Radio Waves
INSIDE 2017 ARYA Nationals Update 3D Printing Parts for RC Yachts Colour Coating Recipe Vic Marblehead Regional Championship First Australian DR65/RG65 Invitational
Official newsletter of the AUSTRALIAN RADIO YACHTING ASSOCIATION (Inc) www.arya.asn.au
Volume 22 Issue 2 Jul—Oct 2016
Radio Waves Official Newsletter of the Australian Radio Yachting Association (Inc)
PRESIDENT CLASS COORDINATORS Sean Wallis Southern River, WA, 6110 International One Metre email: [email protected] Glenn Dawson Mob: 0467 779 752 Floreat, WA, 6014 email: [email protected] VICE-PRESIDENT Tel: 0439 924 277 Garry Bromley Kanahooka, NSW, 2530 International A Class email: [email protected] Denton Roberts Mob: 0424 828 574 Wembley Downs, WA, 6019 email: [email protected] SECRETARY Mob: 0412 926 965 Ross Bennett Maylands, WA, 6051 International Marblehead email: [email protected] Lincoln McDowell Mob: 0490 083 978 email: [email protected] TREASURER Mob: John Wainwright International 10 Rater Concord, NSW, 2137 Selwyn Holland email: [email protected] Mob: 0449 904 807 email: [email protected] TECHNICAL OFFICER Tel: (02) 4237 7873 Robert Hales RC Laser Beecroft, NSW, 2119 Rod Popham email: [email protected] Duncraig, WA, 6023 Tel: (02) 9875 4615 email: [email protected] REGISTRAR Tel: (08) 9246 2158 Mob: 0416 246 216 Scott Condie 64 Matson Cres, Miranda, NSW, 2228 email: [email protected]
If calling, be mindful of the time at location calling. PUBLICITY OFFICER/EDITOR Allow for time zone differences and Daylight Alan Stuart Saving, and call at a reasonable hour. Thornlie, WA, 6108 email: [email protected] Mob: 0400 816 834 PUBLIC OFFICER ROLL OF HONOUR LIFE FELLOWS Trevor Jeffree (SA) Ron Dunster, ACT (dec) Hub Bell, WA Ingle Farm, SA, 5098 Max Griggs, TAS (dec) Ken Dobbie, TAS email: [email protected] George Manders, QLD (dec) David Black, QLD Tel: (08) 7070 4159 Bob Shedden, NSW (dec) Eddie Cowell, QLD WEBMASTER Chris Ryan, VIC Eduard Cowell Graeme Turk, QLD
email: [email protected]
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t only seemed like yesterday I is more important than the safety of was plugging away at the key- the skippers and the volunteers. board producing the last (hurried) RW. That time of the With the growing popularity of 3D Iyear has creeped up on me again. printers as the prices tumble, there are more and more parts being pro- With sailing, our fate is always in the duced for our yachts. You will find a ‘lap of the gods’. Sometime you get great article in the mag on 3D great sailing days, and sometimes printing, including pictures of an en- you don’t. And none more true than tire 3D printed the postponing of the Qld 2016 IOM RG65 hull! Championship earlier this year. Qld State Association, in consultation As always, thanks with ARYA, decided that with the to all the contrib- treacherous weather they were hav- utors, and to any ing at the time, that it was not safe future contribu- for competitors to complete, and the tors. YOU make event was postponed. I think this the magazine was a sensible decision, as no event what it is. DEADLINE FOR NEXT ISSUE IS OCTOBER 17, 2016
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AFFILIATES
Australian Capital Territory Dr Graham Brown Radio Yachting Association Secretary Kingston, ACT, 2604 email: [email protected] Tel: (02) 6241 3070
New South Wales Radio Peter Newman Yachting Association Secretary NSW www.rcyachts.net/nsw/ email: [email protected] Mob: 0403 125 129
Queensland Radio Yachting Ian Forster Association Secretary Chandler, QLD, 4155 www.radiosailing.org.au/ email: [email protected] state/qld.htm Tel: (07) 3823 3470
South Australian Radio Alan Gold Yacht Association (Inc) Secretary Highbury SA, 5089 www.saradioyachting.org.au/ email: [email protected] Mob: 0419 839 933
Tasmanian Radio Yachting Ken Dobbie Council Secretary West Moonah, TAS, 7009 email: [email protected] Tel: (03) 6272 6916 Fax: (03) 6272 6963
Victoria Radio Yachting Assn Inc David Thomas www.vrya.org.au Secretary Hoppers Crossing, VIC, 3029 email: [email protected] Tel (03) 9748 0641
Radio Sailing Association WA Inc Glenn Dawson Secretary Floreat, WA, 6014 www.rsawa.asn.au email: [email protected] Mob: 0439 924 277
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CONTENTS ADVERTISING ARYA Contacts 2 Paid advertising in Radio Waves is accepted up to the copy deadline as displayed on page 3. Editorial 3 Advertising Rates: (per year) State Affiliates 4 Full Page $100 From the President 6 Half Page: $50 From the Secretary 7 Quarter Page $25 2017 Nationals Update 10 There will be a minimum of 3 issues of Radio Waves produced each year. Boat Transfers 13 2016 IOM European Champs 14 Calendar of Major Events 15 42 Degrees South Regatta 17 SUBSCRIPTIONS 3D printing Parts for RC Yachts 20 Radio Waves is supplied to affiliated mem- IRSA General Assembly 2016 29 bers of the ARYA and distributed through 2016 Ian Hayden 10R Trophy 31 Member State Councils and Clubs. Colour Coating Recipe 36
Class Corner PICTURES Ten Rater 43 Marblehead 46 Cover: One Metre 47 RG65 50 2016 Vic Marbleheads State Champion- RC Laser 54 ships A Class 55 Photo by: John Boys On Another Tack…. wo, not very bright but hot and thirsty sailors sank their boat and ended up in the life raft. After three days (one without water, two without food and three without beer) they felt something bounc- ing up against the raft. When they looked, they found an oil lamp Tfloating by. After deciding that there probably wasn't a genie, they decided to try anyway. They rub the side of the bottle to see if anything is inside. To their amazement, sure enough, out pops a genie with an attitude. "I know your types, three wishes and back in the bottle. So I will only grant you one wish and I will be gone." The genius of the two blurts out " I want all the finest beer we could ever drink in a lifetime." The genie replies "So be it" disappears and turns the entire ocean to beer. It is done and the genie dis- appears. The other genius slaps his buddy upside the head and says "You idiot! Now we have to pee in the raft".
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From The President t’s a wonder how anything gets done around here as our Secretary has gone AWOL heading over to Malaysia to I deliver a yacht from Langkawi to Phuket – sound’s nice doesn’t it? It appears he has packed only the essentials and is travelling light! And the worst part of it all is that he’s headed off without me, alt- hough judging by the photo be- low taken by the spy, a question should be asked of whether you want your boat delivered by him! So back to more important things. The Nationals in Adelaide are now well behind us as we all look for- ward to the 2017 nationals to be held at Kogarah Bay, NSW in Feb- ruary next year. The organising committee is working hard to de- liver an event to remember! Entries will shortly open for the event and we look forward to seeing a huge turn out. If you are planning on going then get your accom- modation booked early. There has been a huge number of events sailed over the last four months and without listing them in detail, I congratulate the winners and thank the volunteers for giving up their time to support these events. A number of these events have been ranking events to estab-
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lish the team representing Australia at the comingMarblehead & 10R Worlds (see the Secretary’s report). At the recent AGM it was decided that the ARYA would form a Race Management Committee to look after all things racing (go figure!). Glenn Dawson (WA) heads up the team which includes Bill Clancy (QLD), Scott Backhouse (NSW), Dayle Smith (QLD) the Secretary & myself. The committee has taken on a number of tasks including reporting to IRSA on race management policies, review of our Stand- ard Notice of Race & Sailing Instructions as well as providing a Race Management Document outlining minimum standards and guidance on event organisation and management for our events. The team are progressing and the latest NOR & SI are now in use. As we look into the future we’ve got a massive schedule with numer- ous state championships and major events in all classes (including the running of the postponed QLD IOM State Championship), but next on the Prez’s Tour’s is the Eddie Cowell IOM Regatta on the Sunshine Coast on 6/7 August. This event is growing each year and entries are expected to exceed 40. A strong Kiwi contingent is heading across the ditch as they migrate north for the winter so it’s important that the Aussie’s keep the trophy at home, so get out of the cold and head to the Sunshine Coast. See ya there! Sean Wallis From The Secretary our committee has been busy since the last radio waves. We have just seen the European IOM YChampionships run and won. Congrats to Brad Gibson for his 1 point win over Rob Walsh. Aus-
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tralia was represented at this regatta by Lindsay Walker and David Turton. I’m hearing that weed was a major issue at the regatta. Un- fortunate. At the end of Sept, the Marblehead World Championships and the Ten Rater World Championships will be run in Italy. At the time of writing, Australia has Lincoln McDowall and Andy Reid entered for M’s, with Greg Torpy, Dave Thomas, Dave Turton & Jeff Byerley all waiting to see if they gain places in selection rounds 2, 3 & 4. Hope- fully, we will be represented by all six. For the Ten Rater World Championships, we have Garry Bromley, Andy Reid, Dave Turton & Jeff Byerley all entered. Good sailing to all of the M & 10R guys. That is a great indication of the state of RC sailing in Australia.
