Thread: RC Sailboats

I am always amazed how much many of us here have in common aside from the enjoyment of wet shaving. Seems many other hobbies and carreers are a common thread.

So am wondering if anyone else here is into Racing RC Sailaboats. I used to race keel boats but family and life has pulled me away from real big boat racing and last year got into racing RC sailboats. Not quite the same as big boats but surprising competitive and fun.

I have two local clubs that I race with, one is Solings and Victorias and the other is RC Lasers. We also have a new series coming to Toronto for IOM boats. So I am in the midst of getting a IOM ready for the race season.

Anyone else?

I spent a small fortune on RC planes many years back. Can only imagine what a boat would cost. It always looked interesting to me just never went for it.

I don't think a sailboat would destroy itself like a plane does when you crash it.

Originally Posted by Wullie

I spent a small fortune on RC planes many years back. Can only imagine what a boat would cost. It always looked interesting to me just never went for it.

I don't think a sailboat would destroy itself like a plane does when you crash it.

Same here, planes and helis. Always wanted to try boats though just for the savings lol

The beauty of sailboats is the wind is free

Originally Posted by dyimages

The beauty of sailboats is the wind is free

Es Verdad! (True)

Like everything else that is fun, it's all the peripheral stuff that gets in your pocket book.

I've sunk a small fortune into R/C Airplanes. You spend many hours putting the kit together, installing the radio and the engine, get everything working right.

Then comes the big day when you fly it, and it hits the ground and turns itself back into a kit.

I need to get back into it but I am told that all the radio technology has changed.

Most the radios are using 2.4ghz spread spectrum tech. Now you just bind Tx to Rx and go. No more frequencies and crystals.

I've recently taken an interest in RC tugboats.

I'm still in the research stages, but I've decided to scratch build using the plank on frame method and coating the hull with fiberglass.

I have my plans, a strategy in mind and I"m just waiting for the weather to improve a bit so I can sit in the back yard and start cutting out bulkheads and frames.

i don't know how many planes i've started and never finished. bought a futaba radio, and an os 40 for one plane and years later sold them on ebay unused. i was really big into cleveland model plans and have built a lot of those..my favorite the Hall gullwing, the biggest, a b-17 with a 4 ft span. none of those ever got beyond the point where they would be covered. i have two micro helicopters i can't fly, an electric powered p-51 that's never left the ground. i've only had one, count it, one, model airplane fly the way it was supposed to. i have a friend who flies 1/4 scale warbirds who says he can teach me, but i don't know. all the spare money(now there's a concept) is going into telescopes and my daughter's student loans right now.
as far as razors and hones go, i've backed off buying. i haven't sent a razor out since nov 2010 and i get a passable shave from my own honing so i must be doing something right.

Originally Posted by dyimages

Most the radios are using 2.4ghz spread spectrum tech. Now you just bind Tx to Rx and go. No more frequencies and crystals.

Well for the summer or so I was into RC cars and actually went from AM to 2.4GHz. I could barely see the car and it still responded properly. Well the dot at the end of the street went left when I turned left. And it appeared to be coming straight at me when I gave it a bump on the throttle and ran into the curb. Then it was yet another hike. If I hit the lottery I would probably do the RC car thing again, nitro smells good and they scream. They just dont fit with me too well, I cant have fun at an RC course. I had to take it to real BMX dirt jumps, the race track & cement skatepark. The expense + downtime just didnt = the hangtime for me.

Oh, back on topic. The setup is a hair more complicated than matching numbers, link them up and go. Nice things, radio remembers more than one receiver & said receivers settings. dial in trims once per vehicle. Built in failsafes are much more common.