Ranger plans and pics

Footy Class General Discussion (Footy)
41

Hi Phil,

I built mine from Depron, which bends a lo easier then balsa. but i will try to offer advice.

You are indeed correct it is a ‘double diagonal’ boat (diagonal, and up/down)
I did not use a former, and my assembly order was:
1- join the upper and lower side panels, along their seams.
2- join the lower side panels to the ‘keel piece’ or bottom plank.
3- fin in the flat forward bow piece, and the lower transom.
4- fit the upper transom, a rudder stock support piece (i didn’t trust my 3mm depron deck to carry all that load)
5- finally fit the deck. noting, i made the top of the keel extend thorugh the deck, for strength/stiffness.
NOTE i had to ‘bow’ the hull slightly to spring it open when fitting the deck.

In balsa my suggestion would be:
Make up a coule of foam or wood blocks as internal jigs
lightly dampen both faces of each panel.
Pull together at the seams, and hold with tape, rubber bands, spot tack of cyano etc, untill dry. this should give the panels about the right shape.

then finally glue properly when dry

Hope this helps

Scott

Razor 3 #284
Ranger #347

42

Hi Scott
Thanks for answering all my questions and offering your suggestions. I’m sure they will be a great help as I’ve already cut the internal jigs and, clamped to the side panels, can see them holding a far better shape.
In case I switch to Depron sheet, what adhesive did you use?
Thanks agin
Phil

43

Phil,

I tape all the panels together first, putting the tape on the outside of the hull, then apply glue to the seams from the inside when it’s all tight and straight. I’ve discussed the technique quite a bit over the last few years, so if you search around the forum I’m sure you will find some building hints. Some of the guys started calling it an “air build” since no building board or bulkheads are used.

Bill

44

Phil,

Glad i could be of assistance :smiley:
For gluing DEPRON, i use UHU-POR which is a foam safe contect adhesive. Its nice and easy to use, just spread it along one side of the join, bring together. Pull apart for 10 mins to let it dry, then bring back together in the RIGHT place (it’s very difficult to get it to move after…)

Good luck with the build, and post some pictures.PLEASE :smiley:

I had mine sailing on sunday, and it was going well in B rig, then the wind pretty much died (would have been under powered by A rig) i was concerned i was going for a swim (had it been my razor 3 i probably would have) but because the Ranger is SO light, it managed to accelrate in the smallest gusts of almost nothing, and i got it back. I get the feeling it’s going to be a winner in light winds…

Scott

45

Regarding glue for Depron, I have found that 30-minute epoxy works very well. This was a surprise, because epoxy generally forms a poor bond with polystyrene, but the rough surface of the foam seems to bond very well (it is probably a mechanical bond rather than a chemical bond). The epoxy also doesn’t flow very far into the seams, so doesn’t leak out the other side to prevent removing the tape. The tape removes easily because it adheres poorly to the rough surface of the foam.

46

Bill
Sorry I didn’t research the forum thoroughly enough to find your build technique. I certainly wish I’d done so ‘coz I love the idea of an "air build’. I’ve already started to glue some panels together so I’ll have to continue forcing in some pre-bend with my formers.
Scott
Thanks for the instructions on how to use UHU-POR. My instructions are in German and my German is still not all it should be after all these years in Switzerland.
Walt
Thanks for the extra option of using epoxy. If I split another balsa panel I’ll be switching to a Depron attempt and I’ll definitely try the ‘air build’ technique
thanks again
Phil
PS I recall reading a thread somewhere suggesting Stablit Express was no longer available. As I understand it, UHU are producing what is essentially the same thing ie. an acrylic adhesive, called UHU-Acrylit and it’s widely available in Germany and Switzerland. I guess you can get this version wherever UHU distribute their products.

47

Phil, I used to prebend my balsa panels by spraying them with an ammonia-based cleaning product and taping them to the side of a big lobster pot. Then I found out I could do it by scraping the panel across the edge of my work table without having to wet the wood first. Try it with a scrap first until you get a feel for it.

If you can get 1/64 inch ply (.5mm) that works really well without having to prebend, and it doesn’t split…getting expensive here, though.

Bill

48

I have some more pics of the ranger sailing.

Taken in Bristol Harbour in variable wind

It throws up a fairly clean wake, which as always a good sign

Scott
P.s apologies for the bad quality, photo taking, whilst skippering in close proximity is rather difficult

49

Heres my half size version. Scaled the plans 50% and built’er up. Took about half a day. Using some Hobbyking 1s servos I’ve had forever and a 600mah 1s lipo. Im thinking I might need a lighter lipo cuz it sits just a little low. I will order a ~450 soon.



50

After bench sailing for while, (actully I was sailing sailplanes, but thats a different sotry … :stuck_out_tongue: ) I decided to take my sailboats out for a spin at the local lake. Took out my scampi, a 36/600 class and my Ranger Footy. Of course I had to bring all the rigs for the footy, so I could test which one would work best. I was able to test rigs B, C and D. Too windy for rig A. I shot some video from my cell phone so please excuse the quality. :slight_smile:

Heres a first link, this one was with rig D.: http://youtu.be/dbB_WAklV6k

I’ll keep adding the links to the other two once they are posted, enjoy

Enrico

51

Forsakenrider, I love your Half-a-Footy…great job, and it looks like it sails well, too. Can you give me more info on the electronics you used?

