Leaderboard

Newbie here 😁 So I bought an IOM.. with a certificate (2018)… Expecting to jump through a few hoops…. Followed the online registration process… WOW… 2 hours after submitting request… a nice new Certificate hit my Inbox. Impressed? Oh yes I am. Many thanks to Jim La Roche. 👏👏

Just to muddy the waters - The class rules for all three active IRSA international classes (IOM,10R, M) follow the same general format for their class rules, and give jurisdiction for measuring to the recognised national authority in each member country. The format is structured to reflect the Equipment Rules of Sailing (ERS). Section A for each of the Class Rules use BOLD type as a reference to defined terms in the ERS and all three classes use the term Official Measurer. I have found an anomaly - the issue is that the term Official Measurer is not a defined term in the ERS. The defined term in ERS is Certification Measurer. The wording is consistent with what we would intend for an official measurer but is not identified correctly. I have reported this discrepancy to the IRSA to verify and to follow up with the ICAs. From the ERS C.4.4 Certification Measurer A person appointed or recognised, by the MNA of the country where the control takes place, to carry out certification control and when the class rules permit, certification. An MNA may have delegated this responsibility. John

All good points, but they still need a paper copy at the finish line as a paper and pen can write the results down quicker when there are a bunch of boats finishing together.

The latest World Sailing Case book contains a new case Case 140 which covers an incident on the start line when 30.3 or 30.4 are in effect. However the wording of Appendix E 3.7 prevents radio sailing from applying the benefits covered in Case 140. I have written a summary of the situation attached, together with a solution which the regatta organiser may apply to fix the problem. John Appendix E3.7 and Case 140.pdf

It's a wrap. Envelopes opened, all points calculated and confirmed in the presence of 2 independent witnesses. Obviously most had BG in 1st position, except for one entry, guess who, followed by RW, CR and PS, not necessarily in that order I may add ,but Josh sort of spoilt that party. Thanks to everyone that participated in a bit of fun, we will do it again for the Worlds, top 10 though. RESULTS....... VICKY..........13 POINTS GRAHAM.....12 POINTS ANDREA......12 POINTS JIM L R.........11POINTS MICKYBOY....10 POINTS TRACEY.........10 POINTS HARRY............9 DARIN.............9 JOSH...............9 WALSHY..........9 BRAD...............9 PRESIDENT.....8 JIM E...............8 ROB Mc...........8 Tiger................8 1 spoilt paper. Well done Vicky, spend it wisely with any radio sailing manufacturer in the UK.

It was great to return to Greenock MYC after about 30 years, since my last visit. John Taylor and his American wife Sarah, came home from Florida for a family visit and planned it to coincide with the Scottish DF65 Championship weekend. john's sister Helen was also visiting. It was a pleasure to head north on the M6 and not have to battle with the queues at M62 & M56 junctions, then Stoke, Stafford, Walsall, and of course the M42 which always seems to be a constant circular traffic jam!! JT still has his apartment over looking the Clyde at Greenock kindly offered to host Maureen & I for the weekend, and we were made most welcome. The 5 of us enjoyed the hospitality of the "James Watt" local Wetherspoons on the Friday night, where we ate & drank and learned about the town from the photographs displayed within. John & I went off to the sailing on Sat morning to find a very blustery SW wind, which was A+ A or B rig strength depending which part of the lake you were in when the gusts blew through, or didn't!! Stepping inside the clubhouse, I saw several faces I recognised Gordon Rae, Gordon Allinson, Richard Rowan, Robert Rooney, and of course Hughie Shields whom I first met in 1963 at the Fleetwood Vane A Championship! Greenock MYC has had an influx of new members from the nearby Royal Gurrock Yacht Club who, having no sailing in the winter months, all initially bought DF65's and several have now moved on to IOM's. 16 boats took part including 6 visitors. 3 from Fleetwood JT, Paul Middleton and I and 3 from Belfast loch. Richard Rowan the RO for the weekend, set a testing course for our small boats, with 2 long WW/LW laps and a reach to finish. Most sailors opted for A+ rigs despite the strong gusts as the lulls were windless! JT stamped his authority on the race from the beginning winning the first 2 races, he was enjoying the "free air conditioning" after the stifling heat of Florida. He continued to dominate the event for the rest of the day and came out on top after 16 races were completed. At lunch time the club fed us with a hot plate of Scotch meat pie (very peppery) mash, beans & gravy with tea or coffee and biscuits to follow, provided by a lovely lady Mary who looks after the clubs scale boat section. Very welcome & all included in the £10 entry fee. For Sat night Simon Thompson the race organiser had booked a table at a local "hungry horse" pub where several of us gathered. I went chatting to the Irish sailors & discovered that one of them a friend of Peter Baldwin, is an International Race Officer. Better be on my best behaviour tomorrow! Sunday dawned and a flat calm at 9.00 am for the second event which was a separate open DF65 race, with a few less competitors. By the start time of 10am there was a ripple on the water but it was constantly changing direction. However, Richard set a 2 lap WW/LW course and racing started. The race team pushed us hard and by lunch we had completed 10 races. Lunch on Sunday was a choice of 2 soups, assorted sandwiches, cakes and tea or coffee, again included in the £10 race fee. At lunch Richard suggested that after we reached 16 races we could stop for the day before the forecast rain arrived. The Irish lads and I agreed, they could get an earlier ferry and we could be home earlier, so we completed the last 6 races by 2.15 and on our way home by 3pm. Many thanks to Greenock MYC Derek & Maureen Priestley.

