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?

I worked as a watersports instructor for London Borough of Redbridge in the 70s. One of the local schools borrowed one of our canoe moulds to make their own fleet. It would have been a good plan if they had used release agent on the mould before starting the layup of the first one

Wooden boats rule!

Is the plan to put a protective layer around the balsa ? I race two wooden full size dinghies and they are both very competitive- the only downside is the effect of any collisions with my " plastic" competitors

If this is your " gaining experience" project, the next one is going to look fantastic I am going to enjoy watching progress- whilst pretending not to being jealous of your skills!

Useful advice Graham. I have too many other hobbies and lack the skill to race iom at top level. But getting an older cheaper boat and having the target of beating some mid fleet Britpops does appeal

Clearly the latest boats have some advantages but the top sailors use the latest boats. Newcomers often sail with an older boat whilst learning. How much would a top sailors position be affected if they were to race an "older" design?

I assume from the lack of response , I assume consideration of this matter is ongoing. I would like to thank both MYA officers and those just working within RC for all the ( often thankless ) work you are doing for our hobby. I am sure it will all be resolved by the time I decide to buy another IOM!

I am very happy sailing Df65 and 95 so this " saga" does not affect me immediately. But I would like to have the possibility of returning to the classes requiring measurement in the future. Am I safe to assume that the Mya has abandoned the plans for measurers to be required to have Rya training and verification?

The movement towards " approval" rather than capability and skill continues. In dinghy sailing, the move is that all Instructors and Coaches are RYA trained and approved. On a race training course for example, the keen club sailor who had time to go on the RYA approval is in charge whilst the Class superstar and expert can only train in a support role because they were too busy making sails or boats to drive to be " trained". Brads comments seem very sensible to me

Its worth searching " Phyllis Nicklin Bournville" on the Internet. The wonderful " Brumpic.com" website, specialists in Birmingham historic photos have some early photos of model yacht racing