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JULY 1990 £1.65 AIRBRUSHING SEADARTREVIEWED ISSN 0144-2910 si – = ALLL aving selected the most appropriate material for the size and scale of the model being built, one needs to mark out the various shapes. Remember that each sail should be cut out leaving sufficient material around the edges to make an adequate hem. It is far better to err on the generous side, bearing in mind that any extra can always be cut off, whereas if initially cut too small, it can’t be put back on. However, before working on the edges, the lines of seams need to be simulated. This is done by first marking out their positions and then applying rows of stitches. This really does need the services of a sewing machine and with a bit of practice, it is not too difficult to sew in a straight line. This really is most important, as deviations from straightness do show up quite alarmingly. Take the stitching right to the edge of the material and cut the thread at the end of each row. When all seams have been stitched, the ends have then to be sewn in. When cutting off the thread at the end of each row, one must leave a length sufficient to thread a needle and sew the end back in along the seam where it can then be cut off flush with the surface of the material. Hemming the edges is the next stage and, according to the size of the model, hems can be fairly small or large enough to take the form of a piped edge, where the hem actually forms a tube through which passes a length of rigging thread of relatively large diameter. Such thread can be formed into small loops at the corners of the sail for use when rigging to the masts and spars later on in the rigging process. When working at small scale, the hems can, in fact, be turned over and glued. However, it must be said that a properly sewn hem does look more professional and it is worth making the effort to adopt this method. Probably the best tip that can be offered at this stage is that one should ask the wife, aunt or grandmother to do it for you, particularly if you are going to have to struggle with a piped edge. If they refuse, then try doing the sewing in front of them. Invariably, they won’t be able to resist showing their superiority, either by doing the job for you or, at least, giving you some expert tuition. If however, this devious ploy fails, then I’m afraid you are back to these notes and sketches. The main object of the hemming exercise is to provide a straight edge, reinforced by doubling over the material in such a way that the edge cannot be seen and cannot fray. When all of the necessary sewing has been done, one next has to consider whether or not the material needs to be coloured. The use of proprietary brands of dye is quite straightforward and one has to merely follow the instructions provided. There are all sorts of ways to make the dye ‘fast’ but it really isn’t necessary for our particular application, since once rigged, the sails are not going to be regularly washed. One thing that maybe I should have mentioned earlier is that the colour of the cotton used for seaming and hemming should be as near as possible in shade to the colour you wish to finish up with. Coloured cottons are all dye fast, so after your dyeing process you should finish with everything matching. Do use rubber gloves and don’t use your wife’s JULY 1990 eriod Pieces by Keith Julier SAILS Part Two 1. MARK SAIL SHAPE ONTO MATERIAL LEAVING EXTRA AROUND EDGES TO FORM HEM. 2.MARK SEAM PATTERN ONTO SAIL AND MACHINE STITCH, LEAVING ENDS LONG ENOUGH TO THREAD NEEDLE AND SEW IN. CUT ENDS OFF FLUSH WITH SURFACE OF SAIL. 3.FOLD EDGES OF MATERIAL OVER TO FORM HEM AND IN POSITION. 4.MACHINE HEM FOLLOWING LINE OF TACKING. PULL OUT TACKING THRE, THREAD. PLAIN HEMMING PIPED HEMMING best cooking utensils. I am indebted to Ken Dudley of Stoke Rochford in Lincolnshire, for passing on an alternative method of dyeing and weathering. The use of wood dyes, thinned with cellulose thinners and painted onto the sail material, can, if done patchily, produce a realistic weathered effect. (See Mailboat in the January 1990 edition of this magazine). When thoroughly dried, each sail needs to be pressed with a fairly hot iron. Use either a damp cloth or a sheet of brown paper between the sail and the sole of the iron. Again, this is not quite the easy operation that it appears to be. When PIPED HEMMING WITH LOOP pressing the hems, start at one end and, using the iron to hold one end secure, gently stretch the hem straight before running the iron along it. If you don’t, there is a strong likelihood that the hem will finish up with a bend in it and, what is worst, the main surface of the sail will be warped and refuse to lay flat. Finally, should you have been successful in obtaining the services of a female member of the family in doing the needlework and the ironing, please don’t forget the obligatory box of chocolates or, at least, an enthusiastic mention when someone is admiring the completed model. 29 CURVED AIR |: here is no significant MYA news this month. The long gap between the January and June Council meetings has allowed people to get on with building and sailing their boats rather than thinking great thoughts about the organisation. So this month’s contribution is very largely confined to old boats and a historical byway which seemed worth exploring since fresh and otherwise irretrievable material had fallen into my lap. Russell Potts on old boats and historical by-ways An early post war Marblehead First, some photos of a Marblehead that was probably built very shortly after the war. She is number 189, Sapper, and is one of the first half dozen M’s recorded when the register reopened in 1947. It is possible, given the date of registration, that she was built, or at least designed, before or during the war. Even so, had I not had the registration details, I would have dated her in the late 1940’s or very early 50’s, as the general style is essentially post war. The boat spent all her life in Morecambe in the family of her original owner. The design is fairly typical of the immediate post war trend of “M” design, with the waterline creeping out towards the 50 inch limit, but not there yet. The displacement is fairly high for the period and the boat is in the heavyweight tradition of “M” design, with displacement used to give the stability needed to hold up what was always a large sail area for the size of boat, rather than the lighter, finer lined approach followed by Bill Daniels and Bert Littlejohn at this period. They consciously chose to forego power in favour of a sweet, easily driven hull that would use a lower rig, possibly even a reduced area, to keep the hull upright. At this period, of course, even tall rigs were relatively modest, with 60 inch hoists being customary for the top suit. Many boats had only one rig of full 800 square inches area and reduced area as soon as they changed down from their top suits. The reluctance of designers to make more use of the unlimited draft available under the Rule meant that there was no way for boats to hold up really tall rigs. Sapper would almost certainly have been designed originally to use braine steering; the present configuration reflects a conversion to vane, possibly in the middle 1950’s, since the skeg and rudder profile are a fully developed vane gear style with no element of the transitional shapes found on many early JULY 1990 Marblehead K189 Sapper, first registered in 1947. Photo: A. Woodhouse. Beautifully planked 6-m found in the Lake District. Photo: Larking. (i.e. before 1950) conversions from Braine to vane steering. A 1920’s 6-metre Next, a very finely built 6-m, which has come to light in Bowness on Windermere. From the style of the boat, she dates from the late twenties or early thirties. It is not possible to be more specific than this as there are relatively few published 6-m designs and the boat is not immediately recognisable as being to one of those that I know. The construction, which appears to be a form of strip planking over shadows which have been removed, suggests a relatively late and sophisticated approach to the job. The ribs seem to have been sprung in after the boat came off the shadows and have only a few screws to reinforce the glue. The reliance on glue again suggests a builder who was at the sharp edge of the available technology when the boat was built. The general standard of workmanship is high as is shown by the multitude of narrow planks, the very pretty mahogany coving plank and the way the planking is continued right down into the deadwood. This is sheer showing off by the builder and follows full size practice, rather than the typical model builder’s dodge of making the bottom of the boat from a single piece of wood and hollowing from the inside when construction was complete. It all suggests that she was built by a professional woodworker, possibly someone in the boatbuilding trade on Windermere. A number of 1930’s “A” boats that have turned up locally in the same area are built to a similarly high standard. When restoration is completed, the boat will be sailed with the model yacht section of the Royal Windermere Yacht Club which has recently affiliated itself to the MYA. There can’t be too many model yachting national authorities that have Royal affiliates, without being Royal themselves. The Belgian NA is the 41 Royal Belgian MYC, but I don’t know whether there