Model Builder: November 1974

Sane A Eastern Divisional 50/800 Championships. (I to r): Soling (197), Soling, Warrior 11, Boomerang, Soling, Warrior I! (the eventual winner) Soling, Soling. RCT By @ The rapid growth of R/C model yachting as a competitive sport has thrust Starts upon many new clubs the need to hold regattas open to AMYA-wide participa- and the respective class secretary of concern. Agreements reached are then funneled to the AMYA Director who is Regatta Schedule Coordinator, and the spring issue of the Quarterly Newsletter tion. a) Three basic types of regattas emerge: Annual Class Championships (ACCR’s), b) Regional or Divisional Class Championships, and c) Open or Invita- tional Events. ACCR’s are usually 2-day affairs which are designed to gather the best skippers in each class for a knockdown drag-out determination of the national champion. Regionals are usually single-day events, and draw skippers from a specific geographical area. Open or Invitational Events can be either one or two day, and can cater to from 1 to 4 individual classes, depending on the desires of the sponsoring club, and on the density of racing skippers in the immediate area. The membership of AMYA recently voted overwhelmingly to require that each Sanctioned Club in AMYA hold at least one regatta out of the three types each year in order to maintain its sanctioned status. Bidding for the right to hold events 50 in the year previous with communication between the individual clubs Carries a preliminary schedule of such events. Local series, or individual local fleet events are published as part of the Club News Column in that Quarterly. With 37 clubs now holding AMYA Sanction, it is important that they immediately consider the events they wish to hold during the 1975 season, and commence the necessary communica- tions to instigate the assignation process. Based on my experience as a midAtlantic skipper, here are some general observations which may assist you in planning your regatta procedures. For Regional or ACCR competition, | hate to see more than 24 boats allowed into the action. For such events, it is important that each skipper sail every other skipper (except frequency partners) an equal number of times. This should all be accomplished using a heat list which REPRINTEN\ Urru ROD CARR can be completed sailing. ’ in a typical day of For our area, we can usually count on 24 heats per day, but plan the heat schedule so that it can be cut off after heats 6, 12, 18, or 24, with each skipper having sailed an equal number of times within the six race blocks. Now, assuming 8 frequencies with 3 boats per frequency, we make the important discovery that there are 252 possible pairings of boats existing in the 24 boat group. A proper heat list will allow each of these pairings to occur, and occur an equal number of times. GOOD LUCK!! Even though I’ve heard tales about computer programs, crystal ball gazing, and other such techniques, not yet have | seen concrete evidence of any other method for putting a heat list together but sweat and pencil on paper. My recent bout with the EC/12 ACCR heat list, which will be sailed soon, has really hit home the need for making these top level events more selective as to the entrants. Out of the matrix fell a 12 race series, of two 6 race blocks. Of the 252 individual pairings which could and should have occurred: PERQMmitsoa) OF MODEL BUILDER fleet. : However, there is no reason for assignment to heats to be other than random, that is, the heat pairings should be able to be made to come out with everybody sailing against everybody the same number of times. How do | know this? Well, there may be 252 pairings in a 24 boat fleet, but if you start out totaling how many different ways there are to make up 8 boat heats, with three fellows per frequency, you’llfind that there are 38 or 3x3x3x3x3x3x3x3 = 6561 different heats. Somebody help us come up with a way for letting a computer sort through all those combinations and end up with the 6 or 12 good ones that we need !!1! We must return to the regatta site after that tirade. Regarding frequency ) Linda Carr shows off the Carr Sails’ new car top carrier. A handy way to keep track of _ the competition record. Never mind that Rod. Just keep track of Linda! 