Enrico, your Ranger came out very nice, and handles well…great job. See if you can rekindle some interest in the Daytona area…there was a great group a few years ago that got discouraged by club politics, I think.
Did you buy the Scampi from Ned? I was hoping to get it from him when he came back up here…only to find that he sold it…now I have Scampi envy watching your vid :wink:

Keep thinking inside the box…Bill

52

Hi Bill,

Thanks for your kind words! Initially that was the idea with my Father in Law, to rekindle interest in Daytona with the Footys. Since we started this venture, we have built a total of 4 footys and acquired along the way a used fifth one. At some rare occasions we have had four of them sailing (when the kids cared to join us for some sailing) but still at the club, besides the :we used to sail them and are too difficult to sail" or “they look cute but I gave away mine years ago” we haven’t been able to regain strength there. I’m still trying to get more people interested other than the club members, but sailing in off hours has become quite a challenge nowadays with work and family. I hope we can regain interest at some point, maybe with new young sailors.

About the scampi, yes, that was Ned’s boat. He would win 9.5 times out of 10 races so It caught my attention. It sails very nice and I sometimes win races; other times,I just give the other guys a hard time. and of course some others I just don’t know what on earth I’m doing so I just trail behind the fleet. :slight_smile:
My best pastime when sailing solo, bring the stopwatch, and try to go faster and faster around the course each time.
I’m surprised how well that helps when sailing, but the rules … that’s another story …

Enrico

P.S: Here is a nice photo taken by my Wife at the Vero Beach Footy regatta.

53

Enrico, that “been there, done that” attitude is unfortunate. Footys have become a lot better over the last 4 years. As an example, a club member brought out his old Victor V-12 last week to get ready for the regional and couldn’t get it to sail at all. It was beautifully built using all the kit components and following all the kit instructions and measurements…but the rig just doesn’t fit the boat properly.

As you’ve seen, when it’s done right, they sail straight and handle well…provided you don’t put too much sail on them for going downwind! That’s always tempting, because they can handle incredible amounts of sail going upwind.

Try showing those ex-Footy skippers how your Footys track straight upwind without touching the radio…then put the radio in their hands and have them try it again. They don’t know what they are missing…we’ve come a long way, baby!

Bill

54

another 1/2 footy, and then such a light design as teh ranger, awesome :slight_smile: love these little sailboats!
Bill your designs really do scale down amazingly well!

cheers
Phillip

55

Just thought i’d provide an update on my RANGER.

56

Just thought i’d provide an update on my RANGER.
I plan on sailing a whole season with it this year.
Its first outing this year, was Freds Big Toephy!
Against a fleet of AWK’s, ICE’s and SUperbugs (and a very interesting stretched Razor 3- red hulled boat in the third pic)
it came a happy 4th place.
It was comptetitivly sailing in and around 3-5 place most of the time. Though i had a few bad races (skipper error, and bad tactical judgement - though i had a few moments of mastery too :slight_smile: )

Anyway, a couple of photos to go with it.
I’m much happier with my new rigs, hands off upwind, and nice down.
Still needs some tweaking, but getting there slowly

Scott

57

Hi Scott
Thanks for the update
Can you give us any further details on conditions and results from Fred’s Big Toephy, please?
Cheers
Phil

58

Very nice pics, Scott…I’m pleased to see a couple of my designs holding up their end against Roger’s fleet. Well done.

Your rig looks nice, but may be giving up a bit of sail area to the swings in the pictures. Roger gave me the pieces to build one of his swing rigs at Angus’s birthday party, and I’ve used it on Ranger and HalfpintToo to good effect. The CE must be similar, as I use the same mast position. I’m not sure if it is any faster than my McRigs, but it isn’t any slower. If you get a chance, borrow a RogerRig (I think I just coined a new name) and give it a try.

Peter sent me a couple pics of the extended Razor3. I thought it was pretty, too, so I designed a new hull based on his idea. I’m building it now, and will share results of the RazorPS in the spring.

Thanks for your update…Bill

59

Bill,

thanks for the comments.
Yeah, i am really liking how the Ranger is sailing.
The rig i was using was a little less area then the other designs were using later in the day as the wind eased… but my other rig would have been FAR too big.
My main problem was a lack of judging distances well, and tactical errors.
I intend to do a whole season, and that may give us an idea of how its standing up.

The Razor 3 Extended, was really well made, and sailed well too. I still did the usual razor trick, of nose under to the mast step though!

Phill.
I attach the result write up. The racing was good, and very close at times. The wind was very fluky, swinging well in excess of 45 degrees during gusts, which were pretty strong at times.

Points Discards (D-1,D-2,D-3) Score Skipper H % Design Jib Merit Placing

20, 3, 3, 0, 14, Rob Vice, ICE, 41, 1
52, 11, 11, 0, 30, Hugh McAdoo, ICE, 87, 2
5, 11, 4, 0, 30, Roger Stollery, SUPABUG, 117, 3
85, 9, 8, 0, 68, Scott Wallis, RANGER, 47, 4
94, 11, 11, 0, 72, Alan Viney, ICE, 17, 5
100, 11, 11, 0, 78, David Wilkinson, SUPABUG, 46, 6
103, 11, 10, 0, 82, Jim Vice, ICE, 84, 7
111, 11, 10, 0, 90, Peter Jackson, SUPABUG 30, 8
110, 10, 9, 0, 91, Keith Parrott, ICE, 31, 9
119, 11, 10, 0, 98, Peter Shepherd, RAZOR 3 mod, 52, 10

Scott

60

Further Update:

Yesterday, i sailed my Ranger at the Videlo Globe open at the Cotswold MYC.
Up against close competition (it was a great days sailing) the Ranger placed second, behind Hugh Mcadoo and his stollery design.
I even managed to win a few races with the Ranger (now the rigs are right (well at least the middle rig, which i was using for all but the first 2 races), it was showing great pace, and pointing!)
It dipped the nose once or twice, but nothing major.
Since the last race, i moved the battery pack back baout half an inch. Now going to windward the bottom of the bow just kisses the water, and its better going down wind too.

Pics at : http://www.sailfootyuk.com/mad-march-hare.html

Scott