are Warrant bearing affiliated clubs over there. “Jenny” over the water Two photos of a version of Douglas McGhee’s Jenny design that appeared in MB some time ago. This one was built by one of my contacts in Florida, who has a collection of small toy sailing craft of than there ever was in this country, even before we were told by those who ought to know better that “there is no such thing as Society”. In the twenties and thirties many towns in the States had boys clubs and workshops run by the local business community on a voluntary basis to provide wholesome recreation and some craft training for the local various dates. He was very enthusiastic both about the ease of construction and the sailing qualities of the model. My own version is stalled at the moment because at the stage of sanding down the hull, I realised that there is a slight twist in the hull form that I had not noticed when I checked the “skeleton” over before I started the planking. There is no way to get it out now and I have not decided whether to go ahead with a slightly warped boat or to scrap this version and start again. If I do have another go, I shall take the trouble to set the frames up on a building board rather than building “in mid-air” as Douglas suggested. Has anyone else out there built one of these charming little boats? Incidentally, it’s good to see that the Florida swimming pool gets used for more important things than cooling off after a hard day at the office. CaDeT: A new class for GCSE Students? Now many people know that the willing to let me attempt to build a model boat of my own design. It was never finished, but that’s not the point. He had spotted that I was never going to apply -myself to making another pipe rack. This approach took a long time to become general in our schools. Since the revision of the schools’ Craft, Design and Technology syllabus to include a “Project” as one of the major components in the assessment of 15 year olds at GCSE level, there has been a steady trickle of enquiries about the possibility of using “design and construct a model yacht” as the basis for American built version of Douglas McGhee’s Jenny recreation of a 1920s toy boat. Photo: Cohen. ‘ children. Several of these were based around model boat building of one sort or another and run by the local model boat fanatics and by craft teachers from the local schools. 60 years on, and on this side of the Atlantic, craft training of school age children seems to have been left The Lake District planked 6-m probably dates from the early 1930s. Photo: Larking. such a project. I fielded a number of these in my time as MYA Secretary, but without doing more than warn pupils and teachers off trying anything too ambitious. I wasn’t at that stage able to offer any positive suggestions. Vic Bellerson, who combines a lifelong commitment to model yachting with a life supporting career as a CDT teacher, has given the question some thought but does not, I think, include a yacht among the projects that he offers to his pupils. The Jenny recreation in her natural environment. Photo: Cohen. Marblehead Model Yacht Club, and hence the Marblehead Class, grew (at some removes) out of a summer holiday “build a boat” project for schoolchildren run by members of the local model yachtsmen in Marblehead, Massachusetts in the late 1920’s. There is a much stronger tradition of community action of this sort in the USA 42 exclusively to schools and there is a long tradition of making pipe racks and marble boards in tedious woodwork lessons. I have come to realise that 40-odd years ago I was lucky enough to be taught by an exceptional man who, having concluded that “We’ll never make a cabinet maker out of you, nor very likely even a plain carpenter”, was The difficulty is that “the project’, though it looms large in the minds of CDT teachers and pupils, is allowed only 50 hours of class time. Even if pupils are keen enough to want to do additional work in their own time, few would have the workshop facilities to do this. Projects based on the construction of even a small model yacht to an existing Rule will simply take too much time and will be beyond the capacity of the average 15 year old to complete in the time available, especially as only an exceptional 15 year old will have more than an elementary idea of the concepts involved in model yacht design. There is simply no time for the amount of study of the Rule and of previous design MODEL BOATS number of pupils who are already boat oriented and want to do a project with a maritime flavour, it could be a way of introducing model yachting to teenagers who might not otherwise have considered it. That can’t be a bad thing. If the idea takes off we might see a couple of dozen boats a year. The MYA might like to think about mounting a competition of some sort for them, either a static judging at the ME Exhibition or, if the logistics allow, a sailing meeting. approaches that would be involved in basing a CDT project on the Marblehead or One Metre Rule. The problem is to produce a challenging assignment that will properly test each of the “design construct and communicate” elements in the project concept, while reducing the scale of each phase of the project so that it will fall within the physical and intellectual capacity of the pupil to accomplish in the limited time available. The design should be to a simple Rule that needs no sophisticated understanding to ensure that its principles are securely grasped. For this reason all the existing [YRU-MYRD Rules are out because too much time would be consumed in getting a proper understanding of what was involved in the relevant Rule. The simplest Rule around is the MYA’s 36 inch Restricted, in which the hull of the boat has to fit into a box 36 x 9 x 11. There can be no problem about understanding what it means. But though the 36R meets the criterion of simplicity, it still produces an amount and scale of work greater than can sensibly be accommodated in the George Colman Green As I have read around in the history of model yachting, I have been intrigued by the name of George Colman Green, which pops up over a long period, from his role as founding Secretary of the Norfolk and Norwich club in 1904 to correspondence in the specialist press in the late 1940’s. I recently had the opportunity to borrow some papers from his family; they are mainly press cuttings and ephemera connected with his activities in East London during the 1920’s and 30’s. He was clearly an immensely enthusiastic, if eccentric and somewhat time available. Roger Stollery, who seems never to stop thinking about one aspect or another of our sport, has proposed a variation on the 36R Rule which would scale down the whole operation to something nearer the size that is wanted for teaching purposes. He proposes a hull that will go into a box 700mm long by 200 wide by 250 deep. The CDT syllabus (unlike the real world) has been George Colman Green, self portrait. Right, handbill for the inaugural meeting of the Hackney MYC. ‘A Great Educational Movement for British Boys’, not ‘a club for Hackney schoolchildren’. Below, members of the LCC Boys’ MYC sailing on Wanstead Flats, late 1920s. Courtesy: Colman Green Collection. hel? eee o ie A Great Educational Movement ‘ for British Boys. ao THE INAUGURAL MEETING OF, THE ; nha – Hackney Model Yacht Club will be held through the Courtesy of MESSRS. ASHLEY & , CO. _AT THEIR AUCTION ROOMS, . 143 CLAPTON COMMON, (Opposite Stamford Hill Cinema) a Thursday, September 20th. 1928 at 7.30 p.m. The Meeting is convened under the Auspices’ of The British Model Yacht Racing Association (1909). – JOSEPH S. BRIDGES, Esq., iar Chairman : M.A., B.Sc., LL.D. Barrier atore and Chief Officer of the Willesden Education Commtioe he ViceTMChairman : Councillor G. Lusher Pentney, g ¢ < Hon. Sec. : Hackney Rae Councillor. C. COLMAN GREEN, 18 Downs Park Road... kg vate KatuAS aa- /4 44 metricated long since but for us older pupils that’s very roughly 27.5 x 7.8 x 9.8 inches. The 36R Rule includes a 12 pound weight restriction, but no other limits. Roger proposes to have no weight limit, but to limit mast height to 1 metre, mainly for practical considerations, such as transport. This looks like a sensible approach to needs of a project for 15 year olds. The scale of the operation is reduced, the concept is easily understood, but there are still design problems which are within the capacity of the first time designer to solve. What is the right JULY 1990 balance between sail area and displacement, given that there is a draft limitation? This problem is not complicated by an absolute weight limit, which tends to put more importance on designing and build for minimum structure weight than is reasonable for a first time project. There is a wealth of information available on the 36R class, which though different in proportions is essentially similar in its concept. Steps are being taken to bring the idea to the notice of CDT teachers and we shall see what they make of it. Apart from meeting the requirements of a small untypical member of the boat sailing classes. His passion for getting his doings recorded in the local and specialist press has ensured that he left a more visible mark on the record than many others who made a more central and more solid contribution to the sport. He trained as an artist, though I do not think his work shows any real talent; he spent much of his working life as a teacher in elementary schools in East London. He went to Australia shortly before the first world war and served with the Australian forces, returning to England in 1920. During the second 43 1931 PROSPECTUS. OBJECTS OF THE LEAGUE. 