to sail, and a most satisfactory first time on the water!

Here is a short video …

and below some still photos from this morning.

As I was alone at the pond for the first hour or so, both video and photos were taken by myself with one hand while sailing the boat with the other, a not entirely straightforward task for one who hasn't had a model yacht on the water since 1981 …

In other words, I didn't quite dare to go for any nice close-ups or water level photos, as I was afraid that even five seconds of inattention if sailing that close to shore might lead to Moonbeam running full tilt into the pond edge …

Cheers,

Mattias

Edited By Banjoman on 10/06/2018 16:03:31

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[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Mattias,

Well done she looks great on the water, good to see all your efforts come fruition

We are on holiday spotting cruise ships and craft of all shapes and sizes in Malaga harbour today, happy days

Kind Regards Ray

[Eddie LancasterParticipant @eddielancaster]

Hi, Mattias, she does look good on the water, and those sails are great! not a wrinkle in sight, beautiful, I hope you are justifiably proud of your achievement.

Eddie

[BanjomanParticipant @banjoman]

Hello, Ray and Eddie,

Warmest thanks for your kind words!

And yes, Eddie, I will admit to a reasonable amount of pride on how the sails turned out, but much more than proud I am just simply happy and pleased with the result

Mattias

PS. Many thanks, too, to whomever of the moderators that spotted my typo in the thread title and kindly corrected it even before I'd gotten round to ask for it!

Edited By Banjoman on 11/06/2018 06:20:14

[Gareth JonesParticipant @garethjones79649]

Hi Mattias,

I am pleased to see that you finally finished your Moonbeam and had a successful maiden voyage. I have looked at quite a few Moonbeams over the years since my wife built one, and I am pleased to say that I think yours is the best and most meticulously constructed example I have ever seen. However I do prefer the colour scheme of Elizabeth's Moonbeam Princess (blue and white).

This leads on to the big question, what are you going to build next?

Regards

Gareth

[BanjomanParticipant @banjoman]

Hello Gareth,

Coming from someone with your experience and skills, that is praise indeed, and, blushing, I can only say thank you very, very much indeed for your kind words!

And next?

Well, first up will be a scratch built Fairey Huntsman 31 from Dave Milbourn's plans.

After that, I have the 1:12 kit from Tony Green Steam Models (i.e. the ex-Dave Metcalf kit) for the RNLB Alice Upjohn waiting in its box under my workbench.

After that, I'm not yet sure about the exact order of construction, but plan to scratch build

• a 1:6 steam launch from the old Wide-A-Wake plans, including machining and putting together a Stuart D10 from castings (that part of the project will have to wait, though, until I have at least a lathe);
• a 1:10 (or maybe 1:12) circa 1920's vintage motor boat based on one or the other of C.G. Pettersson's +/- 1,000 designs (**LINK**);
• a 1:96 or (if, I succumb to the temptations of megalomania) 1:48 static model of the four-masted barque Moshulu based on Malcolm Darch's plans; and
• a 1:35 model of the Stockholm–Vaxholm line steamship S/S Norrskär (**LINK**).

And then … well, once that list has been gone through, we should be at least 20 years or so down the road, when I will be getting on for looking 75 in the eyes, so further than that I don't yet make any plans. Let's just say that I'm not overly worried about having nowt do keep me busy once I retire …

But first, thus, the Fairey!

I will probably not get started on that until the autumn, though, as I am currently spending all my model building budget on more and improved sledge hammers to crack future nuts even more comprehensively; specifically I am currently awaiting delivery of two more (I already have their wonderful table saw) beauties from Byrnes Model Machines (**LINK**) in the form of their disc and thickness sanders …

Also, this time of the year, 'tis the season when a fair amount of one's free time is taken up by the garden — tomorrow, f'r instance, I have some 40 meters or so of ivy hedges to trim …

Mattias

Edited By Banjoman on 15/06/2018 11:11:00

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[Chris FellowsParticipant @chrisfellows72943]

As others have said, you have made a lovely job of Moonbeam (have followed your thread) and looks well on the water.

Will be following your build of the Huntsman 31 with great interest. One of those is on my build list and may well be next, though I've got another project in my head, but that will need drawings and a more experienced construction for me so maybe that will be a longer term build.

Chris

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