With 3 weeks to go to the Fleetwood 50th Anniversary Radio Marblehead Nationals, we have 38 entries so 12 short of our target "50 boats for 50 years!" We've got lots of things planned to make this event a great celebration of 50 years of Radio Marbleheads, with a display of some of the earliest Radio Marbleheads from the early 70's & 80's, some extra one-off trophies for the highest placed classic & vintage boats, and a great late summer Barbeque and 50 years of Marbleheads quiz on the sat night for all competitors helpers and guests. All this and the racing too, for just £25.00. So If you're not one of the 38, please come & join us!!

Yes, its an AI generated image and makes no sense at all :)

Switched out from the sails this morning to start the production of some of our quality accessories - IOM and DF95 boatbags, foils bags, transmitter snugs and rigbags ( not in the picture)

YACHTING MONTHLY CUP Model Yachting’s equivalent to the “Americas Cup” In 1922 there was an active model yachtsman in the London area, Bill Daniels, who challenged “any model yachtsman world wide” to meet him in a race or series of races. He convinced his friend the editor of the sailing magazine Yachting Monthly, to donate a trophy for this contest and the “Yachting Monthly Cup” annual event was born. The yachts used for this challenge, which we now know as A class, were built to a formula, devised by the editor and Bill, and was loosely based on the 6 metre rule at a scale of 2 inches to the foot, and produced boats with an overall length limit of 19 feet 6 inches! although most were around 6 feet in length. The class was called the “Yachting Monthly 6metre” There was a club founded for this class The YM6mOA (Yachting Monthly 6 metres Owners Association) was founded in 1924, probably by Mr W J Daniels at the Rick Pond in Home Park Surbiton, south London. This club still exists but is now known as Hampton Court MYC. The first event was held at Gosport MYC in 1923 and was won by Bill himself sailing a boat he had designed & built for its owner J Scott Freeman a solicitor and keelboat sailor from the Upper Thames YC. Daniels went on to win the next two years securing the YM cup outright for his owner Scott Freeman, who donated the cup to the UTYC for competition in 14 foot dinghys, where it remains to this day. That could have been the end of the story, except that Yachting monthly very kindly presented a further very grand silver cup in 1926, which cannot be won outright and this trophy is still raced for to this day. The Yachting Monthly Cup centre. The Cup was challenged for every year in a similar format to the America’s Cup with the previous winner defending and a new hopeful skipper challenging. Many Americans challenged unsuccessfully as is reported below from a story in an American Model Yachting publication. In some articles, John Black, who had represented USA on several occasions, was described as the “Sir Thomas Lipton” of the model yachting world, in that he failed to win the Cup, time after time. According to a later article in Marine Models of 1937, this point was echoed: “a well-known model ”. yachtsman has said that this Cup has caused as much grief to America as the America’s Cup has to England The point being made here is that it was a period (1923–1948) when America would dearly have loved to win; it was by far the biggest challenge in model yachting. A win for Bill Bithell and Fred Pigeon in 1948 on British waters would be momentous indeed. This is just what happened. The Event continued every year and reached it’s zenith in its 50th anniversary year, 1973 at Fleetwood when 56 competitors raced for the MYA National Championship and 13 boats from 8 nations challenged for the YM cup. As time passed interest in the A class fell but the National Championship survived and celebrated it’s centenary in 2023 at Gosport. Although the large number of entries are a thing of the past, there are a dedicated number of about 20+ boats racing each year with many 2 & 3 generational families taking part. The 2nd YM Cup which celebrates it’s own centenary this year is still raced for, although not in it’s original challenge format. In 1986 as overseas entries dried up, the event was changed to a knock out competition held on the Wednesday of the Championship week, and was won the first time by a boat from Portugal! The Fleetwood club, the centenary hosts look forward to welcoming as many boats as possible to the centenary celebration regatta. Derek Priestley President Fleetwood MYC & MYA

