The Model Yacht: Volume 19, Number 2 – Summer 2018

The Model Yacht Redd’s Pond, Marblehead, MA Newsletter of the U.S. Vintage Model Yacht Group Volume 19, Number Two Summer Summer SPRING2018 The Model Yacht Summer 2018 U.S. VMYG Leadership President: John Y. Stoudt, jstoudt309@gmail.com ……………………………………………………….(610) 316-8695 President Emeritus: John Snow, jsnowj@comcast.net ….……………………………………………….. (978) 594-8521 Treasurer: Ernie Mortensen, usvmygt@gmail.com .…………………………………………….………… (858) 525-5217 Communications & Marketing: Bruce Richter, richterbruce@gmail.com ………………………………. (917) 575-2221 Newsletter Editor: Jeff Beck, beck.jeff@gmail.com …………………..…………..……..……………. (240) 252-0236 Webmaster: Jim Flach, Jim.flach@gmail.com ……………………………………………………………(610) 299-8138 Membership: Ernie Mortensen, usvmygt@gmail.com ………………………….……………………. (858) 525-5217 Regatta Coordinator: Nick Mortgu, mortgu@comcast.net ……………….…………………………….. (609) 820-0509 Awards: ……………………………………………………………………….…………………………………..Open Resources Coordinator:.…………………………………………………………….…………………………….Open Historian: Earl Boebert, boebert@swap.com ………………………………………………………………(505) 823-1046 Boat Yard: Jim Linville, linvillejim@gmail.com ………………………..………………………………..(781) 534-0203 Plans Coordinator: Ivor Walton, vintageplans@comcast.net Construction Advice: John Henderson, jgnhenderson@atlanticbb.net …………………………………….(443) 282-0277 Class Coordinators Free Sailed:……………………………………………………………………………………………………….Open Intl A Boat: Mike Denest, mjd12k@yahoo.com ….……………………..…………………………………(610) 316-3570 Schooner: Kerry O’Malley, komalley1@comcast.net ………………………..………………………….. (717) 548-4632 Skipjack: John Henderson, jgnhenderson@atlanticbb.net ………………………………………………..(443) 282-0277 Unrestricted: John Y. Stoudt, jstoudt309@gmail.com …………………….……………………………… (610) 316-8695 Vintage 36: Alan Suydam, alansuydam@comcast.net …………………………………………………….(301) 653-4899 Vintage Marblehead: Bruce Richter, richterbruce@gmail.com ……………..……………………………(917) 575-2221 Regional Coordinators International: ………………………………………………………………….…………………………………. Open Mid-Atlantic: ……………………………………………………………………….…………………………….Open North Central:.……………………………………….……………………………………………………………Open North East:………………………………………………………………………….……………………………..Open North West:………………………………………………………………………….…………………………….Open South Central:………………………………………………………………………….…………………………Open South East:………………………………………………………………………….……………………………..Open South West: Ernie Mortensen, usvmygt@gmail.com ……………………………………………………………..(858) 525-5217 Summer 2018 The Model Yacht The Model Yacht is published three times per year by the US Vintage Model Yacht Group. Copyright 1998 to 2018 by the USVMYG. Reproduction for noncommercial purposes permitted; all other rights reserved. Other copyrights are maintained by the original holders, and such material is used here under the fair use provisions of the relevant copyright acts for nonprofit research and educational purposes. The Layline President’s Message A lot has transpired since the first reformatted edition of The Model Yacht was published. The new website has been made available. The team has been working to find new article content and authors. Plans have been catalogued, selected and digitized. Some vintage boats have been posted for sale. A vintage invitational has been held on Conservatory Waters in Central Park. Definition: A layline is a straight line (or bearing) extending from the next mark to indicate the course a boat should be able to sail on the one tack in order to pass to the windward side ofthe mark. (vsk. wikia. com/wiki/Layline) Editorial Address: John Stoudt 309 Sundance Drive Chester Springs, PA 19425 jstoudt309@gmail.com On the Cover: Young skippers on the rocks besides Redd’s Pond, Marblehead, late 1890s. Website—The new vintage group website (https://usvmyg.org) went live the beginning ofApril. It has a new look and an easy navigational feel to it. The home page features pull down menus that take you deeper into the content on the site. Membership Renewals: The annual membership fee will be due and should be renewed with the publication of the first newsletter of the calendar year. Please reference “Membership” on page 41 for the dues amounts. Please use the form that accompanies this issue of The Model Yacht to complete your membership renewal. They include: NEWS – EVENTS – JOIN – HISTORY – SAILING – BOATS & STUFF – CLASSES. These pull downs delve deeper into the topic displayed, for example the HISTORY pull down has the following sub-headings: ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Model Yachting in the US Model Yachting about New York History of the Marblehead Class Model Yachting and Manual Arts Training A-Class: Ranger and Bithell Win the Cup for the USA, 1948–1949 Free Sailing Model Yachting by Full-Scale Designers The First R/C Model Yacht Odds & Ends & Other Documents 1 Summer 2018 The Model Yacht Inside Leadership Team……………….i The Layline…………………..1-3 Barnacles…………………………3 2018 Budget Report…………..4 Event Schedule…………………5 How Ya Gonna Keep Them Down On The Farm…………..6 Bill Full Memorial Cup VM Regatta Report………..7-8 Can’t We All Just Get Along? Evidentally yes…………….9-11 American Marblehead National Championship……12 US VMYG Boat Yard………13 A tribute – John Snow………14 Vintage Plans……………..15-16 Catamarans Big and Small: Part 1………………17-23 Speaking of Batteries…………………….24-28 Everything Old Is New Again!……………………….29-33 Blue Crab Model Yachts…………………………….34 Bending Wood……………35-37 Another Source for Building a VM……………38-39 Resources……………………….40 Membership Form…………..41 Boat Registration Form……42 Upcoming Articles— The team has been beating the bushes to identify articles of interest for the newsletter. They have been contacting potential authors who have a story to tell and asking them to write. Individuals are writing about scaling boat designs, early catamarans and catamaran models, building molds for bending wood used for modeling, Nat Herreshoff’s model making techniques and tools, L. Francis Herreshoff efforts with model yachts and a history of the US VMYG. This just addresses planned and possible articles. If you have something you would like to write let Jeff Beck know. We can assist and guide you through the process. You do not have to be an award winning author to write. Leadership Team—They have been hard at work. We still have a few vacancies. If you would like to help the US VMYG, let me know. You may contact John Stoudt with questions or to indicate interest. Boat Plans—There are at least 20 boats plans posted as of publication (growing every day). There are 10 Rater, International A boat, schooner, Vintage 36, and traditional and high flyer Vintage Marblehead plans. They are in electronic form as PDFs that will be sent to you electronically when you pay for them by PayPal. The file will be sent to you by email as soon as the payment is complete. You simply take this file to a printer like Staples or Fedex Kinkos to get a full-sized print. Boat Yard—There are a number of individuals who asked for this service. As of this newsletter we have two boats on the Boat Yard for sale. Others have been in contact with our Boat Yard coordinator about boats they have for sale. See the article in this issue ofThe Model Yacht. National Vintage Marblehead and V36 Regatta and Mini Race Week—John Snow, Craig Speck, and Biff Martin have provided the following information. The Marblehead Model Yacht Club (MMYC) will be hosting the 2018 US Vintage Model Yacht Group V36/VM National Championship Regatta, the Bithell Cup Regatta, and the Chowder Race Regatta, October 18–21, 2018 on Redd’s Pond, Marblehead, MA. The NOR will be available in the near future on our website and the website of the Marblehead Model Yacht Club. Expanded Support—The vintage group would like to expand its support to include early power boats, replica schooners (Great Schooner Society), and free-sailed boats. If you are interested in pursuing one of these vintage model yacht classes with the US VMYG please contact the president. Reporters Needed—The leadership team is exploring new content threads for articles in the newsletter and additions to the website. There are individuals out there with a lot of information about vintage model yachting. Some of these individuals will write up what they know. Others do not like to write. 2 Summer 2018 The Model Yacht membership please give serious thought to accepting the newsletter electronically, you can print it out in full color, read it online and save a digital copy. Thank you for your considering this time and money saving option. We need “reporters”, individuals who will interview the reluctant writer, put together the article, review it with the interviewee, and submit it for publication. This is actually a fun and rewarding aspect of our work, being in a position to discover new information about vintage model yachts and preparing it to share with our fellow enthusiasts. We have material ready to be documented. If you are interested, please contact Jeff Beck or myself. We will help get your article ready for publication. A Special Thanks!—As president of the US VMYG, I cannot tell you how much your leadership team has been doing for you. The reformatted newsletter and new website are great. Jeff Beck, Bruce Richter and Jim Flach deserve a big thank you for the work they have done. Ernie Mortensen has been working hard on our membership and the group’s finances. Ivor Walton has taken the plans donated by Earl Boebert and others, and has been scanning them so they can be posted for sale on the website. There are 40 plans posted to date with many more to come. As we move along there will be a variety of others made available through our website. Jim Linville has been scouring the countryside looking for vintage boats for sale. Two (one may have sold already) have been posted and as soon as the logistics are worked out others will be noted on our website. Kudos to these dedicated pond yachtsmen without whom these transitional items would not be available. HELP US OUT!—There is a lot time and expense involved in printing and mailing the newsletter. The mailed version is printed and sent in black and white. The version we deliver electronically is in full color. It looks great in color. Accepting the electronic copy of the newsletter frees up our volunteers to work on other things. It also, believe it or not, saves us money. This saved money can be used for other activities that will help us grow our membership. The next time you renew your Bring on more Barnacles Don’t forget to send us your barnacles. No, not the ones you recently scraped off the hull of your boat. We’re talking about those little tidbits of news and info that are related to vintage RC sailing and the people connected to our pastime. The one below is a good example. Email yours to John Stoudt at jstoudt309@gmail.com ● Did you know that L. Francis Herreshoff was an avid pond sailor? He was drawn into the fun of racing model yachts shortly after he moved his business to Marblehead, MA in the 1920s. He inaugurated the 450 class in Marblehead that was the dominant class for 6 years. Another great book: Taylor, Roger C. L. Francis Herreshoff: Yacht Designer, Mystic Seaport. 