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Whilst running directly down wind to the leeward mark, in first place leading an adversary a few feet behind. (Possibly trying to block the leaders wind) Both were goosewinging (wing on wing), the leader on port the second boat on starboard. The trailing (starboard) boat was obviously the first to catch a following gust, which accelerated him into the stern of the leading boat. Trying to gain an advantage by being on the inside approaching the leeward mark, the contact was actually made by first inch or so of the starboard bow of the the overtaking boat, to the port side of the leading boats transom. A protest was immediately called by the skipper attempting the overtake, claiming that leader should have moved out of the way because HE was on starboard gybe. Stating that being on starboard overrules everything in all circumstances. This was countered by the leader (the lesser experienced of the two), claiming the fact that the boat attempting the overtake is the one that should keep clear and not ram his stern. So...who was correct? I'm sure John Ball and many other knowledgeable people will be able to advise. TIA

Stephen Thanks for your comment. The Gillette design has been a project running for 2 years and something I feel confident about now. The Akula design is actually a close copy of its wooden counterpart. Using the 3D Printed type of construction, allowed me to save time to get this IOM on the water. The Akula prototype will spend much of this year being tested in the US, starting from February. Regards JT

Hi - I am looking for a clinker built model yacht called Pat. She was built in Southwold, Suffolk 1920-1930 and was given as a gift to my father. Her hull is 25 inches long. I think she was sold at auction in the last few years. I am keen to find her and if her condition allows, sail her again in the Southwold Model Yacht Regattas again.

Hi Antony I am looking to make some room and get back some funds that I've invested in building my Alioth. Possibly better to send a PM then we could chat.

Hi are you after a quicksale as don't work and trying to save for one

John both look good! Interesting how the 3D boats have the potential to shake up the IOM space race people going off in different directions. Quicker and easier to tweak designs. Be good to see when they come together possibly at the Nationals who comes out on top. Only wish I had the skills to be one of these people I take my hat off to them.

New IOM Projects Update. This week we managed to achieve final measurement for both IOMs. Therefore, today was a good opportunity to sail both the 'Akula' (3D Prototype, 28) and the new woody 'Gillette' (39). Unfortunately, both boats had equipment issues which were temporarily sorted at the lakeside, giving us more homework to do before next weekends club race at Fleetwood. Progress continues on the Gillette's (39) supporting documentation and I am looking at making the 'Gillette' drawings available from the 1st March.

The standard on dinghys and seems to work on radio yachts is rudder hard over sheet out and get her moving again

Gary I used a dual-purpose system on my A-Class and Marblehead for many years through the late 1990's and early 2000's. The system I used was to install 3 separate tubes at appropriate distances at the rear of the boat. For Vane Sailing, I used 2 tubes that were installed through the hull and deck of the boat. They were used to house a detachable skeg and rudder system. The skeg was securely tightened to the hull, ensuring correct alignment with the hull and fin. For Radio Sailing, I used the traditional rudder tube but not all the way through the hull, this kept the servo linkages under the deck and maintained water tight integrity. I would use deck patch material to cover tubes that are not in use. When swapping from Radio to Vane, you have to spend time removing the radio equipment and all associated sheeting prior to your Vane setup. Its time consuming but necessary. There is no need for moving mast positions, this would make the system more complicated and with no performance gain. If you’re going to make a dual 36, you will have to consider making the bracket which supports the Vane gear removable from the transom. Good Luck JT

DF’s have unstayed carbon masts, so as you pass through head to wind the mast will unload and cause the leech to tighten. If not part of a coordinated tack sequence, the lack of weight, tight leech and any waves become a challenge. Practice and time on the water are the solution.

Thanks guys. This isn’t a strong wind thing and is predominantly the df95 fleet that has the issue. I suspect the light weight and lack of boat speed is the problem. I have suggested bearing away to maintain boat speed, overtacking and as you say not sheeting in until up to speed.