26 pairings of the 252 occurred 0 times — 10.3 percent 122 pairing of the 252 occurred 1 time — 28.4 percent 81 pairings of the 252 occurred 3 times — 32.1 percent 15 pairings of the 252 occurred 3 times — 6.0 percent Not perfect, but my best effort to date. If we look at individuals in the heat list: Pairings Missed No. of boats 0 0 1 6 2 9 ys 3 6 4 3 This says that nobody sailed everybody, and that there were three boats which would each miss sailing with 4 of the others. It is at this juncture that the ‘“‘seamans eye”’ of the regatta director comes into the picture. We assign boats so that. it is the better skippers who miss sailing the least people, this is to spread the scoring effect of a good skipper through the whole fleet of boats. Beginning or less developed skippers are assigned those spots which miss out on sailing with 3 or 4 others, since this really means that they sail against some people more than normal, but being lower in skill, they do not have a depressive effect on scoring up through the control; we have been stabling frequency partners in the adjacent spots so that they can assist one another in and out of the water, and so that they can be handed the responsibility for frequency integrity among themselves. It takes one more duty off the shoulders of the race committee. In the scorers tent we try to have a head scorer who is responsible for keeping the master score sheet, and updating the cumulative score board at appropriate intervals. (For the latter we merely use metal venetian blind slats, a crayon and a chunk of plywood with nails in it. A dry cloth rubs off the old scores, the slats are easily shuffled into increasing score order and put back up.) The assistant scorer starts the tape recorder, helps identify that all boats Continued on page 63 Eastern Divisional EC/12 Championships, at Richmond, Virginia. Boat No. 449, with the Wizard of Id, was recently stolen from the owner’s car. Keep your eyes peeled for it!! NOVEMBER 1974 51 Sawing’: Gr: Continued from page 57 are in the water for the start of heats, and keeps a separate record of heat finish order, and foul points awarded. For race committee, we have a Regatta Di- rector and at least two helpers, stationed at widely spaced intervals in order that they have different angular views of mark roundings, etc. At morning check-in we give each competitor a 3×5 card with his heat assignments on it. We also fill out a form at check-in that gives each skipper’s name, boat number, hull manufacturer, sailmaker, radio manufacturer, winch manufacturer. We feel that this information will be valuable to new skip- pers who are planning on acquiring boats, as well as making interesting reading for winter evenings. The skipper’s meeting goes over | points of local information for visiting | competitors, such as weed patches, or submerged dangers. The Regatta Director | touches upon rules of racing which con- – tinually need refreshment in our minds, such as starting procedures, buoy rounding, and finishing. Then he outlines the course and sets the tone for the pace at which the event will be run. Questions are called for and the starting tape played through to: familiarize everyone with its peculiarities. } The race committeeman charged with watching the line at the start is armed with a loudhailer (bullhorn) in order that he be able to let early starters know it as soon as possible. The starting tape is played through a larger PA system which does a good job of drowning out baekground talking in the vicinity of the starting line. I’ve purposely skipped the whole problem of registrations and measuring. We are developing some reasonable approaches to these, and they are really | an important part of holding a regatta. Direct communication with each skip- per as he registers via postcard is essential. A later mailing containing frequency, lunch and location information is made after registrations close. | favor a postmark closing date two full weeks in advance of the event. Hosting a regatta is a big job. But later that winter, while everybody is looking at the movies, it sure does your heart good to hear someone say, ‘That was really a good contest.” | was happy to hear from my friends at Vortex Model Engineering recently. They wish to correct my comments about paneled sails and assure their Santa Barbara customers that Vortex paneled sails, for that vessel only, are still avail- TAUBE EAGLET .020—.049 F/F-R/C $10.50 PAPER TIGER R/C .35-.60 $24.95 EASY RISER R/C HYDRO STAR .049—.051 FOR SPORT FLYING ORBITEER F/F 049-051 $9.50 B-70 ,020-—.049 EINDECKER F/F – R/C $7.95 010-020 $8.50 19~.45 — “900” — $19.95 SS.T. F/F-R/C WW-I DECALS… .020—.049 TANK MOUNT $12.95 FOR COX .049-—,051 6 GERMAN CROSSES (2 LARGE, 4 SMALL) 75 CENTS PER SHEET al EW { [) “CRYSTAL COVER” 4 .15~.29 — “600” —$14.95 ema Gis OR OR intes aan CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS 1/20 — $7.95 ADD 6% SALES TAX. IRON-ON COVERING FOR F/F, U/C AND R/C… 25’x 76″ ROLL- $4.89 LIGHT, TOUGH AND PAINTABLE… CLEAR ONLY. COMPETITION MODELS, RO.BOX 8012, LONG BEACH, CALIF. 