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December 1995 UK’s TOP SELLER ELLESI A very suc ~The Radio Coniirol ele, Championships THE | el sa6dé Ce i Exhibition 6 JANUARY 1996 RADIO YACHTING Two men and their boats. Anthony Corbett small YACHTS (top right) concentrates on trying to outwit Nigel Gilson during their pre-start at Gipping Valley. Nigel’s Force-6 (188) finally got marginally ahead of Anthony Corbett’s Renaissance. MIKE KEMP’S mixture, as the season draws to a close, includes a bit of racing and some general chat, plus news of happenings ‘down under’ I t seems I ruffled a few feathers north of a certain long standing border in the UK with my write-up of the Radio 6 metre National Championship held at Levenhall, y Edinburgh earlier in the year. Unfortunatel circumstances prevented me travelling there to be able to report at first hand. Therefore I had to rely on the script sent to me by Nigel Fordyce and the experiences relayed to me by other participants. It would appear that my interpretation of what I was told painted a picture at odds with how the lake is viewed by its ‘locals’. With a good wind available from just about every direction, as a result of being in an open spot on the shore in an area of grassland with no buildings really close Keep your hands warm this winter with one of these transmitter covers. See text for details. enough to significantly affect air flow the lake sounds ideally placed. The need to wade out several feet to launch and retrieve yachts to avoid them hitting under water stones, rocks or even boulders is not out of place and acceptable to most of us. I am assured that visitors were advised by ‘rangers’ to park their vehicles in a ‘protective circle’ in case a four by four joyrider should appear but that the local authority representatives successfully deterred any such happening. For that I am sure I (had I been there) and all attending would have been sincerely grateful – the fact that there was no incident would have meant that many would have put the reason why into the background and probably out of their minds. If I have offended anyone connected with the organisation of the event I sincerely apologise and hope that we may continue to hear of what is going on at that end of our island. I also hope that 6 metres from north and south will get together again more in the future. May I end this piece with a quote from another with whomI spoke about the meeting “…of the MYA meetings (nationals) held this year, the two best have been in Scotland…” That, no doubt, will raise some hackles somewhere else! Christmas presents What Christmas present can you get for the model yachtsman who has everything? Just a few suggestions here, some serious and some not so! Do your fingers get chilly while you are racing at those frostbite regattas? There are several solutions to this affliction: one is to visit your local fishing shop and acquire a pair of the gloves or mittens that fishermen use, some of them are quite expensive but are worth it in the long run. Another is to provide some warmth and protection for your transmitter and hands at the same time. Some of the latest transmitter covers are made of the same type of material as some of the jackets we wear and are complete with the same fluffy warm lining. Just a bit more expensive than the normal waterproof transmitter cover these keep your hands warm as well: the only draw-back would appear to be the relative bulk of the complete assembly and problems of access for transmitters such as mine where the whole case has to be split to attend to crystal changing. You may be able to find these in your local model shop, otherwise get in touch with M & M Developments at 2 Tennyson Avenue, Llanwern Village, Newport Gwent, NP6 2DY. They will set you back somewhere between £25 and £35 depending upon which model you choose. More and more Radio Yachters are turning to the full-sized world for their warm and waterproof outer clothing; much of it is both stylish and acceptable even when your are not striding the deck of a heaving yacht – or even heaving over the…well what ever! Granted that some of the jackets seem expensive but really they compare well with those from the landlubber’s outdoor shops and do the job very well. Slightly less expensive is some means of keeping the brain warm: the choice of cold weather hat has seen some level of individuality over the years and will probably continue to do so. Suitable sources for effective ‘brain cosies’ include the outdoor pursuit shops, dinghy chandlers, but there are some super bargains to be had in the darker corners of the first floor at the Earls Court boat show in early January. Thinking of the other