New Captain

[JLITZ3]

Hello all,
I am a newbie here and I would love to get into the hobby. I live in Columbia Md. and there are three nice lakes to go sailing at. I was wondering if this boat would be good enough to start out with just to learn to sail?
SURMOUNT 800 RACING SAIL BOAT YACHT
I am sure I can find a club and get some pointers on how it's done. Thanks for any help as I don't want to throw $200.00 dollars away on this boat if it is not worth it.
Thanks again and I will need all of the help I can get.

[hottrk51]

First, go to [link]http://www.theamya.org/[/link]. (American Model Yatch Assoc.) They will have all the info you need, even find a local club.

Never heard of a SURMOUNT 800 RACING SAIL BOAT YACHT, so I can't advise. But check the AMYA for locals and see what they are sailing. If you want to race, you should have what they have.

Don't say if you want to build or ready to sail. There are good boats either way. Again, cvheck AMYA first.
Hope this helps

[JLITZ3]

Thanks for the advise. I have found a club near by and I will get with the members to gain a better understanding of what is needed before I purchase anything. Thanks again.

[hottrk51]

Graeat idea! Welcome aboard!

[JLITZ3]

Thanks it should be fun

[DONS BOAT WORKS]

Welcome aboard!
The SURMOUNT 800 is not a very good boat.
The Thunder Tiger Victoria is a good starter boat.
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXKF85&P=0

[larrykin]

ORIGINAL: DONS BOAT WORKS

Welcome aboard!
The SURMOUNT 800 is not a very good boat.

I'm truly surprised at the restraint shown here . Not a very good boat. The Surmount, Monsoon, Moonson Deluxe 900, Century 750, Hurricane 1000.... the list goes on. All the kit boats out of China. I have owned 2 and seen a brand new one try to sail last week [] Monsoon Deluxe 900.

DO NOT BUY. At $2 [&:] the Surmount 800 will disappoint. Let alone $200. On the Australian ebay site there's about 20 of these various Chinese boats being up for auction all the time. The distributors are laughing. Selling prices vary from $AU150 to $AU200. The kits retail in China for about $US50.

Save up and buy a Soling 1m. Great, reliable and an excellent reputation with boats sailed around the world. I don't have one (I'm IOM now) but the clubs I'm with have many members who do. All racing and having a great time .

Larry.

[hottrk51]

I'm with you. The S1M is thebest bang for the buck. Excellent recreational boat and a top competitor in it's one design class racing.

[link]http://groups.yahoo.com/group/solingonemeter/messages/128[/link]

[link]http://www.victor-model.com/[/link]

[link]http://www.solingonemeter.org/[/link]http://www.solingonemeter.org/

Check it out!

[JLITZ3]

I have talked to a few guys that are sailing the S1M and they seem to really like the boat and said that it would be a great choice. Since I have the Spectrum DX7 I was wondering if I could use that and what receiver would you guys recommend for this. Thankyou guys for all of your help and I will keep you posted on my first sailboat.

[1967250s]

A Spectrum radio on 2.4 ghz is fine for sailing and you'll only need two or three channels. The only thing to watch is to get the rx up under the deck and some carbon fiber hulls may interfere with reception, so the antenna may need to be run above deck in them, but wood and 'glass boats are not a problem.

[JLITZ3]

In selecting a first sailboat, dose size matter? Yea I know that don't sounds too good but like airplanes the larger ones are easier to fly I was wondering if that might hold true to sailing.
There are just so many sweet looking sailboats to pick from I have no clue as to which one to startout with .

[mfr02]

Size? Well, a boat twice as long will likely be eight times as heavy, and with prices to match. They might be easier to sail when in the water, but you are much more likely to join them in the water without intending to. (Archimedes, balance etc).
The very small ones do tend to be twitchy (even some footy fanatics agree about that), a good range of sizes for a beginner is between 2ft to a metre and a bit. These sizes are relatively easy to transport, they are easy to handle ashore and big enough to have some tolerance in the rigging, without needing the expense of high powered sail servos.
The Victoria is a masterwork from China where they got nearly everything right. Before then Thunder Tiger were learning, afterwqards they were forgetting.
If you sail on a lake with somebody else you will want to race on even terms (a yacht race can be defined as "two yachts on the same lake"), so at least something of similar size, and possibly type, will help.

[JLITZ3]

Well I decided on a Victoria, after looking around and listening to what everyone has been saying I am sure that this will be a nice start into learning how to sail. Like airplanes I'm also sure this will not be my last sailboat either. Thanks guys for all of your help and great sailing in the 2010 season.

[JLITZ3]

Just out of curiosity, where would you get info. on scratch building a sailboat? I have know idea how to begin as I have build many airplanes but no sailboats. I have an interest in scratch building my own sailboat but I am sure there are certain procedures that take place in the process. Thanks and any help would be great.

[Islander51]

Look here for self-build, not too big so inexpensive and easy to get to the pond.

http://www.rcsailing.net/forum1/forumdisplay.php?76-General-Discussion-(RG65)

For IOM plans, Google 'Traplet' Publications

Edward.

[Arrow99]

Check out the T-37 or the T-50Mod or T-50TRI

Easy Kit form build, all wood hull. comes complete with radio all you need is batteries.

http://www.tboats.com/

[larrykin]

ORIGINAL: JLITZ3

Just out of curiosity, where would you get info. on scratch building a sailboat? I have know idea how to begin as I have build many airplanes but no sailboats. I have an interest in scratch building my own sailboat but I am sure there are certain procedures that take place in the process. Thanks and any help would be great.

Please read this guide. It's the bible on composite builds.

[Jlitz]

Thanks for the info...

[Jlitz]

ORIGINAL: JLITZ3

Well I decided on a Victoria, after looking around and listening to what everyone has been saying I am sure that this will be a nice start into learning how to sail. Like airplanes I'm also sure this will not be my last sailboat either. Thanks guys for all of your help and great sailing in the 2010 season.

Well the Victoria came in the mail I talked with some club members and they told me how to go about some modification to the kit as well as my own searching around on the web to find some mods. on this boat. I came across this company by the name of Longbow and I liked how they had everything layed out for the upgrades so I went with that and it just arrived as well soI am now ready for any last minute tips before I start the build,any help or info would be great ,thanks guys.

[lipdaddy]

If you have the money get yourself a set of Carr sails, they're awesome!

[Jlitz]

Thanks, I was just about to purchase a set from Longbow products check them out and tell me what you think.

[lipdaddy]

I have no experience with them, but they look nice.