Gary Dickens, That would be amazing. In 1976 there was a tie for 1st place between David Andrews (Whirlwind winches) and Derek Stevenson resulting in a sail off for the trophy with everyone watching. A much better, more exciting way to settle a tie than today's countback!!

As has been said, I think the principle is correct, the numbers are probably slightly off. It should also be noted that the actual ranking regulations can be amended easily, however the software to implement this has been in existence for a long time now and even a simple change like doubling the points has taken longer to record than was anticipated due to its complexity, hence why the 2026 ranking positions have only just been published. Any change that is considered requires either a simple solution, like Brad's option 3, or will require a complete rewrite of the software. Obviously there will be plenty of people who say "that's easy" but they will also have to follow up on their words... If we can agree on the weighting it can be introduced for 2027.

Results

Derek, Just an update from the IOM Registrar. It seems this IOM was originally yours. I have found an old photo of the boat sailing with your personal number on the sails (67). It must have been sometime after 1996. The registrar mentions below.... Hull 1667 is on the register as a Paracite named Para+, according to the register Derek was the original owner, first measured by A Kissick 23/05/1996. It was last owned by Iain Ferguson from 03/2008. JT

After a cracking weekend of Vane sailing we got ourselves back into the workshop on Monday to make some improvements to a few existing designs after some great feedback from customers, and also finalising some new products. Our aim is to create a one-stop-shop for all your component needs and bit by bit we are getting there. The main "Improvement" we have made this week is to our printed Clew Fitting . The older design could be over tightened to prevent it moving on the spar, but now it will snug up tight without needing the bolt that holds the clew of the sail to be too tight. Another item we revised was the Proteus mast heel. A very small change here to help the heel account for mast rake. On the "New" product side we have pulled out an Adjustable Fairlead design from our archives and, after some tweaking, made it available in the shop. Then we created a mast heel for the Vickers mast step. Thank you to that regular customer of our that pushed me to do this, you know who you are. Finally we have had added a z-hook and jib boom counterweights to our shop. We do not manufacture these ourselves, but we buy them in and resell them with a small markup. It's all about making everything available in one place. Thank you to all those Customers who visited our shop this week, whether you browsed, purchased or left us a review, we greatly appreciate your interest and custom. Next week we hope to bring you some good news on a new winch drum that we are working on. Keep watching, a number of you have asked us to do this, I only hope we can satisfy your wishes. Have a great weekend everyone. Regards Wayne