New from Hales Micro: Surface Mount Block SMB-1
Blocks are supplied with two 2mm stainless steel washers, two plastic 2mm flange washers, a plastic 3mm washer and a M2 x 12mm stainless steel bolt and nut. These accessories provide for various fixed or swivelling applications. A typical mainsheet bulkhead application is shown above. The mounting accessories can be replaced by a M3 mounting screw if desired. Spread the arms of the bracket slightly to fit the M3 screw. The surface around this block may need reinforcement if it is used in the right angle configuration.
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Following on with more world regattas, the ranking window for the 2017 IOM World Championships is currently open. The regatta will be held in France in May, 2017. We have received expressions of in- terest from nine skippers to date. If you are interested in going, get your expression of interest to me by email to [email protected] . EOI’s will be closing around the end of December, depending on the final regatta time line and entry conditions. Best advice is that if you want to go, get your expressions of interest in ASAP. The ranking rules were also updated recently. Apart from some tidy- ing up and clarifying, the formula used to determine the points break up was changed so that the person who sails, and comes last in the event now gets some points. Previously, they received “0” points. This change was supported by the committee and states. Personal Numbers are now open again. Following a motion passed at the AGM, the rules for PNs were changed and they replace all pre- vious PN rules. These rules are on our web. The main changes were
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for PNs issued from June 2016 onwards. A number of skippers have taken advantage of the reopening of PNs. If you are interested in ap- plying for a PN, fill in the form on the web and send it to [email protected]. Good sailing to all and I’ll see you on the water. Rosco 2017 Nationals Update Number 1
he NSWRYA is looking forward to hosting the National Championships in 2017. An organizing committee was formed that included a mix of enthusiastic novices and expe- rienced organizers who have worked on organizing com- Tmittees for past NSW hosted National Titles. The organizing committee’s objectives are to run an event that is en-
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joyed by competitors, is the most cost effective, and from a financial perspective at least“ break-even” for the NSWRYA.
After a tender process Kogarah Bay Radio Yacht Club was selected by the committee to host the event. KBRYC hosted the ARYA Nationals in 2005 and again in 2011.
The Nationals will be held from February 6th through to February 18th 2017. These dates were selected because the Kogarah Bay Sail- ing Club (who will be hosting the event with the KBRYC) preferred February over January, and gaining access to the water in February with the maritime authority was easier too.
Competitors who have a history of competing at championships were also consulted over dates. A clear majority of those asked preferred February over January. Flight and accommodation costs are cheaper in February when compared to the holiday period in January.
One of the key advantages of Kogarah Bay as a hosting location is wa- ter access via a floating pontoon. However, silt accumulation in the bay over the last few years has meant that the pontoon does not float during extremely low tides and access depth for boats being launched or retrieved can be less than 600mm.
Because of this, the committee proposed (and the ARYA accepted) that the order of the titles be changed to accommodate the tides pre- dicted for the championships. The sequence will be A Class, IOM Class, 10R Class and Marblehead Class.
As well as the tidal situation, the committee also believes these- quencing will allow the host club to get more volunteers to help run the event during the times when most help is needed (i.e. during the IOM Class Championships).
The Notices of Race have been drafted. The organising committee has used a draft sourced from the ARYA as the base with modifica-
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tions/additions made to cater for entry details and fee structures.
A dedicated website is under construction by Matthew McAnna and will go live soon. The NORs will be included on the website, as well as details on how to enter, information about the venue, skipper lists, accommodation directory etc.
Entry fees for the championship will be approximately $90 for the A, 10R and Marblehead classes (three day events) and $120 for the IOM championships (four day event). The entry fee is inclusive of lunch each day, a welcome barbeque after the first day of racing and a presentation diner at theTaren Point Bowling Club. Additional tickets for lunches and dinners will be available for purchase at a very rea- sonable cost.
The organising committee is planning to have souvenir shirts available for purchase that can be ordered at the time of entry. The shirts will be available in either long sleeve or short sleeve and a size to fit all.
The committee has decided to use a third party, Eventbrite, to facili- tate event management hosting. Eventbrite will handle the registra- tion for the event, shirt sales, payment options, refunds, additional meal tickets, etc.
Scott Backhouse, who is doing most of the publicity for the regatta, has all the latest information on the 2017 ARYA National Champion- ships on Facebook at 2017 ARYA Nationals Kogarah Bay February 6th to 18th and on Twitter at @ARYANATS2017
With multiple “swim lanes” of activities underway, it’s certainly a busy time for the organising committee. However, the committee is confident the event will be a success and meet its objectives. Colin Court and Owen Jarvis
NSWRYA Organizing Committee members
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Boat Transfers
ARYA now accepts payment by PayPal for boat registrations and transfers. Credit cards can also be used with PayPal. It is VERY important that the right procedures are followed in the transfer of boat ownership, otherwise there may be a significant de- lay in the issue of a new certificate. Full details for payment are available on the ARYA website at http:// www.radiosailing.org.au/index.php/techincal-info/transfer-of- registration A stamped, self-addressed envelope MUST be posted to the Registrar for the return of the new certificate. Remember, the onus is on YOU to follow the procedures.