90808 Help Wanted ENGINE DESIGNER Challenging position open with world’s largest producer of hobby engines. We are looking for a man with a proven record in engine design, preferably 2 cycle with knowledge of materials and manufacturing pro- cesses. BSME desirable but equivalent experience will be considered. XlInt. benefits & working environment. Send resume to: Bruce Paton, P. O. Box 476, Santa Ana, Calif. 92702 an equal opportunity employer rector and at least two helpers, stationed at widely spaced intervals in order that they have different angular views of mark roundings, etc. At morning check-in we give each competitor a 3×5 card with his heat assignments on it. We also fill out a form at check-in that gives each skipper’s name, boat number, hull manufacturer, saifmaker, radio manufacturer, winch manufacturer. We feel that this information will be valuable to new skip- 64 pers who are planning on acquiring boats, as well as making interesting reading for winter evenings. The skipper’s meeting goes over points of local information for visiting competitors, such as weed patches, or submerged dangers. The Regatta Director touches upon rules of racing which continually need refreshment in our minds, such as starting procedures, buoy rounding, and finishing. Then he outlines the course and sets the tone for the pace at which the event will be run. Questions are called for and the starting tape played through to familiarize everyone with its pecullarities. The race committeeman charged with watching the line at the start is armed with a foudhailer (bullhorn) in order that he be able to let early starters know it as soon as possible. The starting tape is played through a larger PA system which does a good job of drowning out background talking in the vicinity of the starting line. I’ve purposely skipped the whole problem of registrations and measuring. We are developing some reasonable approaches to these, and they are really an important part of holding a regatta. Direct communication with each skipper as he registers via postcard is essential. A later mailing containing frequency, lunch and location information is made after registrations close. | favor a postmark closing date two full weeks in advance of the event. Hosting a regatta is a big job. But later that winter, while everybody is looking at the movies, it sure does your heart good to hear someone say, ‘That was really a good contest.” | was happy to hear from my friends at Vortex Model Engineering recently. They wish to correct my comments about paneled sails and assure their Santa Barbara customers that Vortex paneled sails, for that vessel only, are still avail- able. Paneled sails for the Soling can be gotten from the other lofts. Joyce Protheroe, Vortex sailmaker, made an interesting point when she mentioned the long life of paneled sails due to the double cloth thickness and the use of leech and foot hems (tabling) which make for a strong, stable sail. | would suspect that this is the first direct consideration which has been given to the needs of the R/C cruising yachtsman, the skipper who doesn’t race, but rather enjoys sailing his boat on different waters under different conditions. Hats off to Vortex for showing a wide concern for the sail needs of both racer and cruiser. | can’t resist repeating that paneled sails, in my estimation, do not have the versatility nor the efficiency of single panel or modified single panel sails in the competition situation. | would also be the first to admit that there is more than one way to skin, or rig a cat, and rest my case. With the 1974 Regatta season in full swing, we seem to have been spending a good deal of time traveling to and from the lake. The ever-increasing amount of “support equipment” such as folding chairs, bug spray, coolers, shade tents, finally proved too much for our 1970 Plymouth wagon. In order to leave room for the driver we have put together a 42 x 75 x 16 inch Car top carrier. It is of 1/4 inch exterior plywood, with 1×2 interior framing, and nestles between the rails of the luggage rack. We can carry three EC/12’s, four 50/800’s, or 3 Santa Barbaras, and don’t risk crinkling up the sails, nor having the dog decide to work on a rudder or two. As you can see from the photo, it makes a handy place to display the competition record our sails have garnered. Even wife Linda had to admit that it didn’t turn out looking “like | had built it!”, so she consented to show it off. WHEN CONTACTING ADVERTISERS, TELL ‘EM MODEL BUILDER