Last weekend, 52 skippers from all over America and beyond gathered in Hobe Sound, Florida. The regatta was set for four days, with sunny weather and temperatures in the 70s, although the breeze was a bit light and variable. We had four fleets and managed to complete 18 rounds of racing by the end of the event. There was a nice mix of IOM designs on display, including two wooden boats: my own 'Gillette' and a beautifully crafted 'Alternative.' One thing, I want to share is that sometimes, unexpected scenarios happen during a race that skippers can’t control. The top skippers seem to find a way to navigate those fine margins to achieve success, a quality I am missing. A big shoutout to Peter Feldman, who raced consistently throughout the regatta and took home the win! When I chatted with Peter, he mentioned he’s aiming to compete in the UK Championship this April. As for me, I’ll be heading back to the UK soon and I’m looking forward to racing with friends, both in the championship and the West Lancashire Ranking race in March. Those who follow You Tube, will know there is a lot of video footage of the regatta online provided by Dan Shier, so I invite you to browse at your leisure. Regards JT Gillette Alternative Alioth Version 4 K2 Proteus Solaris / Polaris V12 Venti VISS Skippers

Hi Richard, (I believe,in no official capacity), that as both the FRA and CRO proposals on differing kicker/vang restrictions were not passed, that the rules are as read prior to an emergency 2024 change that was not IRSA ratified. While it may have initially passed at events (by some measurers), there are equally a number of measurers around the world,(including myself), concerned that without genuine area restriction, that the kicker/vang may not be in line with a closed class rule set. Precedents and previous rule changes/banning of equipment due to size would support this. The recent IOMICA voting reflected the divided opinion on just how big a kicker/vang can be before it is considered larger than its purpose. I expect the freshly elected IOMICA Technical Officer will have this issue at the top of his to do list leading into the big events this year. Until that happens, the class has not officially ruled either way on the kicker/vang legality as an official class interpretation was never sought or given. In the meantime, as suggested above, both your supplier and MYA Technical official will no doubt keep you and others in the same position up to speed should any change be needed. Cheers Brad

It can be useful to set your failsafe to a slight turn, and sails mid way out, in case of loss of signal due to range, it may then sail back into range 😊

That Jim for you. A diamond (in the rough)

TIME TO REVIVE THE CHAMPION’S CUP? Back in the 1970’s David Hollom, donated the “Champions Cup” for competition amongst the class Champions in Radio sailing. . Invitations were initially extended to all National & District Champions and later when the Ranking lists were introduced ther were used to select the invitees. The event held over 2 days with day 1, 2 boat Match racing, and day 2 fleet racing and the scores combined to find the winner. Initially the Marblehead was used successfully for many years, and later the event was sailed in the IOM class. Interest from sailors fell away, and the event has not been held for several years. Readers of the Yachts & Yachting website will have seen the report of the recently held Endeavour Trophy, (Champion of Champions) in the Dinghy world. This annual invitation only event was held as usual at the Burnham on Crouch YC and for the first time for several years, all boats were supplied and were all the same Melges 15 Dinghys. None of the Champion entrants had the chance to sail the boats before the Friday of the event. It occurred to me that we in the radio sailing world could attempt to revive our “Champions Cup” by adapting a similar approach using one of our “out of the box” classes, Laser, DF95 or the new up coming IOM “Mint” from Joysway. So is now the time to bring this once very popular event back?

The CRYA IOM Class Championship regatta was just held at the Saltspring Island Sailing Club (SISC) on Sal Spring Island, on the west coast of British Columbia. links to photos and youtube videos of the races may be seen on the West Coast Radio Sailing Club web site https://westcoastradiosailing.ca/ There was a regatta within the regatta for a fleet of 'woodies'. Enjoy! John

Hi Andy, 40lb single strand wire is what i have used on all of my boats. Same Malin Stainless steel leader wire brand i use for shrouds and backstay. The issue with dyneema and before that dacron on leech lines is the amount of stretch under load making minute adjustments difficult and any setting moving under different wind conditions. Near imposible to get repeat consistent adjustments. Just loop ithe wire at the top over the hook that goes into the mast and put a loop in approx 100mm above the jib boom that leaves enough room for a dyneema and bowsie adjuster at the bottom. Cheers Brad

.. and if they were coming to Australia would need to be remeasured by an ARYA approved measurer to be accepted as class compliant under the NCA.

