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EXHIBITIO > \ \ REVIEWED Graupner Arrow Fast Electric _° PLAN FEATURE 63ft Motor Anti-Submarine Boat his month, I’m afraid, it’s going to bea fairly solid column with few pictures and no conversations; there is a lot of business to catch up with that went on at MYA and IMYRU meetings over the turn of the year. While I was enjoying myself in the sun, colleagues were working in the cold, churning out the necessary administrative decisions without which the organised sport wouldn’t be able to get along. When you consider the very small number of people involved in model yachting world wide, the amount of administration that is needed to keep us all on an even keel and facing in more or less the same direction is remarkably large. Considering that the organisation is wholly amateur and part-time, we don’t perhaps do too badly compared to the nonsense that other larger and better funded sports seem to manage for themselves, if you believe what you read in the sports pages of the national press. MYA News The Association’s AGM was held on 6 December last and this rather belated report will cover only the major items. The most important change in personnel was the resignation of Norman Hatfield from the post of Chairman after 10 years at the helm of the Association and 40 years of continuous service as a member of Council. Norman’s place in the sport will be recognised by this column in a brief profile which will appear in a later issue. The MYA’s appreciation of his many services to the sport was marked by Council’s decision:to award him the Eric Nuttall Trophy for life and our affection for him by the gift of a specially bound volume of photographs and messages from clubs. This was accompanied by a substantial cheque subscribed for by clubs and individual members of the Association. New Officers: The new Chairman is Peter Maskell of the Leeds and Bradford Club, supported 266 a by Derek Priestley as Vice-Chairman. Ian Taylor joins Council as Racing Secretary, in replacement of Peter. New Registrars There are two new Registrars. David Rose takes over as ‘M’ Registrar. His address is 48 Laidley’s Walk, Fleetwood, Lancs. In a change that took place after the AGM, George Clark is now responsible for the 10-rater and 36in. Restricted classes. His address is 30 Carston Close, London, SE12. accompanying drawings to ensure that all the angles have been covered and there are no incipient loopholes designed into the New Rule. The PC adopted the principle that the cross width limits to be used should ensure that as many as possible of existing sails could continue to be used without alteration. This must inevitably mean that the honest Johns who have not been ‘interpreting’ the Rule generously in their own favour will need to get themselves new sails if they intend to compete at the highest international level. IMYRU Permanent Committee ‘M’ Rule At the IMYRU Permanent Committee Meeting in January, it was found to be impossible to approve the draft ‘M’ Rule submitted by the Technical Committee. Although the principles acceptable to the member Authorities are now much clearer, there is still work to do to scrutinise the detail of the wording and of the MODEL BOATS Curved Air With Model Yachting Association General Secretary Russell Potts and replaced by a requirement to measure any luff curve required to take wrinkles out of the sail. The detailed wording is in the MYA Acquaint that went out in February. Lunacy One sequel to the PC’s failure to reach a conclusion is the news that Naviga, who have been closely associated with the work on the new Rule so that the two international organisations can harmonise their practice, have said that because they have promised their member Authorities a new Rule by April, they must go ahead and promulgate something, even if it is different from IMYRU practice and will be out of step with the new IMYRU Rule when it finally emerges. We hope that reason will prevail and the work so far done to bring the two organisations together will not be thrown away. Even more so does this hope apply to But not yet, because there will be a delay until after the next PC meeting that is to be held during the RM European Championship in July. If a Rule is agreed at that stage, it will probably come into effect on lst January, 1988. At the PC meeting two minor changes in the existing ‘M’ Rule were approved. First, the Rule is to be measured in Metric (SI) units with immediate effect. This means that those who intend to go to the RM Europeans will need a certificate with the linear dimensions in millimetres and areas in square metres, the latter to be calculated to six decimal places and corrected to four places. For home use, Imperial certificates will continue to be accepted, but there seems to me to be little value in maintaining two systems once measurers have got themselves new measuring tapes and have found out how to use the new technology. A more important change is in Rule 14, where the present sub clause (a) is deleted Heading shot shows the MYA Stand at the recent Model Engineer Exhibition; an excellent occasion for meeting old and