end, particularly when wearing boots or waders, there is something that I have been wearing for yea’ now – only on odd occasions of course. Thes little slipper shaped bootees go on your feet before you insert them in the welly. In addition to keeping your feet warm in some of the coldest conditions we experience during sailing in this country they have another wonderful advantage: any moisture generated by one’s feet is drawn away and retained in the outer covering. This keeps MODEL BOATS DECEMBER 26 still perched on top with a lead of about eighty points, reduced from the last report by about twenty points. Such gaps have been reduced in the past but I would guess that they have enough ‘coming up’ to maintain the lead to the end – but it will be close! There are still only two hundred points covering the first four places. One man and his boat. Robert Cuss of Two Islands had just taken over Nigel Gilson’s lightweight 6 Metre J- Sann 4 that makes him the ninth Two-Island’s member with that class. He scored one win at his first Match Race Top Ten Radio Clubs Score Birkenhead 1,059.5 1st 2nd 3rd Guildford Chelmsford Woodspring 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th Bournville Fleetwood Solent Sedgemoor Leicestershire 4th 10th meeting. Club Gipping Valley 1,240.2 1,161.3 1,155.6 904.9 740.9 676.8 634 581.6 547.2 Top Ten Radio Individuals sailors and big boat racing, but I believe that almost every one of the chapters has something in it for us in our ‘little’ world. Even the chapters titled ‘What is a Tactician?’ and ‘Tactical Instruments’ are interesting to read. ‘Creating a Game Plan’ may have something for us should we be setting out on a multi-day championship whilst ‘Starting’, ‘Upwind Tactics’ and ‘Downwind Tactics’ along with ‘Faster Finishes’ can be scoured for little tit-bits that can be of use in much of our racing; whether Match or Fleet racing. The book has a lot of anecdotes from one or other of the collaborates, some are even amusing. Even if you don’t think you can benefit from the content I am sure you will find it an interesting read during those snowy days when the workshop is too cold for the epoxy one’s feet dry which helps maintain a certain low level of odour – or don’t yours when they have been in boots all day long? Fishing tackle shops are the source of these Scandinavian made delightful items. At the other end of the financial scale to a brand new, ready-built, yacht from deepest Essex is a new ‘protective cover’ for the end of the transmitter aerial. If you find the right sort of golfing equipment suppliers you can find practice balls that are fluorescent. The main problem I have found is that they come in packs of six which means you may have to share them about unless you get through them at a higher then average rate. Of course, one could always angle for a pivoting boat stand or a new hull from one of the slowly expanding range of sources – but that would be boring! Another good read A little while back I reviewed a book on tactics which had been updated and seemed to be even more useful to Radio Yachters than in its original published version. Since then I have been re-reading another which may also be of interest. This one is a little thicker and slightly less well illustrated than the Fernhurst book but comes with a terrific pedigree among its authors. It was put together by Adam Loory who has a lot of experience of covering America’s Cup events for U.S. publications and has been an editor for Sailing World and other major yachting publications. He was aided in his work by Gary Jobson an accomplished American sailor known by us for his commentary on America’s Cup TV coverage and Tom Whidden who has sailed in three successful America’s Cup campaigns and, at the time of writing this book, was President of North Sails. A lot of the book is aimed at big boat MODEL BOATS DECEMBER 95 to run. Published in the UK by Nautical Books with an ISBN 0 7136 3342 5 you may be able to find it in the bookshops: or maybe your local library can find it for you. Happy reading. League The MYA League season draws to a close, in fact by the time you read this the last qualifying meeting will have taken place and the rush will be on to the compute the final Ist 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Skipper Keith Skipper Anthony Corbett Martin Roberts Mark Dennis Graham Bantock Robert Brown Gordon Sears Chris Harris Peter Moore Brian Wiles Score 275.3 272.3 272.1 248.7 238.3 227.8 223.8 2151 192.9 189.5 Match Racing Match racing of the radio kind has been taking a rest during September but will be back with a flourish for the end of the season. Gipping Valley is the venue for the sixth round of the Marine