Here we have for sale an old Marblehead that is very pleasing to the eye, with nice gentle curves. The fin is permanently fixed in which was the norm back in the day, short fin ideal for shallow lakes or ponds. There is a rudder servo fitted but no winch. Mounting plate for an RMG Buyer collects from Huddersfield West Yorkshire or I'm willing to meet half way on the motorway network within reason. £75 On a separate listing there are two carbon rigs that would suit this boat, just a little fettling required. damian.ackroyd@gmail.com 07808 255425

Hi Colin the 'how long' is easy - while mark room exists. See the definition of Mark Room and R 18.2(b). And for your comment about a poor rounding and space being given, see WS Case 63, where you take such room 'at your own risk'. But in this example, 71 was sailing close to the mark and there was no opening to sail into - perhaps an issue with depth perception but poor sailing non the less. John

Hi Olivier, I think I understand why it took so long - there were two boats directly involved, and three boats that were at least witnesses or more seriously, parties to the protest, so that takes time to hear each person. John

Dear All, ITCA is please to announce that CRO will be hosting the 12th 10R class Worlds. All details on the class homepage. The NoR will and an event homepage will be published shortly. International Ten Rater Class Association

One thing I found useful was to make a set of 'outside' templates. Once you start fairing the mould it's amazing how far out of true you can get, particulalry between stations. If you hold the larger template between stations you can judge the eveness of the gaps. For the last one I made a cradle of outer templates on the strongback to hold the hull true while a put in the keel box etc. The bare shell is very flexible and easy to twist and distort if it is not properly supported

I like the fact that it only has shrouds on one side - a proa perhaps? Your plan shows the winch drum above the deck. I haven't seen a boat like this in years and would highly recommend having the drum below the deck as it is so much easier to keep the water out like this. You will need to choose between a continuous winch line and a single ended winch line and whether to have the winch line (and the tensioner) above or below the deck. The latter looks better but is so much harder to repair at the lakeside. On my 10Rs I use 2 winches with single ended winch lines exiting right at the stern and these pull the sheets directly. This saves the friction (and expense) of turning blocks. I tension the lines with fishing pole elastic that runs in a loop to the bow and joins the two winch lines. There are many other ways of doing it and I seem to be in a minority of one in using two winches.

Marblehead sailors Please, lets not make this too complicated! We at Fleetwood, think that there are lots of old classic & vintage Marbleheads in lofts & garages, which have not been raced for some years. We just thought that this will be a good opportunity for them come out to play. Rob, as you're looking for ranking points for next years worlds, obviously you'll bring your Grunge. Gary, we'd love you to come with your Bloodaxe (as I've mentioned before a Bloodaxe was joint 1`st in 1976) You may be racing with modern boats in the early heats, but the fleets will establish themselves, as they do with HMS, an soon you will be racing with the other vintage boats for a prize just for that class. Hope this makes sense, and you'll all come and join us for a weekend of celebration of "50 years the Radio Marblehead class" Entries are now OPEN!

The inside out gate used at the M/10R Worlds with additional spreader marks turned downwind legs at that race into pure lottery. The beauty of what we do is that clever tactical racing is and should be rewarded. Do we want to further dumb down the sport by having a close race between 2 competitors choose gate and spreader options (under a weather bank) to round near 25+ metres apart and see who is lucky enough to get the unseen gust through trees? Without the other having any chance to attack or equally defend, this is not racing. All of this because we either don’t know how to overlay a windward mark in waves and wind for a clean rounding or don’t respect our opposition enough to take a transom? We can all get it wrong, but persistent offenders are not that hard to weed out at bigger events if willing. Weeding the club or local offender (bully) maybe not so easy…. Yes we want a clean race, but it should still be a race that rewards race craft, not further increase of luck. Regarding Umpire use of R2 and having to have a level of certainty, why did they not use a video option if in doubt as they were happy to ‘selectively’ use for an early incident? As for distances, of course nobody wants an eyesight test. The reports from the last IOM Worlds in Australia paint a mirrored picture of any umpiring issues being blamed largely on distance. What was conveniently overlooked was the start/finish line being within clear view of a raised platform of skippers where the largest number of unpunished rule breaches occured worthy of R2 hearings. Are our issues course distance related, venue related, skipper behaviour related or umpire standard related? It might be worth a bigger look at how all areas can be improved not just throwing people under buses….