1.—To secure a thoroughly up-to-date Yachting and Experimental Tank near London, 800 x 200, with retaining walls, club rooms, ete., to which the various British and Foreign Clubs can be invited. world war he wrote (and published at his own expense) patriotic epics on the lives of English heroes. They are This is estimated to cost £16,000. The Imperial Junior League of Model Yachtsmen indescribably bad. Throughout his long career a number of themes recur, some of which are illustrated in the aims and objects of the Norfolk and Norwich club on its foundation. These were: “To promote a healthy and instructive form of sport for Boys; “To preserve the nautical characteristics of the District “Incidentally to combat the seductions of Modern Boy Life “To create an intelligent Public Interest in the Problems of Naval Evolution, more particularly as pertaining to yacht Architecture” The need to provide wholesome alternatives to (what the middle classes saw as) the dangers to working class youths of dead end jobs and street corner entertainments are typical late Victorian and Edwardian concerns. The Boy’s Club movement, the Boy’s Brigade and the Boy Scouts are other examples of attempts to “save” the youth of the nation. GCG was not alone in seeking to use model yachting as a way of attracting young men away from the billiard hall, the football terraces and the Kinema. Later in his career, when he was a schoolteacher in Poplar, GCG founded and ran an organisation called “The LCC Boys’ MYC”, which met sporadically on ponds on Wanstead Flats for a few years in the late 1920’s. Attempts to recruit other LCC teachers to run branches elsewhere in London came to nothing and it is likely that the membership was drawn entirely from pupils of GCG’s own school. Photographs show boys wading barefoot in a small pond sailing a very mixed bag of small models including beach yawl styles of lugger. This undoubtedly reflects GCG’s concern “to preserve the nautical characteristics of the district”; references to this style of boat and to the Norfolk wherry crop up continually in his writings, including the miscellanies of snippets on aspects of Norfolk life and lore which he wrote and published in the last years of his life. At the same period, in 1928, GCG was the founder of the Hackney and NE London MYC. Though there were adult members, the main thrust was again to recruit the young and most of the publicity in the local press which GCG 44 With Workshops and Nauti- cal Library attached an extra £5,000 is required (Inaugurated at Madam Tussaud’s, April, 2.—To secure all the Educational Recreative and Social advantages possible to Boys at the Pond Side, especially during the holiday 1929) seasons. Patroness The Baroness A. CRICHTON DE CHASSIRON. EDUCATIONAL ASPECTS OF MODEL YACHTING. Vice-Presidents . JOSEPH BRIDGES, M.A., L.L.D. A. A. KEMP, Esq. ey Peckham). HERBT. E. BARKER, Cee. MeCAUSLAND, | RNR. -5 (British Sailors’ Society) G. B. LEE (R. fai Ri H. J. COODE, Esq. Ge LEE FN.B.). ‘ AN righ Carlton Cinema, Upton Park, E.7. Maia (Aberdsaas eo Commodore The Lieut.-Curator, Greenwich Museum, G. HUNT, Esq., R.N., MBE, F.RSA H. TUCKER, i Committee ens x a Coma Y.C.). a R(Bournville ONALD CAMPBELL W. H. DAVEY, - (Clapham M.Y.C.) (See — Low League). Captain F. CTTANSLEY, Eo (Hove M.Y.C.). W. RUNCIMAN, A. J. CHI Surbiton M.Y.C.). ARMINGTON, igMan Dr. yr vecraba aor aeGREEN, ire PAYNE, Newport, “Model Eni Hon. Secretary Mr. G. COLMAN GREEN, Broadland View, 26, Capel Road, E.7. Foremost in the League's prog Model Yachting for Boys. 2, cutting; ee Adult Membership for oan . Membership Badges (eilver, Lecetthed with nase and date) 1/2/6 5/- Entrance fees for any one race, one shilling. whetanepee 8 and stamped ste Pig siam Retire Nal Fees‘ahen: at the pond-side doubled. ——These should be sent to week bef hi 1 Aspect of therefore, put to successful competitors in the various sailing competitions, relating to: 3, carving; 4, fitting; 4a, decorating; |, design; 5, care of tools and brushes; 6, principles of sailing (running, reaching, beating); 7, wind- and-compass direction (16 points only); 8, Calculating Centre of Effort; 9, Estimating Centre of Lateral Resistance; 11, Cross Pond Signalling; 12, Swimming; 10, Estimating Distance; 13, Efficient Rigging, etc. Marks are awarded and recorded with any certificate issued. DESIGNS. The League having now FEES Boys’ ee is the Ed Questions are, ically fixed their standards of building boats for five years hence, advises junior model yachtsmen to study the various designs which are from time to time published in the Model Yachtsman (Golden House, Gt. Pulteney Street, W.1 ). These can be had at very reasonable rates and are the last word in skilful and experienced design. For ships’ engines see “ The Mode! Engineer,” 66, Farringdon Street. Extract from the prospectus of the Imperial Junior League of Model Yachtsmen, 1931. The educational aspects of model yachting reappear in many of GCG‘s promotional pamphlets over th years. Below, press photo of the Imperial League meeting at the Round Pond in 1931. From GCG press cuttings collection with his comments on a disastrous day. Courtesy: Colman Green Collection. Sail plan of ‘The Limit’, with comparison with more typical design to the BRA Rule. Courtesy: ‘Yachting Monthly’ Vol. 25, 1917. generated and preserved in a series of press cutting books played up the youth side of the club. No doubt this made it easier to attract patrons to support the club, both by allowing their name to be placed on the letterhead and with regular donations of cash. Practically all model yacht clubs before 1939 had a long list of the local “great and good” on their programmes. They were described to me by one older model yachtsmen as “essential to give tone to the club and always good for a guinea.” Colman Green was adept at recruiting this sort of person, as is idan by thie Cortienitt of the Hackney club and even more by the Patron and Vice Presidents of another Youth oriented movement thai GCG founded and ran at this period, “The Imperial Junior League of Model Yachtsmen”. This was another short lived affair and, despite its Imperialist name and the linking of its activities t: St George’s Day (entirely natural giver GCQ’s attitudes to model yachting anc the Empire) was mainly a pressure gro attempting to get a proper model yacht pond built in London. It held an annuz sailing festival for boys on the Round Pond each St George’s Day for three years, 1931-1933, but, despite regular coverage in the London evening paper: attracted extremely limited support which again was probably drawn only from GCG’s own school. The fact that the weather was appalling on two of tI three occasions the League met is abou par for the course with Colman Green’: enterprises. The League’s attempts to lobby local authorities to provide four large model yacht ponds in London comparable to those in Fleetwood, Birkenhead and Gosport fell on deaf e< and by 1934 it seems to have faded aw: without a trace. The meeting notice for the Hackney Club and the prospectus f the Imperial League are entirely typica of GCG’s capacity to behave as if he w. leading a great national organisation, when in fact the troops were less that ¢ MODEL BOs dozen elementary schoolboys. The reference in the Hackney Notice to the British Model Yacht Racing Association (1909) is another example of GCG’s powers of self deception. To the end of his life he behaved as if this still-born grouping which he had attempted to found in the years before 1914 had a real and continuing existence. After the 1939 war, he was still marking up his copy of the MYA’s club list to show the clubs which had given nominal support to his organisation in the Edwardian years, when he was compiling his British Model Yacht Club Guide and Directory and campaigning for a national organisation for model yachting. I shall write about this aspect of his work next time. A Turner Monster of 1917 Alfred Turner is well known as the originator of the metacentric shelf theory of hull balance and as a designer of “A” boats in the 1930’s that exploited the Rule to the utmost and were (in their period) regarded as extreme heavyweights or “monsters”. He was an engineer and above all a theoretician. His career as an RN Engineer officer included a long spell working on the hydrodynamic design of screw propellors and as a model designer he was always in the forefront of the application of the latest theoretical and experimental data to the design problem. During the First World War, the magazine “Yachting Monthly” published a large number of designs for two man racing keelboats to the Boat designers had shown what they thought a boat to the BRA Rule should look like, Turner (writing under the pseudonym of “Siberian’’) entered the fray. Making the point that he had previously designed only model yachts, he explained that he had intended to design a model to the Rule. He had therefore subjected the Rule to severe theoretical scrutiny as well as a practical trial in attempting to adjust the underwater form of an existing design to extract the maximum advantage from the provisions of the Rule. To assist in the squeezing and stretching involved, he