I watch and read a lot of news. I do this because I want to be informed and so I can make the right decisions. I also choose to do this because I find it important, it is as simple as that. But I am amazed of the lies, deceit, and skirting of the rules and facts. Some may say I am fooling myself in thinking honesty is something that is important. In model yachting, one of the biggest areas of concern is sportsmanship. Sportsmanship is the simple act of playing by the rules and not forcing our own "rules" on others.

One of the most important things is how we conduct ourselves in our business with others, and not playing by the rules when it best serves us. Here is an example; you are in a regatta and another sailboat has fouled you and you call a protest, but during a heat your mainsail touches a mark that you have just rounded. No one else sees it, so you don't call out that you have touched the mark and don't do a penalty turn, you just sail on. Basically, you are a hypocrite. You demand others to follow the rules but you ignore them for yourself.

The sad fact is we all can fall into the pit of being a hypocrite if we choose not do the right thing. None of us is perfect, but that does not mean we can't correct our mistakes and choose the right. When we ignore the rules because we just want to get along, or not cause waves, or don't want others to be upset it is a dastardly way out.

This has been the battle since the dawn of time. The only way to be good sportsmen, is to willfully follow the rules both on and off the racecourse. If not, the news will get around about our deceit and that will undermine our hobby/sport and destroy trust. _/)

by Mark Mason, Ultra Smooth Sails

For a masthead telltale, use a yellow yarn strand, as it is the easiest to see at a distance. Take a 12 inch long piece of yarn and unwind it into a two strand piece and a one strand piece.

Next, place the yarn on a flat surface with a towel underneath. Hold the other end of the yarn one-inch off the towel and slightly stretch the yarn. With a hot steam iron, start from the weighted end and move the iron slowly down the yarn, at the same time drop the raised yarn one-inch. The yarn should appear both straight and flat. You will find this method will allow the yarn to fly straight and flat. Use a small diameter plastic piece about 1/8" or a little less in length to hang from the back of the masthead. This can be purchased from any hobby store. Fair sailing and no bailing! _/)

from Jay Barnes

In the heyday of sailing ships, all war ships and many freighters carried iron cannons. Those cannon fired round iron cannon balls. It was necessary to keep a good supply near the cannon. But how to prevent them from rolling about the deck?

The best storage method devised was a square based pyramid with one ball on top, resting on four, resting on nine, which rested on sixteen. Thus, a supply of 30 cannon balls could be stacked in a small area right next to the cannon.

There was only one problem -- how to prevent the bottom layer from sliding/rolling from under the others. The solution was a metal plate called a "Monkey" with 16 round indentations. But if this plate were made of iron, the iron balls would quickly rust to it. The solution to the rusting problem was to make "Brass Monkeys."

Few landlubbers realize that brass contracts much more and much faster than iron when chilled. Consequently, when the temperature dropped too far, the brass indentations would shrink so much that the iron cannon balls would come right off the monkey.

Thus, it was quite literally, "Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey!" (And all this time, you thought that was an improper expression, didn't you?). _/)

[Fact-Check: Not doubting the article on cannon balls, I was intrigued with the term of "brass monkey". So I did a little research on brass monkeys to make sure of accuracy. I found that warships of the 18^th century stored their shot on brass racks called monkeys, and during cold weather the brass rack contracted thus causing the shot to fall onto the deck. As to the expression found in the article, there is no proof found in nautical dictionaries that reference brass monkeys. Most shot was carried in racks or garlands which was made of wood or rope. So you be the judge. If anything, the phrase "freezing the balls of the brass monkey" could be just another part of naval lore. - The Editor.] _/)

by Jerry Muridge

The Opportunity: On the down wind leg of the racecourse the boat behind has the advantage because of the blanketing effect of the sail of the overtaking boat. This blanketing effect extends up to three mast lengths to leeward. Several experiments have been done in wind tunnels and their results published shows that the trailing boat is actually speeded up and the boat ahead is reduced in speed in the blanket zone. Dead down wind hereafter is called DDW. The DDW is the slowest angle of sailing, and is to avoided if possible by broad reaching in a zig zag pattern in order to keep an aerodynamic wind flow over the sails, rather than a stall with the wind perpendicular to the sails.

The Tactics: The basic offense tactic for the trailing boat on the offence down wind leg is to blanket the boat ahead with your wind shadow, build up a speed difference then shoot by to windward, and head for the down wind mark or finish line.