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IOM European Championships 2016 6 of the best skippers from Europe and around the world gathered in Vitoria Spain for the biannual IOM European Championships. The venue appeared to be really good, having the use of a sailing club and magnificent surrounds. 7The IOM world was looking forward to another close, riveting compe- tition. The favourites prior to the event were Brad Gibson and Rob Walsh from the UK, Zvonko Jelacic from Croatia and a couple of the Spanish guys, particularly Guillermo Beltri. At the same time, you could not discount the very strong French team, led by Olivier Cohen and Alexis Carre. Australia was represented by two Queenslanders, in Lindsay Walker and Dave Turton. It became apparent very early in the regatta, that there was a prob- lem. There was a significant amount of cut grass floating in the water, which appeared to float around depending on the wind direction. Over the course of the regatta, racing had to be stopped on a couple of occasions when the course became too chocked to enable fair sail- ing. There was much discussion on social media regarding the grass, but at this stage, it is not really known whether the grass was an unfortu- nate occurrence, or whether it is a common event. The race officers did everything they could to try and limit the effect of the weed, in- cluding pinching the lane markers out of a local swimming pool, attaching netting to the markers and mooring them to windward of the course, in an attempt to catch the grass floating down. Having said that, there were clearly many upset skippers, who suffered more than others. Eventually, skippers started measuring the length of the pieces which they pulled off their keels, and the winners were up around the 2.7meter mark. There was pretty good coverage on Facebook, Youtube and on the event website. It was possible to follow along from afar, watching the
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Calendar of Major Events 2016 July 16-17 NSW Marblehead GP Round 3, Drummoyne SC 23-24`QLD RC Laser State Championships, Carbrook 24 WA IOM Perth Classic, Jackadder Lake August 6 QLD Micro Magic Tri Series, Emerald Lake 6-7 QLD Eddie Cowall Perpetual, Kawana 14 NSW A Class GP Round 3, Carrs Park RYC 20 NSW Soling 1m Interclub Regatta day, Sydney Maritime Modellers 21 WA A Class State Championships, Jackadder Lake 21 NSW IOM GP Round 4, Sydney Maritime Modellers 27-28 NSW 10R GP Round 4, Lake Macquarie RYC 28 NSW 10R Interclub Shield Round 4, Lake Macquarie RYC September 3-4 QLD 2016 IOM State Championships, Emerald Lakes 10 WA Michael Bell 10R Memorial Trophy, Jackadder Lake 10 QLD A Class, Lakeside Raceway 17 SA A Class State Championship, Paris Creek 17-18 NSW RC Laser State Titles, Koonawarra Bay SC 17-18 ACT 10R State Championships, Canberra Model YC 18 WA 10R Metro Championships, Champion Lakes October 2 SA 10R State Championships, West Lakes 8 WA Ray Tilbrook 10R Memorial Trophy, Jackadder Lake 8-9 NSW A Class State Championship, Basin RYC 15 NSW 10R GP Round 5 - Ben Lexcen Trophy, Northern Mariners 16 WA 10R State Championships, Champion Lakes 22-23 SA Marblehead State Championship/Bourneville Trophy
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fortunes of the different skippers. Several interviews onYoutube gave the impression that conditions for racing were not easy. There was comment about the ability to view the start line, the tendency for the wind to shift very significantly as well as the dreaded weed. A number of protests held up racing early in the week, particularly in the lower fleets. Moving up through fleets at this level is especially difficult, meaning that skippers tend to push really hard to obtain one of the coveted top 6 finishing places in any heat. It appeared as though many of the top skippers moved up and down through the fleets, and racing was of a particularly competitive stand- ard. The top few guys clearly made fewer mistakes than others, and despite the fluky conditions, the same names finished towards the top of the list. Over the five days of the regatta, with protests and delays, as well as time lost to resetting the course for wind movement, the race man- agement team were only able to complete 17 races. This must have been very frustrating for all concerned. Coming into the last race of the regatta, the top four skippers were separated by just 5 points. The final result would go right down to the wire. Rob Walsh led by one point from Brad, who in turn was one point ahead of Guillermo. Zvonko was just two points adrift of the podium. The Aussies had a difficult regatta, with Lindsay finishing in the mid- 40s and Dave in the mid-50s. This indicates the incredibly high stand- ard that the Europeans reach with their racing. They manage to sail in extraordinarily competitive fleets regularly, and are really well pre- pared. They understand sail trim and boat tune in many different con- ditions, and are able to repeat their settings accurately. Right when the final race was being run, the event website crashed due to exceeding its daily bandwidth limit. There must have been many, many people from around the world following the event. If you haven’t seen the footage of the regatta and would like to have
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a look, the Facebook page can be found here. Also, the Youtube chan- nel can be found here. There is also a wonderful gallery of photos tak- en by Hannike Gillison in Google Photos which you might be able to find by finding the post on the Facebook page. The final race must have been a torrid affair, but that’s when Champi- ons are made. Brad Gibson showed that he is still the one to beat by taking the chocolates in that last race. However at the time of writing, the final finishing positions ’won t be known until the prize giving. Hopefully, I will be able to get Linsday or Dave to give us a rundown from an Aussie perspective for the next issue. Final placings: 1st: Brad Gibson 76points 2nd: Rob Walsh 77points 3rd: Alexis Carre 81points Just off the podium: 4th Olivier Cohen 84points 5th Guillermo Beltri 87points 6th Zvonko Jelacic 89points
Glenn 42 Degrees South Regatta for RG65's, DF65's and DF95's he inaugural 42 Degrees South Regatta for DF65's, RG65's and DF95's was held the weekend 25 /26th June at Risdon Brook Tasmania. Saturday was the turn for the smaller but by no means slow RG65's and DF65's with light to moderate Tchilling NNW'erly variable winds to around 10 knots or so, and fine sunny conditions. Ten skippers fronted for the event from around the State and PRO for the day was Les Hanson who did a fine job as usual. While both classes sailed in the one fleet, final results were separated
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for the two classes. With the wild weather over the last few weeks it was good in one way to see a rise in water level at the dam, however this also had its downside with weed being a big problem and when encountered it was definitely race over. When the ramp was pulled out on Sunday, it looked like something from a Louisiana Bayou. Stand out performer for the day was Andy Hamilton with his Frank Russell design RG65 Goth (if I remember correctly) with swing rig that without any reference of scale on the water, you would think was a Marblehead. The all up weight for this slippery little flyer was sub 1 kg! Andy stole the show winning 9 of the 11 races completed, taking out the RG65 class trophy with an impressive 9 points from second place (class and overall) Kyle Stewart with 19 points and third place Steve Walter (forth overall) with 30 points. George Fish won the DF65 class with 27 points and was third place overall from Geoff Martin on 41 points (fifth overall) and Morris Jones third (sixth overall) with 43 points.
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Sunday was the turn of the new class on the water, the impressive and delight to sail DF95 Dragon Flite. Conditions were not quite as chilly as Saturday with sunny conditions and a good A rig breeze that built to B rig 12 to 15 knots for the last few races. PRO for the day was Stuart Harris who administered the event with his usual high
standards. As the inaugural event for this class in Tasmania, 14 skip- pers fronted making an impressive fleet for this One Design class. After a small administrative error, the first race was declared a prac- tice race as it was started before the advertise start time on the NOR. Again, weed was the nemesis for skippers and again it was definitely race over if you encountered it. The improve launching ramp per- formed very well both for launching and retrieving boats and for col- lecting weed as it drifted past. At times there were huge rafts of this "Fox Tail" weed several square metres in area. Run away winner for the day (if I say so myself) was yours truly with 4 wins, 4 seconds, a fifth and a couple of weed gathering drops and 17 points, from Chris Wood in second place with 7 podium plac- ings including 2 wins, 3 seconds and a third for 26 points, and third
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place going to Andrew Wardrop with 4 podium finishes including a win, a couple of seconds, a third and 31 points overall. With the suc-
cess of the weekend's event, I see a bright and popular future for the DF95 class. We have submitted the class to the TRYC for ratification by the ARYA, and who knows, Tassie may be the first to hold National Titles for this class in 2018 which is only 18 months away! For more info and photos go here Till then, wet sails. Stuart Dawes. 3D Printing Parts for RC Yachts he use of a 3D plastics printer opens up a new avenue by which parts for RC yachts can be made. For example, there are very few small components available T for classes such as the RG65 at present and the parts availa- ble for the larger yachts such as the IOM look out of place when used
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Handy Links
20167ARYA Nationals in New South Wales https://www.facebook.com/2017-ARYA-National-Championships-Kogarah-Bay- February-6th-to-18th-579617385529012/
Canadian Radio Yachting newsletter—3D printing article http://crya.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/CRYA-Newsletter-Summer2015.pdf
ISAF Equipment Rules of Sailing http://www.sailing.org/documents/equipmentrules/
Thingiverse—Repository of 3d models http://www.thingiverse.com/
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on small yachts. Any component that can be drawn using a CAD programme can be printed, and with a little trial and error perfectly fitting components can be printed. I have even printed tiny rivets and washers for use on the luff of my A Class mainsails when I ran out of small brass ones.
