Construction Of Racing Sails: Feet
By Rod Carr
Proper sail feet are configured to improve performance over the range of wind and wave conditions that you encounter on the racecourse. The mainsail foot is especially important in maintaining boat balance and power through the variability of wind that is encountered during a day of sailing competition. Read More...
Proper sail feet are configured to improve performance over the range of wind and wave conditions that you encounter on the racecourse. The mainsail foot is especially important in maintaining boat balance and power through the variability of wind that is encountered during a day of sailing competition. Read More...
Living with Light Air
by Rod Carr and Rick West
East Coast 12 Meter skipper Rick West of the Delta Model Yacht Club recently took the time to write up his experiences with sailing in very light air in a fleet which was not short of top notch skippers. Rick has taken on a substantial amount of travel to gain experience by sailing in the active Atlantic seaboard EC-12 Fleets. The following is an edited version of the exchange between Rick and I. Read More...
East Coast 12 Meter skipper Rick West of the Delta Model Yacht Club recently took the time to write up his experiences with sailing in very light air in a fleet which was not short of top notch skippers. Rick has taken on a substantial amount of travel to gain experience by sailing in the active Atlantic seaboard EC-12 Fleets. The following is an edited version of the exchange between Rick and I. Read More...
Sail Battens
From Eisenhower Park MYC
Looking for easy, quick batten design for your sails? Something which will not cost you a lot of time and still do the job? Read More...
Looking for easy, quick batten design for your sails? Something which will not cost you a lot of time and still do the job? Read More...
Sail Design Basics II
by Dave Acree
Now we have a basic overview of sail design, how is it applied to actually making sails? Remember, a sail has a curve or camber in it but how does that curvature get put into a sail? Sails made for model yachts are constructed by using panels. The use of panels and how they are put together, will give the sail the curve it needs. That is what this issue is about. Read More...
Now we have a basic overview of sail design, how is it applied to actually making sails? Remember, a sail has a curve or camber in it but how does that curvature get put into a sail? Sails made for model yachts are constructed by using panels. The use of panels and how they are put together, will give the sail the curve it needs. That is what this issue is about. Read More...
Sail Design Basics I
by Dave Acree
This article is for those skippers who are starting to design and make their own sails. There are several good reasons to do this; the first is a cost savings and the increase enjoyment of building your own sail boat. This article is an answer to a question on how do you calculate your sail plan. The main point to start with is this article centers on the 36/600, 1 Meter, and Marblehead boat classes. Read More...
This article is for those skippers who are starting to design and make their own sails. There are several good reasons to do this; the first is a cost savings and the increase enjoyment of building your own sail boat. This article is an answer to a question on how do you calculate your sail plan. The main point to start with is this article centers on the 36/600, 1 Meter, and Marblehead boat classes. Read More...
Light Air Sailing
By Struan Robertson
NSWRYA (Australia)
from the Miami Valley MYC Newsletter
Like most people I arrive at the lake on a sailing day hoping for that beautiful breeze. You know, somewhere in the mid-range of number one rig and just oscillating enough to make picking the right shifts interesting. Read More...
NSWRYA (Australia)
from the Miami Valley MYC Newsletter
Like most people I arrive at the lake on a sailing day hoping for that beautiful breeze. You know, somewhere in the mid-range of number one rig and just oscillating enough to make picking the right shifts interesting. Read More...
What Knot For Me?
By Dick Hein, AMYA Treasurer
Here is a little knot trick I have been using for years any time I need a slip knot connection. Read More...
Here is a little knot trick I have been using for years any time I need a slip knot connection. Read More...
Main Sail Twist
From the Mesa Model Yacht Club website
In the Phoenix metro area it is not an uncommon sight to see tall sail rigs on model sailboats. This is because of the light winds which are prevalent in this area and many times you would see these rigged yachts sail away leaving the rest of the short rigged boats adrift. Read More...
In the Phoenix metro area it is not an uncommon sight to see tall sail rigs on model sailboats. This is because of the light winds which are prevalent in this area and many times you would see these rigged yachts sail away leaving the rest of the short rigged boats adrift. Read More...
Take It Easy
From The Dockline, May, 1997
Although the general principles of rigging and sail tensioning hold for all classes of boats this article is intended specifically for the Soling One Meter Class. It has been my observation that some skippers are prone to tension their sails and standing rigging much too tightly and as a result boat performance suffers greatly. Additionally, this over tensioning can result in mechanical damage to the boat and permanent deformation of the hull and or sails. What follows is a common sense approach to dealing with these problems. Read More...
Although the general principles of rigging and sail tensioning hold for all classes of boats this article is intended specifically for the Soling One Meter Class. It has been my observation that some skippers are prone to tension their sails and standing rigging much too tightly and as a result boat performance suffers greatly. Additionally, this over tensioning can result in mechanical damage to the boat and permanent deformation of the hull and or sails. What follows is a common sense approach to dealing with these problems. Read More...
Rig Selection
By Bob Stern
In this first of a five Chapters on tuning a model racing yacht, we'll look at rig selection. In the next sections are features on mast position, how to obtain proper trim to windward as well as how to alter that trim when sailing in non-optimum conditions. Read More...