2015. 3 Summer 2018 The Model Yacht US VMYG 2018 Budget By Ernie Mortsensen and John Stoudt We have been working to project this year’s budget. Given our current membership and vision here is the tentative budget. As we move forward, understand our membership numbers, and expense needs next year’s budget will be more accurate. The bottom line projection grows slightly over the 2017 end of year balance. As of December 31, 2017 there was $2,315.67 balance. The proposed budget takes into account a few things: • The US VMYG must begin to build a robust budget that enables it to do things outlined in the Layline. • This budget takes into consideration the cost savings enabled by an emailed newsletter. Starting Balance (carried from 2017)………………………………………………………………………..$2,315.67 Income Projection (thus far in 2018 = $2,661.86) Income is based on dues from regular members both domestic and international (electronic), regular and international dues (mailed newsletter), life member contributions, sale of plans and boat registrations. Expense Projection (thus far in 2018 = $848.90) Expenses are projected based on newsletter (mail distribution), website development, marketing strategies (ad in model yachting and new brochure), printing and postage (membership mailings), plan digitization, national regattas, awards, checking account fees, electronic fees (PayPal and credit card), and other administrative costs Current balance………………………………………………………………………………………………………..$4,128.63 This is a start in building financial stability. Newsletter and other expense will draw this number down between now and the end of the calendar year. It seems like a lot of cash on hand but as we move forward and expand services this will be the foundation for that work. We need to continue to grow this number. If we do we will be able to expand services and marketing exposure thus growing our membership and improving services. Barnacles ● ● In 1885 — even before Braine and Vane gear steering mechanisms were engineered and introduced — the scientist Nikola Teslas developed a boat controlled by a wireless radio controlled system in his New York City studio. According to the “Teslas Memorial Society of New York”, he then demonstarted his “robotic boat” in Madison Square Garden in 1898 . In a recent Herreshoff Marine Museum News (electronic version) there was a note. It stated “Some recent highlights include a set of tools used for building and rigging pond yachts dating to the 1920s…” The editorial staff of The Model Yacht will be following up on this to try and provide more information. 4 Summer 2018 The Model Yacht Event Schedule July 27 – 28, 2018……………….American Marblehead National Championship Regatta, Chicago, IL September 9 – 14, 2018. . . . . . . . . Build Your Own Plank Constructed Pond Yacht, WoodenBoat School, Brooklin, ME October 18, 2018 (opens). . . . . . Lighter, Stronger, Faster: The Herreshoff Legacy MIT Hart Nautical Museum 265 Massachusetts Avenue, Building N51 Cambridge, MA October 18 – 21, 2018………..Vintage Mini Race Week, Redd’s Pond, Marblehead, MA Hosted by the Marblehead Model Yacht Club (MMYC) October 18 – 19, 2018….US Vintage Model Yacht Group (USVMYG) V36 / VM National Championship Regatta October 20, 2018………..Bill Bithell Cup, Vintage Marblehead Event October 21, 2018………..Chowder Cup; an All Boat Event April 27, 2019……………………Vintage Invitational, Conservatory Waters, Central Park, New York, NY Hosted by the Central Park Model Yacht Club. 2019 Vintage Race Week (TBD)…25th Anniversary Event, Marsh Creek State Park, Downingtown, PA All US VMYG supported classes Hosted by Chester Springs Model Yacht Club NOTES: • The US VMYG would like to identify and post the dates of events as soon as possible. If you are interested in hosting one of these events please contact Nick Mortgu at mortgu@comcast.net or (609) 820-0509. • The US VMYG encourages regional vintage events as well. Give it a go, get like minded individuals together and lets us know about. We will publicize the event. • Watch our website for additions and changes to this schedule: http://www.usvmyg.org/ • If you are aware of other noteworthy events lets us know so we can post them. VINTAGE MINI RACE WEEK – October 18 – 21, 2018 • October 18 – 19, 2018 – US Vintage Model Yacht Group (US VMYG) V36 / VM National Championship Regatta • October 20, 2018 – Bill Bithell Cup, Vintage Marblehead Event • October 21, 2018 – Chowder Cup; an All Boat Event Hosted by the Marblehead Model Yacht Club (MMYC), Redd’s Pond, Marblehead, MA NOR at: https://usvmyg.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/2018VintageNOR.pdf 5 Summer Summer 20182018 The Model Yacht How Ya Gonna Keep Them Down On The Farm? By Bruce Richter It’s 1919. World War 1 is finally over. Young American soldiers and sailors are returning from Europe full of hope and enamored with the bright lights of the big cities they’d passed through on their way back to the corn fields and feed silos of rural America. But what’s this? Things back home aren’t looking quite so attractive anymore? Hmmm…. group’s funds to a potential tipping point. And this as at a time when the officers are looking for ways of decreasing dues. Let’s face it, at some point we may need to bite the bullet and decide that Lifers receiving the printed version will need to pay an additional fee. Which brings us to some of the tough questions – and I’m not proposing answers, just an open discussion: • Would Lifetime Members who want to receive the printed black and white versions be willing to pay an additional amount per year just like everyone else? • Are any and all members willing to pay an extra amount per year to receive a printed color copy? • Should we maintain our stance that if you want a color version, you’ll either need to print it at home or take the pdf file to your local Kinkos or Staples and have them print up a copy? Recognizing this cultural shift, Joe Young and Sam M. Lewis sit down and write a smash hit that captures the verterans’ sentiments: “How Ya Gonna Keep Them Down On The Farm After They’ve Seen Paree.” Fast-forward 99 years. A US VMYG member who’s been quite happy getting his black and white printed verstion of The Model Yacht checks his email. A digital pdf version of the newly formatted Winter 2018 edition of our newsletter is waiting in his in-box. He opens it, then prints a copy in color!! He shows his color print to another member. Other members follow suit. Oh boy… The flood-gates open. The emails begin pouring into John Stoudt: “Can’t we get hard copies of the color newsletter instead of just the digital color versions?” “Why can’t we get printed color copies in the U.S. mail instead of the black and white?” “I used up an entire green ink cartridge printing it!” “I’d like a color copy in print but don’t see why we should have to pay more for it.” Meanwhile, it costs twice as much to print the color as the black and white. I’m not saying a change is immanent. I’m just bringing up the financial realities of our current situation. Yes, the newsletter printed in color looks great. When talking about promoting our vintage group to members of the American Model Yacht Association, AMYA President Ray Seta said that our boats need to be shown in color to bring them alive. It reminds me of back in the day when NBC announced “In Living Color” and the next-door neighbors went out and spent their hard-earned on the first color TV on the block. Every Sunday evening, we’d all rush over to their place to watch The Wonderful World ofDisney. “Wow!” There was no turning back. We’d seen Paree! And that’s on top of the ongoing conundrum of “Lifetime Members” who want the black and white printed version mailed to them without needing to pay any annual dues. Granted, that was the whole idea of paying a one-time Lifetime Member dues fee of $125 pay that and you’re good for life. Unfortunately, this sounds good in theory but it’s been draining our The problem is, it often comes at a cost. 6 Summer Summer 20182018 The Model Yacht 23rd Annual Bill Full Memorial Cup VM Regatta Report By John Snow As the fleet converges, CliffMartin’s #1040 Magic Dragon High Flyer VM leads Jim Linville’s #151 Madcap Traditional VM Pat Butterworth photo Four Traditional (1930–1945) and five High Flyer (1946–1970) VM designs competed. This was under light southwest breeze with temperatures in the mid70s. A shortened course was used to avoid residual floating algae that required two throw-out races per skipper. Rick Gates was the Scorekeeper with myself as the Race Director. Nine VM skippers competed in 12 race heats Saturday, June 9, in the 23rd Bill Full Memorial Cup VM Regatta at Redd’s Pond in Marblehead, MA. It recognizes Bill Bithell’s 50-year commitment to the sport of model yachting from 1946 to 1995 and his special affection for M 50-800 Class model yachts. 7 Summer Summer 20182018 The Model Yacht An Observation: The prevailing light winds demonstrated to all the inherent boat speed ofTraditional VM designs with shorter waterlines and lower weights compared with. High Flyer models with taller sail rigs and deeper, heavier keels. The top three skippers raced Traditional boats. Results Traditional Fleet Jim Linville with his 1930s Madcap (infamous “Pink Burrito”) clearly beat John Storrow (Madcap) and Alain Jousse (1937 Cheerio II) with five first-place finishes. High Flyer Fleet Tom Hayden with his late 1960s Soling 50 VM boat was the High Flyer winner in very close racing with Biff Martin’s 1960s UK design (an ex-free sail, vane model) and Cliff Martin’s late 1960s Magic Dragon: only three points separated these skippers. Tom also won the perpetual Full Memorial Cup as 2018 was designated for the High Flyer fleet on a rotational basis. Trophies Marblehead nautical chart award plaques with Redd’s Pond highlighted were from Tod Johnstone of Mystic, CT for six skippers—the top three in each fleet. 8 Jim Linville’s “Pink Burrito” Madcap VM Pat Butterworth photo Summer 2018 The Model Yacht Can’t we all just get along? Evidently, yes. Central Park Model Yacht Club Vintage Invitational Report By Bruce Richter Chris DeMarco Photo The weather cooperated beautifully, thank you very much. The sun lit up the wooden decks of the vintage fleet and really made the hull and sail colors pop. The throngs of Central Park onlookers and passers-by were stopped dead in their tracks. We even had a little wind! (It’s always fun to watch visiting skippers shrug in resignation as the wind-shifts take them from a close haul to a beam reach to a broad reach to a close reach to irons. All before rounding the first buoy.) A fleet of light, nimble, state of the art International One Metres (IOMs) racing head-to-head with a fleet of vintage heavyweights, some dating back to the first half of the last century: sounds like a recipe for disaster, no? Well that was the scene Saturday April 20th when skippers from six states converged on Conservatory Water in New York City for Central Park Model Yacht Club’s “Vintage Invitational”, an event that’s become an annual spring thing. 