making new friends. Photo: Ray Brigden. Far left: binding of the presentation album given to Norman Hatfield. Designed by Roger Stollery, executed by Gillian Potts. Opposite middle: Chris Jackson presents Norman with the Eric Nuttall Trophy. Photos: Russell Potts. the reported decision of DSV, the German IMYRU affiliate, to adopt the draft Rule as it currently stands ‘so that they can offer a single ranking series to DSV and Nauticus members on the run up to the 1988 RM Worlds’. This seems to me to be nonsense on stilts and cannot be a sufficient reason for them to strike out on a path different from that taken by IMYRU. EC-12 Rule As soon. as the technical committee have completed their work on the ‘M’ Rule, they will have a look at the EC-12, which is causing some concern. The reasons for this will be discussed further in a forthcoming column when I deal with my visit to the Australian Nationals. The PC decided not to recognise a proposed EC-12 Class association, as it did not have the support of the American MYA which has the largest number of registered boats in the class. Olympic 1-metre A proposal to adopt the (American) Olympic 1-metre class in place of the almost extinct IMYRU (European) 1-m was deferred because of doubts over whether the Rule, as at present drafted, would be sufficiently robust to withstand the pressure of international competition without opening the way to another high cost and high tech. class. Member Authorities are to be asked to comment on the proposals. This Year’s International Meetings By the time you read this the final allocation of places and entries for the R10-r World’s in Gothenburg (1-8 August) and the RM Europeans in Holland (19-25 July) will have been made. Allocations are to be on a basis of two places to each member nation and the balance pro rata to registered boats. Future World Championships The Permanent Committee gave formal approval to the application from the Association Espafiola de Vela R/C and the Club Modelismo Naval Las Guaires to hold an RM World Championship in July 1990 at Las Palmas, Canary Islands. The Club intend to hold a major pre-Worlds meeting at Easter 1988 as a dry run for their organisers and for as many intending competitors as can manage the trip. Unlike earlier meetings in the Canary Islands, which have been sailed on the sea and have involved ploughing up and down in the hot sand of a tropical beach, these future meetings will be sailed on an enclosed water. A tentative bid from the USA to hold an RM World Championship in the New York Area in 1992 seems to have fallen by Opposite right and this page far left: 12-metre of 1934 in frame and under sail. The design is entirely typical of the style of the period despite being the first time work of a schoolboy. Photos: Brian Coulton. Left: Comet, probably a 12-metre in origin, but now very much altered in the course of restoration. Photo: Jack Roberts. MAY 1987 267 the wayside as the individual who made the suggestion has not received the backing of a club or of AMYA, both of which are prerequisites for IMYRU approval. The Berlin meeting planned for 1988 is running into some difficulties as the ‘model sports Olympics’ of which it was to form part have been postponed and there may be a problem over sponsorship. There may also be political difficulties over the attendance of East European members of Naviga at a meeting in West Berlin, which still has an anomalous status under the Four Power Agreements made at the end of the last war. It is a pity these political implications were not considered by DSV and Nauticus at an earlier stage. The PC have asked DSV to consider moving the event to a more acceptable venue in West Germany. This apart, negotiations with Naviga on the format, entries and organisation seem to be proceeding satisfactorily. Membership Austria has been accepted as a member of IMYRU and enquiries have been received from Turkey and Czechoslovakia. The Union has also instituted an Individual membership category for which the annual subscription will be £15. This will give the member his own copy of material circulated by IMYRU to National Authorities and a free subscription to ‘MYN’. Reorganisation After a series of trailers on a possible future reorganisation of the way Council goes about its work, the February meeting considered a number of papers on this subject. After thrashing the possibilities fairly thoroughly, it was agreed to make no immediate change in organisation or procedure, but to wait and see how the new administration settles down. The next meeting will however consider and approve formal job descriptions for the various executive officers of the Association. This will give a firmer structure to the division of duties and will be an essential step if at some future date a restructuring is thought to be necessary. Proxies After experience at the 1986 AGM, there was a strong current of opinion against the way in which proxies had been used, and Council decided that a motion will be put to the next AGM to abolish the proxy vote. Clubs which cannot be represented at AGM’s will still have the option of using the postal vote. Ranking List and Calendar of