produced a graphical representation of the relationship between the various elements of the Rule, so that the changes in sail area resulting from adjustments to the rated length or displacement could be read off immediately rather than calculated. So far as I am aware, this is the first publication of such a designer’s crib, even more necessary in the days before calculators replaced slide rules and hand calculation. In the 1920’s a similar device for the “A” Class was widely used. Turner used other such graphs to compare the BRA Rule with the Length and Sail Area Rule and the American Fig “THE something quite different, which he had produced. He makes it clear that this would not be his solution if he were designing a model to the Rule, as it has too much sail and insufficient lateral area to hold a straight course off the wind. It is also clear, without any close analysis, that the hull is far from balanced. The most striking features are the complete suppression of the overhangs and the very much larger sail area. The drawing comparing the sail areas also shows the above-water profile of a typical design from one of the framers of the Rule. The boat was not, I think, ever intended to be built. Turner himself concludes with a suggestion that the BRA Rule should be amended before any boats are built to exclude the possibility of such extreme designs dominating the class. Nevertheless it is an interesting design in itself, an anticipation of some much later trends in model yacht design, and an early example of Turner’s methodical, test to destruction, approach to the analysis of a rating Rule. In 1919 a reader wrote from America to say that he had built a model to the Limit design, but on a very small scale, giving a hull length of only thirteen and a half inches, 4 LIMIT” Racing Association’s 18 footer Rule. The Rule had been finalized just as the war started and none of the designs were built full size until after the war, so all the discussion in “YM” was ata N § U NEL KN us | or eae 00 a AAA | \ NES » : | a ae ms| A Bcan . RSSNSSSN_* | | CRAFHICAL soo | | al a “Low REPRESENTATION OF BRA cues. RULE AS APPLIED TO MODELS = “s +/3_ = 36 wea-t Alfred Turner's graphical analysis of the elements of the BRA Rule, 1917. Courtesy: ‘Yachting Monthly’ Vol. 25, 1917. theoretical level. A number of these designs were built as models at 2 inches to the foot and sailed by members of the MYSA on the Round Pond. Model designers, such as Littlejohn, quickly started to design specifically for model competition and the full size designs fell out of use by modellers. The class continued in limited model competition until 1930, when the MYA withdrew recognition. (Incidentally, the 18 footer cup was passed over to Colman Green for use by his Imperial Junior League and ultimately lost sight of during the 1939 war.) After a number of well known full size JULY 1990 Seawanhaka Rule and to show the effect on the balance of elements of changing the constants used as divisors in this type of Rule. He concluded that the BRA Rule called for a relatively short boat, as did the Seawanhaka Rule, and not the more traditional looking style with overhangs fore and aft produced by the full size designers. Turner observed that the Rule placed practically no tax on beam and must tend to favour the production of a boat with a shallow and easily driven body. He offered a trenchant theoretical criticism of the timidity of approach to the Rule displayed by the full size designers. After turning aside to demolish, with more graphs and calculations and a commentary on the performance of models built to the International and 80cm Rules, the idea that sailing scale models could offer any real help in determining the likely successful designs in full size competition, he presented his own design for a full size 18 footer, under the entirely typical name of “The Limit”. He claimed that because they had had a clear idea of the type of boat they wanted the framers of the Rule had failed to write it in such a way as to exclude Lines plan of Turner's 18 footer ‘The Limit’, : ae. Courtesy: ‘Yachting Monthly’ Vol. 25, very much smaller than the scale of the 18 footer models at MYSA; the displacement was 19.1 ounces of which 11.8 ounces were lead ballast. The sail area was 150 square inches, rather less than would be produced by a scale reduction. He reported that she was a very successful sailing craft and perfectly balanced, which I would not have expected from a cursory look at her lines. Now that we have radio control to help with the steering problems that Turner anticipated, it might be fun to have another go at a model version of this extreme attack on the BRA Rule. Contact addresses MYA Matters: Ian Taylor 115 Mayfield Avenue London N12 9HY Tel: 01 446 1625 Vintage Group and Old Boat queries: Russell Potts & Sherard Road London SEY 6EP Tel: 01 850 6805 45 s I am in the process of writing a series of articles on the International Yacht Racing Rules as applicable to Radio Controlled Model Yachts, being published in Model Boats at present, I thought that it would be most interesting to go and have a good look at a day’s racing where rules were not being used. This I hoped might serve to illustrate some of the reasons as to why we need rules and also answer some of the questions as to why a simplified sets of rules does not really work! The 590 Nationals seemed to me to be an excellent choice of venue to study. It would presumably be a fairly serious event and would certainly have a large enough entry to provide a good cross section of skippers. I was also interested to cover this event from a pure interest point of view. I had always held the view that 575 and 590 racing must just be like bumper cars racing without proper rules with chaos ruling. I felt it was time to judge from experience rather than mere opinion. The 590 Nationals was held again this year at Oxford. From a geographic point of view this is a good location for a National event allowing people reasonable access from a large portion of the country. The upper lake used is excellent and particularly suited to shallow draft small model yachts as the water is shallow enough to wade across in waders, thus allowing easy rescue and mark laying. A pavement all around the lake just above water level provides one good control level, whilst a raised grass bank provides a better view point for a wide range of wind strengths to test people’s abilities over. Thirty two Skippers entered the event which allowed David to run two fleets of sixteen on a schedule. This meant that no one had to change crystals at all throughout the meeting, which apparently is a major advantage to 590 Skippers, where changing crystals is a time consuming business. An interesting approach to scoring was that in each race only the top seven places were recorded, the remaining nine boats were all awarded eight points. This had the major advantage of being able to get all of the stragglers off the water immediately seventh place had been awarded and get the next race going. A boat failing to start was awarded nine line before the start. (If you do, you must return and recross the line without getting in the way of boats already started.) 2) Buoys must be rounded on the nominated side, but maybe hit. 3) The finish line must be crossed to finish! 4) Gentlemanly or Ladylike behaviour on the water please! That is it! The standard 590 set of rules, which are certainly very easy to learn and even remember. Before we get on to the actual racing, I'd like to cover the class rules please. Class Rules Booms must be of a set length with a maximum thickness of 10mm. There were plastic, wooden and various metal booms in evidence. Sails must be as supplied and they are all cut from one set of master patterns. Decoration of sails is allowed and some imaginative styles can be seen in the photographs. Any servos can be used but NOT sail winches. Weight at the keel bulb as supplied with the option of being able to add a couple of ozs of lead within the bulb moulding. The mast height is fixed at 32 inches those that prefer the higher aspect of control point. The Officer of the Day was David Swain of the Oxford Club and with the assistance of Stewart they together ran the whole event like clockwork. The day itself was beautiful, a lovely sunny day that started off with the gentlest of breezes. That breeze gradually becoming stronger as the day progressed to provide 48 points. This system has a lot going for it, if you want to pack a lot of races into a single day and deserves further study for club events. It would not of course be suitable for ranking type events. Racing Rules The Skippers meeting point out that only the following rules would be used:1) The yacht must not cross the starting maximum. The mast crane as supplied or of wire, take off points to be the same and running lines the same. The kicking strap is fixed, with twist being introduced into the main by mast shape. All these points were told to me by Harvey Middleton who is Mr 590 himself. He also told me that he has now sold almost 1,800 of them. Either of the old basic 590 at £54.95 or the newer Ocean Cruiser type “S” kit at £59.95 which I think is a very nice looking craft indeed. The S kit comes with two suits of sails - top and intermediate, the old MODEL BOATS oN - - hy 1, ti 4 \ . =TM ete ei) a = \ at deluxe kit used to have a storm suit too, but apparently no one seems to ever