9 Summer 2018 The Model Yacht “All Clear” We started out with a fleet of 10 to 12 vintage yachts on the water ranging from VM’s and 36’s to older V32’s. Richard McOrman’s scale Hinkley was a reproduction of the one he sailed on as a child with his family. Jon Elmaleh’s Rip Tide with the yellow and green sails was the one he built and raced successfully as a 14 year old. And John Stoudt’s vintage catamaran was a show-stopper. After about an hour, a few of the CPMYC members got a bit restless and asked if they could put their IOM’s in. Since we weren’t scoring, we said “Why not!” Within 15 minutes we had at least 17 boats on the water ranging in size from S-XL. The color palette put Central Park’s blooming buds to shame. The age range of the boats was 84 years. The age range of the skippers was…OK, we won’t go there. And everyone seemed to respect their fellow skippers, giving a little extra breathing room rounding the marks and when passing each other in opposite directions. Actually, I think the IOM guys were haunted by the prospect of an “HMS Dreadnought vs. U-29” scenario! “Whoopsie, I think my li’l ole VM just bisected your BritPop.” But not only was disaster avoided, people from both fleets hit it off and had a great time – on the water, around the perimeter, and in the boathouse. Richard McOrmond photo John Stoudt’s Catamaran 10 Chris DeMarco photo Summer 2018 The Model Yacht A few ofthe skippers Judy Bonano photo And if you didn’t make it to Central Park, check out all of Judy Bonanno’s photos from this year’s event and see what you missed: https://judybonanno.smugmug.com/Central-ParkModel-Yatch-Vintage-Invitational/ In the end, it was a fantastic day of sailing, schmoozing, and excellent PR for USVMYG, CPMYC, NYC and Conservatory Water. In fact, it went so well we’re already laying the groundwork for next year’s “CPMYC Vintage Invitational” which will take place in late April. 11 Judy Bonano photo Summer 2018 The Model Yacht 12 Summer 2018 The Model Yacht The US VMYG Boat Yard By Jim Linville The Boat Yard will be a regular feature of The Model Yacht and the US VMYG website at https://usvmyg.org/category/boat-yard/. It is a place where members can share information about model yachts (and other related items) that they wish to sell or trade. It is a communication vehicle and should not be considered as advertising. “Other related items” can be almost anything related to model yachting: tools, electronics, building materials, parts and pieces, etc. The US VMYG does not endorse any transaction made as a result of posting here, and we will not accept responsibility. Buyer beware! Seller beware! Know who you’re dealing with. These are amateur listings. Confirm the buyer or seller’s name, street address, and telephone number. With that said, my job is to help you prepare your information for the website as best as I can, and here’s what I need from you to post something. To post, please supply as much of the following information as possible: 1. What is it that you want to sell and its condition (class and numbers if applicable). 2. A list of optional equipment that will be included, rigs, electronics, stands, etc. 3. The price. 4. Its location and transportation options or “for local pick up only”. 5. A high-resolution electronic photograph of the main object (more than one is better). 6. Your contact info, email, phone number. I’ve been seriously building and sailing model yachts for more than 40 years, and I’m often surprised by what I see in my fellow model builders’ shops. Who knows what will pop up here? 13 Summer 2018 The Model Yacht A tribute — John Snow John Snow is an expert on the history of our hobby/sport who collects classic model yachts and designs. He is the founder of the US Vintage Model Yacht Group (US VMYG) and has been president since its inception. He joined the American Model Yachting Association (AMYA) in the 1980s and has been a long time member of the Marblehead Model Yacht Club. He has served as an officer of the club many times. The Marblehead Model Yacht Club is the oldest model yacht club in the US and is the home of the Marblehead Class. Living in Salem, MA, he has worked with the Marblehead Historical Society and Library, mostly on projects relating to classic model yachting. John has also been an active J Class and Vintage Marblehead skipper and has participated in and supported numerous J Class and VM events. John has been known to hand over his transmitter to onlookers at pond side and give them sailing guidance. He will offer coaching and building assistance to bring the neophyte into the club and make that new skipper a better sailor. Photo courtesy ofAMYA Seaport, the Herreshoff Marine Museum, and The America’s Cup Hall of Fame. John has spent hundreds of hours bringing exposure to model yachting. This included shows such as the WoodenBoat Show in 1997; the Mystic Seaport Model Yacht Regattas between 2000 and 2008; the biennial Woods Hole Model Yacht Show; the 2004 model yacht exhibit at the Museum ofYachting, the largest model yacht exhibit ever held in the USA; and the 2007 Celebration of the 75th Anniversary of the Marblehead Class. John has been a leader in organizing and promoting the US VMYG as a way to expose model yachting and AMYA to the general public and influential fullscale yachting and boating organizations. Since the 100th anniversary of the Marblehead Model Yacht Club in 1994, he has organized major public events that promote model yachting. John’s work has led to strong ties between AMYA and WoodenBoat Magazine (including the WoodenBoat Shows and the WoodenBoat School), the International Yacht Restoration School, the Museum ofYachting, Mystic The US VMYG and its members owe a huge debt of gratitude to John for his vision and years of service to the group and model yachting in general. 14 Summer 2018 The Model Yacht Vintage Plans By Ivor Walton Meanwhile Jim Flach was setting up the website to receive the digitized plans. If you roll over “Boats & Stuff” in our website’s top main navigation menu, a drop-down will offer several options. Click on “Plans” and in the right column you will see a list of “Plan Classes” (Fig.1). Each brings up a separate page for each model yacht class, and each plan on the page would be listed with the boat name, a short description, and a thumbnail view of the plan. One of the big changes in the new US VMYG website is the process for ordering model yacht plans. John Stoudt asked me in late 2017 if I would undertake the task and I agreed. It sounded like an interesting project. There were several goals for improvement: ● Make more plans available for purchase. ● Provide an image of each plan so that the buyer can see exactly what the plan looks like before buying it. ● Simplify the purchase and delivery process. ● Eliminate the need for mailing paper copies to customers. ● Eliminate checks as payment for plans. With the help of our webmaster, Jim Flach, we put together a process to achieve these goals. I first gathered all the existing plans from our Historian, Earl Boebert. I then found a professional CAD company, who also specialized in scanning and printing, to scan the plans. I initially tried a local office supply store, but the quality was poor. Straight lines were not straight, curved lines were not smooth and dimensioned lengths were not accurate. The professional CAD company solved all those problems, and I started to scan the plans to produce digital files in PDF format. Fig. 1. Hi Flyer VM class page. Click on the thumbnail to see a study plan. Click on “Add to Cart” to select. 15 Summer 2018 The Model Yacht a full-size print made. This step-by-step process is explained in detail on the first page of the “Plans” section (https://usvmyg.org/boats/plans/). Clicking on the thumbnail brings up a screen-sized view of the plan; additional sheets on a multi-sheet plan can be viewed by scrolling down. Fig. 3. When you click on “Add to Cart”, the item appears in the shopping cart on the right side of screen. We currently have a few plans online for the more popular classes, and I will continue to add more as we move forward. Eventually I am planning to include plans for all of the US VMYG classes. John Stoudt has additional sources for plans that will add significantly to our database. Fig. 2. The Study Plan When you have selected a plan to purchase all you have to do is click the “Add to Cart” button and the selection will appear on the right hand side of the page (Fig.3). All the plans are $15.00 regardless of size or how many sheets there are. The process continues by transferring you to PayPal to complete the purchase. Once payment is complete, you will receive an email receipt with link(s) to retrieve the purchased plan. Once you have the file, transfer it to a flash drive or CD and take it to your local office supply store to have If you have a plan that you think should be included in our database send me an email with a description of the plan, and we can see about getting it digitized and put on-line. You can reach me, Ivor Walton, at modelyachtplans@comcast.net. Barnacle ● You need a really big servo (high torque) for a large schooner you’re building? Servo City makes great gear train servo packages with a 7:1 ratio that delivers over 1,000 in-oz of torque. You don’t want your finger in the boat when that baby comes around. 