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I think it went well Frank. They all behaved themselves really well - most of the time - the bottom mark had the major issues I think just because of the usual problem of judging overlaps at a distance combined with the speed differentials of the different classes. No gold Rolex prizes so a little less pressure but we had teams so everybody was trying.

This looks like a fun regatta. I am so disapointed I couldn't make it.

Hi Jacob Yes they do talk to each other. We encourage them to do this as when you are trying to judge the position of boats that are only 1 metre long and some 100 to 150 metres away it can be very difficult. I don't know if you are familiar with the rules of racing; there are rules as to who should give way and which boat is the right of way boat. Good skippers will often call out to other skippers telling them that they think that they have right of way or to give them room at a mark or to keep upwind or that they are the starboard boat. On top of this even if you are the right of way boat you still have an obligation to avoid a collision so talking to each other helps.

Glad you enjoyed it

About 3,000 AUD but as the A Class have fallen out of popularity a good used one can be found for under 2,000 AUD

Hi Richard Its a straight sausage course of two complete laps. Start and Finish are the Red/White and Green/White marks then to windward with the Black/White top mark and the Orange/Black clearance mark both taken to port. Then a straight run downwind to a gate with Black/White and Orange/Black marks. Then back to the top marks; downwind again through the gate and then to the finish.

Technically it would be difficult but it probably would not stop the nose from diving as the boat tends to "rotate" around the keel centre of buoyancy. More importantly it would be "illegal" to add extra ballast so you could not use the yacht in any competitive race. The RC Laser is what is called a "one class" yacht which means that every yacht is identical - supposedly - there are small differences but these are the normal manufacturers variances. There is a small margin allowed but in something like a national championship the yachts are weighed, the length of the masts are measured, distance of mast from hull is measured, sails are checked for additional reinforcing, etc. Some of the methods that you have to stop nose diving is to sail off the wind, 15 degrees maximum off the wind makes little difference to final boat speed, wiggle the rudder from side to side - slows the boat and tends to make it sit flatter, make sure that you have plenty of boat speed before letting the sails full out - boat will tend to plane better rather than dive. Best of all select the right rig for the conditions - the "A" rig has a limited range and is really only suitable for very light breeze most think it is too powerful, the "B" rig is much more balanced, the "C" rig is the obvious choice for strong wind conditions. "D" used when it is really blowing.

@@richardbrady4211 Excellent advice!, Thank you Richard.

These are the most majestic yachts. I love sailing them. Called "A Class" for short - the full name is "Radio A Class" but this is rarely used. Each one is individually made to a formula that gives the builder a lot of wiggle room. I believe they are based around a design that that was developed in the 1920s or 30s. It is very complex hull length, quarter bream measurements, boat weight, waterline measurements, various penalty point and you end up with a sail measurement definition. Because of the each one is individually made and even yachts made to the same design will be a little different (mainly due to weight) the end result being different sail allowance. Most are about 12 to 15 Kg in weight. With a 1.9 to 2.0 metre mast. Mine is regarded as a lightweight at 11.8 Kg. Because of their size and weight they have fallen out of favour - that's the bad news; good news lack of popularity means they are relatively cheap to buy second hand about half the price of a good used IOM. Search the WA site www. rswa.asn.au for a local club who may be able to put you n touch with a local builder. Mine was built by club mate in Sydney but I have since moved to Queensland. Look at Sydney A Radio Yacht Inc on facebook for the guy who I regard as a master craftsman building them (and other classes). Originally they were vane controlled sailing boats - you set the vane exactly like the solo round the world and the yacht maintains a heading into the wind - assuming you set it correctly. They were raced on ponds so once the race started you raced to where you think they were going to end up and reset the vane for the next leg and so on. The advent of modern radio control changed this although I believe there are still some vane racers about.

@@richardbrady4211 That indeed sounds like what I am after. Quite realistic in your description. Thank you for those links Richard, I will be sure to check them out mate. Take care and keep up the fantastic work with posting videos. Cheers!

Sorry for taking so long to replay these are A Class yachts, technically Radio A Class as the original design started as a vane controlled yacht sailed on ponds back in the 1930s. There used to be an active group in WA have a Google under WA Model Yacht Association or failing the the Australian Model Yacht Association. Good Luck

@@richardbrady4211 Thank you Richard. Absolute classics! I will certainly look into it. Take care mate 🙂

Hi Edward Sorry for the late reply I've only just started getting into replying as opposed to posting. Hop your build goes well. The Goth is still able to hold its own against "modern" designs. When I moved to the Sunshine Coast I was surprised to find the Goth designer Frank Russell is a member of our club and he sails his Ellipsis (look for blue hull brown top sail #75) an "older" design but still regularly wins. If you haven't already done so one medium layer of glass topped with a fine finishing layer on the outside and a fine layer on the inside should give you a strong watertight hull. Biggest tip I can give is to keep saying to yourself as you sand between stages "Patience is a virtue" which is very hard for an inpietient person like me. In the end I got down to using 2000 grit wet & dry - works almost like a polish. Good luck.

Search for Dragon Force 95 or the smaller version Dragon Force 65 (the 95 is the length of the hull in centimetres as is the 65). With the 65 get a set of the A+ sails as well as the normal A sail. The A+ makes the a very good yacht.

Trolling through the comments and just noticed yours - sorry for being so slack. A year to respond ! Thanks mate. How are thigs going? The Hubertus page on facebook seems to be mainly power models.

@@richardbrady4211 Thanks Richard. Things are ok but numbers of A class are dwindling. Still good racing and I have bought a new camcorder recently which is fine but the Avi file format makes the vids too large to poste. Need to find software to convert to another format. Anyhow . . trust you are fit and well . . . Cheers

Good to hear from you Barry. I've been following your Star 45 build on facebook. You guys should have been back in the water today. Hope all goes well. Give my regards to the guys. Regards Richard

I agree ... Lots! See my comments to Arlin Geyer. In the absence of an observer calling fouls at the mark it is up to the aggrieved skipper to call a protest. Ideally, the offending skipper should voluntary do a penalty as part of good sportsmanship. We were not racing for any prize and at that time most of the fleet were very new to racing, we weren't even recording race results. That said 132 and 743 had been racing for some years - mainly the bigger A class - both should and do know better. Turn up the sound and you can hear a less experienced skipper that jumps the start being told to "keep going" there is also a discussion between skippers on port - starboard following the rounding of the top mark and the keep clear at the finish.

Lake Titicaca