January has been busy for model sailing. The Mesa Model Yacht Club, (MMYC) has had several different sail class events that have been a joy to attend. It is always good when a club can put together events so local skippers can enjoy the hobby. To start there was the Thunderbird Victoria and 36/600 Regattas. Both events had a good turnout even with a few skippers not being able to attend. Then there was the Schooner Regatta. If you had never seen a schooner or never seen a large number of schooners at one place at one time, you missed a great event.

I could spend a lot of time writing about the three above events. I could write about how the sailboats looked and how they sailed. I could spend time on the racing action and all of the facts behind the story. But I won’t. Instead, in this issue I will do a photo essay of all three events. This way the reader can see for themselves what went on and what they missed if they weren’t there or remember what did occur if they did attend.

From time to time visitors to events or new club members (MMYC) will ask me what is the right or best model sailboat to purchase. For some, they have visited different events and talk to other skippers to get the "right" information. In this issue you will find an article that will address the question about the "right" sailboat to purchase. To some, it may sound one sided and to others not direct enough. It is hoped it will provide enough information to help new people to get into the hobby of model yachting and get started right.

If you have not noticed, the weather is wonderful! Yes, it has been raining but Arizona needs all of the water it can get. But in the upcoming months of February and March it will be some of the best time to get your model boats on the water and enjoy them. This brings me to a great upcoming event for the electric speedboats, the Winter Warm-Up’s. Electric speedboats racing is fast and exciting. If you had never seen one, now is it time, there will be some great racing. So get all of the "honey-dos" done and get your wide sterns off the Lazy Boys and come out to watch and help out. This event is will be something to enjoy! _/)

By Dave Acree

From time to time I am asked what is the right or best sailboat to purchase. It all depends. It first depends on if there is an existing model sailboat club in the area. If there is a club, what class or classes of boat does the club sail? What are the costs? Are the classes popular or not? These are the questions that face new people to model yachting.

For ease of explaining, I will assume there is a model sailboat club in the area and the club sails more than one class. Next, I want the reader to understand all sailboat classes are good classes and I am not picking out one class over another based on my personal tastes. The goal of this article is to provide some guidelines that can help a new person make the best choice.

If a club sails more than one class, go and watch the different classes sail. Which one do you like? The next bit of information that is needed is how available is that class when it comes to purchasing it? Is it hard or easy? The next question is the cost. Does the class you like cost a lot or is reasonable for your budget? If just starting out, you don’t want to get into a sailboat class that is hard to get parts for and is costly.

The best decision for beginning skippers is to select a class that offers everything and keeps costs down. The reason is a person should not spend a lot of money getting into a hobby and later discover it was not for them. The best thing a person new to the hobby is to purchase a model sailboat that is the lowest cost that a club is sailing. It keeps the up front costs down and allows a person time to experience the hobby and gain some knowledge. This way they can make better, informed decisions on what class boat they want to get into in the future, and not be snowed.

The goal for every club is to get and keep new members. If a club can’t get new people, may be it is because the sailboat classes the club is sailing are too expensive and people don’t want to or can’t spend the money. If a club can’t keep new members, it could be because the classes the club supports are too competitive and new people don’t to keep up with the high cost of staying on the technology edge.

Once a club has a "good" entry level boat for both the beginning and advance skippers, the club must support that class to keep people. At the same time the club should have a class for the advance skippers. By doing this it will give new people a way to join the club, get into sailing at a good, low reasonable cost, and let new skippers advance on their own if they want to.

Take for instance the Mesa Model Yacht Club (MMYC). It supports three classes – the Victoria, the 36/600, and the Marblehead. The Victoria is a good entry-level sailboat because it can be purchased from any hobby store. It can be upgraded to sail better at a reasonable cost and provide enjoyment for both unskilled and skilled skippers. The 36/600 can be a good entry-level boat but at a cost. To get the same technology edge as the other boats in the club, skippers has to spend at least $1200 to $1500 dollars up front; not good for beginners if money is an issue. As for the Marblehead, it too suffers from the same problems as the 36/600 – cost.

The point is the beginner needs to find a sailboat that is being sailed often, within their price range that offers fun, requires skills, and provides a challenge. Every sailboat purchased should have the chance to be sailed as time permits and not be a one-time sailed. It is duty of every club and club member to point new people to the best starting boat so that they can get their feet wet before spending a lot of money, get disappointed, and never seen again. Don’t let the dilemma of what boat to start with kill the chance of loosing new people from getting into the sport/hobby of model yachting! _/)

 

  

 

36/600 Thunderbird Regatta

Photo Essay

  

Schooner Regatta

Photo Essay

  

  

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© 2005 David Acree. All rights reserved.