16 Summer 2018 The Model Yacht Catamarans Big and Small: Part 1 – The Early Origins By T.J. Perrotti Those onboard the sandbaggers laughed and chastised with ridicule. With confidence in the nimbleness of their craft, their experienced skill, they could only roll their eyes at the bug-like, twin-hulled monster that had showed up on their territory. Americans were celebrating 100 years of US independence. It was June 23, 1876; the winds were light, and dozens of vessels had commenced racing in New York Harbor in the Centennial Regatta, where open (nonfully-decked) sailboats competed for fame, glory, bragging rights … but no cash. The Regatta was organized by the United States Centennial Commission using a New York Yacht Club (NYYC) Rating Rule to divide various classes of boats. in the beamy, centerboard-keel oyster fishing boats that had the shallow shores of New York Harbor. With speed (rather than seafood) as their target prize, the sandbaggers evolved to carry huge swaths of rigged canvas that spanned twice the length of the hull. Hired, professional crew were kept busy: stability sufficient to balance the powerful sail plan was achieved by moving bags of sand and gravel from side to side and to windward through each tack. “The regatta today, the second ofthe series given under the auspices ofthe Centennial Committee, will afford on exhibition ofspeed and seamanship that cannot be excelled by any other country in the world. Thirty-five yachts, all rating under fifteen tons, only three ofwhich are cabin boats, will compete in the regatta; and as ten or twelve ofthem are new, having been built especially for this race, it will be interesting to observe whether the latest models are an improvement on those ofpast years. … The yachts will sail twice around a course, starting from offthe New York Yacht Club House, and a good view can be had ofthe race from the Staten Island shore. ” (New York Herald, June 23, 1876) The bug-like monster was Amaryllis, a near 25-ft gaffrigged twin-hulled catamaran that had been conceived, designed, built, and sailed by the yet-to-be-recognized “wizard of Bristol” Nathanael Greene Herreshoff … in the days when sailing catamarans were very few and far between. At 28 years of age, Herreshoff had sailed his vessel down from Rhode Island specifically to “have a go” at the famed New York racing craft. In the mid-nineteenth century, New York’s small boat racing scene was dominated by sandbaggers. Typically 20 to 30 ft in length, the sandbaggers had their origins 17 Summer 2018 The Model Yacht On the race course, with wispy winds, the sandbaggers pushed ahead with a commanding early lead. By the first course mark, Amaryllis trailed then-leader Pluck and Luck by over three minutes, and then even more, as the “slow in stays” catamaran struggled to come-about or tack across the prevailing wind direction. own terminology (“life raft”, “cigars”) and explanations for the success of the twin-hulled oddity. Like Monday morning quarterbacking, suggestions for improvement were rampant: the hulls should be flattened outboard; the hulls should be flattened inboard; add more profile rake; straighten the stem to be plumb. The public thrived in playing the role of designer, and yet … But midway through the race, the wind increased, and the catamaran was energized to show her true speed potential. As the sandbaggers struggled to maintain stability in the freshening breeze, Amaryllis began to pass the other boats alongside the Long Island shore, plucking off her competitors one by one. If Herreshoff was unable to point high enough to pass a boat to windward, Amaryllis would dive off to leeward and use the catamaran’s speed to sail right through the other boat’s dirty air. She sailed steadily and at ease with herself and the prevailing windy conditions. At race’s end, the twin-hulled oddity had trounced second-place Susie S by seven minutes, and the famous Pluck and Luck by over twenty. Guns and steamer whistles saluted Amaryllis’ victory. The actual designer was silent …for quite some time … “During the summer of 1876 I had many applications for a description and plan of the Amaryllis, to all of which I turned a deafened ear. I chose to wait until such a time when I could faithfully lay before the public a full account of the Amaryllis and my ideas on double boats generally, ideas which had some practical basis and proved by actual experiment.” (N.G. Herreshoff, April 16, 1877, letter to The New York Herald) Nathanael Greene Herreshoff was born on March 18, 1848 in Bristol, RI, the youngest of three brothers. Mechanically adept, he graduated from the Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology in 1870 with a three-year degree in engineering. Upon graduation, he took a position with the Corliss Steam Engine Company in Providence, RI. From youth to adulthood, the waters of Bristol and Narragansett Bay were Nat’s playground, as he sailed and experimented extensively with ideas and innovations that endlessly pervaded his thoughts. But it wasn’t without controversy … Several feather-ruffled racers felt duped, and the captain of Clara S filed a formal protest, attesting that Amaryllis was “neither a yacht nor a boat” and did not fully conform to the NYYC rules of outfit and accommodations (though the Rules at that time were rather vague and ambiguous). The Race Committee met behind closed doors, away from shouting sailors and inquisitive reporters. The Committee’s ensuing ruling had the New York newspapers buzzing for days and days to come: Amaryllis’ unexpected and glorious win was ruled null and void, and instead (as a measure of diplomacy in a heated yachting environment) she was issued “a diploma and a certificate that she had attained the highest speed ever made by a vessel of her length.” (The New York Herald, June 25, 1876) “In the fall of 1875 I was thinking and thinking how to get great speed out of single-hulled boats, of the kind in common use. To get great speed, thought I, one must have great power, one must have a great sail, you must have something to hold it up, and that something must be large and wide, and have a large sectional surface, and also a great deal of frictional surface. These properties in a hull to give stability are not compatible with attaining great speed. Indeed, the more one tries to make a stiff, able hull the less speed will be attained, even if corresponding additions are made to the sail. The press loved the action and controversy. Armchair sailors from across town chimed in with their “expert” opinions as to what made Amaryllis tick, coining their 18 Summer 2018 The Model Yacht So then, there are two important principles of speed which constantly work against each other. If we increase the power to get more speed we must increase the stability of the hull correspondingly. An increased hull has more resistance, both from sectional area and surface friction. So what we would gain one way we must lose in the other. Well, a boat must have width, and the wider she is, generally speaking, the more stable she will be. But a wide boat cannot have great speed, [even if you] apply what power you will to her. So the next thing that is to be done is to decrease the sectional area and, in a measure, retain stability; the boat would have power to lift at a distance each side of the keel, where it would do great work. I kept on following this principle, getting the keel higher and higher, until by and by the keel came out of the water, when, lo and behold, there was the double boat! Nothing else to be done but take a saw and split her in two, spread it apart a little way, and cover all with a deck, and there you are! That was the rough road which I travelled, and having arrived thus far I abandoned my ill-shaped hulls, and in their place substituted two long, narrow, very light boats and connected them at the bow, stern and middle.” (N.G. Herreshoff, April 16, 1877, letter to The New York Herald) With the general idea for his catamaran innovation planted firmly in his mind, Herreshoff took to the water in 1875 to experiment, initially, with a 3-ft working prototype model made of paper and wood, and later, with the evolving Amaryllis itself. The model cat had two masts, each positioned over a respective hull, and jointed at the top in a triangular configuration. Between these, a single gaff sail was spread on spars, with a portion of the sail projecting forward of the dual-mast frame. A single rudder was mounted to a steering vane. Herreshoff was astounded the first time he put the model prototype in the water. “I had all I could do to catch her in a twelve foot row boat, rowing with all my strength.” With this excitement in hand, the stage was set for Herreshoff to take and his develop his concept in larger scale. Herreshoff (who at the time was working for the Corliss Steam Engine Company in Providence) built Amaryllis with his brother John B. Herreshoff in Bristol, RI over the winter of 1875-1876. Amaryllis was first launched in May of 1876. Her hulls were 24 ft 10 in LOA, with raked bows and sterns. Each hull was symmetric and identical, with a 20-in beam on deck and an 18-in waterline beam. The hulls were placed 13 ft centerline-to-centerline and connected by three jointed beams. Here, Herreshoff had careful thinking: “The boats must be far enough apart, so that the water, which they displace in moving, will not crowd against them on the inside. To hold them apart at such a distance rigidly would be difficult, and not only difficult but useless; indeed, just exactly the thing which should not be done. So the A monohull (1). Increasing the beam increases stability (2). Raise the keel to fore tie beam and the after tie beam reduce the sectional area (3) until the keel was completely out ofthe water (4). must be connected to the hulls by Drawing by Francois Chevalier universal joints. 19 Summer 2018 The Model Yacht version had two sails: a conventional gaff-rigged mainsail, and a jib, with a single mast stepped on the central longitudinal beam, and was essentially Amaryllis in her configuration that competed in the 1876 Centennial Regatta. The main beam in the center must be joined to the hulls in such a manner as to give them freedom in a slight lateral motion, for it will be seen that if the bow of one of the boats pitches she must pitch in a circle round a center, and in doing that, the two hulls are drawn bodily together, slightly, to be sure, but enough to pull them to pieces if provision is not made for it.” (N.G. Herreshoff, April 16, 1877, letter to The New York Herald) Herreshoff was quite pleased with Amaryllis in this form, especially with the articulating motion of the two hulls in a seaway. “The motions of the Amaryllis in sailing are of the most animated description. The hulls, which are always free to pitch and follow the form of the waves, make the greatest possible use of the joints, showing at once the efficacy of this attachment.” He continued on with his accolades: “… one rarely gets wet with spray. Her careening also is so little that it may be scarcely noticed – a quality appreciated by the ladies. Indeed, sailing in the catamaran is an entirely new sensation, and it has everything as a recreation to recommend it.” Yup, Nat’s innovation was wooing the ladies! But it was purely for daytime fun. “For extended cruising, where one lives on board, the catamaran is not adapted. There might be some accommodation afforded by tents upon the deck, but the true field for the catamaran is for an afternoon sail, or a short cruise in one of our beautiful bays – those heavenly gifts that everywhere indent our coast.” Attached to the trio of athwartships beams was central longitudinal beam that supported a helmsman platform, a single rudder (on the platform, midway between the hulls), and various cables and stays supporting the rig. When Amaryllis was first launched, she was rigged like the prototype model. After initial sea