The trick to tacking in high winds is to tack slowly (rudder slows the boat down) to keep momentum. Once you get to the point just before head to wind let the sails out slightly (this takes practice) then let the boat build speed and sheet in again. If its too much of a struggle you should consider being on a lower rig as bigger sail is not always faster. Also you can let the job boom out slightly to help with tacking in a blow. I am sure there are people with alot more experience than me to answer better but this is how l would approach sailing in a strong breeze. If you go head to wind. Let sails out and use opposite rudder to turn you onto desired course. Then sheet in but not all the way to build speed and then finally sheet in all the way. Remember in strong gusts if you let the sails out you can accelerate through the gust… Hope that helps good luck practicing

Maybe try a slightly looser kicker/ ram /mainsail leech to avoid getting stalled in the tack?

What do folk do to avoid being stuck head to wind and how do you recover? I was always told to bear away slightly to maintain boat speed before tacking especially if headed by a shift or if just pointing too high. And once stuck stay sheeted in and rudder hard over and wait until it reverses out.

Has anybody any information about a dual purpose 36? Is it feasible to use the same boat for vane and radio? I presume you would have to arrange a plug-in rudder and separate mast locations but somebody must have done it... Gary

This may sound daft, but can you wind the winch line in the other direction i.e. arrange things so that the sheeted in position is at the other end of the winch travel? Obviously you need to reverse the servo output on the transmitter as well. There are two reasons why this might work: The first is that the feedback potentiometer might be getting worn as the servo keeps trying to stop in the sane place. The second reason why this might make a difference is rather complex but it's likely that the source of the issues is variations in the voltage output from the feedback potentiometer in the servo, which is in turn cause by variations in the supply voltage to the pot, which is in turn caused by the operation of the servo motor. Depending upon the exact design of the servo, it is possible that these fluctuations will be less when the feedback pot voltage is low i.e. they will be lower at one end of the travel.

I don’t know what you’re paying for the boat, but if it were me, I would look towards the classified section on this site. Currently, there are some very good deals to be had for instance there is a Widget which is measured for sale, in my mind that would be an excellent starter boat and for £300 all in for a boat that sails straight out of the box and would be competitive not bad at all.

I am Alan Lees I have a widget IOM yacht for sale, it comes with 3 sets of sails a CATSAIL sail bag. registration certificate number 1722 in (2003) a stand. it has a graupner regatta sail winch fitted 2 batteries turnigy Fsi6 radio all ready to sail. £300 pick up only from Sheffield . tel no 07952711033. a4lees@gmail.com

This sounds like 'dither'. See the RMG manual on Input Deadband. Input Deadband Input deadband is the amount dithering in the Rx signal that a servo can tolerate without responding to by constantly jittering. This is adjustable from 0.8 to 10 microseconds. Deadband adjustment allows the optimisation of TX fine trim control. The default setting is 5 microseconds. (this is for the E version, earlier ones have different values) John

Hi At home,RMG winch, when sheeted in hard, no load of sails. I am getting winch creep, appears to slide out on notch and then immediately tighten up….. has anyone found this before? A solution? thank you for any ideas, Stephen

I had seen this listing and not on here I have a photo but will not share until I buy as not fair to do this unless I own the boat.

Check this listing…. But not all are shown https://www.allradiosailboats.com/class/iom we see an H3O and GSB(GardenShedBoat) at HRYC but they have not got pictures here, which is a shame as development boats deserve recognition not just at club level.

Hi all, I am new here and looking to buy a used IOM I am told that it is a Elain design possible from a designer in Swindon, but can not find anything about the history of this, I believe it is a 1990 build by was measured in 2000 but all the paperwork is missing. Would like to know a little more before visiting and most likely buying the boat on Friday if anyone can give me a little bit more background and thoughts as a starter club sailor. Thanks

Kantun S IOM for sale, sails well and is a dry boat. Registered number GBR 4888 Personal sail numbers will be removed. The winch is a Red Ant Waterproof Sailwinch (new last year). Rudder servo is a DS 3235 sg waterproof (2 weeks old) A (shown on yacht),B and C rigs All new last year (January 2024) C rig has not been used other than testing. All below deck sheeting replaced last month. Stand not included. You will require a TX RX and Battery. Asking price is £1495 ovno. Location Gosport Hampshire. Contact Ron Rich at ronrich4.gmail.com

Cockatoo MK2 this has been professionally refurbished when I purchased her A B & C rigs stand and sail bag just needs battery & RX good club boat 495 ono Pictures to follow or PM I can send via WhatsApp