What a sensation, the ocean spray breaking over the bow, the wind blowing in you hair, and sound of the wind in the sails, what a great day to be out on your sailboat! Then the stoplight turns green and the guy in the car behind you honks, and your daydream vanishes and you are back to reality. How would it be to have a real sailboat? Like a daydream getting a sailboat might as well be a dream, or is it.
Getting a sailboat is easier than you think if you consider a model sailboat. Yes, a model sailboat is not the same as the real thing, but they can be enjoyable to anyone who sails one. The biggest problem people have is which model sailboat kit to purchase, what electronics to use, and how to get the model to sail well. Model yachting allows anyone the chance to learn how to get more out of a model sailboat and have fun doing it. This is the reason for this article, to give helpful information so that the beginner can get started right.
The first step is to know where to purchase a model sailboat kit and what kits is available. You can go to just about any hobby store and choose one from the models available. At the time of this article the sailboats kits that are available are the Fairwind, Seabreeze 600, Seadolphin 770, Northwind, Odyssey and the Victoria. All of these kits can be purchased for less than $200. Any of these kits mention will provide the enjoyment to the beginner of sailing around the pond.
Next is the electronics that will be needed for the model sailboat kit. It is simpler than you think. First, all model sailboats, both the kit and the advance model racing yachts must use the surface type two-channel radio in the 75-megaherts band. To control a model sailboat, like the real one, requires a rudder and a sail control. A two-channel radio has a receiver that goes into the boat to operate the rudder servo and the sail control. Because the rudder requires a simple servo, it not a problem. As for the sail control, you will need a "sail winch" with enough strength to be able to handle the force of the wind in the sails. The two most popular brands of servos to use for a sail winch are the Futaba S3802 and the Cirrus 80. If you use any one of these two servos as a sail winch, they will work well with the Futaba 2VR 2-channel radio. The total price for the electronics is around $100.
Last comes the concern about the complexity in assembling a model sailboat kit. Well, there really isn't any. It is just a matter of following the instructions of installing the keel, deck, electronics, and the sail rig. Within an hour or so you can have your boat ready and on the water. All model sailboat kits don't require any painting, so that's one less task to do.
The goal is to sail as fast as possible. To accomplish this a sailboat has a range of wind speeds called a sail profile that it does well in. For the most part all model sailboat kits sail fine in a small wind profile between two and five mph. If a model sailboat can handle a wider range of wind speeds, it will have better performance. At this point you may be wondering which is the best the sailboat kit that can give the better results in higher wind speeds? This question is only natural for the hobbyist who wants to know how to get more performance out of their model sailboat.
The best model sailboat kit to purchase is the Victoria from the Thunder Tiger Model Company for an affordable price of around $90. The boat's hull is made of heavy duty PVC-type plastic and is durable which gives the hull the strength to handle collisions well. The Victoria is 30.7 inches long, displaces 4.5 pounds, and has a sail area of 433 inches, so it is a nice size to sail. What makes the kit better because you can change the sail rig to get better performance in a wider range of wind speed.
Everyone knows it is the wind that makes a sailboat go. When the force of the wind flows against the sails, it causes the sailboat to lean over this is called heeling. When the straight of the wind becomes greater, and because kit sailboats use a heavy aluminum mast, the extra weight of the mast causes more heeling, and performance drops. Another item that does not help in performance is the model sailboat kit sails from the manufacture are not designed for higher wind speeds. To fix the problem of heeling too much, it is a matter of using lighter mast, sail booms, and a better suit of sails.
A sail rig is made up of the mast, sail booms, and the sails. By being able to change the sail rig is what makes the Victoria better. As I stated before it is natural for a skipper to want their boat to go faster and handle better. The first step is to replace the aluminum mast and booms with a carbon fiber kite shafts. The next step is to replace the flat sails with paneled sails. This all can be done with after-market sail rigs to improve sailing performance. Once done the over heeling effect will be corrected allowing the boat to perform better in higher winds at a decent price.
For the beginner to get into model yachting successfully there has to be a way to get helpful information. At this time there is not much information available on model sailboats in the current press, so what is a beginner to do? Well, again this is not a problem. There is an organization called the American Model Yachting Association (AMYA) which has an official class for the Victoria. The AMYA Victoria Class has all of the information to improve performance and names of the after-market suppliers of sail rigs to better the performance, and make the sailing of the Victoria more fun.
There you have it, if you have a desire to get into model sailboats, wanted to know which kit to buy, and where to get helpful information, now you know. I have been in model sailboats for 12 years, and love it. Model sailboats provide everyone the chance to have fun, learn how to sail, and how to improve performance. With the help of AMYA a beginner can easily get started in a fun hobby and get more out of it, and that is what it is all about.