Pic 1 Some examples of printed components are shown above – winch drum, RG65 fin/mast box, gooseneck and boom fittings, sail insignia template, bulb plug, rud- ders, mast ring for A Class. I currently use an elliptical (a la Spitfire wing) rudder on my RG65. How to Produce a Printed Part Draw the part using a CAD programme Save the drawing as an .stl file Convert the .stl file to .gcode (my Flashforge printer software does this for me)
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Set up your printing parameters such as speed, temperature, supports, density of print etc. Print the part Requirements 3D printer ($250 to $ ? as much you are prepared to outlay) – the size of a large microwave oven Computer CAD programme Slicer program (some printers require the design to be convert- ed for printing) 3D Printer There are two main types – conventional XYZ printers and Delta print- ers. Both are suitable. I have an older XYZ Prusa i3 (semi-retired) and a newer Flashforge Dreamer ($1500). Plastic filament is fed through a heated extruder head and thin molten plastic is deposited in layers onto the printer bed to build up the object. The two most commonly used plastics are ABS and PLA. PLA is the easier to use and is suitable for model parts. Computer Any computer that can run a simple CAD programme is suitable. I use either a desktop or a notebook computer depending on which print- er I am using. CAD Programme There are many available. I use one of the many free ones available off the internet called OpenScad. This particular programme uses typed lines of drawing code to produce drawings as opposed to draw- ing on the screen. All programmes have internet based learning and help available. I use this particular programme because it is free, and it allows me to easily vary sizes such as when fitting components to- gether (accuracy of printers varies and circular holes don't print ex-
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actly to size). Basic shapes are reasonably straight forward to draw, some entities require more -in depth knowledge, but most people would be able to draw a simple component after a little practice. Anyone with access to and ability to use more in-depth (and more expensive) software such as AutoCad has a head start and can produce more complicated and visually pleasing draw- ings, and AutoCad drawings can be saved as .stl files.
Depending on how dense you print the object, some parts will take an hour or more to print. Because it is difficult to lay down filament across open spaces, some parts need to be printed with supports which are easily removed after printing. The printing process also allows you to scale objects to print larger or small- er, and to increase or reduce measurements on one or more ax- is.
Any shape that can be drawn can be printed although some are- as may need printed support (it is difficult to print across a large space as the print will fail), but the supports are easily removed and those areas cleaned up afterwards.
And of course my granddaughter loves printed frogs, Barbie ac- cessories, Frozen characters, My Little Pony…...... !!!
Internet sites such as Thingiverse are an excellent source of ready-designed objects, and there are even some yacht bits available for download. I drew up the rudders (see Pic 1) and aerofoil spreader (Pic 3) by modifying model aircraft wing aero- foils that I downloaded from this site.
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Pic 2 Plug for RG65 lead bulb drawn then revolved using Openscad and used to make a two-part mould
Pic 3 Aerofoil spreader for A Class in use for last 18 months
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Be warned! 3D printing is highly addictive and will take up much of your time. Most people will be surprised to discover they know someone with a 3D printer and so don't even need to own one to be able to obtain some hard to get parts. Printer and Peripherals printer – new and used on eBay, Gumtree etc PLA and ABS filament– as above Design Software Ranges from free to expensive. I use Openscad (free). Any program that will produce a 3D drawing that can be saved as an .stl file or .gcode file can be used. AutoCad and derivatives excellent but costs. Can be downloaded from the Internet. If your Cad software does not support .stl files, you will also need software such as Cura to convert your Cad files to .gcode for printing. Sources of Designs Internet sites such as Thingiverse have thousands of designs which are available for download free. Most designs are saved as a Cad file which will allow modification of design (eg .scad). For my aerofoil mast spreaders, I downloaded NACA wing sections from Thingiverse and redesigned them to suit. What have I designed and made for my yachts? I started by designing some simple parts for my RG 65s in order to learn how to use Openscad and to produce small usable components more suitable than the larger ones commercially available. These included boom and mast components such as sheeting bands, crane, swing rig boom joiner, winch arms (both straight and circular), and progressed to the point where I have printed elliptical, parallel and tapered rudders, gooseneck parts, deck blocks and guides, sail number and class insignia stencils, and small sail rivets/washers which
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I set with a soldering iron. The big advantage of printing a rudder is the ease of redesigning and the perfect foil produced. The disad- vantage is the surface finish is not perfect and has to be filled slight- ly. My Sword A Class yacht has an aerofoil spreader which was printed and has been in use for about 18 months in a range of con- ditions. A further advantage of using a 3D printer for components such as the spreader is that the drawing file can be saved and modi- fied to suit masts for various classes, and allows a number of com- ponents to be printed at the same time. My 3D printer allows me to print objects up to 200x200x200 so I am limited somewhat. What are the Limitations with 3D Printing? The more you are prepared to outlay for a printer, the larger will be the build area. Most printers will print PLA and ABS only (both suitable for yacht parts). Designs are limited by your Cad skills. Some prints take a number of hours. Print tolerances vary from printer to printer and so some trial and error may be needed for mating parts. The surface finish may need some work depending on your expec- tations. These are some pics of an RG65 yacht that I recently printed for Selwyn Holland of WMYC. The original intention was to use it as a plug to mould from, but it has been completed and is racing with excellent speed. Light, strong and perfectly symmetrical with excel- lent joins. Cost about $8.00 in materials. All components including fin/mast box, platforms and supports printed in PLA. Fin and rudder currently from a DF65. It was printed in 5 sections then joined. Interesting what can be done on a 3D printer. Brian Dill
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IRSA GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2016 REPORT
he General Assembly 2016 was held electronically between 16 April and 9 May 2016.
There were 16 participating DNMs (from over 30): Argenti- Tna, Australia, Chile, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ire- land, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey, USA, IOMICA and ISAF
During the GA the Executive Committee was elected and work starts straight away for the next 2 year period. The full minutes of the GA2016 will be available on the IRSA website in the near future.
Following members were not elected for the next period and they were thanked for their volunteering work in the last two years:
EC Vice Chairman: Frederico Breuer Moreno ARG Regional Officer Americas: Jim Atkinson USA
Returning members of the EC Committee: EC Chairman: Lester Gilbert GBR EC Secretary: Selwyn Holland AUS Racing committee chairman: Gordon Davies IRL Technical committee chairman: Graeme Bantock GBR O&P committee chairman: Terry Rensch GBR Publicity Officer: Henning Faas GER Regional Officer Europe: Matteo Longhi ITA New members of the EC Committee: EC Treasurer: Eric van der Kindere BEL EC Vice Chairman: Bernard Merlaud FRA Regional Officer Oceania: Glenn Dawson AUS
Regional officer Americas will be -co opted in due course.
Jul—Oct 2016 Page 29
There was a motion which sought to require General Assemblies be held annually. There was an amendment to this motion asking that General Assemblies be held only every 4 years. Both the Amendment as well as the original motion were defeated, meaning that General Assemblies continue to be held each two years.
The Association is in a solid financial position. For the next two years, there will be no requirement for Divisional Members to pay any sub- scription fees.
Comments regarding the introduction of the new Measurement Rules were received, but there was no action in relation to this issue. The new Class Measurement Rules come into force on July 1.
Information regarding the changes can be found on the IRSA website.
Glenn Dawson
NSW A Class GP1 10/4/16 at WMYC Dunmore
very close day's racing was in store as evidenced by the fact that three skippers had to win the 18th and final race of the day to win the event.
ARace Officer Dennis Yarrow kept the racing going on a day which pro- vided very light and variable wind generally from the North to East quadrant.
Race 1 was a sign of the fluky conditions whenBrian came from a dis- tant 3rd to win. 4 of the 6 competitors won races in a very competi- tive event. Warren and Gary led at the lunch break with Brian and Ralph close enough to keep the pressure on.
After lunch, Brian sailed more consistently and picked up the two
Page 30 Jul—Oct 2016
leaders so that after 17 races Warren and Brian led Gary by just one point. However, in the 18th and final race, Gary drifted the better to just edge out Warren and so finish on equal points with him. As they both finished with the same number of wins, the count back contin- ued with Gary finally being declared the winner.
Despite the lack of wind at times, the close racing provided a lot of good natured commentary and all skippers had a very enjoyable day. Many thanks to Dennis for giving up his day once again to very capa- bly run the event. Sorry, no pics as everyone was too busy concen- trating!
