ianrmcdonald

Thanks Gordon. So its not adding or changing rules- its ensuring the existing ones are sailed to

My experience is thats its best to have a " staggered" start. The slower class starts off either the Prep signal or a pre agreed earlier start. Beginners from the faster class could start off this early signal. And in a perfect world, all boats finish together- but of course this wont happen which allows for altering the staggered start times for the next start. This format also allows the fast boats to practice overtakes,rather than beiing in the lead within seconds and sailing round alone as from a " normal" start

I am hoping to return to RC sailing to run alongside my " full size" dinghy racing. Certainly in a dinghy ,few are going to pile into a busy windward mark on port- the probable damage, possible injury and a good chance of a " discussion" in the club car park dissuade most. But in RC it would seem that being on the port lay line to round the windward mark and accepting the penalty after boat and maybe mark contact is worth a single penalty turn. It seems wrong that a boat having taken a penalty may be in front of the boat who joined the line of starboard tackers who avoided collision Is my perception that this has become more common ,incorrect ? Would making the penalty more turns dissuade most?

will do-thanks John

I would like to return to model yacht racing after a break racing full size boats. A major difference I have seen is the way that the windward mark is rounded. In full size, without a clear lead, boats arrive on starboard as " diving" in on port and the resulting collision may incur significant damage, a race losing penalty and maybe a heated conversation in the car park afterwards. In radio sailing it appears to be common to arrive on port- using the " its too far to see properly" excuse, even if mark or boat contact is accepted- the gain in rounding close to the mark is more than the small loss of a single turn Are there plans to ( perhaps) increase penalties to address this issue? Or am I just looking at the wrong races?😉

It sounds like your friend has followed the rules correctly. We are involved with an often pleasant hobby which is a group of friends playing with model boats. The vast majority follow this path but there is sometimes the occasional person taking things much too seriously. I would suggest that ignoring this incident and looking forward to a pleasant session soon with the rest of your group is the best choice. The rare " Mr Too Serious " may not be there next time!

The fast diminishing % of members without access to the Internet is a problem for many organisations and clubs. Of course many of the members without the Internet are long standing and important and their continued involvement is important and worthy of protection . I am sure the Committee are reviewing the numbers that are retained by keeping printed media because ( annoying as it sometimes is) a total move to the Internet will give a more up to date info and free up cash to allocate to other MYA projects

I can sail ( a bit), but replacing rigging and hull patches is my limit. Enjoying my Df65-95 and waiting for the right used boat to come up for sale

Watching your progress is like cycling up a hard climb in the Peaks, feeling really strong and then being overtaken quickly by two others- chatting and laughing! The boat looks beautiful- and I wish I had half your skills!

As someone planning to join the IOM fleet this is really good news. Having an option on the winch reduces the price but more importantly protects against the class being very restricted if the ( almost sole) winch supplier stopped production for any reason

Good to see someone trying different ideas. I would expect the difference to be marginal with a loose foot In the J's any crew hoisted to the masthead to sort any rigging issues often jumped into the main and slid down- not sure if a T boom is worse to land on than conventional!

In many one design dinghies the weight of the fastest crews can vary by 10 to 15 kilo. OK that weight can be moved around to advantage but it shows that " all up" weight is not the final decider

Looks beautiful Tom. In my full sized sailing, both my wooden Solo and Osprey happily beat the " plastic" stuff. The issues I would have are the higher number of collisions in RC and my over reaction to scratching a work of art. And the biggest obstacle is that I have two left thumbs and little practical skill. But I agree- joining the IOM fleet with a competitive boat is far from easy and this is going to improve matters.

A thing of beauty Tom! I am not sure I could enjoy racing one as I panicked on each cross, up the beat. Or does the epoxy coat deal with collisions ok?