trials, however, Herreshoff was not fully pleased. The single lateen sail was difficult to trim and steer when hard on the wind and offered little “telltale feedback” to the helmsman. Further, the boat lumbered when coming about through the wind during a tack. Fortunately, Mother Nature stepped in with a helping hand: a strong Bristol southwesterly gust parted the backstay, and, as the boat was screaming along at 18 mph (Herreshoff’s estimate), the rig came crashing down! The incident proved fortuitous; Herreshoff thought through the sea trail lessons learned and fully redesign the rig. The rebuilt Fig. 1. Plan View. US Patent No. 189, 459 20 Summer 2018 The Model Yacht Fig. 2. Central cross-section. US Patent No. 189, 459 Confident in the merits ofAmaryllis and his catamaran sailboat form, Herreshoff filed for a US Patent of the innovation on March 20, 1877 and was issued US Patent No. 189,459 on April 10, 1877 entitled “Improvement in the Construction of Sailing Vessels”. In the patent, Herreshoff describes the overall configuration of his catamaran, with much detail attributed to the mechanical stay and joint systems inherent in the craft. In the patent, Herreshoff describes the overall configuration of his catamaran, with much detail attributed to the mechanical stay and joint systems inherent in the craft. In his revealing 1877 letter to The New York Herald, Herreshoff acknowledges published press comparisons between his twin-hulled craft and those used commonly by natives in the South Pacific island nations. He quickly debunks any such engineering overlap: “… any comparison drawn between the catamaran of the Southern Seas and the Amaryllis is wholly inappropriate … I fancy there was no intention in the minds of the savages in building the catamaran to attain any high speed or seaworthy qualities, but they were rather compelled by necessity to build that style of craft because of the material given them.” 21 Summer 2018 The Model Yacht Following the rave success ofAmaryllis in New York in 1876, and the issuance of a US Patent in 1877, Herreshoff opted to take a leave of absence from the Corliss Company and devoted his efforts full time to the for-profit (he hoped) production of a series of nextgeneration catamarans built in Bristol with brother John B. and a small crew of shipwrights. In the patent, Herreshoff depicts a generationally improved craft with dual rudders, one attached to the stern of each hull. Further, the mechanics of the steering system are configured in amanner where the port and starboard rudders rotate through different angles, depending upon whether they are on the inside or outside of a port or starboard turn. “In turning a double boat, one hull necessarily makes a shorter turn or describes a curve of less radius than the other. This requires that the rudders of the two boats should be turned to unequal extents, the boat which is the inside one, or nearest the center of the curvature, having its rudder turned to the greatest angle. Herreshoff’s innovative cross-linked steering system accomplished this while being controlled by a single, intuitive tiller. During 1877 and 1878, the Herreshoff and his team designed and built Tarantella, Arion, Teaser, and John Gilpin (see Fig. 6), each generally similar in form and although each somewhat different in overall size. Every effort was made to make each boat ultralightweight in construction and fit-out, enhancing sailing performance. Fig. 3. The John Gilpin 22 Summer 2018 The Model Yacht Quoted costs for each boat were in the $750 to $1000 range, though upon successful completion, Herreshoff noted that there was little margin for profit. “They should have been $1100 or $1200,” he commented later… Woo the ladies … and make a profit! The Wizard of Bristol had just begun. The Patent Model. The model is in the HerreshoffMuseum Collection, The photographer is unknown. 23 Summer 2018 The Model Yacht Speaking of Batteries… Article and all photos by John Henderson We all probably have a love/hate relationship with our batteries. We need them, we have our favorites, and they bring on bad language when they fail. Before we assign blame to old battery packs, to different manufacturers, or to different battery types, let’s be sure we are using them appropriately and caring for them properly. make 6 V, which seems to be the design point for most receivers and servos. Four alkaline batteries make a convenient pack. Alkaline batteries have at least one serious drawback—they are not good for high current applications, such as swing-arm sail controls. Restating this more technically, they have high internal resistance. As R/C modelers, we are familiar with at least four battery chemistries: alkaline, nickel–metal hydride (NiMH), nickel–cadmium (NiCd), and lithium-based batteries (lithium ion, lithium polymer, lithium iron). I am not going to discuss NiCd. Some decades back it was the only rechargeable technology available to us, but I believe that all of the other choices available now are superior in terms of energy density (the amount of charge stored per weight) and, perhaps especially, the lack of the “memory” effect that is associated with NiCd (repeated partial discharges result in loss of capacity). Here is what that means: All of us have probably seen somewhere the fundamental equation that relates voltage, current, and resistance: Voltage = Current x Resistance Resistance inside the battery thus reduces the voltage available at the battery output terminals. In what follows, I will try to present the pros, cons, and general utility of the different battery technologies for R/C model applications. Alkaline These are easily available everywhere and relatively inexpensive, at least for initial purchase. They are not rechargeable, however, so costs go up if you discharge them quickly or change them frequently “just in case”. When not being used, they hold their charge quite well, so they are good for spur-ofthe-moment sailing excursions. Alkaline battery cells each put out a nominal 1.5 volts (V), so four of them stacked in the usual series configuration Fig. 1. Schematic drawing ofbattery with internal resistance and attached load. 24 Summer 2018 The Model Yacht although you should use a charger specific to this technology. A smart charger will taper down to a trickle when the battery is fully charged, but it is probably not a good idea to leave batteries on charge longer than necessary. Some chargers indicate how many milliamp-hours (mAhr) they put into the battery to bring it to full charge, and this is a useful indication of how close you came to depleting the battery in its last outing. When we use an alkaline battery to power a large servo, the servo’s high current must pass through the internal resistance, so the output voltage is reduced. This is much more than an academic observation. In the usual case where four alkaline batteries would be connected in series to create a 6-V supply, the output voltage might be reduced to a level where the receiver becomes erratic, especially if the batteries are not fresh. Do your controls get “funny” on a windy day? Do you have better control downwind than upwind? If you are using alkaline batteries, they might be the culprit. Lithium-Based Batteries The three types available to us are lithium-ion batteries, lithium-ion polymer batteries (LiPO), and lithium iron phosphate batteries (LiFePO4). These batteries have even higher energy density (charge stored per weight) than NiMH batteries. Your experience may vary for a variety of reasons (friction in the sail controls, initial stability of the model), but I think sail areas greater than about 600 in2 should have batteries with technologies other than alkaline. Lithium Polymer Batteries (LiPo) The nominal LiPO cell voltage is about 3.7 V. This means that a single cell is inadequate to power our usual receivers and servos. A two-cell LiPO pack generates about 7.4 V, which may be too much for the usual receivers and servos. The problem is easily solved for receivers and small servos by using a “Battery Eliminator Circuit” (BEC), which is a voltage regulator that reduces the 7.4 V (or other supply voltage) to whatever voltage is comfortable for the receiver (usually about 6 V). Most BECs will not handle enough current to power a swing-arm servo controlling any significant sail area. Since the whole purpose of using a high capacity battery is to power the sail servo, you must make sure that your servo will indeed handle a 7.4-V supply if you use LiPOs. Some, but by no means all, servos will accept voltages higher than 6 V. Nickel–Metal Hydride (NiMH) NiMH batteries are capable of supplying much higher current without significant voltage drop, so they give more satisfactory results in situations of high current draw. I have used them in large-ish scale or vintage models (5–6 ft) with at least 1600 in2 of sail area. In these cases, I used two sail control swing-arm servos. I confess that I do not use these models in high winds, but that reflects my own cowardice, not a battery limitation. NiMH batteries can also power the Vintage R/C Skipjack class at ~1300 in2 of sail area. A swingarm servo without added gearing in this application may not be powerful enough in strong winds, but that is a servo problem, not a battery problem. In these models, I think a 2000-mAhr pack is sufficient for about 2–3 h of sailing, but an all-day race series in strong winds would probably require charging or replacement of batteries. There have been many spectacular fires resulting from misuse of LiPO batteries during charging or discharging. Lithium burns at an extremely high temperature, and generally the fire cannot be extinguished with water. These batteries should be charged only with a specific LiPO charger. Multiple cell battery packs desirably allow the charger to monitor individual cells during the charging process. NiMH battery cells have a nominal voltage of about 1.2 V. Therefore, a pack that generates 6 V must have five cells. Using only a four-cell NiMH pack at 4.8 V might be possible, but it is usually not recommended. If you are fanatical about weight, the five-cell NiMH pack compared with four alkaline cells might cause angst. There are no special charging anxieties with NiMH, 25 Summer 2018 The Model Yacht In my opinion, LiPO batteries are well suited for R/C car and go-fast motorboats, whose motors are generally designed around 7-V or higher supplies (e.g., six-cell NiMH or two- or more-cell LiPOs) and whose speed controllers generally include a BEC function to power the receiver and (low current) rudder servo. I am not sure that LiPO is necessary for R/C sailboats with swing-arm servos, especially for relatively large ones like the typical Vintage model where a few extra ounces for NiMH is inconsequential. Sail controls with geared drives may have motors that benefit from larger voltages, for which LiPOs