On Wooden RC Sailboats & Other Fun Thoughts to Think...

Lots of progress has been made on the Vickers V8 IOM (International One Meter) R/C sailboat.

I'm about 80% finished so far. Will probably just sit on it for most of the summer and get start actually building it in September or October.

Here's how it looks so far:



While I have agreed to make the laser cut frames for the hull, I have no expectations that Ian Vickers will choose to use my internal bits. I have made some decisions for my own version of the boat, but if he ever decides to release the files I'm not sure if he'll allow my internal bits to be released. He'll probably just release the laser cut frames for the hull.

That said, I've made some decisions for my own version, which includes a scoop deck. I'm also dumping the plastic pot because I just hate the look of those things. My boat will have deck patches which I've found to work quite well.

Here's the scoop deck:





The scoop deck will allow a full-sized vang to swing through all points of sa…

A few weeks ago I emailed Ian Vickers to inquire if he might send me a DWG file for his very highly-regarded IOM, the V8. He agreed! So now I'm working on designing a laser-cut frames file so that I might make the boat later this fall.

I've already started. Here's what I have so far:



So far it's going well. My next steps are to design a main bulkhead, a mast well/fin box arrangement, a rudder frame, and on and on. But in the end it should be a nice way to build a V8.

My problem though is that I also now have the original digital computer files for two Frank Russell designs too... the Goth Mk4 and his newest IOM, the Ellipsis... In addition, I have the paper plans for the Alternative by Brad Gibson.

I'll almost certainly do the laser cut frames for all three, but which one to build first??





Aloha!

A few months ago I was finally able to get some time with "The Book" - America's Cup Yacht Designs, 1851 - 1986 by Francois Chevalier and Jacques Taglang.

In that book, the authors share extraordinary line drawings of the original designs. It has become the "go to" book for America's Cup enthusiasts. It has also become the go-to book for J-Class R/C (radio control) sailboat hobbyists. The lines shown in the book are among a very short list of acceptable design perimeters that the J Class people acknowledge. To make a qualifying J Class boat, you must stick to the measurements shown (with a slight addition to the draft allowed to account for water not scaling).

I was able to make many great scans for future modeling.

The J Class groups specifically sail 1/16 scale models of America's Cup yachts that were, duh, "J Class" boats - boats from the 1930's exclusively before the America's Cup switched to 12 meters after WWII.

The J boats are s…

Was bored yesterday and modeled a mast ram for IOM's.

That is all.



Aloha!

So all the cool IOM kids seem to have nice wooden boxes to store their rigs in. This might be my next quick project then, so that I can pretend to be cool too. :-P

The rig box images that I've seen online are mostly similar, and would work well, but David Jensen from Bellevue, WA, USA (The same guy who designed a fantastic IOM boat stand I posted about earlier) has a really nice design that he shared on RC Groups. Or if that link doesn't work, the go here and search for "IOM sail box" or "IOM rig box".

It holds three sets of rigs for the A, B, and C rigs.


He also has a nifty way to attach his IOM boat stand, with a boat on it, to the rig box. His rig box has wheels attached, so once everything is loaded up he just wheels it to the launch spot. Very nice!



There are other sources online. They show different variations of the same type of sail box.

Here's a nice looking one.

Here's a YouTube video of a really nice one.

Will post more if I actually end…

Ta DA! She's finished! My new, Corbie 5 wooden IOM RC sailboat is completed. Wood hulls look so much more classic than fiberglass. They may be a bit slower, but they look great.

For my first IOM I think it turned out well! Might have to make another one in the future though to fix all the mistakes I've made on this one... 

And I just had her maiden voyage. It went much better than expected given the confusion I've had with the rig.

The helm was almost perfectly neutral and I can easily adjust for a slight weather helm if desired. She floated, to my eye, right on her waterline.

There was at most 1 knot of wind in the gusts and hardly any otherwise, but she still went very well. It was a very exciting and trouble-free maiden voyage! And afterwards the inside was bone dry... not a drop.

I must thank Ian Dundas of Scotland for all of his incredible help and advice throughout this project! His patience in putting up with my incessant questions was endless. Thank you Ian! The …