use them. The Racing That sets the scene, so now to the actual racing which as we wrote above started with the gentlest of breezes. Thus the first few races were fairly slow with the fleets getting very spread out as some skippers battled not only to find the wind but how to set their sails! It was at this stage quite common to get boats up to the windward mark before others had started. The course being sailed was with the start down near to the leeward mark and a good length to the windward buoy which required at least one tack to be made for most of the day. Round the windward mark to port at ninety degrees for a short course up to the next mark, rounding that to port at around seventy five degrees, running down the lake on a very broad reach to the next wing mark, leaving that to port rounding again at around seventy five degrees, coming back across the lake to the leeward mark leaving that to port rounding it at least one hundred.and five degrees, and back up the windward beat to finish between the windward mark and the first of the wing marks. I think in the first race a boat finished before the last straggler had got around the second wing mark. However the thing that soon became apparent to me was that everyone was enjoying themselves and that there was no shouting of protests at any time. There was also a lot less of the sort of bumper car racing I had expected too. Certainly at the starts as the wind got up a fair few bumps could be heard and in JULY 1990 49 Op té€ 9000 ‘0 } Abe e st yaven” one race q ,, a 2 ppe We o and ed be e O s alt spread 0 S e e e q e due to a, got some fleet e co major as oI a e E ough get eve spread o ard 0 G req e 3 es ere da 0 0 were en a E : omeone a pote al e ould eme to strate sophisticated s ed oug ered one a to de occasions saw ta oO serve go e ad SOrt oce O fo ad ore few tlee a st to e course e a ea a q bette a advantage o o drama a 0 been variations degree, tended to ae e e ~ d spreading e ad a o a ya starts da aifairs athe aiternoo DOa ee e oO doing go a consideraD e belng races ee delayed q had prev1ous sta of > due to de e a ong e side otice boat Sait! Sei0o q: spoils ‘é o the p of 0 oO wa. difficulties p phnoto right A e Keith fake there appear was the é OC G Stevenson C eariy morning vet7 ay Vatio kit woi sequence ifé Gf mpiol to be in getting a decent raffle prize off an retainina I sail p shap Vational photo eventual winner of the day – Keith Stevenson was put the wrong side of the mark by Mr 590 is ironic, it certainly did not ruin Keith’s day. Usual port and starboard incidents just did not occur! Mainly because the fleets were so drawn out but on the few occasions when a collision was about to happen one or the other would give way! What would happen when two competitive boats were on a collision course I wonder? Luffing as a defensive tactic I only noticed being used once during the day. Please of course note however that a lot of the day I was concentrating on trying to get some decent photographs of the event itself and possible incidents so I was not in a position to notice everything that went on. Boat entanglements throughout the day though, were I should think well under half a dozen. Another incident that most definitely was unfair occurred when a boat that was clear ahead and starting to round the leeward mark was whacked up the port stern quarter by a boat that had been clear astern. This had the effect of screwing the first boat round and into the mark! It came to a standstill! The offending boat simply slipped round the outside of the stalled boat as did half a can have a brand new attractive model yacht together with the radio transmitter, receiver, two servos anda set of rechargable batteries. At that price it becomes an affordable special present for a child. Without doubt for the person worried about rules this is the class to learn how to sail a Radio Controlled Model Yacht. How to get used to the wind and how to get the best out of the sails that are provided. The rig may not allow you to set the sails to the perfect shape that larger models can achieve, but so what, it is the same for everybody and that is what one class racing should be about. There is undoubtedly the additional benefit to model yachting as a whole that some 590 skippers will progress on to other classes and start to learn the proper rules. If anyone is reading this article who has not yet had a bash at Radio Controlled Model Yacht sailing go on get one of these models and dozen others. Under rule 42.2 the boat clear astern would have been under an obligation to keep clear of the boat clear ahead in anticipation of the boat clear ahead turning more into a close hauled course whilst rounding the mark. Under the LY.R. Rules there is of course an obligation to try to avoid collisions in any case! But, as I wrote earlier these isolated incidents did not seem to ruin anyone’s day at all. I have only picked upon them to show some situations that would have been avoided if sailing to the proper rules. The conclusion I came to at the end of this very enjoyable day was that 590 models offered the newcomer a very inexpensive way of getting into the sport. For under one hundred pounds one JULY 1990 51 have a load of fun. The final point of excitement was that at the end of the main event there was a tie for third place between David Jones and Peter Holmes, so they had to havea sail off. I think most people expected the race to have been decided at the start but it proved to be perhaps the most exciting race of the day. It was decided that they would sail one race having two laps with a slightly different starting position to make the first windward beat more into the wind. KF81 is Peter’s number and David’s is 792. PhotoF ¥ Photo! & : The Sail Off At the start, photo A, the wind direction changes at the last moment giving Peter better speed and direction. He clears the line first and takes the lead, however the wind is fairly shifty and by photo B halfway up the first windward beat Peter is still ahead, but David has closed the gap somewhat. At the windward mark Peter is about ten seconds ahead, (Photo C). On the third offwind leg David starts to catch up a bit on Peter (Photo D), after rounding the leeward mark for the first time Peter puts in a tack, David holds his course on Port for a while and then tacks to starboard, the first step towards gaining possible 52 command over Peter. David in my opinion gets to a position when he really does have a command over Peter only to see him bear off under Peter’s stern? Shortly after David tacks back to port and sails in towards the bank whilst Peter stays out in mid lake. David makes the final tack back to starboard to lay the windward mark, gains better wind and is ahead! (Photo E) Up to the next wing mark David holds his lead, on the second leg of the offwind legs Peter overhauls David to leeward, seems to lufi up David and gains not only the lead but a reasonable gap as well. Again on the third offwind leg David gains ground on Peter closing the gap (Photo F), by the time Peter starts to round the leeward mark for the last time, David is back in contention. (Photo G). Peter makes the same mistake as in the last windward beat and tacks too soon to starboard, David waits a minute or two and then tacks himself to starboard getting a good commanding position over Peter (Photo H). David soon converts this into a clear lead only to sail into a hole! Peter seeing this tacks to Port and maintains way. David tacks to Port and manages to regain some boat speed. Peter closes the gap, but David manages to retain his lead. David manages then not only to retain the lead but increases again the distance between his boat and Peter’s, crossing the line in Photo I several boat lengths clear. What a race, it justs goes to show, how closely matched in ability these two Skippers were. Thanks again to David Swain and the Oxford Club for organising such a well run day. I guess also there would be around 1800 people who would like to thank Harvey Middleton for producing such a marvellous little yacht at a price that allows everyone to afford to be able to enjoy some of the thrills and challenges of Radio Controlled Model Yacht Racing. Photo v DIAGRAM 1 * DIRECTION OF NEXT MARK PORT TACK LAY_LINE a eee ©, = A practical introduction to IYRU rules by Nick Weall — Part Three 3NI7 AVI XIV1 GYvVOssVLS his is the third article in a series of forty eight entitled “The International Yacht Racing Rules as applicable to Radio Controlled Model Yachts and the tactical application of the rules from both defensive and attacking points of view’, the objective being to gently introduce the Novice Racing Skipper to the most enjoyable aspect of Radio Controlled Sailing. The first article covered the basics of getting a good start as a novice. The second article covered the first windward leg and the basic tactics involved. Both articles included a lot of the rules we shall be referring to in this series, besides offering a lot of basic general information as well. Consequently if this article interests you and you have not got copies of the first two articles to refer back to, I strongly recommend that you write to the publishers enclosing payment of £3 to get photocopies of both back issues posted to you, without delay. Reflection The second article left us with yacht C of a racing fleet of five yachts, approaching the windward mark on starboard. Yacht B is ahead of