may be appropriate. The servo that drives the switches on these sail controllers may need a 6-V source for power. – Switch with charging leads (the unattached pigtail connector at the bottom center of the picture). – Large sail control servo, operating at 6 V (this could be a winch or drum if preferred). – Smaller rudder servo. Lithium Iron Batteries (LiFePO4) The nominal LiFePO4 cell voltage is usually given as 3.3 V. Therefore, a two-cell pack provides a nominal 6.6 V, which is somewhat above the stated 6 V specifications for receivers and servos. LiFePO4 battery manufacturers say that this “typically does not require a regulator.” They are probably right, but I think that caution is warranted for any operation outside specified ranges. Specifically for our application, I do not know the consequences for operating sail servos (with high load and therefore high current) at a higher-than-specified supply voltage. On the positive side, LiFePO4 batteries are claimed to be safer than LiPO batteries. Fig. 2. Electronics for a two-channel boat How It All Gets Connected Fig. 2 shows the radio parts connected as they would be installed in a two-channel boat. I have used exactly this setup in boats up to about Skipjack Class size (~4’ LOD, ~1300 in2 of sail, 22.5 lb displacement). For larger boats, I would use a second, separate sail servo for the jib(s), but the battery pack would be the same. The particular product brands are matters of personal preference and part availability. The salient points in the figure are: ● ● Digital transmitter/receiver modulation, which eliminates the crystal frequency and interference issues of the past. Five-cell, 2000-mAhr battery pack. A key point is that all of this operates at 6 V, and there is no BEC. Therefore, the battery and both servos can be plugged directly into the receiver connector terminal row. Since there is no BEC, there is no need for a separate or special connection to the sail servo, even though it draws high current. It can plug directly into the receiver. 26 If your sail control (or any other component, such as a motor) requires a voltage greater than 6 V and you want to power everything from that larger battery, then you must use a BEC. The function of a BEC is to reduce this higher voltage and then supply the reduced voltage Summer 2018 The Model Yacht to the receiver and any servos that operate at 6 V (e.g., the rudder). A BEC, however, usually has limited current capability, so you must not power a large sail servo from a BEC. reduction to 6 V. The BEC could either be a separate device or built into the receiver, so follow instructions supplied with your particular device. Fig. 3 shows a typical “Y” harness that must be used if you have a BEC. Also shown is the instruction sheet that accompanies the harness. The intent seems to be that the servo can be powered from its own 6-V source (allowing for high current), while the rest of the system (receiver/rudder) can be powered through the BEC, which presumably derives its power from some higher voltage source. To make the case that a reasonably large model can be managed with a thought-out but modest battery installation, I present an example—chosen, necessarily, from my own small fleet of vintage models. It is a semi-scale model of the America’s Cup gaff-rigged cutter Columbia, the defender in 1899 and 1901 (Fig.4). The model dimensions are: A Moderately Demanding Application ● ● ● ● ● ● LOD: 60 in LOA (including bowsprit and main boom): ~6.5 ft LWL: 40 in Sail area: 2200 in2 Weight: ~19 lb, including 11 lb of lead ballast Scale: approximately 1:26 (carefully chosen to fit inside my compact SUV) Compared with proper scale size, all linear dimensions of the rig were reduced to 90%, meaning that the sail area was reduced to 81% of scale. I did this to get a Sail Area/Displacement ratio that was somewhere near reasonable (well, OK, close enough to see “reasonable” if you used binoculars in good light). Also, the draft was increased by about 1.75 in. As is evident from the above specifications, this model has a pretty large rig on a fairly light hull, and there is no added fin-and-bulb keel to improve stability. As expected, the model does well in light air and gets overpowered in heavier air unless the topsail is removed, which can be done easily. From what I have read, the prototype exhibited similar behavior. Fig. 3. “Y” harness and instruction sheet. For most of our applications where we have analog sail and rudder controls but no motor or any other device requiring high voltage, a BEC and a “Y” harness are not needed. A counter-example, however, might be some digital servos that operate at voltages higher than 6 V. In these cases, the digital servo would be supplied directly from the higher voltage source as shown in Fig. 3. The other terminal of the “Y” harness goes to the BEC for Of interest to an essay on battery demands is the fact that the boat, being narrow, has fairly low initial stability; it doesn’t take much wind to generate moderate angles of heel. Heeling the boat projects less sail area to the wind, which reduces the demands on the servos and battery. See Fig. 4 for an indication of the size of the rig and the initial stability of the hull. 27 Summer 2018 The Model Yacht Fig. 4. Columbia under sail others may expect more. I offer this data for reference in your own planning. The servo installation is shown in Fig. 5, where the bow of the boat is to the left. Both jibs are controlled by the servo on the left. The main is controlled by the servo on the right. Both swing arms are rigged for a 2:1 mechanical “disadvantage” (i.e., they pull in twice as much line as the distance that the arm moves). This two-servo arrangement allows good control of the directional balance of the boat, can be an aid in tacking, and makes the loads manageable with swingarm servos. The battery is a five-cell, 2000-mAhr NiMH pack. I have sailed the boat for 1.5–2 h in its maximum “comfortable” winds (probably not much more than 10 knots) and still had at least a third of the battery capacity remaining. I think this is reasonable, but Fig. 5. Columbia servo installation 28 Summer 2018 The Model Yacht Everything Old Is New Again! Resurrecting Vintage Designs with Digital Age Tools By Steve Deligan Many of us have wanted a vintage era boat, but could not find one. Several others have wanted to build their own boat, but couldn’t find laser-cut frames, plans, or construction manuals. And, some of us want our vintage boat to not actually be very “vintage”. I was all of those, and for the past three years have been busy resurrecting some older Marblehead designs using modern 3Dmodeling software. This has resulted, so far, in three sets of laser-cut frames that are now available to other builders (the Sun Wind HF, the Wampum VM, and the Rip Tide HF). The results have been very rewarding, and I’m excited that others are already building boats using these frames and construction manual. want to build some of these boats too, and the Vintage Marblehead fleets might grow by a boat or two. The boat that appealed to me most was Gus Lassel’s 1949 Marblehead Sun Daze, later called the Sun Wind. I’m calling my version the Sun Wind HF (HF for the ‘High Flyer’ division of the modern Vintage Marblehead rules). Several years ago, I wanted to build a vintage-era boat but was frustrated that no laser-cut frame kits or construction manuals were available. So I decided to make them myself. My hope was that if I could create high-quality, well-fitted laser-cut frames and a detailed, comprehensive construction manual, that others may Fig. 1. Original Sun Wind Lines 29 Summer 2018 The Model Yacht Changes to Original Designs enough, “Sketchup-Free®”. While I’ve not used it, it should be able to do almost everything you need to design frames for R/C boats. Because these boats were originally designed for freesailing, I had to make some adjustments for radio control. The interiors had to be opened enough to accommodate the R/C equipment. This necessitated the need to re-think keel design. Because the original plans only gave the external lines, not the interior design, I was free to make a more modern variation on the keel. The Process The first step was to import the original Sun Wind lines into the software. You really want the highest resolution image of the plans that you can find. When using a lowresolution image, you will inevitably have accuracy issues when you blow the image up to full size. When blown up, the lines on a low resolution image can be as much as a 0.25 in thick—much too wide to make accurate lines on a computer. A high quality electronic copy of the original lines was provided by Earl Boebert. I also redesigned the boat for the modern VM “High Flyer” rules by removing the skeg rudder and going with a deeper spade rudder and by extending the fin down to a 16-in draft. Materials and Parts The next step was to start to make the parts by tracing the outlines of all the frames and the keel profile. This ensured that I kept as closely as possible to the original shape of the boat. In designing these boats, I knew I had some advantages in materials that the original designers didn’t have. First, I knew I was going to be using epoxy and lightweight 1.4-oz. fiberglass to cover the hull. I also knew I was going to be using high strength hobby plywood for the frames and keel. This allowed me to make some variations without worrying that the structure wouldn’t hold, or that the fin would flex. I also knew that I was using modern, reliable R/C equipment. Then, and here’s where the magic of 3D software happens, you can move these various parts around in 3D space (vertically, horizontally, rotate, spin, flip, etc.) so that you build a digital boat. This is much more accurate than simply using the lines because the original designer was not usually able to accurately match every single point where a frame meets the keel. By modeling in 3D, you can see how well each frame matches with the keel. The default accuracy used in Sketchup was 1/64 in, but because of the way these applications work by “snapping” lines and points perfectly to each other, the accuracy was much closer than that. This is plenty accurate enough over the course of a large 50-in model, especially considering that the wood you will use to plank your boat will not be nearly that accurate and has natural variances in it. When building your real boat, you will sand (shape) much more than that off of the hull. Software Used There are many wonderful software applications out there that could be used to 3D-model a boat. The software that I primarily used was Sketchup Pro® by Trimble (It used to be a Google® product). It is very easy to learn, at least relative to other 3D-modeling applications. It isn’t perfect, and professional boat designers wouldn’t use it because it won’t model compound-curved hull