Christchurch and District Model Flying Club
 

Not getting my feet wet

by mike roach

My Sailing Club has formed a Radio Control Sailing Group as a sort of offshoot, to keep us occupied when there is no real sailing going on. We settled on the RC Laser, a very strict one-design 2-function, quarter-scale model of a real Laser.  It has a polypropylene hull and a mylar sail stuck on a carbon fibre 2-piece mast with an alloy boom. It comes in a padded carrying bag complete with 2.4 gig radio gear. There are 4 sizes of sail available from “A” large to “D” very small, but it’s supplied with the B rig which suits most conditions and we have standardised on this size of sail for the first year.

Steering is by rudder on the RH stick and sail setting is via a winch servo on the LH stick. The winch lets the sail out and pulls it in, and stays where you leave it—it’s very neat.  The servos, RX and battery are inside the hull, reasonably waterproofed.

We race off the end of Argyle Road in Mudeford (opposite the cricket green, where very occasionally some of us park-fly when the Parkie is not around). Our first race day was on 19th Feb and all 9 boat owners turned up. One had forgotten to charge his batteries, then there were 8. One launched his boat without switching on (a familiar story?) but eventually got it back, and one got stuck on the ropes round a buoy, but was recovered by a kind lady in a rowing skiff.

5 of the skippers had never used RC gear before and there were no crashes. How unlike our branch of the hobby! We race every fortnight, and anyone is welcome to turn up and have a go at the end of the session. No fees, no hassle, just a lot of fun, and if you decide to buy a boat, it’s only £1 a session.

THE PROGRAMME FOR 2011

WINTER SERIES (start times not before 0930 - may be delayed depending on our experiences)

Sat 19 Feb 0930 First races held. Light winds.
Sat 5 Mar 0930
Sat 19 Mar 0930
Sat 2 Apr 0930

EVENING SERIES (falling tide evenings may have to be curtailed)

Wed 13 Apr 1800
Wed 27 Apr 1800
Wed 11 May 1800
Wed 25 May 1800
Wed 8 Jun 1800 (falling tide)
Wed 22 Jun 1800 (falling tide)
Wed 13 Jul 1900
Wed 27 Jul 1900
Wed 10 Aug 1900
Wed 24 Aug 1900
Wed 7 Sep 1900
Wed 21 Sep 1800 (falling tide)

AUTUMN SERIES

Sat 1 Oct 1100
Sat 15 Oct 1100
Sat 29 Oct 1100
Sat 12 Nov 1100
Sat 26 Nov 1100
Sat 10 Dec 1100 (falling tide)
Sat 17 Dec 1200

Come and see!  www.mudefordsc.org

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