Modelling March Race series: it promises to live up to the unofficial nick-name for this scene of the 1995 One-Metre Nationals. ‘Gripping Valley’ could see the series sewn up or, conversely, blown wide open for the traditional twilight climax at Bournville. Quite a lot has been happening in the six metre world over the last month or two: the ‘rule’ that defines the class is under-going a re-write and could emerge in 1996 in a form that matches the other IYRU-MYRD class rules. With interest growing overseas in Awesome. This was the subject of the puzzle picture a couple of months back. Now the secret is out: Jack Day has built himself a One Metre. That name is very apt. It was quick in these light airs even in its number two suit. result and report in readiness for announcement and presentation at the MYA AGM. At the time of writing there remain eight or nine results to be received and five or six events to be completed. We are therefore in a pretty good position to make a prediction of the outcome in the Radio Club competition it’s looking good for Guildford. In the Individual Radio League competition is still very tough and any one of half a dozen could emerge as the 1995 champion. Despite the successful steps taken to even out the effect of large and small, single or multi-day, events there can be no doubt that the recent One Metre National championship has had a significant impact on the Radio League. However all the leading players in the Radio League gained something from that meeting so the whole of the top ten took a step upwards in the numbers game. The person who appears to have done best out of the latest meetings is Keith Skipper who has shot to the top of the Individual league by a touch over three points from the previous leader Anthony Corbett. Anthony has a minuscule lead over Martin Roberts (0.13 points to be precise); there is then a gap of about twenty four points to Mark Dennis whose performance with one of the oldest One Metres still sailing did him no harm at all. The Club Championship sees Guildford cceeeseentnaeenmeneta |ei oa te mn —— roscoe me wad # Perey ei Gege Se 27 under those circumstances. Several of the top New Zealand skippers found conditions less than favourable and finished out of the top places though local man, featured in these pages before, Martin Firebrace managed second overall and is reported to have a hand in the construction of a number of the top placed yachts. Another skipper we in the UK have met before, Leon Talaic – he of the polystyrene canard Marblehead – took fourth place while Paul Chisholm came home in sixth. Top five at Auckland Place Ist 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Skipper Ian Vickers Martin Firebrace Kevin Wincman Leon Talaic Geoff Davies The second of the new series saw the focus of attention move to the South Island and a lake called Victoria Water in Christchurch, the home of what is claimed to be the second oldest club in the world. I Winter racing at the second round, Christchurch, New Zealand. Above: Skippers outside clubhouse at Christchurch. It might be winter on the trees but it looks a lovely day. All New Zealand photos: Paul Chisholm. Christchurch’s two 60 year old skippers, Laurie Wales (32) and Dave Elder – sailing Hakas, designed by Geoff Draper. small pockets – but that is how it grew in the UK – we could be on the way to being able to re-insert the word International to the class name. After all the 6 metre is a much more viable proposition for a ‘full-sized’ looking yacht than the EC 12; it sails better in just about every strength of wind and gives scope for the inventiveness of the human mind – not to circumvent a strict one-design rule but to achieve the best within an evenly matched performance ‘envelope’ (that’ll cause some controversy somewhere in the world!). Well known 6 metres have been changing hands in the UK; several of them have been re-bought by their original vendors. There is feverish activity in several workshops around the country as new yachts are being readied for the new season in ‘96: there is unfortunately – less feverish activity in one or two because of time limitations, but even there new yachts are slowly taking shape. In one particular workshop there are carbon yachts taking shape on the orders of prospective new owners: the origin of this tricky for there was an entry of only years many of us have had cause to watch sailing between 10.00am and 3.30pm in one large fleet on the amply sized lake. Number Force Six design. Over the last couple of out for the yellow yacht to this design that has been sailed in the hands of Nigel Gilson. After suspending development on his Dann-4 design Nigel has taken the Force Six