Heard or know about the electronics? There are now close to a dozen of these boats in Central Park. The sail winch is an “arm” servo that is probably underpowered for stronger winds. However there is a servo saver on the winch to prevent damage if it can’t pull in. Could easily be upgraded with a $20 dollar “standard” servo. The sails are a mylar film, much more useable than what comes with the Victoria. As an unmodified boat it is very sailable. Best pricing, try either America’s Hobby Center or Tower. The $90 “no radio” price is hard to beat.
Laff 15 -20 knots is uttermost BS.[:-banghead]
I still have this video clip from the sailrocket model sailing in the early stages to test the concept. And THAT boat, build only for sheer speed on oneway run takes like 15 knots with a burst of 18 knots in 14-16 Knots of wind.
So theres no way that a monohuller would go 15 -20 knots real speed. Scaled speed for sure, but not real speed.
Also Here in Finland we have had experiments with hydrofoils on F48 platform. Best we have done has been 8 knots on like 12 -16 knots of wind. I think I have a clip from it also. On a conventional multihull we have done tops of 5 knots real speed.
Hannu J
<+>+<+>+<+>+<+>+<+>+<+>+<
Luck runs out, But skill
Doesn’t - A tornado sailor in Round Texcel
here s a post from another forum,
the guy has a nirvana…seems his not happy with it
“My current boat is Megatech’s Nirvana. It was a nice introductory boat, but the sail servo is beginning to fail after only 20 hours on the water”
“The Nirvana does sail well and is extremely dry. They mount the receiver and servos in a Tupperware-type container with a tight fitting lid. The mast and booms are made of carbon fiber, and the sail material is mylar. The sail servo, however, is underpowered and apparently has plastic gears. That, and the container mentioned above, limits room for a quality servo and arm. Your only resort is going back to the Megatech servo and it’s weakness.
Mine lasted only 20 hours, but Lake Hefner’s average wind speed is 15 mph”
wis
if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it!
i know of a mono hull boat that can do over 20 knts. the mount gay 30 from climate boatworks in barrie. it is a nice boat and looks pretty realistic. so to say the nirvana cant hit 15-20 knts seems to be false. i have not seen the nirvana. but i trust the people who sail them , not the people who make them. and appartently they are sold offen.
cougar
20 knots…one word: LOL[:-banghead]
Wis
if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it!
steve
check out the mount gay 30 from climate boatworks. . i know the boat is fast. i know the owner, and the boat has been in different mags. I am not here to defend it. but i have heard it is very quick, and if 20 knt is unreal. then fine. but check out there website. and if i am wrong , i will admit it. and say i am sorry
ok
cougar
Cougar, it is physically impossible for either of those monohulls to do 20knots BUT it is NOT impossible to sail an rc model 20(about 22mph) knots-the F3 hydrofoil(56"LOA) has done so in a 16-22 mph wind.
No way can you walk or run and keep up with this boat; you simply have to tack or gybe every few seconds to prevent it from going to far. Most rc multihulls would not be able to even sail in these conditions but the foiler develops its own righting moment and becomes more stable as the wind blows harder.
So it definitely can be done-just not in the two boats mentioned…
Doug Lord
–High Technology Sailing/Racing
Point of clarification.
I rarely stop by here any more but this post caught my eye and certain misconceptions need to be cleared up.
The MG30 will not sail at 20 knots! It has never been advertised as doing so. I have no idea where this miss information originated.
It will (and has) sailed at a recorded 7.2 knots real speed.
This speed run was sailed by Michael Smith of Alameda California, and was recorded with an on board GPS. This was a top speed run and the boat was set up just for it.
Since the internet is full of BS and false claims, in the future I would appreciate that any claims made on any of our models be verified through us directly before a post is made using our name.
We will not stand for false claims being made on any of our products.