C, slightly to leeward, also on starboard and able to lay the mark. Yachts A, D & X are all approaching the mark on port tack. See diagram 1. This article, like the THE “MAGIC CIRCLE” RADIUS FOUR BOAT LENGTHS FROM THE MARK (SEE RULE 42) \ \ \ N N first two articles is going to include some large chunks of rules. I promise that it is ‘“ “N the last article to have such large Rounding the windwark mark Before we can attempt to round the mark correctly we must look at the rules in section C of the International Yacht Racing Rules: Rules that apply at Marks and Obstructions and other exemptions to the Rules of Section B. When a rule of this section applies, to the extent to which it explicitly provides 56 ~ rights and obligations, it over rides any conflicting rule of Section B, Principal Right of Way Rules and their Limitations, except rule 35, Limitations on altering course. Rule 42: Rounding or Passing Marks and Obstructions Rules 42 applies when yachts are about to round or pass a mark on the same required side or an obstruction on the same side, except that it shall not apply: (a) between two yachts on opposite tacks: (i) when they are on a beat, or (ii) when one, but not both, of them will have to tack either to round or pass the mark or to avoid the obstruction, or (b) when rule 42.4 applies. | | | ‘ ! | | ~ \ ~ ! ~ | amounts of the rules quoted in it. The reason is of course, that we have to lay out the ground rules, so as you can get round the course safely and with some understanding of what on earth is going on. Please, please remember that you do NOT have to learn these rules. It does help to have some sort of understanding of them and the whole purpose of these articles is to ease you into using the rules without pain. I feel for my part, that whenI first quote a rule I must show that rule in it’s entirely, and if the rule quoted refers to another rule within then I feel that I must print that rule as well if we have not covered it before. The next three rules are reproduced in full and lead on to reproduce one or two more as well. Just quickly scan over them for now and on to the text beyond, which will keep referring to little sections of the rules 4s we progress. You may then simply refer back to the section of rule I quote if necessary. So here we go… Rule 42.1 When Overlapped An outside yacht (a) An outside yacht shall give each inside overlapping yacht room to round or pass the mark or obstruction, except as provided in rule 42.3. Room is the space needed by an inside overlapping yacht that is handled in a seamanlike manner in the prevailing conditions to pass in safety between an outside yacht and a mark or obstruction, and includes space to tack or gybe when either is an integral part of the rounding or passing manoeuvre. (b) An outside yacht overlapped when she comes within four of her overall lengths of a mark or obstruction, shall give room as required, even though the overlap may thereafter be broken. MODEL BOATS (c) An outside yacht that claims to have broken an overlap has the onus of satisfying the Protest Committee that she became clear ahead when she was more than four of her overall lengths from the mark or obstruction. An inside yacht (d) A yacht that claims an inside overlap has the onus of satisfying the protest committee that she established the overlap in accordance with rule 42.3. (e) When an inside yacht of two or more overlapped yachts, either on opposite tacks or on the same tack without luffing rights, will have to gybe in order most directly to assume a proper course to the next mark, she shall gybe at the first reasonable opportunity. Hailing (f) A yacht that hails when claiming the establishment or termination of an overlap or insufficiency of room at a mark or obstruction thereby helps to support her claim. that time, the outside yacht: (i) is able to give room, and (ii) is more than four of her overall lengths from the mark or obstruction. However, when a yacht completes a tack within four of her overall lengths of a mark or obstruction, she shall give room as required by rule 42.1(a) to a yacht that, by luffing, cannot thereafter avoid establishing a late inside overlap. At a continuing obstruction, rule 42.3(b) applies (b) Limitation When an Obstruction is a Continuing One. A yacht clear astern may establish an overlap between a yacht clear ahead and a continuing obstruction, such as a shoal or the shore or another vessel, only when, at that time, there is room for her to pass between them in safety. under no obligation to give any windward yacht room to pass to leeward of a starting mark surrounded by navigable water, including such a mark that is also an obstruction; but, after the starting signal, a leeward yacht shall not deprive a windward yacht of room at 42.4 At a Starting Mark Surrounded by Navigable Water When approaching the starting line to start until clearing the starting marks after starting, a leeward yacht shall be Above, “‘Rounding the windward mark”. 1 am not sure what 67 is doing, it looks like he has left it rather late to lay the mark, perhaps he was out of control. Anyway 3940 leads myself round the mark with Graham Elliott “‘hot on my heels’. Photo: Lindsey Kirk. Rule 42.2 When not Overlapped A yacht clear astern (a) A yacht clear astern when the yacht clear ahead comes within four of her overall lengths of a mark or obstruction shall keep clear in anticipation of and during the rounding or passing manoeuvre, whether the yacht clear ahead remains on the same tack or gybes. (b) A yacht clear astern shall not luff above close – hauled so as to prevent a yacht clear ahead from tacking to round a mark. hy Example of rounding a windward mark to starboard at the 1989 Tommy Grant Open at Poole MYC. The mark is right behind Peter Wiles’s M, the one with transparent sails. It is the second lap of the course, which is why the leading boats have borne off to run towards the lee mark. A Yacht Clear Ahead (c) A yacht clear. ahead that tacks to round a mark is subject to rule 41, Changing Tacks – Tacking and Gybing (d) A yacht clear ahead shall be under no obligation to give room to a yacht clear astern before an overlap is established. Rule 42.3 Limitations (a) Limitation on Establishing an overlap A yacht that establishes an inside overlap from clear astern is entitled to room under rule 42.1(a) only when, at JULY 1990 Squire Kay hides the windward mark with X47. F2400 (jib 60) must leave X47 enough room to complete his rounding, as must jib 32. 119 lan Cole leads, with X68 Martin Roberts and 27, Phil Playle hot on his heels. 05 is going to have a job to round the mark. X17 is Graham Bantock and you can be sure he will be gaining a few places before the end. Mike Weston 30 and Tim Townsend TS1 cruising on starboard, hope to beat the unidentified port tack yacht. Photo: Lindsey Kirk. 57 such a mark by sailing either: (a) to windward of the compass bearing of the course to the next mark, or (b) above close-hauled Rule 45 Keeping Clear After Touching the Mark 45.1 A yacht that has touched a mark and is exonerating herself shall keep clear of all other yachts until she has completed her exoneration and, when she has started, is on a proper course to the next mark. 45.2 A yacht that has touched a mark, while continuing to sail the course and until it is obvious that she is exonerating herself, shall be accorded rights under the rules of Part IV. exhausted, relax, grab a drink and read on. Remember I did tell you that racing is great fun, so it is, but rather like driving a car requires some knowledge of the Highway Code to be able to relax and enjoy your driving, so does racing. The good thing though is that racing requires very little knowledge of the racing rules before you are out there belting round with the best of them, having fun and learning from your mistakes. There is no better way of learning the rules, than by bitter experience. I am just trying to save you some of the heart ache and to take some of the mystique out of racing. It is always very frightening for the newcomer considering racing. They starboard layline B tacked to starboard to ‘lay’ the mark and of course we then immediately tacked to starboard to do the same. B had carried usa little beyond the layline, but not enough to hurt us. The thing that worries us is that although we are on starboard sailing on a fairly close-hauled course, there are three port tack boats A, X & D rushing towards us. D will clear our stern, but what on earth are these other two yachts going to do? The problem is of course very firmly their problem (Rule 36 A port tack yacht shall keep clear of a starboard tack yacht.) All the same it would be nice to hazard a guess. Let’s look at it from the Skippers of A Rule 52 Touching a Mark 52.1 A yacht shall neither: (a) touch: (i) a starting mark before starting, or (ii) a mark that begins, bounds or ends the leg of the course on which she is sailing, or (iii) a finishing mark after finishing and before clearing the line and marks, nor (b) cause a mark or vessel to shift to avoid touched. 52.2 (a) When a yacht infringes rule 52.1 she may exonerate herself by sailing well clear of all other yachts as soon as possible after the incident, and remaining clear while she makes two complete 360 degree turns (720 degrees) in the same direction, including two tacks and two gybes. (b) When a yacht touches a finishing mark, she shall not rank as having finished until she first completes her turns and thereafter finishes. 