The basic defense tactic for the boat ahead on the down wind leg is to stay out of the trailing boat's wind shadow blanket zone as mush as possible by jibing away or altering course. But try as you may your lead will be slowly lost. The trailing boat will not be able to pass the leading boat to leeward. So to counter the move to windward, the lead boat must alter course to windward called huffing.

In light winds on the DDW leg, sail with the wind on the stern quarter, keeping the boat moving, gibing when necessary and as much as necessary. Avoid the dreaded dead zone with the wind directly astern and avoid sailing by the lee.

In light to medium winds, sail down with the puffs and up in the lulls. Working your way down wind this way is faster than the direct course.

In heavy winds (or survival conditions), the direct course is the fastest, but it may not be possible due to rolling, broaching, burring the bow down, etc. Jib in the lulls if possible or wear her around and tack if you must.

Try some of these things the next time you are dead down wind. _/)

According to the November 2003 issue of the AZMYA Newsletter, the Mesa Model Yacht Club (MMYC) co-sponsored with the Copperstate Model Yacht Club (CMYC) the Arizona 36/600 State Championship Regatta at Dobson Pond on November 16, 2003. Apparently CMYC is still having its on-going six-month weed problem at Chaparral Pond in Scottsdale, and contacted MMYC requesting to hold its event at Dobson Pond.

This posed a problem for MMYC because it was generally understood that only a City of Mesa approved model boat club with pond insurance could have events at Dobson Pond. With persistence, CMYC got MMYC to review their request and MMYC offered to host the regatta for CMYC, but the offer was turned down. Not to be stopped, through an amazingly "bureaucratic arrangement", MMYC decided to co-sponsor the event at Dobson Pond with CMYC!

With MMYC co-sponsoring the Arizona 36/600 State Championship Regatta with CMYC at Dobson Pond, it took care of CMYC's problem for a place to have the event. So, hats off to MMYC for a job well done in the continuing effort of club co-operation and not allowing road blocks to get in the way of sailing "toy boats"!

***

Intel has came across some interesting information from the land of Scottsdale. Sources say the City of Scottsdale has two ponds that have been set aside for model boating, the pond next to Indian School Road and Hayden Road and the pond next to McKellips Road and Hayden Road. No big deal, but the story gets more interesting. According to the City of Scottsdale, it has been requiring pond insurance for some time for all of its ponds, that means ALL of its ponds. One interesting note, according to AMYA, CMYC has not had AMYA pond insurance for a while. Anyway, it is good to know that another municipality is requiring insurance in the Valley of the Sun! _/)

If you are interested it an item, please contact the person that is selling the item for more information.

1. A partially completed ATLANTIS Schooner with radio and stand. Needs finishing. $800.00.
2. A partially completed DAUNTLESS scale motor yacht. Has running gear. Needs radio. $50.00.

by Glenn Cupit

A surfacing prop is trying to "walk" across the water as the lower portion of the blade enters the water. In a model, this "walk" force is to the left and forces the transom left causing the boat to pull right, requiring left rudder to keep the boat straight.

High pitch, high lift, high rake and inefficient props, prop walk more noticeably.

Usually, prop walk can be controlled and kept to a minimum by using a deeper rudder. It takes a lot of side force to "drag" a rudder sideways through the water on the straightaway.

Surface props must be razor sharp and have equal pitch and contour on all blades.

So, without rudders, outdrives will tend to propwalk if used on hydros.

This has nothing to do with rudders and fins, but since we were discussing propwalk and straightaway "pull", I thought I would mention hydro "asymmetry".

Asymmetry is when the hydro is not symmetrical, right and left of the centerline of the center section.

Most asymmetry is an attempt to eliminate prop walk pull and keep the inside sponson down in the turn.

This asymmetry involves offset sponsons, different sponson angles right to left, engine offset, angled and/or offset drive shaft or strut, weighted right sponson, etc.

I’ll stop here and let you ponder the effects of the above asymmetry, the effects of which you may not have realized about your boat.

I think that a turn fin should ideally be vertical with the water. I say this admitting that I ran bent or angled fins in model boats and canted fins in full-scale hydros.

I didn’t completely understand all that goes on with turn fins and rudder dynamics when I was running model boats. I came to gain a better understanding only after experience with model boats and full-scale hydros.

I now feel that bent turn fins are just another easy tuning crutch. It’s an important crutch in that it can quickly correct unhooking turn fins in high G turns, by minor alignment changes.

Bent, canted or angled (same thing) turn fins MUST be very accurately aligned or they will lift or dig-in and slow down the boat drastically in the turns. They must have some means of adjustment and be able to remain rigid at the forces applied to it in the turn.