Meetings Council seems to have sorted out the remaining¢clashes of date and other difficulties over the series of ranking races for RMs that was instituted at the September meeting. With hindsight, it would have been better if the idea had been raised earlier and had not had to be worked out quickly to meet the press date for the Yearbook. Some organising clubs have suggested that they will have to limit entries to the ranking event they are to run. Council has accepted this for the present as an unavoidable evil and has instructed that where this is necessary, half the places are to be offered to skippers from the home District and the remainder to ‘outsiders’. A points allocation for those who act as Race Officer for a ranking regatta has also been agreed. Clearly there are still some problems to be ironed out; none is opposed to the concept of the ranking list, bu®there have been problems over grafting it onto existing Open meetings. After experience this year, it may be that separate races for ranking purposes will be preferred. This will exacerbate the existing overcrowding of the racing programme, and will call for more positive action to resolve calendar clashes. The incoming Racing Secretary, Ian Taylor, wants to set up a system of ‘preferred dates’ for National Championships and other events of national significance. He has been charged with this task of resolving conflict in the programme and will probably ask Districts to bring forward the date on which they sort out their own programmes for the following year. ‘A’ and 6-metre weights Following the ‘revelations’ at the RA Nationals last year, Council has decided that, with immediate effect within its jurisdiction, weights of A Class boats will be recorded to one decimal place of a pound or Kg and there will be a tolerance of plus or minus 0.1 of a pound or Kg when boats are remeasured at events. Proposals in this sense will be put to the next AGM and, if passed, will be submitted to IMYRU. The same problem exists for 6-m, and the same rule relaxation will apply to that class. Jib Numbering For a trial period of one year all boats sailing in RM Nationals and ranking races will be required to carry as jib numbers the last two digits of their registration number at least 100mm high. The idea is to give a permanent jib number. There will be some clashes, but these will be resolved by the temporary addition of a letter to those boats with clashing jib numbers. Race of Champions Council ruled that the guidelines for the running of the event, which had been largely ignored by the organising club last year, should be mandatory and that the experiment of inviting the champions Another view of the probable 12-metre Comet. Photo: Jack Roberts. of the other radio classes should not be repeated: steps should also be taken to limit the field to 12 if a significant proportion of those qualified to enter declined to do so. Publicity Council agreed a number of initiatives to do more to bring the sport and the MYA before potential recruits. These include wider distribution of the Yearbook as an advertising medium and the circulation of “MYN’ to the full-size yachting press and to some TV stations. Attempts will also be made to get an information sheet placed in popular kits for sailing craft. Vintage Section I have been feeling for some time that, welcome as enquiries are from readers about their old boats, they impose a considerable workload, particularly as I usually have to search through an increasingly large archive to find the right drawing or article to meet the particular need. I had been thinking that a search fee might be necessary to compensate for the diversion of effort from my own work when a better solution emerged. The MYA has agreed to institute a Vintage group. The basic idea is that in return for the annual sub., currently £3, that an individual member pays to the MYA a member of the Vintage group would get access to the services of the Association’s archivist and historian (that’s me). A 12-metre (or perhaps a 10-metre) from the early days of the Rule. Photos: Geoffrey Huband. You wouldn’t get the personal copy of Council papers that present individual members get, but you would get a copy of the Yearbook, a membership list for the vintage section and a vote at the AGM. Most important, you would be covered by the MYA’s £1 million third party insurance. There may not be very much risk to members of the public from your sailing of vintage boats, but if you put someone’s eye out with your aerial or accidentally knock a small child into the lake you could be in trouble and you’d need the help of a good insurance policy. Whether you make any more of the group depends on you. The Yearbook will put you in touch with the affiliated clubs where you will be able to get help with the practicalities of building and restoration. The membership list will enable you to get alongside other enthusiasts in your area and if you want to organise a local vintage day there’s plenty of scope. Anyone who is interested in the Vintage section should send a cheque for £3, made out to the MYA. In future, I shall not be able to deal with substantial enquiries from those who are unwilling to contribute toward the cost in this way. Vintage Day You all know that this is to be on June 14 at Bournville club in Birmingham; I hope to see several of those who were at Clapham last year and some new faces from North of the Trent. As an added attraction, I have arranged with Basil Harley and with the club to add vintage power boats, particularly old steam powered toys of the sort that Basil writes about in his column. Clockwork and low powered electric boats of suitable age are equally welcome, but sorry, no internal combustion boats. 