52.3 When a yacht is wrongfully compelled by another yacht to infringe rule 52.1 she shall be exonerated: (a) by the retirement of the other yacht (or by the other yacht accepting an alternative penalty when so prescribed in the sailing instructions) in acknowledgement of the infringement, or (b) in accordance with rule 74.4(b), Penalties and Exoneration, after lodging a valid protest. 74.4 Penalties and Exoneration When the protest committee after finding the facts, or the race committee or protest committee acting under rule 70.1, Action by race or Protest Committee, decides that (a) a yacht has infringed any of the rules, or (b) in consequence of her neglect of any of the rules a yacht has compelled other yachts to infringe any of the rules; she shall be disqualified, unless the sailing instructions applicable to that race provide some other penalty, and, in the case of (b), the other yachts shall be exonerated. Such disqualification or other penalty shall be imposed irrespective of whether the rule that led to the disqualification or penalty was mentioned in the protest, or the yacht that was at fault was mentioned or protested, e.g., the protesting yacht ora third yacht may be disqualified and the protested yacht exonerated. Relax and Digest! After all that you probably feel 58 Quite often the windward mark is a long way from the bank. Clues for judging when to round are shadow of sails on the mark – watching the wake touch the mark – watching and following other __ boats — reflections can also be used. Martin Mickleborough and Brian Bardoe walk together. Martin’s boat appears to be in the lead! Photo: Lindsey Kirk. notice all the shouts of “Overlap”; “Starboard”; “Protest” etc and get the impression that it is going to take twenty years just to learn the rules. No way, we have now covered most of the rules used in the actual race. Sure over the next four years we are going to go into the rules in some depth, because there most certainly is an awful lot of depth to go into, but at a basic level we are almost there. So lets get on and try and get a basic understanding of what we need to know to round the mark safely and to let the other boats near to us round in safety too! Back to diagram 1. We are sailing as a novice yacht C and we are enjoying some of that beginners luck that often annoys more experienced skippers. We had a good position on our start, being on starboard, right up by the starboard mark, crossing the line at half speed a few seconds after the gun. Being last over the line on the starboard end, allowed us to tack across to the Port Tack, breaking clear of the fleet and finding clean air and water. B tacked across immediately after our tack and held “command” over us right up to the starboard layline. (We could not tack back to starboard, because we would have been tacking in B’s water and that is not allowed – Rule 41.1 A yacht that is either tacking or gybing shall keep clear of a yacht on a tack). Once on the & X’s point of view. ‘A’ has got a big problem, she is most definitely not going to be able to sail across B’s bows, if she sails straight on then she will probably hit B on the port stern quarter. Even if A’s speed is less than B’s or if she slows down, there is the additional problem of C, hard on the stern of B, presenting a further barrier of Starboard tack boat! If A wants to bear off to miss B & C then there is yet a further problem in so much as X is leeward to A and A as windward boat must keep clear of X under rule 37.1 (When overlapped – a windward boat shall keep clear of a leeward yacht.) To make matters still worse there is D even further to leeward of A. That is the situation, what are the options for A? Options Before we look at those options, let me just point out that A is guilty of not thinking ahead, observing what other boats are doing and planning her course of action in good time to avoid getting into such a mess. The first option A has is simply to hold her course, but slow down enough to avoid hitting B or C. The problem with this plan is though, that X to some extent and most certainly D, will be able to retain their boat speed and get to the layline, tack to starboard and present an even longer barrier of starboard tack boats to the by now wallowing yacht A. So let’s give that MODEL BOATS idea up if we can find a better one. She could immediately tack to starboard herself, accepting that she will not lay the mark and thus will have to tack back to port and back to starboard again. The problem once again is that X & D are likely to be able to position themselves on the layline behind B & C and get round the mark before A can even tack back to port to approach the layline. So A gives that idea a miss too. Now for the better options. Have a careful read of DIAGRAM 2 PORT TACK LAY LINE © rule 42 and 42.1(a) & (b). Yachts B & C count as an obstruction, A & X are overlapped and so is D., all three of them are well within four boat lengths of the obstruction. At the four boats length A could have called for “Water” to bear off under the sterns of B & C., at three boat lengths she could have called again, but to call for water in the position illustrated in diagram 1 is pushing it a bit. Does it allow enough time for X and maybe D to hear the call and to respond to it? I think it is doubtful and I suspect that if an incident arose out of this situation that went to a protest committee then the committee would find that the call was made far too late. Let’s just look at the position from X’s point of view, X’s Skipper has a very good judgement of boats’ relative speeds and likely intersection points when two boats RADIUS FOUR BOAT LENGTHS FROM THE MARK \ (SEE RULE 42) rounding very wide, possibly because he had to give room to lan Cole’s and lan Hall’s boats behind the mark. Author’s boat 88, displays mainsail registration numbers that are not in the top two thirds as required — since corrected. Photo: Lindsey Kirk. tack once X has tacked (Rule 41.1) So X and D do not have a problem at all! If in fact A did call for water in this position, it is quite likely that X would in fact just bear off a little more to allow A to duck under C’s stern anyway, without JULY 1990 any fuss. But if an aggressive and highly competitive skipper, might reply to A’s call for water “No too late you tack” or something. Or he might bear off, but protest A’s late call. The best solution for A, and she is lucky that there is one, is in | ‘ \ \ \ I by the time 04 “pinches up”’ for the mark, losing speed, Mike will be gone. Roger Neeve 24is — eee. ieee at ! | | Martin Mickleborough leads the fleet. 04 seems to have an inside overlap on Mike Ewart’s 19, but aNt7 AV1 IVI GYyvosdvis are on converging courses. He can see that C is travelling at the same speed as X or possibly slightly faster. He reckons that if they were travelling at exactly the same speed then X will just clip the stern of C. Thus all X has to do for himself is to bear off just a touch and he can easily miss C. X does not have to worry about D, because all D needs to do or can do is to continue sailing on port, not coming anywhere near C, and only being able to fact to start to tack to starboard immediately but planning it so as she can slip round to starboard right up the stern of B and as near as she dares to C, without forcing C to take any avoiding action to miss A, until A is on the new tack. (Rule 41.2 Transitional: A yacht shall neither tack or gybe into a position that will give her right of way unless she does so far enough from a yacht ona tack to enable this yacht to keep clear without having to alter her course until after the tack or gybe has been completed.) Now once A has tacked to starboard she will be in the position shown in Diagram 2, with all the other four yachts in their relative positions too. A paid regard to rule 41.2 and did not get in the way of C or force her to change course whilst A was tacking. Now, however A is firmly on her new tack, and C under Rule 37.1 as windward boat must keep clear. A also has luffing rights and so C must be fully alert to the distinct possibility that A will at the very least be pinching up a little to gain a bit of space to round 59 DIAGRAM 3 5” happen is that if all the yachts had started the race on the starboard tack, and all of them had continued on that tack until they had reached the port tack layline, then of course they would all be approaching the mark on port tack. Diagram 4 sets the scene. Yacht 1 is clear ahead and close to the mark. Yacht 1 will have to remember rule 41 (Basic rule: A yacht that is either tacking or gybing shall keep clear of a yacht on a tack). The yachts clear astern however are bound by rule 42.2(b) and thus must not luff up above close hauled so as to prevent a yacht clear ahead from tacking to round a mark. Thus as long as 1 pinches up very close to the mark and tacks smoothly around, she cannot possibly get in the way of the following yachts. This calls for fine judgement when the windward mark is a long way away from the bank you are controlling your yacht from. If you are not sure if you can tack to starboard without getting in the way of a yacht close astern, it is better to continue on port, the mark safely. It is unlikely that A would sharply luff C, because A would lose too much speed only having just tacked, and she needs to gain as much speed as possible to be able to