Result: after 18 races
1. Gary Bromley Privateer #96 KoBRYC 30 pts 2. Warren Norrie Sword # 5 WMYC 30 pts 3. Brian Dill Sword #39 WMYC 32 pts 4. Ralph Hyman Venom #105 KoBRYC 43 pts 5. Alan Thompson Gunboat #3 WMYC 78 pts 6. Brian Jackson Gunboat #38 KoBRYC 83 pts
Brian Dill
The 2016 Ian Hayden 10 Rater Trophy
osted by Kogarah Bay Radio Yacht Club, The Ian Hayden 10R Trophy is the first round of the 2016 10R GP Series. Fourteen skippers arrived bright and early on Saturday 23rd January to race in the third annual regatta in honour Hof the late Ian Hayden. The fleet was made up of skippers from NSW and four who made the trip from Canberra.
A southerly breeze strong enough for C rig and D rig blew all day. A falling tide against the wind resulted in plenty of waves to make sail-
Jul—Oct 2016 Page 31
ing even trickier. Unfortunately because of the strong wind some damage to boats occurred during the day and others had to miss a number of races because they did not have rigs small enough. To top it off a light shower of rain moved through about 11.00am.
The racing though, was fast and exciting.
A windward and return course was set using a gate at the bottom. PRO Scott Backhouse and his able assistant Ted Gay started the rac- ing just after 10am and kept things moving to finish the day with sev- enteen races. Scott Condie with his Trance dominated the racing all day winning all but five of the races.
Scott was kept on his toes by the other skippers, especially Steve Sedgmen and Phil Page so even though Scott dominated he had plenty of competition.
Our special guests, the Hayden Family, proudly presented the medals and perpetual trophy. There was Ian’s wife Barbara, son Brett, daugh- ter Kimberly and her partner Chris and their three boys Jack, Liam and Harry.
On Saturday night Ian’s wife Barbara sent the following message to all the competitors.
“Thanks to you all at the Club for dedicating this special Regatta to Ian. We were all very honoured to be there and to present the awards to all of the winners. Congratulations, too, to those who didn't receive a winning prize. The trophy was well won, again, by Scott.....but I am sure everyone who competed did so in the spirit of the day. How Ian would have loved to have been there, sailing his favourite boat, and he would have been a fierce competitor I am sure! Thank you, once again, for inviting us to be there to represent imh ”
1 st, 2nd and 3r d will all have their names engraved on the trophy.
Page 32 Jul—Oct 2016
Victorian Marblehead Regional Championship
Edgewater Lake, 13th December 2015, Hosted by Albert Park Model Yacht Club he day started with the skippers eager to get on the water with the conditions of a light nor’easter, unfortunately the breeze direction was varying too much and the first three races were abandoned, as all boat reached to the weather Tmark, finally the first race was completed at 10.30 am, in addition to the varying wind direction, there was another small issue with jellies, the first time in this location. By lunch, taken late, four races had been completed with Andrew Reid slightly ahead of David Thomas and Rob Nowak with Andrew Cook, Benson Or and Chris Ryan all on the same points. Racing resumed in the afternoon with the breeze from the southeast and building, unfortunately for Andrew Reid, battery issued occurred with a DNF but was straight back with a second in the next race, points were very close at this time, between Andrew, Rob Nowak and David Thomas, Benson Or was sailing consistently well and Andrew Cook was having a number of issues with a borrowed boats rudder wanting to do its own thing. The final three races saw David Thomas with three wins on end which set the final result in his favour, with Rob Nowak 2nd on count back, Andrew Reid 3rd, Benson Or 4th, Andrew Cook 5th and Chris Ryan in 6th, many thanks to Andrew and Chris for making up the numbers with borrowed boats, the racing was enjoyable with all incidents sort- ed out on the water. A special thankyou to Rob Nowak for towing the rescue boat during 2015.
Jul—Oct 2016 Page 33
Hello from beautiful North West Tas- mania.
Over the last few years, a new entry into competitive RC racing, the Drag- on Force 65 from Joysway, has taken North West Radio Yacht Club the hobby by storm on a world wide basis. As you will be aware, this yacht is a low cost way of entering the hob- by providing “Out of the Box” competitive racing at a fraction of the cost of other yachts. It has also allowed newbies to ‘have a go’ before committing to more expen- sive vessels. (Myself being a great example) which has boosted membership to many clubs.
We race DF65s and RG65s restricted class together but recognise each class sepa- rately.
Next year, the North West Radio Yacht Club (Tasmania, Australia) will host the “First Australian Dragon Force 65 and RG65 Invitational Challenge” giving DF65 and RG65 sailors a chance to mingle with and compete against sailors from both Australia and possibly, Internationally.
The “Challenge” will be held over the 2017 Easter Long Weekend, Sat 16th and Sun 17th April, with the two additional holidays for either travel, or to explore the won- ders of Tasmania.
We will be using the Argosy Hotel-Motel at East Devonport as our base on the pic- turesque Mersey Harbour and we will be sailing on large private freshwater dams close to our base.
To book accommodation at the Argosy, call Vanessa on 03 6427 8872 or email to [email protected] Book early as this is a very busy time of year.
further details on travel options, notice of race, cost of entry, entry forms etc. Note- Special arrangements will be made for insurance for non-members of clubs.
For more information please contact our Committee on [email protected] or phone Maurice on 0418331198.
Waine Whitbread
Page 34 Jul—Oct 2016
The North West (Tasmania) Radio Yacht Club is proud to host the First Australian Dragon Force and RG Class Invitation Challenge Easter 2017 Devonport Region, Tasmania. Racing over 2 days- Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th April 2017 Racing to commence Sat, 11am and conclude Sunday 3pm. Race fee $30.00 including light lunch on both days for club members* *Additional cost for Public Liability Insurance for non club members. Trophies and Prizes, Entertainment, Good Company and Great Racing. Transport and Accommodation Package Prices to follow. To indicate interest and for more information email [email protected]
Jul—Oct 2016 Page 35
Colour Coating Recipe – RC hulls Many times I’ve been asked how do I colour coat the RC boats that I build from time to time? have a background in building full size sailing boats. While it’s not extensive; it does make it a lot easier. This recipe may not be strictly by the book but it’s the way that I do it to get the best result for me. Being an Aussie – I use Aussie products if I can so Ithe money stays in the country. Supplies 500ml base + 250ml hardener “Northane Gloss” (polyurethane two pack). Thinner to suit above. A couple of cheap bristle brushes 40mm wide or there abouts. Stainless steel cake mixing bowl (or a breakfast bowl). Blue painters masking tape 3M 50mm wide roll. 1200 grade Wet & Dry carborundum paper – 3 x sheets (2000 grade is better if you can get it from the net) 240 grade Wet & Dry carborundum paper – 4 x sheets Can of “Brasso” metal polish Can of “Silvo” metal polish Some cotton rags. Old t shirts are best. 6” bike spoke or similar Stainless steel teaspoon. Full face canister painting mask 2 x empty coffee jars Small cork sanding block.
Page 36 Jul—Oct 2016
Jul—Oct 2016 Page 37
Preparation Assuming your hull is carbon fibre or FRP lay up; fill all pin holes / bubbles / imperfections and finish sand the complete hull with 240 grade wet/dry paper and water. 240 grade gives the best compro- mise between adhesion of the poly coating, and allowing the poly coating to fill the scratches, without using excessive coats. When the hull is thourghly dry, mask off the gunwale on the deck side all around the top of the deck, including the transom. Rub the bottom surface of the hull with thinners and rag to remove any oil residue from your fingers. Try not to handle the bottom surface until applying the poly coating.