Peter Richards
www.climatemodels.com
Visit www.climatemodels.com
I have two friends that own Nirvanas, and both of them have had considerable trouble with the electronics that come with the boat. Both have since replaced their servos with Hitec 615 servos, which was absolutely necessary to enjoy sailing them. Last weekend one of those friends of mine and I were sailing at the pond and his servo arm stripped it’s gears… he’s now faced with trying to figure out whether to purchase another Megatech arm, or make or buy a different one. The wire shrouds that the boat comes with are also sub-standard, and one of the guys had his mast come down while it was sitting on the boat stand waiting to sail at the lake. He’s since replaced it with 70lb test Laserpro, which has never given him trouble.
There is another side to this though… Once some improvements were made to their boats, they are mostly happy with them now. They are an extremely dry boat–the design of the electronics compartment is very good, and allows you to feel confident sailing the boat in bigger chop and higher winds. The other positive thing I wanted to mention is that you can now buy a “racing version” of the Nirvana at Tower Hobbies that excludes the electronics, that way a person could put whatever servos they want in from the beginning and eliminate that frustrating step of the Megatech servos breaking within a month of buying it.
Finally, our local model sailing club will begin holding races in May, and it is highly likely that Nirvanas (2 in the club) will be used as club loaner boats, and will see competition in our “32-Sport” class, which is an ‘open’ type class of boats that are 32" and smaller (production based, commercially available boats only, and no mods below the waterline). We also have 3 Vics and a V-32 in our club, and the boats will be going head-to-head, so over time we will begin to see if the Nirvana can compete with modified Victorias. Of course, a lot of it will depend on the person at the sticks on both boat types.
Andy
Air Capitol Model Sailing Club
www.acmsc.org
Hi Andy and Wis!
Seems I’ve found you guys again[:D]
Well, I’m one of the guys that owns a Nirvana and I can truthfully say that it isn’t that fast.
I own two other RC sailboats (Laser and Seawind) and the Nirvana is the slowest.
The Nirvana is capable, however. You just need to re-rig all the lines and replace the servos. (the stock servos in my Nirvana failed after only 20 hours on the water). Mine has a Hitec HS645MG as its sail servo and a Futaba S3003 as its rudder servo. The Hitec servo is too tall to fit in the standard control box so you have to remove some of the mounting shelf to make it fit. I cut away an additional 3/4" of the stock shelf and bolted pieces of hobby plywood underneath. This dropped the servo almost 1/4", allowing the sail arm to clear the radio compartment’s lid.
But after the overhaul, it became a very dependable boat. It’s being used and abused by my girlfriend and another buddy who’s learning to sail. The modified Nirvana is the kind of boat you loan to a newbie because it can handle the mistakes.
Bill
Sorry Bill!
I said Hitec 615 servos, but I must have been confused with the 715 that I have.
There you have it… a Nirvana story first hand instead of from us second hand.
I think I got the rest of the info right though.
Andy
Air Capitol Model Sailing Club
www.acmsc.org
hi guys…nice to see you here!!
Wis
if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it!
We have close to a dozen Nirvana’s here in Central Park. A few notes:
-
This is a very inexpensive mass produced boat. Some are now selling with a radio for pretty close to $100.
-
Some of the boats weren’t rigged correctly by the factory. Particularly, check the sheet lines for binding. This problem is supposed to have been resolved by now.
-
There is a servo saver on the winch servo, if installed correctly it should prevent the winch from stipping gears.
-
Replacing the servos will make the boat better.
All in all this is a boat we recommend for beginners, particularly for parents who want to buy an inexpensive, ready to sail boat for their children. It is easy to sail and has a build and design quality far beyond its very low price.
Hi Roy.
I’m not certain the Nirvana would be a good gift for a youngster unless he/she (or parents) had some modeling abilities.
Unless you sail in winds below 5mph, the Nirvana’s sail servo has to be replaced. That entails removing some of the shelf material in the radio compartment to fit a larger/taller and more powerful sail servo. At least that is what I experienced with the Hitec HS645 servo.
I also replaced the rudder servo with a Futaba S3003 standard because the stock servo was beginning to strip gears.
