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Abington Park Model Yacht Club
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    • Event Calendar >
      • 2017 Winter Series Calendar
      • 2016 Calendar
      • 2015 Calendar
      • Race Report Archive >
        • 2014
        • 2013
    • APMYC @ Hollowell
    • New to Model Yachting?
    • Basic Racing Rules of Sailing
    • Model Makers Guides >
      • Making Soft Sails for a Footy
      • Planet T5 Antenna Change
      • Shaping Sails with the Claudio Gadget
  • INFO
  • Radio Sailing News
  • Winter Series Racing
    • Snowflake Six Metre+
    • Icicle Wee Nip
    • Frostbite Footy
  • Martin Dale Cup
    • Micro540
    • RG65 >
      • Sail Measurement
    • Martin Dale Cup 2015 >
      • R1-8 >
        • Round 1 - Wee Nip 28/2
        • Round 2 - Mini Mixed Fleet 21/3
        • Round 3 - Mini Mixed Fleet 11/4
        • Round 4 - Wee Nip 18/4
        • Round 5 - Mini Mixed Fleet 9th May
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        • Round 8 - Micro 540 - 13-06-2015
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New to Model Yachting

I am often asked "what model would you recommend?" by people about to embark upon joining the ranks of Model Yachtsmen, it seems like such a simple question however the answer is not quite so straightforward.

Factors which you might wish to take into consideration are as follows:-

1. Where are you going to sail? - The depth of water and size of the place you intend to sail will be a limiting factor there is little point in having a large long keeled yacht if the water you can sail in is not deep enough for you to sail it. These are both limiting factors at Abington Park and so we sail yachts to suit the space we have.

2. Is there a model yacht club near me? - sailing alone can be fun, however sharing the water with other yachtsmen and sailing together is more fun. It seems that there is an unwritten rule that "whenever two yachts are on the water a race will develop" even if it is only comparison of the two yachts on a run and a  beat to see which one is quickest, rather than around a course. Most clubs only sail a few classes, at Abington Park  MYC we sail the Footy, RG65 and Wee Nip. (Wee Nip is not strictly a class but as a club we have tried to introduce a single model yacht
to give newcomers an easy inexpensive route into model making and sailing whilst retaining interest for the more experienced sailors amongst us.)

3. What kit can I buy? - many newcomers to model yachting consider getting into the sport via a commercially available kit or Ready to Race (RTR) model whilst there are some of these which are worthy of consideration, unfortunately many, whilst they may look attractive, do not sail particularly well. The ones that are worth considering have generally got a racing organisation behind them some of which are supported by the Model Yachting Association of GB. These include the Dragon Force, RC Laser, Micro Magic & Fiesta (although sadly National support for the Fiesta appears to be in decline).

4. Is it Difficult to build from plans? -  wooden hulled yachts are generally easy to build and there are many freely available plans posted on the internet for you to try, for a first build I would recommend a simple hard chine construction from detailed plans with hopefully some building guidance available. It is certainly more effort to build from plans, however the satisfaction of sailing and hopefully competing with a yacht you completely built yourself from scratch is most rewarding. It is also worth looking at websites to see what other people are building & sailing as these are generally the most successful designs.

5.  Is it expensive? - again wooden hulled yachts built from scratch are not very expensive, as you go up the classes in size of yacht they obviously increase in costs this being generally due to the heavier duty electrical equipment required. The Footy class, which is the smallest, a wooden hulled yacht such as the Razor3 should be in the region of £65.00 to build, an RG65 yacht like the Jif65 will cost around £80.00 similarly the Wee Nip. A wooden hulled IOM would be in the region of £400.00.

6. What transmitter should I buy? - in addition to the yacht if you are just starting out you will need a transmitter, the good news is that this can be used for each of your yachts individually and so you only need to purchase one. Most model yachtsmen especially in the smaller classes now use a 2.4 GHz digital transmitter principally because of the small size of the receiver and the extremely low chance of any clashes of frequency. As the rules for nearly all racing classes state that only two channels are allowed to be used, a simple inexpensive set such as the Planet T5 (cost approx £50.00 including a receiver) is perfect for small yacht classes.
Many digital transmitter manufacturers put a disclaimer on their products saying they are not suitable for marine purposes, this is generally because of loss of signal if the receiver is mounted to low in the hull (below the waterline). Most work perfectly well if the receiver is mounted just under the deck. 

Hopefully this has been of some use to you in deciding what route to take into model yachting, I can not recommend strongly enough to contact your local club and see what models they are sailing, most clubs are only to happy to give advice to newcomers.
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