Application I don’t use an undercoat for the following reasons; Poly undercoats are talc based and excessively heavy for RC hulls, however they are perfect for full size boats
They take a long time to harden and lose the carrier (thinners)
I can rub out the gloss top coats without rubbing through to the undercoat
I have on occasion had the undercoat peel from the hull after an impact. (Where as the top coat alone tends not to do this)
Page 38 Jul—Oct 2016
The idea is to produce the thinnest, lightest coating possible which will allow the carrier to escape as soon as possible, thereby reducing the final weight of the coating by up to 50% when the coating finally hardens 3 months later. We are after all aiming to produce a solid colour coating which we can polish; while keeping the final weight to the absolute minimum. By not using an undercoat I can achieve this result. I prefer to use a combination of brush & spray to finish an RC hull. Two pack polyurethane is an extremely dangerous product to spray without a professional spray booth. Once the overspray is in your lungs it’s pretty much there for ever, as your body can’t break it down. If you are going to spray poly at home these are the mandato- ry rules for me;
Spray outside on a fine day
Remove all pets, kids and adults from your property during spraying
As my neighbour understands what I’m doing (another boatie); we even get them to close their windows as well
Wear a full face canister mask with “organic vapour” filters fitted at all times
Pull the mask excessively tight on your face until it’s uncomfort- able
Use the spray gun only to spray the final gloss coat.
Alternatively I use a brush for the complete coating. This is far safer, convenient and much less expensive as you don’t waste product as overspray.
Jul—Oct 2016 Page 39
The following is how I apply a brush coat; Take the small bristle brush and drill a couple of 4mm holes above each other just above the metal wrap. Put the bike spoke through one hole and hang the brush in one of the coffee jars by resting the spoke across the rim of the jar. If the brush hangs vertical, fill the jar with thinners until the level is above the bristles, but not up the han- dle.
Mix up your Poly in the cake mix bowl. Use the teaspoon to count out a volume of both base and hardener. Note down the count. Wipe the teaspoon with thinners so you don’t contaminate the two packs. Use the brush to mix the two parts well. Set aside ten minutes for the re- action to occur. After, slowly add thinners until the mix is about the consistency of “full pulp” orange juice. Holding the hull in your hand brush down the hull for approx. 100mm, moving from a gunwale across to the other gunwale as quickly as you can. If the brush tends to drag on the surface, add a little more thinner to the mix.’ Don t “double brush” the same area twice, keep moving all the time. Don’t worry about the odd run here or there. Leave them in! When you have done one coat set the hull aside approx. 1x hour and then do a second coat. If you’re in hot weather keep the mix bowl cool in the fridge between coats to slow the hardener. Cover of course. Wipe the brush and hang in the jar. Set the hull aside in a hot room or the back seat of a car in the sun. Leave for at least 3 day to harden.
When hard enough to handle; peel off the masking and reapply new masking to the gunwale topside of the deck line. You’re looking to pick up the paint line along the gunwale that you just painted. Aim to keep the lap as close to the gunwale edge as possible, if there is one. Repeat two coats on the deck and set aside for another two weeks until hard. Use a warm room if you can.
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Levelling the coats
When the coating is hard, remove the masking and wet and dry the complete hull with 240 grit wet / dry taking care around edges. After drying, bring the hull under a strong light source and look for gloss brush lines appearing in the matt levelled surface. Continue levelling until all the gloss brush lines are gone, indicating you have levelled the coats when only a matt finish remains. Use the cork block and some 1200 grit wet / dry to remove the lip edge remaining from masking between the top side coats. Be careful to level without going through the finish on any sharp edge. If the coverage is very patchy, apply another base coat and level again. Final coat When the base coats are prepared, mask off as per previous, and brush or spray a final finish coat top and bottom. If brushing, use a little more thinner and brush faster. When coated spin the hull around to level off any runs. The coat will “flash off” quickly. If you have the odd run here and there; leave them in. When satisfied set the hull aside for another 2-3 weeks in a hot room. Remove the mask- ing when hard. Polish Once the final coats are hard, inspect the hull for runs and inclusions in the final coat. Mark them with a small tab of blue tape. Take a sheet of 1200 grade wet/dry paper and fold it in half so that the grit is rubbing back on itself. Under the tap, rub the two faces of the sheet together until you can no longer feel any resistance. Using a cork block, wet/dry above and some hand wash soap; careful- ly remove the lip created by the masking tape between the top and bottom sides of the hull. Also use the cork block (or a pencil rubber) and same paper to level runs and any inclusions dust etc. locally. Try to leave as much of the final gloss surface as possible. Take the “Brasso” and “Silvo” can and add a stainless steel nut around 5 or
Jul—Oct 2016 Page 41
6mm into the can. Put the lid back on and shake well. Use the Brasso and polish cloth to remove scratches locally where you have used the 1200 paper. This will take some time so wash the Brasso off when leaving overnight. When all light scratches are removed follow up with Silvo over the complete surface of the hull. If the Brasso is discolouring the finish, leave the hull to further harden the final coat. Wash all Brasso and Silvo off using a little hand wash soap.
Summary Working with Poly can be tedious but the results are far superior. Poly handles scratches better. Can be regularly polished to remove dirty water stains and rub marks. Most importantly Northane Poly is de- signed to flex when the hull is distorted or impacted, so your RC hull will stay looking good for most of its sailing life.
Regards. Garry Bromley
Page 42 Jul—Oct 2016
Class Corner
Ten Rater
The regattas for this year are all running their course. With winter upon us in the southern areas, I’m seeing lots more woollies and gloves then would be found in the northern and warmer areas.
For Western Australia.
The 15th of May saw the WA 10r Challenge with Ross Bennett (ARYA Secretary) continuing his great form with a win against Roger Paul bert Mews (4th). Most of the WA regattas are scheduled for the second half of the year, so there should be more news there in the next edition of Radio Waves. (2nd), Chris Woods (3rd) and Ro
For New South Wales.
The most recent event, the Mazda Trophy on 30th April, saw Scott Condie continue to dominate the 10Rs on the east coast. Followed by in-form Owen Jarvis, Steve Sedgeman and Garry Bromley (ARYA VP) the series is looking very interesting this year.
The 10R Worlds, Italy October 2016
This is an event being run in conjunction with the Marblehead Worlds, at lovely Limone sul Garda in northern Italy. The prepara- tions are well under way and as this is being written, the allocations are being organised for the event.
For those who don’t know, if a competitor wants to enter into a world title, they have to do it through their national organisation, in
Jul—Oct 2016 Page 43
Class Corner our case the ARYA. Each nation is given a stage 1 allocation based on an interesting formula that would make your eyes water... but ifa nation wishes to send more than their allocation, then they have to prioritise the entries based on the national rankings.
Australia has a solid entry of 4 looking to attend at Lake Garda:
Garry Bromley, Andrew Reid, David Turton & Jeff Byerley
For a nation at a great distance, that is an excellent number of en- tries.
To give you an idea of the spread of 10Rs across the planet, here are the entries from each o the nations:
Great Britain 8 France 13 Italy 5 Germany 6 Australia 4 Russia 4 Ukraine 3 Switzerland 3 USA 1 Belgium 1
Russia and Ukraine have both applied for membership to the IRSA in recent months to allow them to enter.
Page 44 Jul—Oct 2016
Class Corner Along with the Marblehead Worlds, the 10R Worlds is shaping up to be a significant international event. Selwyn Holland
1 Scott Condie 06 NSW 2 Ross Bennett 39 WA 3 Glenn Dawson 76 WA 4 Owen Jarvis 82 NSW 5 Phil Page 50 NSW 6 Garry Bromley 90 NSW 7 Stephen Sedgeman 30 ACT 8 Chris Woods 84 WA 9 Robert Mews 92 WA 10 Andrew Reid 74 VIC 11 Frank Russell 05 NSW 12 Jeff Green 95 WA 13 Roger Paul 99 WA 14 Selwyn Holland 98 NSW 15 Peter Burton 2 NSW 16 Allen Roberts 69 NSW 17 Jason Rootes 13 NSW 18 Mark Newman 51 ACT 19 Maurice Fletcher 18 NSW 20 Lincoln McDowell 97 Vic 21 Robert Tonge 60 ACT 22 Denton Roberts 85 WA 23 Ian Sherriff 70 WA 24 John Goor 27 WA 25 Joe Roos 89 ACT
Jul—Oct 2016 Page 45
Class Corner Marblehead
alf the year has passed us by with close racing in varying conditions which has determined the Australian Team ranked to compete at the 2016 World Marblehead Cham- pionships at the renowned Lake Garda venue in North- Hern Italy starting on the 23rd ~ 29th September 2016. At present with the round 1 allocations, Australia have two places that being filled by Lincoln McDowall and Andrew Reid, it is ex- pected that we will receive further places as round 2 and 3 are al- lotted, we understand that this will occur mid-July and early August, these additional allocations will be filled in ranking order by Greg Torpy, David Thomas, David Turton and Jeff Byerley. Based on pre- vious events where Australian Teams have participated, we have re- ceived three ~ four places, so we are eager to press for additional spots this year.