In this first of a five Chapters on tuning a model racing yacht, we'll look at rig selection. In the next sections are features on mast position, how to obtain proper trim to windward as well as how to alter that trim when sailing in non-optimum conditions. Read More...
Non-Optimum Conditions
By Bob Stern
I have explained how to tune a rig when the conditions were the optimum for the rig, i.e. the boat was neither under powered or overpowered.. Now, I will attempt to explain how to set up your boat for conditions which are not ideal.
Read More...
I have explained how to tune a rig when the conditions were the optimum for the rig, i.e. the boat was neither under powered or overpowered.. Now, I will attempt to explain how to set up your boat for conditions which are not ideal.
Read More...
Hardening the Mainsheet
By Bob Stern
When you tighten the mainsheet, you will increase the heel, and decrease the forward drive. Read More...
When you tighten the mainsheet, you will increase the heel, and decrease the forward drive. Read More...
Hardening the Jib Sheet
By Bob Stern
Again the opposite situation, where the jib's drive will be decreased, while its heeling force will be increased. Read More...
Again the opposite situation, where the jib's drive will be decreased, while its heeling force will be increased. Read More...
Heavy Air Sailing - Tips and Techniques
By Glenn Dawson (From the November 1998 issue of the
Australian Radio Yachting Association Newsletter)
Sailing in very strong winds presents its own set of difficulties and challenges. Some of the techniques encountered in the discussion on light air sailing apply to heavy air as well. Often, boats are traveling at vastly different speeds in heavy air, but for different reasons than in light airs. Read More...
Sailing in very strong winds presents its own set of difficulties and challenges. Some of the techniques encountered in the discussion on light air sailing apply to heavy air as well. Often, boats are traveling at vastly different speeds in heavy air, but for different reasons than in light airs. Read More...
Mast Position
By Bob Stern
The first thing that you need to do to tune your boat, now that you have selected your rig, is to determine the proper mast position. This is also the last thing you should do, after you have the boat all trimmed out. Read More...
The first thing that you need to do to tune your boat, now that you have selected your rig, is to determine the proper mast position. This is also the last thing you should do, after you have the boat all trimmed out. Read More...
Sails, Part 1: Sail Camber
By Dave Acree
I have recently talked to several individuals on the need for more "how-to" articles. The MMYC Newsletter has tried to help fill this void and will keep trying. So I chose sail making because this is the one area which is a mystery. Read More...
I have recently talked to several individuals on the need for more "how-to" articles. The MMYC Newsletter has tried to help fill this void and will keep trying. So I chose sail making because this is the one area which is a mystery. Read More...
Sails, Part 2: Sail Making
by Dave Acree (From the Model Yacht resource center)
I hope the first article was some help in understanding sail design. Knowing how Camber is formulated does have a impact on how a sail performs. With that there is another important factor in sail making, it is plotting a sail's Draft Location. Read More...
I hope the first article was some help in understanding sail design. Knowing how Camber is formulated does have a impact on how a sail performs. With that there is another important factor in sail making, it is plotting a sail's Draft Location. Read More...
Sail Maintenance
By Dick Wischer
Always take along some rip stop tape or some good quality scotch filament tape to repair damage to your sails. Sails can get damaged in many ways. Read More...
Always take along some rip stop tape or some good quality scotch filament tape to repair damage to your sails. Sails can get damaged in many ways. Read More...
My Feet Are Curling Up!!
by Rod Carr
TriSpi mylar materials are manufactured in large rolls and then rewound onto smaller diameter tubing for shipment to manufacturers like model yacht sailmakers who turn the material into products. Read More...
TriSpi mylar materials are manufactured in large rolls and then rewound onto smaller diameter tubing for shipment to manufacturers like model yacht sailmakers who turn the material into products. Read More...
Telling Tales
by Jim Halay, Eagle Droppings Newsletter and Miami
Valley MYC Newsletter
A step in achieving boat speed is sail trim on the water using telltales. One of the problems model boat sailors face is that we are on the shore and the boats are on the water and the physical feedback of wind speed and direction is altered by the distance. The only reliable feedback we receive from our little yachts is the visual shape of the sails and relative boat speed. If we could only see the wind. Read More...
A step in achieving boat speed is sail trim on the water using telltales. One of the problems model boat sailors face is that we are on the shore and the boats are on the water and the physical feedback of wind speed and direction is altered by the distance. The only reliable feedback we receive from our little yachts is the visual shape of the sails and relative boat speed. If we could only see the wind. Read More...
Wind and Sailing
By Dick Wischer
Without wind there is no sailing, period. The wind is your propeller, the power that makes your boat go. The best explanation is this, without wind you have no means of propulsion. Read More...
Without wind there is no sailing, period. The wind is your propeller, the power that makes your boat go. The best explanation is this, without wind you have no means of propulsion. Read More...
Sail Trim
From the Miami Valley MYC Newsletter
By way of the Eagle Dropping, April 1997
The object of trimming the sails is to give the boat a slight weather helm during steady winds. With the proper amount of weather helm the boat will head up in puffs and fall off in lulls. Read More...
By way of the Eagle Dropping, April 1997
The object of trimming the sails is to give the boat a slight weather helm during steady winds. With the proper amount of weather helm the boat will head up in puffs and fall off in lulls. Read More...