The fin should be of a material that will be rigid with the thinnest material, even if it must be heavier! Going to a lighter, but thicker material is kidding yourself. The very slight weight saving is far overshadowed by the increased drag of the thicker material!

I now feel that 1/16, 5/64, 3/32 or 1/8 hardenable tool steel is probably the best. Ed Kalfus knew this 40 years ago. All his rudders and fins were hardened & blued tool steel, very thin - - and WE thought we knew better!

The neat thing about angled turn fins is that you can tweak them by pivoting them on one mounting hole, the other one slotted, to make the boat turn lighter or heavier on the right sponson. But, all you are doing is inducing drag (lift or dig-in), which can be usually dialed-in with other adjustments, one of which is rudder caster.

However, angled turn fins are aligned optimally at only one angle of attack. That means if it is dialed-in in the turns when the transom is lowered; then in the straights as the prop lifts the transom to the maximum, it is NOT dialed-in and is either lifting or digging-in.

I suggest that you don’t follow the pack and try for yourself a straight or SLIGHTLY canted fin along with a left rudder with a little negative caster. Start with a vertical fin. Don’t angle it unless it blows out. If it blows out, decrease the rudder caster until you feel the increased rudder drag has gone too far. THEN, cant the rudder, A LITTLE!

Optimum fore-aft turn fin location will vary slightly for different hydros. If you make provision for easily adjusting the fin location when building your hull, you will be pleased you did so when optimizing your racing set-up during testing.

Never run a bent turn fin on a timed straightaway run. Put on a shallow, vertical fin. You may have to run a deeper rudder because the straightaway prop will usually want to propwalk more than an oval prop.

Remember, our comments about turn fin spray. Design the placement and bracketry so that no spray induced lift occurs.

Outrigger turn fin placement usually necessitates bolting the fin to the inside of the right sponson, trailing the fin back and down to get it close to the boat CG. If you trim the top of the fin down close to the water line, it makes it more subject to twisting in the turn. If you leave it tall all the way back, the spray off the inside bottom of the sponson causes more unwanted drag on the outside of the fin. A happy medium compromise must be determined between flexing and drag. Again, a rigid material fin will really help with the flexing here.

To check if your fin is strong enough, consider this: If your boat weighs 8 pounds, and negotiates a turn between 3 and 4G’s (I think this is a good guesstimate. Let’s hear from the engineers.), then the force on the fin is 24 to 32 pounds, if it is on or close to the CG.

Make a block of wood to bolt your fin to just like it is mounted on your sponson. Mount the block in a vise with the fin horizontal. Mark the waterline on the fin. Mount a wire pointer to indicate the vertical position of the fin in the fixture. Place a 24 pound weight on the portion of the fin below the water line. It may be easier to make a wood clamp for the fin from which to hang the weight. I bet you will be surprised at the deflection of your stainless steel fin! Now, try a 30 pound weight! These weights may be incorrect. Maybe our engineers will suggest appropriate weights, if I am off the mark. Also, consider the force on the fin if your boat weighs 10 pounds!

I think you will find that your bent, stainless fin is bending severely in the turns. That’s why the stainless fins must be bent so much; because they flex and if not bent severely, become less than vertical under the above G forces.

If the above proves true for you, go make a straight hardened carbon steel fin, sharpen, polish and test it as above. If it is thick enough, it will be rigid. Now have it plated and mount it slightly canted.

A straight edge, parallel to the water line, held against the sides of a non-wedge fin, should be parallel to the boat centerline as viewed from the top. To properly align a wedge turn fin, the wedge angle must be bisected and the resulting centerline aligned with the boat centerline. A wedge shim, ½ the angle of the included angle of the wedge fin can be made as an alignment tool. This shim is then held between the straight edge and the fin when aligning as above.

Of course, with a bent or canted fin, the portion of the fin to be aligned is all portions in the water.

You never want to purposely misalign a fin. More drag. You only need ONE rudder!

You should not need to cant or angle a straight fin more than a degree or so more than the dihedral angle of the sponson.

Again, vertical or slightly canted, straight fins are much easier to align and do not induce as much drag as do severely bent fins, when the running attitude changes from the turns to the straights.

My intent here was to stimulate your thoughts and open your mind to possible alternate approaches to tuning your boat.

Most boat racers don’t think about some of the concepts discussed above.

If I have contributed one "Ah-Ha" to your understanding of rudder, fin and spray dynamics - - I am very happy.

