dr_wogz

My Feedback: (3)

Hi all, what woul dyou reccomend as a first time RC sail boat? Curious about this, and I'm sure there are more out there than the Kyosho boats. Kits are cool.. As well as plans. i know there are some 'scale' classes out there..

Al Stein

My first R/C sailboat experience was with boats for which you could buy a molded hull and you did the rest -- in which case I didn't did the rest, I actually watched and helped while somebody a lot smarter about sailboats did the rest.

Pretty soon after that I did build my own -- and that was from scratch using a set of plans from (of all places) Model Ariplane News. Building the boat (which was round hull design -- a Soling) went pretty much like building a WWII warbird fuselage... formers, strip plamks, and finally fiberglass. It was not at all hard to do, came out real nice, and the built-up hull was easier (a little anyway) to glue the equipment mounts and deck beams into that the molded hull was.

If you scratch build, you do have to deal with making or obtaining sails. I'd bet, though, that it won't be the logistical challenge that it was years ago since sailcloth can now be bought off the internet no matter where you live. Something to consider if you build from plans... go for an established class size. Depending on the size of one's car, it may seem like an 'M' hull is awful big and a 36" boat is too small to perform as well, but if you build something original and well suited to your space like a 42"er, you can't play with the 36" boats and you're at a disadvantage playing with the bigger classes.

HGU 34

A Northwind 36/600 is a good first boat and being a class boat offers you the chance to compete with similar boats. Assembly only takes a few hours and will fit in the average car.

It's a good boat in light air and yet with it's deep keel and ballast (same keel design as the Kyosho Seawind) is also good when the wind is blowing. It will sail well as assembled with std or heavy duty servos and does not require a sail winch. This willlet you get your feet wet with a quality boat without spending a ton of money.

The booms are a little too flexible to maintain a good sail shape in really stiff breezes. But when you get more experienced and more competetive, you can make a stiffer set of booms for it and a better boom vang to maintain a better shape on the main sail. Then add a sail winch and you'll have a boat that is even quicker and can compete with the much more expensive boats in breezy conditions.

I paid $109 for the kit at the local hobby shop and am looking for another for my son. I am begining to suspect this was a very good deal. Prices have been a lot higher on-line and I don't see them often, so I'm not real sure on street price or availability.

dr_wogz

My Feedback: (3)

Thansk guys!

I sail real boats, and thought I'd get a kick outta a small R/C boat. Beats being dunked! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

HGU 34

The Thunder Tiger Victoria is also reported to be a quality boat and is I believe a 3/4 scale copy of a larger class design. It is about $100 bucks and can also use standard servos. It's a bit smaller than a 36/600 class boat, but there are a lot of them around and they are even easier to transport.

R/C Sailing is more fun when you have someone to race against so your buying decision may come down to what you and a buddy can agree on or based on what is sailed in your particular area.

heavyhub

Check out this source. A lot of good information and links. Your best bet is to fine a local club and try out different options. It's a lot more fun raceing with other boats of the same design
http://www.amya.org/index.html
Great sport when the winds are 5 to 25 knots.

zimkzimm

Hello,
I would recomend a boat at least 36" long. The smaller ones, like the 24" americas cup boats are really pool toys and Have a hard time in real wind. plus they get awfully small awfully quick. My first sailboat was an ORCO, a one meter class amya sanctioned boat that is a meter long, 600 square inches of sail area, real similar to the 36/600 class of boats. The advantage to going with the amya sanctioned classes is that you can attend races and compete all around the country, and some classes all around the world. The one meter is a good choice for this, as it is an internationally recognized class. If you are familiar with sailing, than you probably know a little bit about the basic parts. I have scratch built all but one of my boats, and the one that was a kit was a real clunker. It is not that hard to scratch build, or you can get a hull from several companies around. I believe that dumas makes a soling hull and a ec-12 meter hull, both excellent boats. I would also recomend joining the AMYA, as their magazine will have ads for boats, sails and winches. I would not recomend using a servo for the sail winch. I tried that in my one meter, bought the futaba sail winch servo, stripped spline very quickly. I believe that Dumas has a few winches available, both for proportional control and for on off reverse control. Mine is on off reverse, used for about 12 years, never once had a problem with it.
Good luck,
Kurt

Al Stein

Hey Zimm --

Are EC12s still very active (as in, could a person find at least a couple regattas a season in this part of the world)?

I have access to a boat built over one of the Rodd Carr hulls -- which if you remember them, you can guess that it's been decades since it was built. It was agreat sailer before it got damaged in a tornado (don't go sailing in a severe storm... not inside a boat or outside of it!) and recomissioning it might be a lot of fun if there's still a fleet of them to play with.

ballgunner

My Feedback: (1)

Suggest you check the net for Victor Model Products. I have built 5 of their kits, which are very complete, including two Soling 1 Meters. They have Cup Class kits and even a schooner. The radios I've had most success with are Hitec and the sail arm servos Futaba 3000 class.

touhey

[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] Without a doubt, I recommend the Soling 1m. It's easy to build, sails exceptionally well in light and heavy air,
largest class in AMYA, holds it's value in the event you later want to sell it. We have 50 Soling 1ms in the Sequim/Port Angeles, Wa., area. I have built three, and have over 500 races on one of them.

Good Luck,

Jesse Touhey, EC-12, Odom, Soling 1m

ballgunner

My Feedback: (1)

Happy about the Soling 1M and envy you the EC12. I still have my Soling but am assembling a Fairwind 900. We do not have competitive sailing on our pond but do have 10 or 12 Fairwinds. I figure that if I outsail them they won't be able to take it and try to catch up. Have you seen Victor's Mary Ward schooner? Looks like a very fine yacht and I have always loved schooners. Used to sail a 66 footer owned by the tenor in our barbershop quartet.
He wasn't much of a skipper and wanted to race. On the Kenyon I got the most out of her so he had the idea that we should go to Ensenada. (I sailed out of Alamitos Bay YC, Long Beach, CA) We didn't.

Al Stein

Quote
<hr>... I figure that if I outsail them they won't be able to take it and try to catch up...<hr>

From all my time around sailboats, I expect you're right. That urge is so strong it once got me into a mid-lake capsize drill with a daughter who'd only been on the boat a couple of times. (If it weren't for that, we'd have won, too [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-mad.gif[/img])

fishy2k8

My Feedback: (4)

never listen to "they can take standard servos" on the box of any sailboat because a standard servo is just not strong enough!

Riverdog

I think all the Victor boats can be tackled by a novice builder. RTR's are fun, but some boats seem too be the sum of good design parts that doesn't equal a good sailing boat. Bad ergonomics and quirks that make them hard to tune.

I have a blast with the V-32...

I was fortunate enough to snatch up an old VMP Tahoe II from the '80's NIB off ebay awhile back. Ol' George knows his stuff! He was very helpful with any and all questions I had about the construction..... Very nice guy, indeed!

After completion I snapped a picture on her maiden voyage @ a local park. Wow. What a performer. Not bad for my first boat, huh? Even went the old school route and installed the Dumas #3702 sail control unit. I sincerely believe that the Dumas sail control unit would rip itself from its mounts before it would stall out. Even went with a vintage era NIB Aristocraft 2000 radio.

Yea, I'm old, too!