The S3003 rotated it the opposite direction so I had to remove the back of my Megatech TX and flip the rudder control toggle 180 degrees to correct the situation. I think the stock rudder servo failed because the slit in the rear of the radio compartment was too small from the factory and caused the pushrod to bend when the rudder was laid over to its maximum. I enlarged the slit by 3/8" to eliminate the binding.
All the above work required a Dremmel tool. Unless the Nirvana owner is into modeling, they likely won’t have a Dremmel around.
Finally, I replaced all the rigging (including the sheets) with 90# Laser Pro line. A new Nirvana owner likely won’t know about optional line or where to get it unless they were somewhat experienced in RC sailing.
I personally think there are many frustrated novices out there with stock Nirvanas and their many vices.
That makes me think that some of the novice new owners may become disenchanted with the sport of RC sailing due to all the problems with their Nirvana.
It is too bad that the well-designed and capable Nirvana is manufactured by Megatech. Megatech cut many corners to save manufacturing $$ and it compromised an otherwise fine sailboat.
For the life of me, I don’t understand why Out There Technologies (O.T.T.) wasn’t chosen as the manufacturer of the Nirvana. The same person who designed the RC Laser also designed the Nirvana. O.T.T. does an excellent job manufacturing the Laser.
I would like to see a low priced, ready-to-sail boat become available to introduce more people to our sport. But I don’t think the Nirvana is the one.
Bill
hello everyone I’m new to the r/c sailboat hobbie and the nirvana is my first boat I purchased it without the control for $89.99 through tower hobbies. It’s clearly printed on the side of the box under specs “top wind speed: 15-20 knots” and capable of sailing speeds of 6 knots. being new to the hobbie could someone tell how knots compares to mph?
thanks davylee
1 knot = ~1.151 mph
The Other Matt
Davylee.
You did well purchasing the Nirvana without the factory servos. You would be tossing them after a few hours on the water anyway. What do you plan to run it with? Did your boat come with a sail arm?
The Hitec HS645 is a good sail servo with ample power. It may sit too high in the restricted radio compartment and come in contact with its lid-maybe not.
The stock Megatech sail arm is a specialty fit item. It’s hard/impossible to find a substitute.
It will fit the servo spline on the HS645, but its a tight fit.
I’ve had my modified Nirvana out in winds a bit over 20 knots (23-25mph). It will handle it due to the boat’s high freeboard and water tight radio compartment, but its a wild ride.
Submarining the bow on a broad reach or when running downwind is almost guaranteed.
There is no way the stock Nirvana with Megatech servos could sail in winds above 6-7 knots. The sail winch simply will not sheet the sails in with the limited power, and the cheap plastic gears would strip when trying to hold the sail set in winds above 10 knots.
I can’t judge how fast my Nirvana has run before, but 6 knots or so sounds about right.
Once sorted out, the Nirvana is a good sailing and capable boat. It handles higher wind and chop better than my Seawind, although it is not as fast.
At windspeeds at or above 20 knots, I’ll park the sloops and run the Laser. Even then, I’ll need the storm sail.
Bill
thanks guys, I purchased a futaba radio with s3003 servos. although I live in the frozen tundra of south dakota and won’t be able to sail my boat for a few months yet, it does seem like this servo is to week for the sail arm(which was included with the boat). Not knowing too much about any of this it also seems like the line they use for the rigging drags somewhat and Bill, you said earlier in the forrum you replaced it. would that make it smoother? And if so what would you recomend?
thanks
dvaylee
Davylee.
I used Laser Pro (90#)line on mine. It’s tough stuff, doesn’t kink, and is slicker than the black stock stuff.
I replaced all the rigging lines with it too, shrouds included (that s/s wire will break).
You can get it at Great Basin Model Yachts
< http://www.gbmy.com >
I also “fuzed” the little shiev at the end of the sail arm with epoxy because the mainsheet has a tendancy to get hung up on it as it runs out. The gaps between the shiev and the sail arm and bolster were too wide on mine.
I really don’t think the shiev needs to turn to move the mainsheet line faster.
Bill
dyneema will do the job as well…check at the fishing store
Wis
if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it!