and carried out some re-design to evolve it into the Dann-6 and is offering it to the discerning Six racer in moulded carbon form for around £300 inclusive. A pretty good buy when you consider the price of Nigel’s sails compared to their performance. All in all the new year will see another overall growth in the number of 6 Metres in seventeen yachts who spent the whole day One rig was the order of the day with the wind starting from the North at about 3 knots and building slowly throughout the day to about 10 knots from the North East. In contrast to the dawdling progress in Auckland the 26th August sawa total of sixteen races completed; the equates to double the starts actually completed in the previous event. Seven different skippers gained a first place during the day with Andrea Chisholm the UK. What a pity that the trophy that formed the backbone of the renaissance of 6 taking her pink mini – Haka ‘Up Town Girl’ into first place overall at the end of it all after from the end of this season: that lovely crystal bowl will reside on someone’s sideboard for one more year then…….. ? headed what seems like a Chisholm family benefit with three out of the top five places carrying that name. At the post-race ‘function’ held at the metres in this country is to be withdrawn News from ‘Down under’ As spring arrives in New Zealand I have news of a new National League being launched for the One Metre class in that country. Run along similar lines to the MYA Ranking system close examination could show us who is likely to be waiting to greet the world in competitive form when the One Metre Worlds goes that way next time. Paul Chisholm kindly sent brief details of the first two events together with some king sized photos, some of which are reproduced here. To encourage competent skippers to get involved in organising the racing the local event organiser is awarded points equal to his average for the series. The series consists of five events around the country, three in the North Island and two in the South: the National Championship counts for double points – sounds familiar! The first event of the series was held at Westhaven in Auckland, the venue proposed for the 1997 One Metre World Championship. This event on June 18th got things off to a flying start with an entry of 36 yachts with, as Paul puts it, “several people coming from out of town”. The one day event was blessed with constant rain and little wind: I bet they wished it was the other way around. They raced under the EROS system (should that be EORS- or have they evolved something a bit more interesting down there?) with two fleets. As we have discovered, that combination; little wind and a large fleet; makes for limited racing and they completed only four during the one day – I would think that was a pretty reasonable achievement 28 suppose travel between islands is a little activity is a development of Adrian Brewer’s a very consistent performance. Andrea studio of Euan Sarginson – a well known photographer, down that way – each skipper was presented with a photo of his/her yacht racing; a nice touch. That’s something we have yet to adopt for one day events in the UK, a post-race function. In most cases our function is to dash off back home to get ready for work the following morning: it sounds as if they have found a better way of doing it down there. Top five at Christchurch Place Skipper 1st Andrea Chisholm 2nd John Brooks Ray Hart Scott Chisholm 3rd 4th 5th Paul Chisholm New Zealand League – latest After two rounds a total of forty-nine skippers have gained points in the league and things ‘at the top’ are suitably close with consistent performances and entry paying off, just as it does in the MYA Ranking system. Paul Chisholm is in joint first place with a sixth and a fifth contributing while his co-leader has a second and an ‘unknown’, With luck we shall be reporting more on this league after the next races at Wellington in September and Christchurch in October: I suppose the entries may go up as summer makes itself felt – you know it really feels strange writing that! MODEL BOATS DECEMBER 95 Top five places in New Zealand One Metre League Place 1st 1st 3rd 4th 5th 5th 7th 8th 8th 10th 10th Skipper Paul Chisholm John Brooks Keith May Rodney Beale Andrea Chisholm Ian Vickers Martin Firebrace Kevin Wincman Ray Hart Leon Talaic Scott Chisholm Next time The last of the MYA National Championships is due to take place shortly after I file this column so it will have to wait until next time: the RIOR fleet will be journeying to the Round Pond in Kensington Gardens in London. The rumours are going around posing the question: which of the Marbleheads will win this year’s Ten Rater Championship? Watch this space! Happy Christmas to you all. : Above: Sixty year old Laurie Wales’ Haka (32) seems to be making an attempt to gain a bit more reserve buoyancy with that addition to its bow; either that or it is carrying some suspect guidance system! Far left: Housemartin appears down under on Kevin Fieldes’ Haka (42). Martin Roberts has at least one fan in the New Zealand series. Left: Andrea Chisholm was the winner at Christchurch with Up Town Girl, carrying a rather famous number – another in the UK Haka design by Geoff Draper. The Christchurch water looks a pretty idyllic spot but the racing looks hectic with those boats going in opposite directions. 