Gents, Nowhere in this discussion have you mentioned the common problem where, with WW & spreader, the incidents where 1 lucky boat gets away and the rest is just a pile up caused by port boats not giving way to stbd. I agree that a mark say 6 lengths to leeward will reduce the problem at the WW mark, but it still creates the same problem at the new mark. (Believe me I've tried it several times) Until the umpires start giving some Rule 2 DSC's to the port boat chancers, (if they can identify them) the problem will never go away.

Hi Nigel, welcome back to Fleetwood. the NOR is being prepared and will be posted soon. Then you can enter and have your spots!! Looking forward to seeing you. D

Now that coverage seems to be established on the edit and publish later model, I think It’s important to mention the quality of the pictures and especially Nigel Barrow’s commentary. This has been informative, analytical, entertaining and engaging throughout - well done, we have benefitted from your disappointment in not getting into the championships - better luck next time.

Action starts on Sunday 17th, with build up on site from today. All the results, reports and media can be found via the event website. www.iomworlds2026.com

I try to avoid using rules 30.3 & 4 if at all possible but if you're up against a time restraint i.e. no race will start after 18.00 and you have A fleet having multiple general recalls, sometimes you as RO have no other choice to get the race off. The problem sometimes is, if a boat misjudges their approach and is early they will bear away to avoid crossing the line at the risk of fouling another boat to leeward ruining their start also, but crucially avoiding dsq. So, rules 30.3 & 4 should be viewed as "last resort" as RO when you're confident that the line is correct and you've tried everything else.

HI Terry, There is no rule restricting when to deploy either 30.3 (U flag) or 30.4 (Black Flag). except that it must be shown prior to the 2 minute warning. This is to give time to boats on the course to get out of the 'forward triangle' before the Warning when the boats are 'racing'. My comment would be to prefer the use of 30.3 U Flag - it has the same effect as Black Flag, but allows any OCS boats back into the heat if there is yet another general recall. John

Over 30 years ago, I created a Mark 2 version of my then-popular Paracite design. Two hulls were built just in time to compete in the 1996 European Championships in Fleetwood. Additionally, my IOM also raced in Portugal that same year. I often find myself wondering about the fate of my previous boats, and I must admit that I've regretted parting with some of them in the past. Today, to my surprise, I stumbled upon my old Paracite 2 design (it still has the Whirlwind Winch)! It was tucked away in the darkest corners of the Greenock clubhouse, forgotten for decades. Who knows how this 30-year-old IOM made its way back to me in Greenock? All I know is that I’m taking it with me to Florida; it’s going to be my ‘Pimp’ project, and it will return to the lakeside. JT (Today)

As do all our Open's ☺️ www.yachtsandyachting.com/news/294825/One-Metres-at-Huntingdon

To avoid trying to hold a ruler or tape measure steady in just the right place - and not yet having the experience to tune only by eye n intuition! - I've created this 3d-printable gizzmo for more easily making repeatable rig measurements: On circular booms ~5-11mm dia., for measuring foot depth (e.g. IOM/DF95/DF65). Against the mast, to measure gap to jib boom ("3 fingers" is a subjective measurement!) Against the backstay, to measure leech twist. Measurements can be taken between inside-edge(s) if you prefer, or the V underside allows for measuring from the centreline regardless of spar diameter. (Just add/subtract radius if necessary). Happy to hear any ideas for improvements. A variation to sit on SAILSetc rectangular boom could certainly be done - the relative dimensions just don't allow a one-fits-all. The g-code file is offered for free, but please don't make/sell for profit. If you find it useful then a modest donation to https://prostatecanceruk.org/ would be kind.