12-Metres No, not the EC-12 that I studiously avoided sailing in Australia, and not the hideously expensive beasts that Conner and his like have been playing with off Fremantle for the last six months. They get their turn next time. These are the 1inch to the foot versions of the full-size Rule that were sailed in England (and even more so in Scotland) from 1907 to about the mid-30’s. They were the biggest models of their day and because they were built to a current full-size rule, were particularly attractive to those who wanted to ‘contribute to the development of naval architecture’ or in other ways persuade themselves that model yacht sailing was more than an enjoyable pastime. The first photos are of a very late example, designed and built in 1934 or 5 by a teenage boy who had had no previous model experience. She is still in existence and her owner, now well advanced in years, is putting radio into her. She has never sailed competitively, but used as a relaxation during family sailing holidays at West Mersea. The hull form is typical of the later style of 12, both in full-size and in models. Very few use a fin and skeg form of keel, even though this was the norm in all other model classes. MAY 1987 Model Yachting Fixture List . Association April 4/5th MYA National Team Championship A Bournville 5th Open Event RM Appledore 5th Barnaby Dunn Trophy RM Doncaster 5th (L) Tucker Trophy RM Leicester 5th Ash Trophy R36r Guildford 5th Visitors’ Cup R10r RM Birkenhead North Wales 12th (L) Open Event 12th Open Event RM Chichester 19th Mayoral Cup M Fleetwood 19th Dennis Nixon Trophy (2) RM Leicester 19th Trojan Cup A Gosport 19th Canada Cup RM 19th 19th Open Event Alpha Cup 575 RM Birkenhead 19th S. Western District Championship RA Woodspring Midland District Championship 36r Bournville M L/Bradford 19th 20th Clapham Cup 26th Festival Cup RM Jesmond Bowl M Met. & Southern District Championship R36r 26th (L) 26th Poole Oxford Etherow Newcastle Solent May 2/4th 3rd (R)(L) 3rd (R)(L) 3rd 10th 10th 10th 10th (L) 9/10th 17th MYA National Championship Hatfield Trophy | Captain Cook Shield Ladbrook Trophy M Fleetwood RM Chelmsford RM Cleveland Best of British Eric Nuttall Memorial Trophy Open Event RA Birkenhead RM RM R36r Leicester Fleetwood Oxford Open Event RM Cheltenham MYA National Championship 10r Gosport 17th (L) Northern District Championship 10r Met, & Southern District Championship RA Broadlands Trophy RM 17th T Cup RM Birkenhead 17th Gwynne Bowl RM Eastbourne Lincolh 17th Newcastle Poole Broads 17th John Waller Trophy RM 24th Bradford Cup A L/Bradford 24th (L) Sheffield Golden 50 Trophy RM Sheffield 23/25th MYA National Championship 31st Model Maker Trophy RM M Guildford Bournville 31st Curry Mug 31st Dennis Nixon (3) RM Gosport 31st RM Leicester Yorkshire Cash Register Trophy RM L/Bradford The next two are of a modern restoration of a boat that may be a 12-m. Jack Roberts of Yeovil is responsible for the present state of Comet boat, which sports full radio-control and a rig taken from a Highlander A boat. The fin and rudder are not of course original and under the Rule, which had severe draught limits, she would not rate in her present form. I am not too sure that she is a 12, given that the Rule imposed a characteristic hull form which Comet does not share, but there were some 12s that were converted from A Boats in the late 20’s and early 30’s when the two Rules overlapped. One example of this was Curlew, a Birkenhead A boat that in 1934 was converted to a 12-m and taken by a young Walter Jones to the MYA National Championship at Saltcoats, where she finished third. Because of her conversion she was Bermuda rigged and was the first Birkenhead 12-m to abandon the gaff rig. Finally, a boat that is very small for a 12, but which clearly dates from the early days of the rule and could be a small 12 or possibly a 10 or 8 metre. Both these existed in very small numbers and were built to intermediate scales that produced boats that were rather smaller than a 12m. I would think that she is very probably from before 1914, and though at some stage she has been badly mauled about by another hand, she is well built in bread and butter and has carefully designed, beautifully fair lines of considerable power. She shows very clearly the style of hull that the Rule produced in its early days. This one hails from the far west of Cornwall and is being restored to sailing condition by her present owner, a marine artist. Next time, some material from the Pacific. Contact Address: R. R. Potts, 8 Sherard Road, London SE9 6EP. Tel: 01850-6805. 269
