ICE929RR

Hi,

Ok, the big day was here !
Bought the sailboat a few hours ago... and it was time for the "Big Test"

The wind was a bit strong, but the first 20 min were great !

Then I lost control of the sailboat (panic time!!!).... It was time for a rescue mission

Check out my photos

RC sailing is GREAT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Best regards,

ICE

Pecos45

Ice, delighted to see you and your boat sailing! But please don't get crazy with the weather. Even the big sailboats stay in the harbor when the winds are bad. Our little guys have to respect Mother Nature for sure. Be kind to your boat and you'll enjoy many, many sailing adventures and hopefully all with a happy ending.

Spdsk8er

My Feedback: (3)

what kind of boat is that?

ICE929RR

Hi Tomcat2,

It's a MRP Voyager....

Saturday, I will go to Algarve (TAVIRA) to see the Portuguese National Champs IOM.

I will send photos for those who want...

Best regards,

ICE

Pecos45

For sure post any pics you get Ice.

pompebled

Hi Luis,

Congrats on your maiden trip!

I see you had to learn to keep the boat moving and loosen the sails before the rudder take effect....
Never mind, I landed my boat in the shelf after two minutes, it took you twenty minutes before you got stranded.

Nice pictures!

Looks like your mainsail could do with some battens to move the sailcurvature more towards the mast.
Your Voyager sails go more in the IOM direction with the bigger jib and smaller main, compared to the stock sails.
Let me know how she performs going down wind (nose dive)

More pics please!

Regards, Jan.

Pecos45

Jan, if you're getting any "nosedive" with your Voyager, what do you recommend to combat this? jim

ICE929RR

Hi pompebled,

I will send you more pics to your e-mail.
Btw, she nosedived quite some times... I tought she was going underwater (what a scary site)

What can I do to prevent nosediving ?

Best regards,

ICE

pompebled

@Luis & Jim,

I suspected as much, seeing the much larger jib and (probably) taller mast.
How high is your mast above deck? Stock it's 125 cm (49,2")

When it's just a gust, I hope the boat will accellerate fast enough to get the bow back up, before nose-diving occurs.

If the wind is just too strong for the amount of sail, she will nose dive and bury the bow beyond the mast, lifting the rudder out of the water, so there's really nothing you can do, but hope nothing breaks when the rigg hits the water...

When I see it coming, I slightly steer in the opposite direction as where the main boom is pointing and start tacking down wind, if you pull it off without broaching the boat is wickedly fast, I have to pick up my pace to keep up with her. (this is where spectators ask what motor I have in the boat...)

When sailing on a lake or big pond there's always the possibility to steer into the wind, but as I sail in the canals of our town, I don't always have that option (neither has Luis, where he's sailing in the pic's), so the learning curve on boathandling was rather steep in this respect (ABS does not repond good to fullspeed collisions on a brick wall...).

As relaxing as sailing is, I hardly take my eyes off the boat, when there's more than a light breeze.

Regards, Jan.


Pictures are from an earlier date, experimenting with a Mylar sail,
Never have a camera at hand when I sail in strong winds, it seems.

Pecos45

Jan, I notice also your boat has a CF mast, and I think the Voyager comes with a carbon fiber mast...but Ice's mast appears to be aluminum. Perhaps his mast and sails are not standard for Voyager? Ice, measure the height of your mast above deck.
--------------------

Jan, I have long admired the lovely diamond rigging of your mast. What are the pros and cons of this rigging in your observations?

jim

ICE929RR

Hi Pecos,

It's 148 centimetres or 58.26 inches

Tks

ICE

pompebled

Hi Jim,

The Voyager comes stock with a rather flexible carbon fibre mast (the previous owner of Luis's boat has probably changed it to aluminium to stay within the IOM rules).

The elaborate diamond rigging was born out of necessity to keep the mast as straight a possible under load.
It's a lot of work, and the way I did it, there's no room for adjustment afterwards, so I had to "guestimate" the tension while making the rigging.
So far only the bottom part, where the tensioners are, has some slack, the rest was CA'd rigid to avoid the (holes in the) spreaders "eating' the stays by moving.
I know of a Voyager owner in Australia who's mast snapped "like a carrot" as the spreaders had worn away the stays.

I'm planning to replace the mast with a CF tube, which is much more rigid than the stock mast, but sadly not conical.
I'll also use steel wire for the stays with that mast.

Regards, Jan.

ICE929RR

Jan,

You can find conical carbon frames, mylar and ICAREX here

http://www.bilboquet.com/category/27...for_kites.html

But it's in France...

Best

ICE

pompebled

Thanks Luis,

I've been building (sewing) kites a while ago, Flexifoils, Parafoil, Speedwings, own designs, lately I only fly them, mostly on vacation, can't have time for everything....

Fortunately we have a sports-shop with a modest Kite department, so I have access to regular CF.

Regards, Jan.

Pecos45

Jan, I was wondering how the mast on Ice's Voyager compared to yours in length. Longer? His sails look a bit longer as well.

pompebled

Stock the Voyager's mast is 125cm above deck, Luis' mast is 148 cm above deck.

Seems like the previous owner has altered things to stay within the IOM rules.

Regards, Jan.