We have been searching the archivers’ for when Australia last held a Marblehead Worlds and we found the following link to the event held at Albert Park Lake in 1996, won by a very young looking Gra- ham Bantock, the obvious question should be when will we hold the next one?
We are always looking for State and local club news, to keep abreast of how the class is moving forward with new designs, increasing fleet sizes and also where support is required to keep fleets active, please e-mail the undersigned with further ideas on how we can be of assis- tance. Lincoln McDowall David (Yoda) Thomas
Page 46 Jul—Oct 2016
Class Corner One Metre
n the International scene –
The 2016 IOM European Championships are due to commence on June 25 and run through to July 1. They O are being held at Club Nautico De Vitoria in Spain. The event website is http://iomec2016vitoria.com/
Aussie invaders Lindsay Walker and Dave Turton have entered the event as Australia’s representatives and we wish them well, with plenty of wind shifts going their way. My guess is that Anne Walker will find herself a job with the scoring team too, so we wish Anne all the best as well. There was some talk of Jeff Byerley making the trip as well – we will see. By the time you read this, there is a strong chance the event will have been sailed.
The 2017 IOM World Championship has been awarded to Pierrelatte (France) from May 13th to 20th 2017. The ranking period for the Worlds is now open, and will close on January 12 2017. There will be 2 places available for Australian skippers in the first round of offers, and likely an additional one place in the second round. The uptake of places from other countries will govern whether any further places will become available. Given that the regatta is in Europe, the chanc- es are that many places will be taken by local countries. At the last Worlds, there were many European countries which did not take up their allocation, allowing more places for other countries.
Jul—Oct 2016 Page 47
Class Corner Nationally:
New ranking regulations came into force on June 1 2016. The main changes relate to the requirement for Event Organizers to submit the Notice of Race at least 6 weeks prior to the event date, as well as reporting the results requirements. It is important for all states to become familiar with the updated rules as competition for places at international events is increasing, skippers are travelling around the country more frequently and in fairness to all these rules will be strictly enforced.
The 2017 National Championships at Kogarah Bay are shaping up as a brilliant regatta. Excitement is growing in Sydney as there is talk of some fairly handy international competitors attending. No names just yet, but if these guys come along, it will be worth the trip just to compete with them. The NSW guys will no doubt put on a cracker event. Talk also of a repeat of the infamous barefoot bowling social event has us licking our lips at the prospect of the chance for Bomber to get one back on Condie – who said lawn bowls was a non-contact sport?
State by State:
The South Australian State Championships were held at the end of April. Andrew Reid stood out in front taking the regatta with con- sistent racing from SA’s Brett Osborne and Paul Littledyke. 21 races were held at the Hart’s Mill venue. Well sailed Andy.
We saw some pretty fierce weather hit the south of Queensland right in time for the Queensland State Championships in early June. It was
Page 48 Jul—Oct 2016
Class Corner
a tough decision for the Queensland committee to arrive at, but in the end, the right decision was made to postpone the event. As it turned out, the weather was dangerous, and putting any of our members or volunteers at unnecessary risk is not prudent. At this stage, the amended date for the regatta is not available.
The Victorian State Championships are coming up at the end of July – you have to be tough, or slightly mad to sail in Melbourne in the mid- dle of winter, but a competitive fleet is expected at Edgewater.
The following weekend, the Eddie Cowell Regatta is scheduled up on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. This regatta is always a popular event, with the fleet growing year by year. Makes much more sense to travel to Queensland in winter! Hopefully the weekend will be an- other enjoyable one.
The Tasmanians have their State Championships on the first week- end in October at Risdon Brook, whilst the NSW titles in the middle of November at Kogarah Bay will be a terrific warm-up for the Na- tionals.
The final State Championship for the year and for the current IOM ranking period will be out West in late November. The West Aussies are likely to take their regatta to a new venue down in Busselton. The Busselton guys put on a regatta in early June, which was a fantastic event. Busselton is about 2.5 hours drive south of Perth, but is a fan- tastic place to go for a holiday – right near the famous Margaret Riv- er wine region.
Around the Clubs:
Jul—Oct 2016 Page 49
Class Corner Of course, IOM sailing is a fantastic club activity, and there are plenty of clubs around the country where guys meet each week for some fun and fellowship, and a race or two. Our sport allows for all levels of ability, and it is a great way to unwind at the end (or middle) of the week. Lots of clubs are something like a “men’s shed”, where blokes get together, get involved in an activity, talk some trash and go home having had a great afternoon.
I’d love to hear from some of the clubs around the country, with some stories of how you go about business at your club – what works well for you, and why. Glenn Dawson RG 65
ince our last class update a lot has been happening in the world of RG-65s with more manufacturers launching Entry Level and Grandprix Rg’s! S Backed up by some seriously nice home builds that would rival the best in terms of build and speed , strong growth in the class sees the sail number registration now hitting over 353 boats, in Aus- tralia alone!
With a lot of cross pollination from the bigger boats the Rgs world- wide are becoming more sophisticated in their simplicity, but how does that work?
Ok so you have seen or remember hulls with chines and swing rigs 20 years ago, now they are back, call it fashion or a chance to revisit ide-
Page 50 Jul—Oct 2016
Class Corner as now that materials and lower prices allow to be more easily built and actualised, either way its great for sailing.
Point in case, at the recent Rg State Cup event in Victoria, in the Grandprix fleet we saw a swapping of boats at the top of the fleet between home built Rg’s, older kit designs, newer kits and factory ‘team’ boats.
Showing that the class as a box rule is working different boats are performing in different winds and with varied drivers helming.
But do you need a swing rig?
Perhaps it is just fashion, certainly it is different to sail and normally used by the faster sailors, so who can really tell, here is what we have found In the fleets!
The main designs sailing.
Goth RG-65 design by Frank Russell in QLD, these were represented as home builds (that won the regatta) and factory boats from MX Components, in both conventional and swing rigs mk2 and mk3s.
ICE RG-65 design by Mark Dicks from the UK, several of these from interstate were sailing, well set up boats that love wind, conventional rigs for this regatta, a 2010 design!
Matrix RG-65 design by Jeff Byerley at Mirage Yachts in Tasmania, new swing rig only variant of the proven Missile RG-65 design.
650 RG-65 design by Andrew Cook from Victoria, a 2009 design from GoSpectre.com, some with Square top mains some old style pin heads.
Jul—Oct 2016 Page 51
Class Corner Dragon Force RG-65 design by Mark Dicks, many of these are being fitted with paneled sails, swing arm sail servos and sometimes new bulbs and they are fast!
And the winner is…… Sailing!
But besides that the state cup event was taken out by Bill Hutchinson in his home built Mk2 Goth rg-65 with swing rig, showing that a home built boat can beat the expensive factory boats.
Is it really cheque book sailing though you ask?
Here’s the thing though, when I go sailing, occasionally I have people point out that their $200 Dragon Force RG-65 is faster than my $2000 Mirage Matrix Rg-65 and I scratch my head as to why?
Why as one of the fellow sailors at the pond said, do people think that?
Indeed he said, the Dragon Force in the example for a basic boat was $215 ,plus 2 rigs, sails, radio gear and replacement servos (dragon force servos are notorious for failing when the boats are seriously sailed), so the $200 boat is nudging $950plus!!!
In the other corner,
The Matrix a hand built fiberglass boat designed and made in Austral- ia was about $1500 all up as it was built up from parts at RadioSail- ingShop, or can be purchased from Mirage fully assembled with 2 rigs , literally just drop in the rig and connect your radio gear for un- der $2000.