SENT YOU! —== MODEL BUILDER EW ‘74 Challenger LH BOAT & HELICOPTER STARTER with Aluminum Dual Drive Pulley, offers choice of starting speeds. See it at your Dealers Now! on White direct for Catalog Sheet. PENNA. PHI,LA. The 1974 50/800 Eastern Divisional Championship was held in Washington, D.C. this year under the sponsorship of of the Capital R/C Model Boat Club. Skippers from as far away as Boston and Canada journeyed to get into the fray. With a good 5-10 knot breeze all day long, some excellent racing ensued. The picture shows a typical approach to the first mark. Ten and eleven boat heats were the order of the day. By late afternoon, Bob Harris, incoming AMYA President, had established an unquestionable hold on first place. Second was held onto by this writer, and Soting skipper Ron Stephanz of Maryland took third. The hulls finished in order WARRIOR, Ron used a completely stock kit East Coast 12 to garner his win. This underlined the importance of skipper skill as the ingredient in this popular one-design class. Ron’s windward work was a joy to behold, and he has given heart to all of us who sail kit boats. It’s us fellows, not the boat, which has been not doing so well. Hats off to Skipper Stephanz. R/C News…. Continued from page 15 7. Go the full length of aileron and wing. 8. Remove masking tape after silicone rubber has cured completely (about 12 hours). BOOMERANG, SOLING, again indicat- 9. Finish covering with your choice of material. ing that skipper skill is still the most important ingredient for winning per- Two more things… your covering material must be separated along the formance. Richmond MYC, under the able direction of Ray Ihlenburg, held the East Coast 12-Meter Eastern Divisional Championship on Swan Lake, in that city, on July 21st. Gentle 12-meter friendly breezes prevailed, except for a a couple of those drifters we all hate, around lunch time. When the smoke cleared, | managed a first place finish, with Bob Harris second and 15 year old Rob Woodbridge in third. This was the first open event hosted in Richmond, and they had done their homework and pre- pared an efficiently run event. A 36/600 was raffled off and two television sta- tions sent crews to cover the action. The James C. Holland Memorial Trophy was awarded to the winning skipper. It is a perpetual trophy commemorating a well known Chesapeake Bay yachtsman. Ron Stephanz of the Capital R/C Model Boat Club entered his first EC/12 Meter event, the 1974 Annual Class Championship, and two days later walked away with first place. Buddy Black, of Tampa, Florida, was second, and Bert Lott also of Tampa was third. NOVEMBER 1974 I9I11 hinge-line or you’ll have a “hump” when the surface moves up and tension, restricting travel, when the surface moves down. By using black silicone for the hinge, and by keeping neat, straight lines along the gap when covering or Monokoting, you’ll have a nice black aileron outline that really works! Le Gray, who relayed this idea from George, also points out that it’s possible with Saran Wrap and some sort of forming rod, to make centered hinges on symmetrical surfaces. See sketch. No, but it will be the handiest tool you’ll have on the bench if you build balsa models. We cail it the “PIN CLAMP”. It puts a large head on the pin exactly where it is needed. Can’t be beat for building small stick models, pin goes beside the wood not through it but the PIN CLAMP holda the work down on the board. Excellent for holding planking down on curved surfaces. Will fit all regular modelmaking pina. Directions on how to use for light and heavy work furnished with clamps. Stk. No. 55 add $.25 for poat. & handling. ROCKET CITY SPECIALTIES FUN FLY FORMULA Cooking up interesting flight tasks for a fun-fly contest can get sorta frantic after you’ve been through the usual bomb drops, most loops, most spins, Limbo, etc. Here’s an interesting one used for the Texas City Summer Fun Fly, held on June 30, in that area. It’s called the “Pilot’s Delight.” Contestant attempts to fly exactly 3 minutes from takeoff to touch-down without aid of a watch or other assistance. While in the air, he attempts a maximum number of maneuvers within Only & .59 – 28 Clamps See your dealer or order direct 103 Wholesale Ave., N.E. Huntsville, Alz. 35811 the 3-minute period, and is scored as follows: 180 points, less 1 point for each second over or under exactly 3 minutes duration. 5 points for each roll. 10 points for each loop. 5 points for each spin and spiral entry plus 3 points for each revolution. Bonus points, amounting to number WHEN CONTACTING ADVERTISERS, TELL ‘EM MODEL BUILDER SENT YOU! 65