darkside_floyd1

I'm looking to get into sailing. Currently I have done something in about every arena airplanes, cars, and boats (all nitro). So Helicopters and Sailboats are my next interests...

So far the Kyosho Seawind looks like what I want to go with. With that said...


How big of a lake / pond would I need? How deep? (I don't want to get stuck with the low hanging ballast.) How much wind?
Does this boat vs others have any advantages / limitations based on conditions over others?
I just want to be sure that as a beginner I don't want a craft that will limit my time on the water.

Can anyone point me to a site that is a good guide for learning how to sail?

Thanks

LtDoc

'Floyd-1,
"How big of a lake / pond would I need? How deep? (I don't want to get stuck with the low hanging ballast.)"

Well, the lake/pond should be at least as deep as the depth of the keel (the 'hangy-down' thing under the boat), so as a rough guess, call it 'knee-deep'. Anything more than that is 'good', anything less is 'bad'. Most ornamental ponds in parks are 'deep enough', sort of. You should count on getting your feet wet at least part of the time.

"How much wind?"

There has to be at least some wind, but when it's strong enough to blow your hat off, or make you squint your eyes, stay home. Almost anything inbetween will 'work'. If you can hold the boat with one hand without the wind blowing it away, it's good sailing weather, sort of.

" Does this boat vs others have any advantages / limitations based on conditions over others?"

Since I don't own one, you have to take what I say with a large 'grain of salt'. But, a Kyosho Seawind wouldn't be my first choice when learning to sail. It isn't all that complicated a boat, but it certainly isn't a very simple one either. There are a number of things to 'improve' the Seawind, and there are websites that tell you what those 'improvements' are. A search should get you several places to look.

Learning to sail isn't difficult. The 'smart' thing to do is 'play' with your boat to see what the controls do, get comfortable with it. Then do some playing with the boat in the water. See how positioning the sails affects the boat's movement. Do all the "if I do this, the boat does that" stuff. You can learn the names of what you're doing later.

Maybe the best advice anyone can give you is to find others who sail, a club, individuals, who ever. Watch them sail. Ask questions! Then try it your self.

At least half the 'fun' is in the learning, and making mistakes. The trick is to not make the same mistakes too many times! At this point, since you've never tried it, you really don't know what questions to ask (right?), so give it a shot. As you become familiar with the 'how', you can find out the 'why'. Have fun...
- 'Doc

wismerhell

the Seawind is A GREAT beginner boat..cant beat it for the price!!!
Price/performance...the SW rules...I (yet) didnt see a boat with same price wich sails better...if you know one, Doc, please tell me...I d be happy to buy it and test it, just for fun...

This also could help

www.seawindrc.com

Regards

Wis

Ps the SW cant really handle wind over 18mph..getting hard!
You might upgrade the waterproof hatch...as it isnt waterproof at all..Again the SW is a great boat...my first boat...and i still sail it a lot

jocolo

My Feedback: (7)

I got a Megatech Nirvana with great results but if I would on know earlier I would of bought the kit thay sell at www.towerhobbies.com or as I did ebay ready to run for 145 plus s/h

GRANT ED

If you get the Seawind you won't be dissapointed. I bought one of these as my first boat and since then a bunch of my friends have bought one to based on the performance / quality of mine. So much so we have started our own club
http://seawindclubs.a.x8r.com/index.htm
At the moment we have 5 seawinds with 3 more on the way.
Highly recommended.
P.S the boat draws a touch over 30cm of water and definatly make a more water proof hatch.