pinch up to lay the mark, but A does have the right to if she wishes. A point worth noting here is that A can only get room to round the mark in this situation provided C is able to keep clear. If there had been one or more boats close to windward of C forward of the mast abreast stem position, then C would not be able to move to windward very much if at all. Under those circumstances A would have been pushing her luck to the limit, ‘but as shown in diagram two, would I think, still have got away with it. Be very sure of yourself before you try such a manoeuvre, but be aware that others will do it to you. You will notice finally in diagram two that X is in the process of tacking from port to starboard to lay the mark, which in turn allows D to also tack. This brings us to the position in diagram 3. B leads in nice clear water and wind. A slips through into second place and because our yacht C has had to round the mark wide to allow A room 60 there is now a very good chance that X will be able to round the mark tightly and gain some distance on us. X as yacht clear astern is under rule 42.2(a), but because we as C have to round the mark wide to avoid A, if X can slip round in the space we have left there is nothing that we can do. If we bear off to try and close the space we would hit A and as windward boat under rule 37.1 we cannot do that. This is the position that we will leave our yacht C in this month and next month we will take up this race again to cover the two reaching legs and the wing mark. Alternative Viewpoint We will now have a look at rounding the windward mark from the points of view of a fleet of five racing yachts all approaching the mark on port and having to round the mark leaving it on their port side. Whilst as I have previously written it is best to approach the windward mark on starboard, it often happens that a whole bunch of port tack boats approach the mark with no starboard tack boats to interfere with their passage around the mark. One example of how this could overstanding the mark, allowing the following yacht to tack to starboard before you do the same. You will drop a position or two, but that is better than losing lots of positions by incurring a penalty for tacking in another yacht’s water. For the next three boats though the position is not so easy. 2 has overlap on 3 and 4 and she requires room from both boats so as she may round the mark safely. The problem for boats 3 and 4 is that as they bear away, as they must, to give 2 more room to round the mark, they are putting themselves into the positions shown in diagrams 5, 6 & 7. 5 gains at least one position over 4 and looks likely to gain another over 3. 5 had got an overlap over 4 before the four boats length rule, but 5 had not got an overlap on boat 3. Boat 3 is in no position to be able to shut the door on 5 by closing the gap between 3 and the mark, because 3’s bow is trapped to windward of 2’s stern and by the time she had luffed up or slowed down so as to be able to clear 2’s stern, 5 would be through, I suspect. It is a dangerous manoeuvre for 5 to try, on this occasion 5 gets away with it, but if 3 was not trapped by 2’s stern and she was able to sail very close to the mark, 5 could be shut out or push against the mark with no defence. Now I would like you to look at diagram 8, which is exactly the same as diagram 4, except that I have now added the big problem for yachts approaching the windward mark – The starboard tack yacht! This month’s question is: What do you think is likely to happen? Please write in giving the order the five yachts are likely to be in immediately after all rounding the mark, explaining how they got into those positions. The person that comes up with the most plausible explanation will as usual win themselves a copy of Eric Twinames Book of Rules, which as you’ll remember has masses of excellent illustrations of typical situations that develop in yacht racing with the appropriate rules explained. It also has the complete set of I.Y.R.U. Rules within it as well. In the event of my receiving lots of creditable explanations, then as usual I’]l put those I consider best into a hat and draw out one lucky winner. Please remember to keep writing in with MODEL BOATS DIAGRAM 4. meee em rere PORT TACK LAY LINE DIAGRAM S PORT TACK LAY LINE your comments or setting out with full supporting diagrams any incident that has confused you. I will then offer an opinion on it. So DIAGRAM 6 Incidents and Procedures It must be remembered though, that this is not intended to conflict with any protest hearing that may have been heard. The correct procedure for anyone who seriously thinks that their incident OV PORT TACK LAY LINE was incorrectly judged at a protest hearing is to appeal under rules 77 and 78 to the M.Y.A. Racing Secretary. Rule 78 sets out everything you need to do, but do bear in mind that it pays to cool down and think carefully about the incident before appealing and that it is advisable to consult with an experienced skipper who was not involved to get an unbiased opinion. Most times you’ll realise that perhaps after all you were wrong or at least in a grey area. Occasionally, however, it is quite possible that you are involved in a most unusual incident that everyone involved has difficulty in trying to apply the rules. The protest = 4 oth mos Open racing, you should start to come across Sailing Instructions. Not all clubs bother, but they should, it is a requirement of the rules and if neglected can lead to problems during the running of the day’s racing. At club level and below it is not needed. The club will probably have it’s own set of standard practises that applies to all club races. Novices and club sailers should not be too bothered by what I have written on Protest Appeals and Sailing Instructions other than to be aware that such things exist. As time goes by I will cover these points in more detail, when your skills have been developed. Next month I will be covering the progress of our trusty yacht C on her course around the wing mark, which includes both of the reaching legs. I will /f you really want to understand the relationship between wind and sail – try a bit of gale force windsurfing. Your columnist is on the left, enjoying Force 9+ at Stokes Bay some years ago! It is suggested you try Force 2 or 3 to start with though! Photo: Lindsey Kirk. committee has to come to a decision, so naturally once having established the facts, will give their verdict, so as racing can continue. The protest committee may themselves, under rule 77.2 refer it’s own decision to the National Authority. If not, as above you know what to do. Appeals on obscure points of rule interpretation are of benefit to the sport as a whole, because it is only by interpretations that future printed issues of the rules are amended. I will be covering this in more detail in later articles. Novices should never need to appeal, in fact it is only when you get involved in open classes of racing that it may occur. The correct reason for the appeal should be on a point of interest firstly and because you think justice has not been done second. Most sailing instructions for Radio Controlled Open events will allow you to appeal, but will 62 not allow the result of that appeal to alter the results of the days racing. Occasionally the sailing instructions will deny you even the right of appeal. That in my opinion is quite wrong and is not in the interests of the sport as a whole, because of the value of interpretations. It is quite sufficient from the race organisers point of view simply to prevent the result of an appeal altering the results of a race. (If you are wondering what on earth Sailing Instructions are, look at Rules 2 and 3. We will be looking at these rules in later articles, but basically they set out under rule 2 the Notice of Race, date, times, scoring system, prizes etc. Rule 3, Sailing Instructions, these must be in writing and cover such things as the course to be sailed, any alterations made to certain rules, alternative penalties, safety matters etc.) Once you get involved in After two day’s racing at the 1989 Rhyl RM Nats, Mike Ewart washes off his No Secret. Giles Vuillemin from France stands behind his yacht F1259 and Bruce Edgar from New Zealand shows off a familiar shaped hull to good advantage. Photo: Lindsey Kirk. MODEL BOATS DIAGRAM 7 / \ O PORT TACK LAY LINE This month’s question: All boats are travelling at the same speed and will continue so unless slowing down as an action required to avoid collision. What is the order around the mark? DIAGRAM 8 PURT TACK ine hi 2,» => pa ee Sa. Ca also be including the review I promised don’t know where the nearest club to you you on some of the off the shelf kits of affiliated to the M.Y.A. is get a copy of easy to assemble racing yachts. Until then, those of you that already have a Radio Controlled yacht enjoy your racing. If you haven’t already joined a club, it is not too late to do so. If you the M.Y.A. yearbook, cost inc. postage £1 from: David Hackwood, 10 Grangewood, Coulby, Newham, Middlesborough, Cleveland TS8 ORT. This year’s book containsa list of all the major open JULY 1990 events, a list of all affiliated clubs, with addresses and contact names, adverts from all the major suppliers of goodies, plus useful little bits of information on the various classes of yacht available for racing. It is essential reading for the keen model yachter. 63
