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AN ARGUS SPECIALIST PUBLICATION DECEMBER 1988 ha RCScale NatsUF ae bes Preview £1.40 hough I am Secretary of the MYA, I write this column in my personal capacity and unless the text specifically says otherwise, the views expressed are mine, not thoseatof the MYA as a body. This was spelt out the beginning of my stint in these pages and should be fairly obvious, but it seems to need repeating from time to time. Brickbats and insults should be directed to me personally. Vintage Day, Gosport 4 September This was the best attended and most interesting of the series so far. At one stage there were 24 boats on the water or on the grass and there were others that had been and gone by the time we thought to count the attenders. The weather was kind to us, with a bright sunny day and sufficient wind to keep all the boats moving well, but not so much as would cause problems even to the oldies with unmeasured and therefore massive sail areas. It was particularly good to see several members of the Vintage Group who had become good friends by letter over the years, but whom I had not previously had the chance to meet. It was even better to see their boats. For the first time we saw on one sheet of water just about all the possible variations on the theme of Vintage model sailing. We had old boats in their strict original form and others equally authentic in their style, but fitted with radio assist to take the hard work out of sailing them. The meeting also saw the debut on the water of replica boats built to old designs, and one boat newly designed in the style of the past. This last is an unexpected development so early in the life of the Vintage Group, but a welcome one. To me, at any rate, the VG is nothing if it is not an inclusive broad church for all those with an interest in past modes of model yachting. Chance meetings on the side of the pond proved fruitful, as they usually do. John le Moignan was over on holiday from Guernsey and had not brought a boat to sail. This gave him time to give Paul Croxon some horse’s mouth advice on how best to trim and sail the 1930’s 10-rater that Paul has brought to sailing condition. built The boat was originally designed and The by Paul’s uncle, but was never sailed. sails were still in the tissue paper wrapping in which they had come from the makers. Everything else on the boat had been made from scratch to a very high standard and she looks very very good in her new coat of varnish and is a nice example of the careful preservation of aner boat in the form that her original desig intended. By the end of the afternoon Paul was getting the hang of the Braine gear lf. settings and thoroughly enjoying ghimse His enthusiasm for vintage sailin has broken out in a desire to build a “new” old MODEL BOATS centralised. I think that it may be something to do with the long straight keel and deep drag of the keel line that is characteristic of this style of boat, but I must wait until my own replica 10T is finished before I can do the on the water research that will be needed. In passing, this emphasises the importance of keeping old boats on the water where they can be boat over the winter. He is looking at plans of an Admiral Turner schooner to the 80cm Rule. This one dates from 1915, but I hear that he had also taken a copy of a 10 Tonner plan that appeared in “Model Yachtsman”’ in the 1890’s, so we don’t know what the new beastie will look like yet. Perhaps this is the place to remind readers that a comprehensive collection of old plans is being built up and those who are interested in building something out of the ordinary may care to get in touch with used as research vehicles, rather than allowing them to pass into the hands of the interior decorators. To become part of someone’s scheme of trendy decor is a sad me. Another oldie that was in original condition was an 1880’s or 90’s 10 Tonner being sailed by David Mathers. As I recall, she was called something fairly inappropriate like Fairy. This boat is not a particularly extreme example of the form, with a lwl of just under 42 inches and a beam of 7.25 inches and has no rudder or steering facility at all. The sails are original and the sail area is really large. She sailed well, if a little overpowered with all her washing up. The interesting thing to me was that she sailed at least as well off the wind as on it. The magazines of the period are full of discussions of the problems of off wind control of this type of boat, and many clubs raced only to windward, but this boat with no rudder at all managed to sail down Gosport lake on a quartering run without a tremor. So we learn something more about the performance of an older style of boat. That this was not a peculiarity of this particular design was shown by the first outing of Cupid II, Mike Burn’s 10 Tonner to an Albert Strange design of 1891. The hull was seen at Dovecote earlier in the year and at Gosport she made her appearance fully rigged and radio fitted. Mike is a full size old gaffer sailor and an engineer so the details of the rig were drawn from full size gaff rig practice rather than the model style of the period, and the radio installation employed a longitudinal lay shaft in the hull with a series of drums of varying sizes to give the right amount of sheet movement for the different sails. Cupid seems to be more tender than David’s boat, but otherwise the performance is very similar and she equally will go down wind with the rudder Opposite page; main pic, your columnist with Heather Dew, the small Alexander