So hidden cost vs upfront known quantity as with a lot of things real- ly, but both are fun to sail, because they are RG’s!!
Page 52 Jul—Oct 2016
Class Corner At the end of the day, the Vic Regatta was won by a home built Goth RG-65, with square top swing rigs that as a boat actually cost only a few hundred dollars (and a lot of time!), how good is that?
Photo by: Steve Wood
Standard rigs, Swing rigs , plastic, fiberglass or carbon hulls there are many options in the Rg-65 class!
And for those wanting to build a boat, designer Mark Dicks (also known for designing the Dragon Force!) has sent out free rg-65 plans that are now available at radiosailingshop.com.au along with Free Plans from Frank Russell for his Goth series (as well as IOMs and Mar- bleheads also!).
More details on Rg-65s can be found by joining RG65 Aus Andrew Cook
Jul—Oct 2016 Page 53
Class Corner RC Laser
ustralia was represented by two RC Laser sailors at 2016 European Championships held in Valenciennes, northern France, May 14-16. Alan Griffith, a regular RC Laser sailor at Dobroyd in Sydney, and Peter O’Grady, from the Para- Adise Radio Yacht Club on the Gold Coast, travelled to Europe to com- pete in the Championships and the experience of sailing in a large international fleet was be something new and a great experience for both of these RC Laser sailors.
Both Alan and Peter travelled with suitcases loaded with promotional literature about the wonders of the Gold Coast, with the aim to en- tice a large contingent of European RC Laser sailors to enter the 2017 RC Laser Championship of Nations, planned for early November next year.
Planning has been underway since the 2015 RC Laser National Cham- pionships in Sydney and the 2016 RC Laser National Championships will be held at Yarrawonga in Victoria over the weekend of Septem- ber 17 and 18. Yarrawonga Yacht Club has been welcoming and ex- tremely helpful in organising the next National Championships. The National Championships are open to all sailors registered with a club -. contact us at [email protected] for details
Rod Popham
Page 54 Jul—Oct 2016
Class Corner A Class
SW 'A ' Class
Three ranking events have been held so far with two of them in very little wind. The attendance is down on last N year with some of the regulars committed to other things. There are a number of clubs racing this class but they are re- luctant to become involved with racing other than club events, so all three events have been held at the two Wollongong clubs. With the next National title to be held at Kogarah in February 2017 it would be great to get competitors from the Sydney clubs involved with the re- maining two GP events.
NSW A Class GP1 10/4/16 at WMYC Dunmore
A very close day's racing was in store as evidenced by the fact that three skippers had to win the 18th and final race of the day to win the event. Race Officer Dennis Yarrow kept the racing going on a day which provided very light and variable wind generally from the North to East quadrant. Race 1 was a sign of the fluky conditions when Brian D came from a distant 3rd to win. 4 of the 6 competitors won races in a very competitive event. Warren and Gary led at the lunch break with Brian and Ralph close enough to keep the pressure on. After lunch, Brian sailed more consistently and picked up the two leaders so that after 17 races Warren and Brian led Gary by just one point. However, in the 18th and final race, Gary drifted the better to just edge out Warren and so finish on equal points with him. As they both finished with the same number of wins, the count back continued
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Class Corner
with Gary finally being declared the winner. Despite the lack of wind at times, the close racing provided a lot of good natured commentary and all skippers had a very enjoyable day. Many thanks to Dennis for giving up his day once again to very capably run the event.
Result: after 18 races
1 Gary Bromley Privateer #96 KoBRYC 30 pts 2 Warren Norrie Sword # 5 WMYC 30 pts 3 Brian Dill Sword #39 WMYC 32 pts 4 Ralph Hyman Venom #105 KoBRYC 43 pts 5 Alan ThompsonGunboat #3 WMYC 78 pts 6 Brian Jackson Gunboat #38 KoBRYC 83 pts
A Class NSW GP 2
This was held on Saturday 7th May at the Koonawarra Bay Sailing Club on Lake Illawarra just south of Wollongong. There were only 7 participants, all from KoBRYC and WMYC as unfortunately a number of local regulars were not available. The weather was warm and sun- ny with a light easterly breeze which built up slightly to around 3-5 knots at about 1.00 pm before fading to a light drifter until time was called at 4.00 pm. The racing, which finally got underway when a light easterly appeared at 11.00 am, was quite intense with very close rac- ing between groups of boats. The fleet consisted of 5 Gunboats, a Venom and a Sword. Only four races were completed before lunch, these being won by Ralf Hyman (Venom), Jon Pinkerton 2 (Gunboat) and Brian Dill (Sword). After lunch, Brian won a couple of races to jump to a small lead but with Jon winning the last four races the re-
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sult was always going to be very close. KoBSC has only a very small number of enthusiastic Paper Tiger sailors at present but they always seem to make themselves available to assist at Radio sailing events, and we thank them, especially Ralph who has been Race Officer for a number of events, for continually supporting the events of different classes. It is disappointing for local sailors and for clubs organising GP events that, although there are a large number of 'A' Class sailors at Sydney clubs, they choose not to attend on a regular basis.
However, at the end Brian was the winner, very closely followed by Jon and Ralph who both sailed extremely well all day. It was a fun day sailing – no weed or jellyfish, sunshine, and enough breeze to sail a total of 16 races with all protests finalised on the water. Thanks to all the participants for making it a great event.
Results:
1 Brian Dill #39 WMYC 19 pts 2 Jon Pinkerton #94 KoBRYC 23 3 Ralph Hyman # KoBRYC 29 4 Barry Grant # KoBRYC 56 5 Allan Thompson #03 WMYC 61 6 Brian Jackson #38 KoBRYC 71 7 Ralf Steyer # KoBRYC 77
NSW 'A' CLASS GP 3 25th June 2016 at Dunmore Lakes
The forecast for a cold and blustery day proved correct as the 8 com- petitors were greeted by a W/SW wind blowing down from the table- lands. This wind direction on the WMYC Dunmore Lakes pond is ideal
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for providing a very fair wind for all sailors, and the starting line is close to the bank and easily sighted.
The fleet consisted of 5 Gunboats, 1 Privateer, 1 Venom, and 1 Sword.
All boats were set up initially with A rigs but as the wind strength gradually increased to about 12knots with gusts to about 20 knots, most of the Gunboats replaced these with B rigs except Selwyn who was using an A2 rig. The Sword and the Privateer were able to carry their A rigs all day. Brian found the conditions suited his Sword, scor- ing 8 wins and 2 seconds in the 10 races up to lunch. There was very close racing throughout the fleet with only a few points separating the competitors.
During the lunch break the wind eased slightly, and moved further to the South. Luckily, the permanent buoys proved to be in good posi- tion meaning we could leave the dinghy ashore as no-one was partic- ularly keen to go in the water, except Ralph H. who wore shorts and had his usual bare feet while the rest of us had coats and waders on all day!!!
The wind continued to ease as the afternoon wore on, and began to peter out as racing was concluded.
This provided the conditions that the Gunboats and the Venom enjoy more, as can be seen by the race results after lunch. Jon, Selwyn, Ralph, Gary and Brian D all had good wins and top 3 positions throughout the day, with Allan, Ralf S and Brian J having many great
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battles and having the speed to keep the others skippers on their toes.
Our Race Officer and Club President Dennis Yarrow is held in high re- gard and his efforts during the day once again showed why this is so. He was able to conduct 19 races in a way which was relaxed and al- lowed for breaks every few races, but still kept the event moving at a good pace.
Thanks to Laurie for assisting and videoing some races, one of which can be found on YouTube. Lunch was very enjoyable; thanks Al and others for your efforts. Overall, a great day of racing on one of the few days recently when there has been any wind.
Results:
1 Brian Dill 2 Selwyn Holland 3 Ralph Hyman 4 Gary Bromley 5 Jon Pinkerton 6 Allan Thompson 7 Ralf Steyer 8 Brian Jackson
Full results for these events can be found on the NSW website. Brian Dill
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