chicca

Hi. I've just purchased a Artesania Latina "Hellen" trawler and will be outfitting with remote control. I will of course have both rudder and motor (via an ESC) controls--but I was tinkering with the idea of including SAIL control. Has anyone out there had experience doing this?? I've got the usual questions like, is there enough room for an additional sail servo, can the booms travel enough, are the mast, boom and boom attachment point durable enough? If I can figure out how to do it or even if it's feasable, I will try to start a new thread about it (assuming there is enough interest). For now, any advice would be GREATLY appreciated! Thanks so much!

Al Stein

I haven't done R/C for Hellen, but at 33" long and over 9" wide, she does have enough room to do it.

I doubt that performance under sail would be very eye-catching, but I could see doing it for the sake of having a cool, functioning scale model.

pompebled

Hi Chicca,

I was browsing through my LHS this afternoon and found the "Hellen" trawler A.L.-kit in a RC version, is it the one you've purchased?

Making it a sailing vessel is possible, but with limited performance and perhaps the need for a "false" keel, in order to keep it from capsizing under sail.

The deck and superstructure must be kept very light to compensate for the additional weight of the sails, servo's, and the fact that the CoG will shift when the booms travel out.

Keep us informed of your progress.

Greetings, Jan.

Jerry Ledford

My Feedback: (15)

Hi, I built the Helen and powered it with a Master Airscrew airplane 05 motor and 3to1 gearbox.I use a cheap 3 speed servo operated speed control. It looks great in the water and runs for about 6 minutes on a 7 cell battery. The masts are for show and not strong enough for sailing. Instead of planking the deck,I sheeted it with 1/16 plywood and scribed in the grooves to to look like planks. `I used a black sharpee marker on the groves and coated all the wood with water base minwax polycrylic. Have fun with it. Jerry