John949

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.

https://www.sailsetc2.com/downloads/RP14CX%20swing%20rig%20kit%20plans.pdf The above doesn't fully explain it but might give you some clues. Your call but I'm not a fan of the gizmo. Unless you understand what it does and definitely want those properties then it might be simpler to remove it and stick to conventional sheeting, at least until you get some experience with the boat.

The bare hull without any fittings is around 600g. The complete hull including the rudder, servos and batteries is 984g. As a comparison my complete Starkers M weighs 800g so I could still do better. Not having a minimum weight for either the 10R or the M is a very bad idea. It encourages very delicate hulls which can be damaged in a minor collision. There aren't many old 10R / M carbon boats about (Bentleys excepted) because they tend to fall apart and this reduced the number of cheap 'beginners' boats around. The IOM rules are much more sensible in this respect as having a minimum hull weight means most boats are built strong enough to last (I am currently sailing IOM No 961). However why the IOM rules don't allow carbon hulls and masts is beyond me. The latter are cheaper and stiffer.

Well it will certainly be stiff. As a guide my hull shells come out of the mould at about 250-300gm. I aimed to make the complete hull under 500gm but I haven't managd it yet. They always seem to need more filling / painting than I want, even when made in a female mold.

What construction method are you planning? I have designed and built several carbon 10Rs and could probably help you avoid a few pitfalls if you're interested.

As suggested, first try the winch in another channel. If it still does it, then dirt / corrosion / damage in the winch feedback pot is most likely. If you can dismantle the winch and spray contact cleaner onto the track, then this might cure it. The problem is that having gone bad once, it is likely to do it again. If it's an RMG then replacing the pot is fairly easy (though expensive for the older 10 turn types). For other types, manufacturer's spares are hard to come by and finding a generic part that fits properly is also tricky. Depends how seriously you sail, but a new winch and keep this one as a spare might be the best option for a non-RMG.

Note that the term 'full & by' was dropped from the RRS many many years ago - replaced by 'close hauled course' Oops, showing my age. Still I do know that the "overtaking boat keeps clear" rule was dropped equally long ago (unlike a lot of people it seems). It is one of the (many) difficulties of Radio Sailing that judging "proper course" when sailing perpendicular to the observer is not easy. My understanding is that if you get overlapped to leeward you are required to keep clear and protest afterwards (if you believe the leeward boat is sailing above her proper course) - not ignore the leeward boat and watch the boats raft up.

In a similar vein, a yacht tacking from port to starboard does not gain starboard tack rights until her sails are full on the new tack. In my opinion, if the port tack vessel has to start an evasive manoeuvre before the starboard tack yacht's sails are full, then the tacking yacht has broken Ruel 13. Unfortunately I seem to be in a minority on this point as yachts to leeward and slightly ahead on port think they can tack with impunity and yell starboard as they come head to wind,

I may be a bit out of date as I haven't used a gelcoat in a while but my understanding is: The gelcoat you linked to is a polyester gelcoat whereas the lay-up info claims it is an epoxy gelcoat. I'm not entirely certain but I though there is no such thing as an epoxy gelcoat and you have to use a special type of polyester that is compatible with an epoxy lay up. See https://www.easycomposites.co.uk/epoxy-bonding-polyester-gelcoat-clear Standard Polyester gelcoats don't set hard when exposed to air i.e. they remain tacky. This makes 'filling scratches' difficult. For more serious damage you used to have to make a mould to fit on the outside, then put the gelcoat on first from the inside and then use mat over it. Perhaps someone who has tried more recently could provide some feedback but I would be wary of making it worse. In my day we just used to live with gelcoat cracks. The boats I have made recently don't have a gelcoat (carbon / epoxy).

I do actually know what a sans serif font is. What I don't know is which (if any version) of the figure 4 counts as being sans serif or indeed if sans serif has any meaning when applied to numbers. If you are being really pedantic then you could perhaps argue that the figure 1 should be just a vertical line without the tick at the top but since Helvetica has it then go figure. Ironically serifs are used to improve legibility of small letters (or big ones at long range?) which is why optician's eye charts use san serif fonts i.e. it is harder to 'guess' the letter. Hopefully I have made my point about the rules perhaps not being as clear as they could be but, since the font doesn't affect boat speed, it's probably time I let it rest.

The rules say: (IRSA Supplementary Class Rules - https://radiosailing.org/download/irsa-supplementary-class-rules-2020-4/ C.11 IDENTIFICATION ON SAILS C.11.1 A boat shall display: (a) her class insignia and (b) a sail number on all sails and (c) national letters on her mainsail as required by C.12.1. C.11.2 National letters and sail numbers shall be in capital letters and Arabic numerals, clearly legible and of the same colour. The colour shall contrast with the colour of the body of sail. Commercially available typefaces giving the same or better legibility than Helvetica are acceptable. Digital fonts are not acceptable. I know it's easy to criticise and I'm more aware than most how hard it is to write good rules but the above are a beautiful example of how not to do it. Firstly Google Arabic numerals and see what you get! Secondly, "typefaces giving the same or better legibility than Helvetica ..." is entirely subjective; and thirdly what on earth is a " digital font" in this context? I recently acquired a vinyl cutter and was trying to find out which variation of the figure four I should use. The Racing Rules of Sailing (G1.2 a (4)) say " a sans serif typeface" so I'm none the wiser.

Just noticed that F.5.2 (a) says that a headsail boom swivel is mandatory. Does that mean I can't just use a cord (like a DF does) and I have to have a physical swivel? Anyone know what constitutes a swivel or what the point of this rule is?

In theory you can calculate the best position for the hounds and the spreaders if you know the loading on the mast (assuming you goal is to minimise the mast bend). In practice the loading varies with so many things (incidence, camber, mainsail twist, wind speed, etc.) that I'm not sure it's worth trying. Perhaps it is easier to consider what happens at the extremes and then decide if your rig is tending towards one of them too much. If the hounds are too low then the top of the mast will bend off too much, the leech will open and you will likely get a crease running down from the hounds towards the clew. If the hounds are too high the mast may bend excessively between the hounds and the foot. This may well induce a crease form the hounds to the clew. It will definitely stiffen up the top of the mast and lessen the tendency for the leech to open in a gust. Is this a good thing at the top end of the rig's range? I think the spreaders should be at a point where the bending moment above them is equal to the bending moment below them i.e. at the height of the aerodynamic centre. But of course the aerodynamic centre moves around with the same variables (particularly mainsail twist). Personally I would go with practical experience and perceived wisdom unless I was trying to cure a particular problem with the rig.

Many years ago I took part in something called the Classmaster Event. Three entrants from almost every singlehanded class sailed their own boats and then each of the other classes in a series of handicap races. This certainly removed the bias from sailing your own class (I'd barely seen an International Canoe before I had to sail one!). Something similar for RC Classes would require the equivalent of PY numbers for each class but any class handicap advantage evens out because you have to sail all the classes. More recently I took part in the DeQuincy Cup organised by the London Model Yacht Club. This was team racing in 10Rs. I believe they used 95s the following year.