boat described a couple of months ago, now _ repaired and restored she spent most of the afternoon on the water in the hands of a succession of people captivated by her good looks and performance. Even a toy like this can be satisfying when built by a firm who knew what they were doing. Far left, a stranger in our midst; a free sailing square rigger that took the opportunity of Vintage Day to sail in company. Rigger photos: Vince Collins and Eric Shaw. Above, unidentified A boat dating from the 1960s (see text), radio controlled now. Photo: Vince Collins. Below, Vince Collins’ Comet, another unidentified A boat of uncertain vintage now restored, radioed and fitted with a Highlander suit of sails. Photo: Vince Collins. fate for a boat that was built to be sailed. Denis Saxcoburg had gone one better than restoring an old boat, describing himself as one who drifted away from model yachting when GRP started to displace boats made of proper wood, he has designed and built an entirely new boat to the Length and Sail Area Rule. Moonbeam is quite small, 29.75 inches overall, 24 lwl and a displacement of 4.3 pounds. The sail area is 250 square inches and this makes her a one rater under the pre 1969 version of the rule (divisor 6000). Despite this, she looks in some ways like the boats that were designed to the MM Rule as half Marbleheads in the 1950’s. A simple Vic Smeed design of vane gear is fitted and the boat performs well. She is also beautifully built in mahogany, bread and buttered on the buttocks and looks very lovely in her varnish finish. He is concerned that the Vintage movement shall not be confined to sailing old boats and building to old designs, and is thinking in terms of some sort of competition for free sailing boats of this type, if others are interested. To this end he hopes to tidy up the design, get a few bugs out of the boat and produce two boats for next season so that there can be some competitive sailing. Other boats in evidence if not yet ready for the water were the pre 1939 Marblehead that Ralph Nellist is working on and Richard Howlett’s Drumbeat. This is a 1961 “A” boat by Joe Meir and is still in undercoat and with the radio installation to do. When she is finished she will be a great sight, as was the “A” boat of similar vintage that was there. Beautifully built on the buttocks in pine, Left, an untouched free sailing 1880’s 10T model, see text, more photos overleaf. Above, Frank Bandey’s collection. From front, 19th Century cutter, not a class boat; pair of 20s or 30s toy hulls; three mast elderly schooner. DECEMBER 1988 * 723 i she was one of the few bread and buttered boats that looked really good in varnish. The radio installation was neat and practical and she went well. Unfortunately I omitted to make a note of her name and that of her owner (please, give me a ring!) so I am unable to give you the background details that would put her right into her context. My own “A” boat, Invader was supposed to be ready for Gosport, but as is the way of these things, she wasn’t, so I took the 10-rater Oriane again and sailed her on the new second suit rig that I have Right and below, more shots of the untouched free sailing model. made for her. This was a gratifying experience, as the sails (which were the first cotton sails I had attempted) looked good and worked well. The boat went well under them and would have been overpowered in her 60 year old top suit which, in any case, would probably not have survived another outing. Otherwise, I gave a brief run to a 1947 10-rater I bought recently. This is K 1141, Jolanthe, designed and built by Boniface, a member of the Highgate club. Originally a Braine steered boat, she was converted to vane shortly after she was built but retained the Braine quadrant, so I used that rather than fiddle about with a vane, which is even more unfamiliar to me than the Braine gear. As I am not built for a lot of running round the side of big ponds and the boat was rather less than watertight, she will have to be radioed as well as waterproofed before she gets another run. All the same, it was gratifying to see her going to windward nicely and know that I hadn’t totally forgotten the sort of trim a free sailing boat needs. Left, further progress with Roger Daniels’ 20 Tonner Eagle, next time she will have some canvas and be able to get back into her element. Photo: Eric Shaw. Berlin World’s Kevin Fieldes’ report on the RM events in Berlin will appear next month. I think it entirely to the good that “MB” should carry a report that is not written by one of our own team. As I write this the Olympics are winding their unending length across our screens and the chauvinism that seems to be inseparable from the reporting of international sporting events is getting up my nose. I don’t want detailed discussion of our man’s performance unless it’s justified on merit. The 10-r event was dominated by the Chinese who for this event were able to use their own boats throughout and finished in 3rd, 4th and fifth places close up behind the Russian and German skippers who placed first and second. To one who was not present in Berlin, the outstanding lesson is that there must never be another championship that is not jointly run by IMYRU and Naviga. The distribution of the top places between nations shows that there are some very good skippers who we in the IMYRU fold had heard nothing about and that we cannot have a world championship that does not give them the opportunity to compete. How many of us would have predicted that there would be two Finns in the top dozen of