If none of this works for you, I am sad. _/)

by James Barnett

What is a good definition of that word, "club"? Webster’s defines it as a group of persons organized for a social, literary, or other purpose. As individuals, we all have that one special interest that links us to a group. I’ve been in numerous clubs and organizations over the years, ranging from a Naval Yacht Club, skydiving club, various vintage car and motorcycle clubs, and even a volunteer EMT/rescue squad. The one thing that they all have in common are by-laws, as well as rules and regulations.

The by-laws were adopted at the clubs inception. Their purpose is to regulate the operations of a club. If there is a question between members, as to operations or policies, the by-laws should hold the answer. If not, a vote by a quorum of members should determine the answer. The by-laws should always be adhered to avoid possible conflict. If there are changes within the by-laws to be made, it is the duty of the quorum to make those changes.

Rules and regulations can come from within the club, from a parent/national organization, local authorities, and worst of all, the insurance companies. They are put in place for many different reasons, but their purpose is to bring order to their respective jurisdictions. Break the rules and expect the repercussions, whether they are criminal, civil, or just a raise in your premiums. Penalties, no matter how minor, are still an inconvenience that is best avoided.

Remember, the primary reason for being in the club, are to focus your energies on building on that unifying commonality. Follow the by-laws, rules, regulations and avoid dissension among the ranks, especially within cliques and the "good-ol’-boy" networks. Everyone will then benefit from the experience of being with other like-minded individuals and hobbyists. _/)

A reader reported a rather interesting story about a model boater’s attempt to have a fun day at the pond. Many times skippers use technology to make their model boats burn around the racecourse while trying to leave the competition behind. The skipper in the following story did not quite have this in mind when he tried to smoke the competition! Enjoy.

It was a great day at the local pond for racing fast electric speedboats. In the heat of the excitement, one skipper was preparing his LSH 12 Cell Hydro for the upcoming heat. In his haste to ready his boat, the skipper mistakenly plugged the two onboard six cell battery packs into each other!

Instantly the battery packs burst into smoke and flame! With five-inch flame coming out of the speedboat's hatch, all the skipper could do is to look on in shock. If it wasn't for one of the young hotshots (no pun intended) jerking out the flaming battery pack, the speedboat would have been damage by fire. After the fire was put out, the battery packs were inspected. It looked like the skipper plugged the two battery pack's Deans plugs into each other thus causing the fire.

Not to be put down, the now intrepid skipper plugged in his backup battery packs (correctly this time), and went back to racing. The day finished without any further incidents, except for some embarrassment and the loss of some expensive batteries. _/)

Reports have come in about a new computer sailing simulator called Advance Racing Simulator by Posey Yacht Design - www.poseysail.com. The program is designed for either for Windows or the Power Macintosh. So anyone should be able to get it if they want. According to Bill Webb, it is packed full of realistic sailing that is hard to beat.

You will have very realistic boat response to sail trim, steering, and boat speed adjustments. To sail your boat well, you will need to be quick with tactics and strategy if you want to win. The simulator includes many classes: Catamaran, Offshore Racer, America’s Cup, and Model Yacht with realistic model boat steering and sheet control!

For $54.95 you will receive Advance Racing Simulator on CD-Rom and an educational manual or e-book filled with expert racing, sailing, or cruising advice. _/)

 

Once again, we are at the end of another year, and what an interesting year it has been (for model boating this is). With a lack luster national championship, a coup, questions over insurance and memberships it would make a person wonder about the direction model boating is heading in the Valley of the Sun.

Model boating main goal is to have fun. In order to have fun, a person can choose any direction they have an interest in - sailboats, scale boats, or speedboats. In this quest for fun, there may be failure to why we want it to be enjoyable. The answer is very simple. We enjoy model boating because we find it interesting and we like to spend time with others with the same interest.

Instead, we may get off course with our own wants and loose focus. This "our own wants" is nothing new to us. As Americans, we enjoy the idea of "having it our way". Look around, it is easy to see. If we don't like something or can't find it, no problem, we can go to another store and get it. Or it could be we want it all, now. If we don't get it, well then, we will cry and throw a fit until someone can't stand it and gives us what we want.

My point is as for model boaters and as Americans we may want to stop, take a look at what we got and be grateful for what we have. Just like a parent that has gotten tired of a child that wants too much, not only does the child may not get want they want, but may also loose what they got!

With the passing of Thanksgiving and with the coming of Christmas, we all need to be glad with what we have and look forward to the "gifts" that we may get. If not, we may face the possible loss of something that will be hard to regain. So be happy, have fun, and on December 25 enjoy the greatest gift of all and have a -