surfaces well (you need an application like Rhino® or SolidWorks® that uses a magical thing called “NURBS” curves to smoothly model the hull’s surface). But since I was only modeling the frames and keel structures, Sketchup was my best option. You then adjust every digital frame to perfectly match the keel profile. In the 3D computer world, you can rotate the model, zoom in and out, and really eyeball the model for hull fairness very much like you would do with a physical model. For those interested in trying this yourself but don’t want to risk the money on 3D software, there is a free version of Sketchup available to use called, oddly 30 The Model Yacht Summer 2018 The Keel and Fin The keels on these boats, at least in the center of the boat, are built up from many layers of laminated plywood instead of being carved from solid wood in the traditional way. The keel weighs slightly more than solid wood, and yet it is many times stronger, which allows for the keel to be reduced in size. It also allows for the fin to be completely incorporated into the keel. The keel needed to be strong, but it also couldn’t take up too much space in the interior. Just how much space was still unknown, so before I worked on the interior space, I started by modeling the servo tray, including the servos and the swing arm. The fin is also made from laminated plywood. The Sun Wind HF fin is six layers of 1/16-in plywood, and one core layer of ⅛-in plywood. When laminated, cured, and shaped, you cannot bend it. The entire fin is incorporated into the keel structure, and the entire keel, when laminated, forms a very strong keel/fin assembly. In this way, the fin is not a separate part that can come loose. It is an integral part of the main backbone. Making Parts Fit Fig. 2. Servo tray Once the main lines of the boat are completed and everything looks right, you then have to make the twodimensional lines into actual parts so that they can be cut on a laser cutter. You also want to make sure it all fits together. By doing this, I was able to fit the full servo tray into the 3D model and then adjust the top of the keel up to the bottom of the servo tray. The servo tray then mounts to the top of the keel. For the Sun Wind HF, the keel extends only about 2 in up into the interior of the hull. It is braced by three central frames of laminated ⅛-in 3-ply birch plywood (¼ in total thickness for each of the three center frames). Laminating with epoxy makes an incredibly strong frame. The frames are then slotted into the keel, and smaller keel-braces are laminated onto the outside of the frames to lock the keel into place. So far, the system has worked really well. Fig. 3. The Sun Wind HF For example; you now have to go through every frame and bring the outside edges inward ⅛ in to account for the thickness of the planking. You have to take the twodimensional shape of a frame and cut out the interior. You make slots in the frames and keel so that they all fit together perfectly. You have to extrude every part to a specific thickness; usually ⅛ in. In this way, you build the entire boat, part by part, except for the planking, in the computer in 3D space. It takes a great deal of time, but once done, the file can be used by anyone wishing to build one. 31 Fig. 4. Typical frame cut from 1/8″ 3-ply birch plywood. The outer frames are cut from 1/8″ Lite Ply® Summer 2018 The Model Yacht By recreating the boat in 3D this way, you can easily find where parts don’t fit. The laser cutter will cut to within 0.01-in accuracy, which is more accurate than we need, but it gives you a sense of how accurately you should model your design. I found several places where I had made mistakes and needed to make adjustments. I also found a few places where the original lines were clearly off by a bit. When finally finished, I knew that all the parts would fit perfectly. you electronically ‘disassemble’ the entire 3D boat and set each part down flat next to each other. You arrange them onto digital ‘sheets of plywood’ sized to fit your laser cutter. The laser cutter I have access to uses 12- by 24-in sheets. The idea is that you cram as many parts as you can onto each sheet to minimize the number of sheets you must buy and cut. Make sure that each part is arranged with other parts of the same thickness and plywood type. For example; all your 1/16-in 3-ply birch parts must be together or on several similar sheets… same with your ⅛-in Lite Ply® parts, and so on. I used sheets of ⅛-in Lite Ply®, ⅛-in 3-ply birch, 1/16-in birch, and 1/32-in birch. Make the Cutting File The final step on the computer is to then make a separate file that a laser cutter can read and cut. So now Fig. 5. Laser cutting parts arranged on sheets by thickness (1/8”, 1/16”, 1/32”) and type ofplywood (3-ply birch or Lite Ply®). Each sheet is loaded and cut separately with different laser cutter settings, but they can all be on the same digital file. ” 32 Summer 2018 The Model Yacht The Laser Cut Frames that is a much larger discussion, and there are many schools-of-thought on how to approach your build. It’ll take a long time, but in the end, you’ll have a beautiful, modern, but still “vintage”, Marblehead sailboat. Laser cutters are a blast to play with! If you’ve never used one, think of a laser cutter as just a fancy printer. When you are ready to cut, you just select “print” and send it to the cutter’s software. I won’t go into details, but you will make some adjustments in the laser cutter software before cutting. You will adjust your settings based on the type of wood (birch or poplar Lite Ply®), the thickness of the plywood, and on how many plys it has. More plys means more glue, which cuts differently. (By the way, laser cutters can cut many other materials too: leather, paper, cloth, acrylic, etc.) The boat is built upside-down on a strongback that you make. Each frame comes attached to a support piece that will eventually, after planking, be cut away, but that for now holds the frame at exactly the right height. The frames are all slotted into a building-board that spaces the frames exactly where they should be relative to each other. Generally, you will adjust two settings on the laser cutter: the power of the laser (ours goes from 0.2 to 100%) and the speed of the head (from 1 to 100%). The laser cutter doesn’t know what material you put into it, so you have to tell it how powerful to make the laser and how fast it should move the head across the wood, all based on your previous experience. There are so many different makes and models of Fig. 6. The boat being assembled on a strongback laser cutters out there that I won’t give any Once the boat is assembled to this point, you install settings, but after some experimentation you can easily the sheer rails and stringers and then begin the cut the various thicknesses of plywood that we use. planking process. After that, you fair and then fiberglass the boat. Then you remove the boat from the strongback by cutting the frames from the support The Build pieces and continue building the boat on a cradle. After cutting the parts, it’s time to get to work and build your boat in reality! You’ve got a long way to go yet, but eventually you’ll be sailing your brand new, ‘vintage’ R/C sailboat! Many of us have built plank-on-frame boats. How to do 33 Summer 2018 The Model Yacht Blue Crab Model Yachts Article and photos by Cissy Nickel Custom decks and hand crafted custom wooden planking for decks and plank-on-frame construction are also available. The president of Blue Crab Model Yachts (BCMY), Scott Todd, has been building, sailing, and racing commercial full-sized yachts and operating a commercial crabbing boat for over 40 years. Captain Todd is no stranger to full-sized building projects; he spent nearly 10 years lovingly restoring his Skipjack, the Lady Katie, which was originally built in 1958. The Lady Katie is one of the few working skipjacks dredging for oysters on the Chesapeake Bay and has hosted dignitaries such as Ronald Reagan. His model yachting experience has led him to reestablish BCMY. Scott’s devotion and passion for the beautiful lines of each vessel are evident in the execution of his construction technique of both natural and synthetic materials to recreate the model yacht replicas. Fine fiberglass models are currently available including: ● 50/800 VM Madcap ● 50/800 VM version of the J boat Yankee ● Under 50-in Schooner ● 36/60 Vintage 36 Chico ● East Coast 12 Meter (EC12) ● 48” Skipjack Class – available summer 2018 EC12 Decking For more information contact Scott at: dscotttodd63@gmail.com or 410-310-2453 34 Summer 2018 The Model Yacht Summer 2018 Fig. 1. Example ofextreme twist Bending Wood Article and photos by John Stoudt hull dimensions. The “soaked” frame members get tacked to the mold while wet with push pins. Some of these pieces pull very extreme curves with very little damage to the wood fibers. Once these frame members have dried, the planks are attached. The push pins are removed as the planks are fastened to the frame members. I have been building and restoring model yachts for some time and am always looking for new or improved techniques to use during the building process. When I saw the description for Steve Roger’s static model building course in the 2017 WoodenBoat School catalog, a photograph on that page piqued my interest. He was bending wood, some pieces with very extreme bends (Fig. 1). He also had Kennedy’s favorite sail boat plans (Wianno Senior) available for use. I have a personal goal to build the presidents’ sailboats in remote control: a story for another day. The process begins by cutting the wood into the sizes intended for use in your model. These pieces of wood are rather small in cross section (1/8 by ¼ inch, 5/32 by 5/16 inch, etc). The pieces are soaked (Steve calls it “cooking the wood”) over night; actually 24 hours gives the best result. The liquid ammonia and wood get placed in a container that can be sealed to control odors, such as a Schedule 40 PVC pipe container with a fixed cap on one end and a screw on cap on the other. So, I wanted to learn more about this process of bending wood using ammonia and get my hands on those plans. I took Steve’s class. What an eye opener! He bends wood—some of the most unlikely species, such as poplar—by soaking the wood in aqueous ammonia. As a long time woodworker I was thinking poplar is a wood that is not very forgiving when you try and bend it. Wrong! I am used to bending wood such as ash using a steam bending process. This usually results in some failure but overall success in large projects like toboggans. I know others place small cross-sectional pieces of wood such as mahogany veneer in boiling water with some success. Steve’s process of making static models involves a pre-made wooden mold of the boat to be modeled, that is roughly ½ inch smaller than the final outside 