the RM event or three Chinese in the 10-r? I hope that the experience of running a joint championship in Berlin has enthused everyone else for more of the same, and that in the longer term the two World bodies are thinking hard about how they MODEL BOATS can bring the administration of model yachting under a single organisation. One Metre Rule An example of an area in which the two organisations could have done better is the nonsense over the new IMYRU I1-m Rule. The original intention was that the Technical Committee would liase closely with Naviga who had already adopted a 1-m Rule based on, but not identical to, the American Rule. This seems not to have happened or to have been ineffective, with the result that the IMYRU Draft Rule was published in a form that was radically different from the Naviga and American Rule. Further discussion between IMYRU and Naviga in Berlin has resulted in proposed changes to both the Rules that will enable most existing boats to fit into a ae Above, another 20T, this one owned by John Bunting, fitted with radio rudder. Left, Cupid Hl, the first replica 10 Tonner, to a design of 1891, ready for her first trip on the water. ae Below, my own replica 10T, Odette, designed 1888, basic hull by John Gale, internal fitting out by your columnist. Photo: Eric Shaw. Bottom, Michael Moore’s immaculately restored 1930’s 10-rater is now complete and had her first trip at Gosport. The mainsail needs a little work to tighten up the leach, but she goes as weil as she looks. Bottom right, Fortnum and Mason is a different nature of toy boat, probably from the 20’s in design, with unusual keel and reverse tiller. The elastic centring line holds the rudder stock in a V shaped notch ina plate on the transom. single class. The change in the IMYRU Rule concerns the depth of fin permitted, which it is proposed to increase from 340mm to 400mm. There is a consequential introduction of a limit to the hull depth to prevent depth stealing by building very deep heavily rockered hulls. This, I understand, will be 60mm, a figure which should easily accommodate all existing boats. Though this is a step in the right direction, it is one that should have been sorted out before the draft was published. The MYA will be considering its position vis-a-vis the new Rule and I hope that there will be clear guidance for clubs and builders in the not too distant future. Perhaps the very long time since the introduction of a new International Rule (Marbleheads were adopted by IMYRU’s predecessor in 1937) has meant that there has been insufficient practice in carrying out this sort of exercise. “*A”’ Class Rule The September meeting of the MYA Council considered the position on the “A” Class Rule, where there is a good chance that IMYRU will eventually adopt a Rule change permitting multiple rigs and prognathous keels, neither of which is desired by the “A” fleet in England. The AGM will be asked to give covering authority to Council to introduce a local variation to any IMYRU Rule introduced following the IMYRU Permanent Committee meeting in January that would exclude these relaxations for boats competing under the aegis of the MYA. It may not come to this, as the whole package is out for a fresh vote by the countries that sail “A” boats and the MYA has circulated a strongly worded request for reconsideration of the proposed changes, which smack very much of adjusting the Rule to make possible a style of boat which cannot be made fully competitive within the Rule as it stands. This will upset Bob Sterne, who is very interested in getting the changes through. To keep the peace, I should perhaps mention that he tells me that boats to his Logic RM design have been winning everything in sight in the Canadian and US season. This is as well as their very respectable showing in Berlin. The possibility of a separate treatment of radio and vane boats has been mooted but this seems to me to be undesirable. The class should remain as a single class; to separate the vane fleet off will call into question its continuation as an Above, Dennis Saxcoburg’s brand new traditional 1950’s boat described in the text. Left, John Gale brought out this nicely preserved example of a John Lewis Red Herring from the Late 7950’s. International class, even though it should ensure the MYA’s dominance of the voting in the smaller field. In radio, the MYA has, (or appears to have, since I don’t give too much credence to the numbers of registered boats declared to IMYRU by the member nations), 41 out of a world total of 169, as opposed to 48 of 60 vane boats. Other IMYRU Business At the IMYRU General Meeting, held in London on September 19 the existing officers were all re-elected without opposition. The main item before the meeting, a series of proposals from the MYA on the place of time limits and wind speed limits in the Directive for the conduct of major championships, were carried with only one small exception. MYA AGM The MYA’s AGM will be held, as usual, at Francis House, Francis Street, London SW1. The date is Saturday 10 December, starting at 11.30. The motions that need to be circulated in advance for clubs to consider will have been delayed a bit by the postal strike, but this should not cause us undue difficulty. Contact address: R R Potts, 8 Sherard Road, London SE9 6EP. Tel: 01 850 6805. Left, Uncle Charlie’s 10-rater; John le Moignan and Paul Croxson sort out how it should go and, after a bit of trial and error got it right. Above, Ralph Nellist’s Marblehead is making slow but sure progress back towards the water. MODEL BOATS
