Matthew, Sorry mate, it was never my intentsion to stifle your enthusiasm simply to applaud those who have made the effort and succeded where I have feared to tread.
GO FOR IT. Build a model yacht to sail long distances. You are not alone, I have given thought to a passage maker, solar power for topping batteries, gps to satellite to ground base for control plus on board camera. Everything is possible. What is needed is a team leader such as yourself with the drive and ambition to coordinate the immense force that members of this forum could generate if they got off their arse. Think of all the combined knowledge locked up within all our brains, man thats powerful. WE CAN DO ANYTHING.
I apologize for pointing out that there are already existing boat designs that do much of what you wanted to design a new boat to do. They may not have CBTF and spinnaker but they handle your offshores conditions very well. In other words if you were designing a new boat they are good benchmark of ideas already tried. We aren’t suggesting what is already out there because we don’t want you to design a new boat. We are merely putting out ideas of where to start.
Its funny in a sad sort of way: Matthew brought up a subject relating to the design of a new boat that would use the technologies used by the new full size ocean racers. Instead of replying to the topic ,with a couple or three exceptions, the answers all related to existing boats that might sail in rough conditions.
Almost nobody discuseed the design charateristics or considerations involved in designing a new boat–the original topic was lost almost entirely.
OK, cheers Ryan, Ian. I’m gonna start this topic again. I ve been working on the concept and ive got a few ideas on to paper, well cad anyway! I want constructive comments on them, and other ppls ideas on this kind of boat, lets see if we can produce somthing that could actualy be built and sailed, perhaps a freindly manufacturer could knock one up in his spare time
Actually these are boats that have already sailed in rough conditions. They aren’t boats we think might do okay. Might would imply that we think they would but haven’t tried yet. When starting a new design anyways isn’t it normal to take a look at what is already out there and then try to make something better. Even in your F100 articles you mention benchmarking IOM’s. In that case you should be yelling at yourself for comparing your new design to IOM’s on a regular basis. If you haven’t examined what already exists how do you even know if you’ve made something as good let alone better?
For starters try defining what a good offshore design should be what are you considering it’s environment? What wind range should it handle, what wave size. Optimized for upwind, reaching, downwind or should it do everything equal?
I’ve not heard of the race in Lake St. Claire. What are the details?
Do you think there would be any interest in getting a distance racing series going. i’m thinking one race a month at some of the local parks. The races would be at least a mile. Gallup park in Ann Arbor is one spot. I think a nice distance race could be set up at Kensington. There are a few other metroparks worth looking at to see if they would be a worth venues. If folks at DMYC are keen on the idea, maybe we could get a format where your club and mine each host a race or two and invite the other…
It’s been held every spring for atleast the past few years. Last year it was held at DYC in the river. My boat wasn’t finished yet then. It only made to to the end of season race at Metro Beach this year finally. The year before it was held at Crescent. If you go to the DYC website and by the DVD for last year there is some great footage of an AC sailing in very high wind and several foot high waves. There were photos on the gallery but they dissappeared sometime last winter.
I don’t really have interest in trying to keep up walking with aboat for a 1 mile long race. For the AC’s there is no way if there is any wind at all. With the Victoria’s and Fairwinds it might be possible.
It wasn’t across the atlantic or anything nearly as exotic, but I was chasing my little twenty four inch free sailing gaff rigged sloop across the Charles River in Boston in my Kayak, and a guy came steaming up in his speedboat and yelled “Thats really cool, is it remote controlled??” I replied that it wasn’t and he said"Oh…" and went away.
The little sloop still sailed just as well to windward on a steady course through some pretty steep waves without the least bit of electronics
ryan
I know where lake st clair is. but i have not heard of any reggatas there. is it with the windsor club or the detroit club? I would sail any boat on the lake as it usual is not that rough and can get steady winds. are you trying to get people from all over to come and race there?
cougar
there are 2 IOM here in kitchener willing to go
Well the Austrian`s have got off their backsides and are working on an “Offshore” model yacht along the lines we were dreaming of back when this thread was started.
I have no useful input to this discussion except that I think it’s a great idea to sail models in ‘real’ conditions. I’ve always been fascinated with the idea of pushing a sailing boat hard to a certain destination, despite weather and other unfavourable conditions.
I can see there are likely to be refinements to a ‘standard’ model yacht design to allow for better performance or ability to make the most of open sea conditions. I don’t actually know what refinements it may take, but I’d love to! Please keep us informed!
Although this isn’t quite what you mean, I sailed my Micro Magic in the sea last week. I kept it close to the shore so it was constantly in the breaking waves which were mostly about 2 feet high. Wind was calm at that level and it was great fun! I can’t wait to try it again! Windward performance was ‘ponderous’ but downwind it planed freely and very fast! Wow! I’ve made a few comments here if you’re interested: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=675508
I took a couple of reject hulls and put a crummy rig on them and let 'em go in the Gulf of Mexico, had a name and address inside the hull incase they turned up somewhere… I thought someone might email me back, but never heard anything. They were Half-Meters (basically a Santa Barbara) and should have been able to withstand quite a bit of weather.
That would be a heck of a world record… first model sailboat to cross the Atlantic.
eewwww… that was in 1982… I think they have lapped the globe… maybe I should run down to the coast and see if they are in the way back in!
I get the mental image of the gag in the Bugs Bunny cartoons when he throws the baseball around the Earth and it comes back with all the different country labels on it.
I assisted on a project at MIT 3 years ago on developing an autonomous bouy. It can be done, it’s just expensive.