35 The Model Yacht Summer 2018 I wanted to know what the ammonia does to the wood. So I did some research, finding that there are individuals who are using pressure to impregnate the cells of the wood fibers with ammonia gas. This process plasticizes the cellulose fibers of the wood making the piece very flexible; it is generally used for larger pieces. This allows for some pretty amazing results, but the apparatus used is quite elaborate, unlike Steve’s process, which is very simple. How is this done? First you need to make or acquire containers that are airtight. I made a couple of different pipe containers and used a plastic shoe box I had laying around, for various lengths and sizes of wood. All three of these containers worked for their intended purpose (Fig. 2). They contained the odors until the wood was removed for bending. These pipe containers can be made to any diameter and length that meet your needs. Fig. 2. Containers for soaking Fig. 3. Bending for shaping How do you get the wood to hold its shape until it dries? You make molds (forms) that enable you to clamp the wood in its final shape until it dries (Fig. 3). I made these from ¾-in MDF, cut and sanded into the final shape of the workpiece. There are ¾-in holes drilled at strategic locations to enable the piece(s) to be clamped using 36 Fig.4. Dried pieces ready for assembly Summer 2018 The Model Yacht well-enough for the intended use (Fig. 4). I often use mahogany veneer for these bent pieces. Gluing multiple pieces together I clamp them into the mold. I use Tite Bond II glue as the adhesive. These pieces come out looking like they are one piece of wood (Fig. 5). Due to the thinness of the veneer, the pieces pull curves very nicely, and there is usually no failure. The final shape is rather strong and can be sawn, filed, and sanded into final shape. small 6-in bar clamps. I cut a strip of 1/16 by 1-in aluminum to act as a control member to keep the pickled strips from breaking during the bending/drying process. I start clamping at the top of the mold and worked around and down both sides at the same time, adjusting the clamps a little at a time until the aluminum control piece and wood strips were tight against the mold. It takes the strips about a day to dry completely. When released, the pieces hold their shape Fig. 5. The final piece looks and acts like a single piece ofwood. 37 Summer 2018 The Model Yacht Another Source for Building a Vintage Marblehead Article and photos by Steve Deligan Steve Deligan from the Seattle area has completed a wonderful building manual for Sun Wind a traditional Vintage Marblehead. Steve has also developed a laser cut frame system of building this boat that is very interesting and streamlines the build process. The manual and laser cuts frame members are available from Steve. Read on! You can purchase an electronic copy of the manual from Steve. Send $25.00 to stevedeligan@gmail.com through PayPal and then email him from the email address where you want him to send the manual. He will then email you the PDF as soon as he can (within 24 hours in most cases). A professionally printed, full-color manual with stay-open coil bindings is available through Lulu Press. Go to http://www.lulu.com and search for “Wooden RC Sailboat Construction Manual”. As of the time of publication, the printed version is $45.00, but prices may change. And due to the difficulty of making changes to the printed version, it may be several iterations behind the electronic version. 38 Summer 2018 The Model Yacht The electronic version of the manual comes in PDF format. You can clearly see and zoom into the full color images on your computer, tablet, or mobile device, and you can also print out just those pages that you need to have with you at your work table. You have the right to print one copy for your own use. Please do not sell, print multiple copies, distribute, or otherwise share this manual in any way with anyone else, electronically or otherwise. Thank you! There are also laser-cut frames available for anyone who wishes to build a brand new Sun Wind (lead photo), Rip Tide, or Wampum. They are laser cut by National Balsa (NB) from files that Steve sends them. They do a great job. Steve makes zero dollars from the frames and has simply made the frames available for what NB charges. Contact Steve directly at: stevedeligan@gmail.com for more information. Steve is in the process of building another VM. You can also see the Wampum VM which he is currently working on at his build blog: www.rcmodelyachts.com. Wampum VM Barnacle • One of the member services that the US VMYG provides is boat identification. Earl Boebart and John Snow, among others, are pretty good at identifying old pond models. If they are not sure they have a cadre of individuals that they reach out to who may be able to assist. Send a couple of photos along to John and Earl. Make sure that you include a good profile shot and a photo of fittings. These will all assist in the identification and dating of a boat. • You probably have books in your collection on the subject of Pond Yachts and Sailing. Here is an excellent resource you can use to identify other books in your area(s) of interest. This is annotated bibiography is still in print and avaialble. Potts, Russell and Croxson, Paul. A Bibliography ofModel Yachting; UK. 1999 39 Summer 2018 The Model Yacht Resources Plans: Hulls: ● ● ● ● ● ● A.J. Fisher (http://www.ajfisher.com/) Pinterest (http://www.pinterest.com/pin/506866133039763052/) Solomons Island Model Boat Club (https://sites.google.com/site/simbclub/home) Sublime Boatworks (http://www.sublimeboatworks.com) The Vintage Model Yacht Group, UK (http://www.vmyg.org.uk) US Vintage Model Yacht Group (http://www.usvmyg.org) Biff Martin, Marblehead, MA – Biff Martin (978-828-9765) Blue Crab Model Yacht, Cambridge, MD – Scott Todd (410-310-2453) The Vintage Model Yacht Group, UK (http://www.vmyg.org.uk) Parts and Tools: ● Horizon Hobbies: https://www.horizonhobby.com/ ● Long Beach RC, Hickory Corners, MI (http://www.longbeachrc.com) ● Micro-Fasteners: http://www.microfasteners.com/ ● Micro-Mark: https://www.micromark.com/ ● MidWest Model Yachts, Plainfield, IN (http://www.midwestmodelyachting.com/) ● Model Yacht Fittings, The Villages, FL (http://www.modelyachtfittings.com) ● SAILSetc (http://www.sailsetc2.com/store/index.php/products-by-category/fittings/vintage-style.html: ● ServoCity: https://www.servocity.com/ ● Small Parts: https://www.smallpartsinc.com/ ● Tower Hobbies: https://www.towerhobbies.com/ ● West Systems: https://www.towerhobbies.com/ ● Worth Marine, Marblehead, MA http://www.worthmarine.com/store2/) ● ● ● 40 Summer 2018 The Model Yacht US VMYG Membership Form (effective March 2018) NAME ___________________________________________________ AMYA # ______________* First Initial Last STREET _____________________________________ PHONE # ___________________________ CITY ____________________________ STATE ___________ CTRY __________ZIP _________ Email Address ____________________________________________________________________ (required) *The US VMYG strongly recommends membership in the AMYA. DUES – emailed newsletter ____ $30.00 for U.S., Canada, and Overseas DUES – mailed newsletter (please do not request a mailed copy if you have an email address) ____ $40.00 for U.S. and Canada ____ $50.00 for Overseas ____ Life Member Contribution in the amount of $ _______________ COMPLIMENTARY MEMBERSHIP – The US VMYG makes complimentary memberships available to museum personnel, school directors, et cetera by email only. If you would like to have a complimentary membership for your organization please provide an email address for the individual who will be receiving the newsletter and other communication. Organization: _____________________________________________________________________ PREFERRED METHOD OF PAYMENT – You may pay using PayPal. Go to PayPal.com and sign into your account. • Click on the Pay or Send Money button. • Click on the Pay for Goods or Services button. • Enter this email address – usvmygt@gmail.com • Enter the correct amount in UDS (United States dollars). • Click the Send button. • If you pay by PayPal please send this completed membership form to the address below. • Pay in U.S. funds only. You may also send a check along with this form for the correct amount to: US Vintage Model Yacht Group P.O. BOX 9721 San Diego, California 92169 NOTE: The US VMYG will not share your personal information with outside parties. 41 Summer 2018 The Model Yacht US Vintage Model Yacht Group Boat Registration Form (effective July 2016) Name: ____________________________________ AMYA #: ___________________________ Address: ______________________________________________________________________ Email Address: _________________________________________________________________ Phone Number (home): ___________________________ (cell) __________________________ I would like to register/obtain a sail number for the following boat/s: • Free Sailed Boats – Request sail number ________ or the next available number Boat Design: _______________ Circa: ___________________ Position Currently Open – for more information contact the president Email: phone: • Vintage International A Boat – Request sail number ________ or the next available number Boat Design: _______________ Circa: ___________________ Mike Denest, 2 Whitehaven Court, Newark, DE 19711 Email: mjd12k@yahoo.com phone: 1-610-316-3570 • Schooner – Request a sail number ________ or the next available number Boat Design: _______________ Circa: ___________________ Kerry O’Malley, 348 Kirks Mill Road, Nottingham, PA 19362-9012 Email: komalley1@comcast.net phone: 1-717-548-4632 • Skipjack – Request a sail number ________ or the next available number Boat Design: _______________ Circa: ___________________ John Henderson, 465 Gull Court, Chestertown, MD 21620 Email: jgnhenderson@atlanticbb.net phone: 1-443-282-0277 • Unrestricted Class – Request a sail number ________ or the next available number Boat Design: _______________ Circa: ___________________ John Stoudt, 309 Sundance Drive, Chester Springs, PA 19425 Email: jstoudt309@gmail.com phone: 1-610-316-8695 • Vintage 36/600 – Request a sail number ________ or the next available number Boat Design: _______________ Circa: ___________________ Alan Suydam, 11665 Asbury Court, #560, Solomons, MD 20688 Email: alansuydam@comcast.net phone: 1-410-394-3150 • Vintage Marblehead (50/800) – Request a sail number ________ or the next available number Boat Design: _______________ Circa: ___________________ Select one – Traditional:________ High Flyer________ Bruce Richter, 345 West 13th Street, Apt. 3G New York, NY 10014 Email: richterbruce@gmail.com phone: (917) 575-2221 Please mail this form with a check for ($7.00 x number of boats) to the class coordinator. Checks should be made payable to the US VMYG. 42