29 Products new to you? German modellbauplane 96/97 is the latest Plans Handbook from German model magazine publishers Verlag $22.95 and Polliwog $9.00. Shipping is fur Technik und Handwerk GmbH. Readers familiar with our Model Boats Plans Handbook will identify with the format; an illustration, brief description, scale and price. Obviously the detail text for each plan is in German, but the handbook includes introduction, ordering info, and references in English. Over 2000 plans are listed in the 160 pages; aircraft, model engineering, cars and boats. The boat section is broken down into similar categories to our Handbook, steam launches, fishing boats, tugs, patrol craft, lifeboats, supply vessels, merchantmen, passenger ships, sailing ships, paddlers, motor yachts, racing models, historic ships, sailing yachts, large range of additional kit. Seaworthy Small Ships over 80 detail drawings of ship and Seaworthy Small Ships If you are looking for small, seaworthy, free sailing models that will take you back to your youth, or better still, encourage today’s youngsters to take up model boating, then the American company Seaworthy Small Ships from Maryland, might well interest you. Currently there are four kits and one plan in their range; the kits are Neon Tetra, a 12in miniature diving sub – an 8in runabout called Scorpion – an 1lin sloop, Cricket – and 8in tug Toad. The plan is for a 12in flatiron skiff called Polliwog. With the latter, full size patterns and plates include written instructions. The solid hull design uses common building materials and no glue is needed! Ideal for the beginning scratch builder and a quick rewarding build for the experienced. All the kits contain pre-cut and drilled solid cedar parts, brass fasteners, copper rudder pins, and other quality items. The powered models use a rubber drive and efficient propeller reminiscent of rubber powered aircraft that some readers will be familiar with. Most also come with a display stand. Prices are Neon Tetra $15.95; Scorpion $19.95; Cricket $23.95; Toad $8.00 first kit plus $4.00 for each are at PO Box 2863, Prince Frederick. MD 20678, USA. Our three photographs show a proud modeller displaying his handiwork on Polliwog at the Mid-Atlantic Small Craft Festival in October 1992; a group of young skippers, all with Polliwogs at the same Festival; and another Polliwog showing off her bow in a chop. Something completely different! Martin Johnson’s Amazing Maritime Models can only be described by the Pythonesque ‘something completely different!’ Martin Johnson’s book is published by David & Charles and introduces his wacky brand of model making. The author is a TV and feature film set and production designer whose credits include Dr Who and the Captain Birds Eye commercials – the latter giving a substantial clue to the visual impact of the designs which are almost cartoonesque. The themes presented are all in the form of dioramas; a number of fishing scenes, a steam launch, a submarine, etc., many featuring cut-aways of the models. Tools required are fairly basic and as 60 far as materials are concerned, a supply of softwood, dowels and plies will suffice for most models. It is difficult to categorise the person who will be interested in building these projects; most model boat builders and woodworkers will no doubt regard them as novelties, ideal perhaps for birthday or Christmas presents, however they will probably appeal to craft modellers. The large format hard back book is beautifully presented with hundreds of the author’s charming drawings, and full colour photographs of all the designs. Full size patterns and templates are given with detailed working drawings. Available from 28th September, the price is £17.99. warships, and an interesting list of boat fittings, most at 1:25 scale. The ordering informationis clear and can be by a major credit card, IMO or cheque. For further details write to Verlag fur Technik und Handwerk, Postfach 2274, D-76492, Baden-Baden. Germany. Cost of the Handbook is 9.80DM + 5DM post
