It has been some time since we have posted anything here.
Basically we still just sail our Footies together and therefore have been lazy and are still sailing our original boats Hop2itII & Hop2itIII.
Although we are members of two model boat clubs (not model yacht clubs) there has been limited and unsuccessful interest in Footies.
One club has a couple of WeeNips and no one has tried a Footy (zero interest) but a couple of people in the other club have built Footies after seeing ours sail.
We have tried to steer these people to known proven designs like Bill’s, Stollery’s etc. A couple of these boats were made and one or two of our design.
All boats sailed terribly and none had boat speed approaching ours. In addition a couple of hulls were smashed in frustration by the builders during construction, and this is by people who build lots of model boats. Maybe Footies aren’t really good for beginners? The light weight construction seems to be an issue and perhaps the latest craze in modelling “Credit card modelling” deters people. Just buy it shake it out of the box and sail.
Recently we looked again at this forum and it appears that Footydom is very quiet with people going to RG65s. Dragon Force credit card modelling perhaps?
Are RG65s now the go?
There is even a very active RG65 group in Melbourne and an Australian forum, but still nothing for Footies.
After 5 years the only wear and tear on our Footies is damage caused by model power boats particularly fast submarines otherwise these things would last forever.
Most sail days our Footies are first in and last out of the water in all conditions.
Anyway we should perhaps try to be motivated to do something new, but what?
Should it be a Footy or RG65?
Is there still no settling in of Footy designs?
Are the European (Gold Cup) boats the best? (There does seem to be activity there)
Double diagonal, 400 to 500g, controlled una rig (with back stay) not flexible etc.
What about Niel’s proa, sounds very interesting but no pictures
Footies are still a very convenient fun boat.
I too liked the convenience. We sail papaya 3’s mostly, we have 2 boats, my son and I. There has been absolutely no interest in footies from anybody else we know. We are also the only people that scratch build in the club, everybody else buy’s their boats. Annoying really. The builders classes seem to be going away.
Yes you are right.
In Australian society the skills of design, building and manufacturing are fast disappearing both professionally and in hobbies.
Being so close to Asia we are flooded with ludicrously cheap imports for everything.
A lot of the stuff is of very poor quality as well.
One of the large on-line RC model suppliers, where most of the ready to sail model yachts come from, even has a warehouse in Australia.
Who is the best?
It is difficult to say…
In Europe at the moment the Phil Tyler boat won the last 2 Gold Cup but there are other boats that are quite at the same level.
The performance are also in the best set up + best skipper and sometimes depends from the weather conditions.
Thank you for the links.
We have actually studied all the current designs we can find meaningful information for.
Currently the plan is to design a boat similar to Phil’s Slim. Similar dimensions and displacement only hard chined and made of wood.
It is interesting how much sail Phil was carrying in the Gold Cup video. As you say the skipper has a lot to do with it but a good boat helps.
Your own Easy Footy design shows some very large sails on the plan. Are these your A+++ rigs?
These sails are much larger than anything our current boats can handle.
Your own designs and models are very impressive and large.
With such large high performance yachts why do you bother with the Footy?
Is it just because Footies are active in Italy and Europe?
Have you looked at the RG65? Are they the better option for small yachts?
Once upon a time this forum had lots of healthy and robust discussions on boat design. If you missed a day you were a dozen posts behind.
Things obviously evolve and move on.
Hence our questions and interest in the RG65.
The hosts of the 2015 Gold Cup introducing a Design Cup award is an interesting development in Footydom. As an attempt to promote the Footy class it will be interesting to see if it has any effect. The class certainly appears to be in decline. Considering that it is a relatively new class, to be declining so soon cannot be a good thing.
The concept of the winning design going into production makes you think that the organizers are hoping for a Footy equivalent to the Dragon Force. The RG65s are certainly the main competition and the happening thing in this end of the world. Not that Footys ever even got a toe in the door let alone a foot. The Micro Magic was very popular for some time here but the Dragon Force has certainly changed all that and has taken over the MM and put RG65s on the map.
Could there be a Footy Dragon Force?
Lets see. What has the Dragon Force got going for it?
1/ Very cheap. $139 with the radio gear here.
2/ Good design. Sails well straight out of the box.
3/ With minor improvements competitive.
4/ And perhaps the most important it looks good. In the clubroom it looks fast, desirable and like what you think a yacht should look like. A miniature IOM or the like.
Can there be a Footy like this?
1/ To be price competitive considering being that the customer is getting a lot less for their bucks it would need to retail for less that $100 with radio. Challenging but perhaps doable.
2/ Good designs that sail well are already around so no problem there.
3/ A competitive mass produced Footy could be a problem. The Dragon Force appears to get away with some compromises in construction. This maybe working due to the larger size of the boat. The bulb isn’t lead and therefore large. The fin isn’t anything special. No expensive materials used eg no carbon. The whole boat weighs more than one off models. Up to 30% heavier depending on what RG65 you compare it to. These compromises would not make a very good Footy.
4/ Although yacht racing is about function over form, good looks sell. Let’s face it - most Footys are just plain ugly.
Well the Design Cup is a good idea and it will be interesting to see what comes out of it.