In the water, the loading is far more distributed than poking it in one spot with your finger ;) 40"/60" hull - yeah I could imagine the stiffness of carbon being useful there. Personally I'd be too distracted by the plain beauty of a J to notice! I think IOM has max weight for fin+bulb alone, so there's a limit there. Could move the centre-of-gravity of the hull down tho, I guess. (Getting into the territory where there's far more knowledgable than me on yacht design lol)

Hi Mark and all A class sailors ALL A class sailors are welcome. NOR will be published around April and entries will then be OPEN!! to use a Strictly parlance!! Meantime book your accommodation so as not to miss out. there's not too much choice in the town of Fleetwood but plenty within a 5 mile radius. We look forward to welcoming you & your Sword. Best wishes Derek Priestley.

Yes you would, just one pair.

Hi Tim Depending upon where you might settle, there are a number of options in the Northern District and it may be worth having a look at the MYA list of clubs with a Filter to show just those in the Northern District see ND Clubs A good number can offer racing in a variety of classes, although some clubs currently only sail a single class on one day of the week. We may see you at some point in the future Peter Baldwin Northern District Councillor

Hi all, After attending the AGM and jumble sale, I came away feeling quite disappointed. The MYA make a huge effort to organise this every year, and the traders dutifully turn up with their goodies to show and sell. There were some amazing bargains on offer from brand new boats to RMG winches at half price. Yet the members that did turn up were only interested in parting with a pound or two here and there. Personally this has cost us two days out of our production facility, and £200 in accommodation and fuel. I know others went to huge effort to bring their boats and rigs to the event with nothing to show for it. Another disappointment was observing members turning up, having a Quick Look round, then sitting down to eat the free lunch, and leaving while the jumble sale was still in full swing, not bothering to stay for the AGM. I personally didn’t eat as by the time I had finished and packed up, most of the food had gone. I always like to support the MYA AGM, and another observation was that most of the members in attendance were the regulars that you see every year. This brings me to these questions: Do we need a jumble sale or trade show at the AGM if it’s attended by pretty much the same members each year ? Should the AGM and jumble sale be in an area where some of the bargains to be had might be more appreciated . Should it be in a more central location, like it used to be. Your thoughts please. Nigel Brown.

My understanding is that the AGM will be in the Bristol area next year. I will not go as it is too far to travel but others will undoubtedly benefit from the more southerly location. Personally I enjoyed the AGM, having not been to one since the last century!!

Hi Eric. You are correct. We are finalising that at the moment and should be able to share a price in the next day or two.

Thank you both for your help. Info much appreciated 👍

Hi John, Not sure why they move it but its in two places now, one for all content and the other is for individual forums.

Hello to all, as a relative newcomer to the sport of model yachting I would like to put forward a suggestion that more help be given to anybody on what is a large learning curve, maybe in the way of some marking on the boat/sails to let those who have more sailing experience know that you are a slightly less experienced skipper than them selves or a event for the likes of myself were the rules are shown in detail and maybe sail with a mentor alongside???. Before there are numerous well meant reply's saying join a club and they will be only to happy to show you the ropes I do belong to a MYA club but and there is always a but the likes of yesterday when all skippers were sailing for club points, 19 boats I believe, not fully understanding the rules and some of the meanings of the rules even though I have read them and studied the diagrams, as I am sure you will understand it get's a bit disheartening when you think you are making some headway with your sailing to be if I may use the term " chastised " for turning to starboard when you should be turning to god knows were when you are some what surrounded by four or five other boats, or you reach the mark were you think you should be to be told " do a 360 you touched another boat " 5 boats at the mark, ok which one. It makes me wonder how many other budding rc yachtsmen have given up after a short time and turned to another hobby, so maybe the MYA or the clubs completion secretary's might be able to come up with a proposal to help and encourage new comers like myself and I feel sure a few others with similar thoughts?????? Thank you for reading this bit of a ramble, but if it helps to promote a brilliant hobby. Cheers