Thumbs down to Kyosho Fairwind 900 kit

[slowflyer]

I am just about done building a Kyosho Fairwind 900 sailboat kit. I feel that I must warn all of you out there that this has been one of the WORST kits that I have ever built.

When you open the box and pull out the hull, the first thing you'll notice is that there is EXCESSIVE plastic flashing left around the outer edge of the hull. The instructions say to simply trim it off with a razor blade....Good luck on this as the flash was so thick on mine that I could hardly cut through it to trim it off. It runs all the way across the top of the deck.

Also the plastic that they used to mold the hull out of seems to be extremely flexy. I hope it holds up to the rigors of sailing.

You will also have to spend an extra $20 on keel ballest, as it is not included.

All in all I'd say you could do a lot better then this kit. I have now built a V32, a Victoria and am working on restoring an old Marblehead hull.

The finished 900 seems to look ok. All I've gotta do is rig it and then I'll post a report on how it sails.

Does anyone else have one of these boats?

[BillPTC]

Built it for my daughter three years ago. No problem taking off the flashing. Had to wotk on it. Only spent $5 for 4 1/2 lb shot to fill keel. Sails great, even in light winds.
Bill

[slowflyer]

Hmmm I'm not trying to atsrt an argument but, my sentiments about the kit are echoed even on the AMYA fairwind site. They address some of the concerns such as not being able to use ANY of the nice railings and such that come with the kit as they foul the sheets.

The quality of the plastic is also mentioned as needing under deck re- enforcement.

The sail material is also mentioned as needing replacement.

This kit might be fine for just tooling around, but for anything else, I wouldn't rrecommend it.

For about the same money in the water you could order a completely built Victor boat or for a little more a Laser or Cr 914.

I think your money would be much better spent in those directions.

Again just my (and others) opinion---Rob

[slowflyer]

You know what though....I really haven't built or sailed many models at all.

Here's a shot of ONE corner of my living room. This doesn't even begin to describe what's in the garage or stashed elsewhere.

Not rtying to sound arrogent, just showing off how spoiled I am LOL---Rob

[dgoebel]

Rob,
I gotta ask, after a V-32 and a Victoria, why a Fairwind? Incremental growth <g> Here's my fleet
picture,
Course now there's an R/C Laser, 2nd V-32 (for my wife) and a Spinnaker 50 Guess I gotta take another picture...

[slowflyer]

I got the fairwind in a deal through my LHS. I got the boat at cost.

I can't seem to get any of the screws to stay in the darn plastic that this boat is made out of. I'm seriously thinking that maybe something was wrong with the plastic when they molded the hull.
Anytime you begin to tighten them, they strip out.

Anyhow I have given up on it.

If any of you would liek to mess with it and are located in the Ca Bay Area It is yours as soon as I can strip my gear out of it.

Seriously...FREE of charge, I have totally given up on this tub.

Not pictured in my fleet pic, are boats that are just too big to be in the house. I am going to start on my Marblehead restoration in the next few days and also plan on buying a George Riberio ODOM very soon.

It's good to see that I'm not the only nut with more then two sailboats in the house!!

How do you like your Laser?--Rob

[U-96]

G'day Guy's
I have recently built the Kyosho Seawind and found it to be the best kit I have ever built. I am usually an avid scratch builder but I must say i enjoyed the hassel free building. It too had the excess plastic flashing but it was easily removed and i just buffed the hull to a mirror finish. As for performance, fantastic in the light winds but no good in the high range as she tends to steer straight into wind and i cant seem to do anything to the trim to counteract it. The servo type sail winch is very fast acting and responsive. The fittings in the kit where of a superior quality too with a beautifully made anodised aluminium mast. I think maybe the Fairwind is aimed as an entry model. I am just suprised to here this as all my experiences ,be it not many, with Kyosho have been of the finest quality.
All the best Keith

[slowflyer]

The boat I am commenting on is the FAIRWIND 900 Not the boat you have pictured in your post. I think that is where you guys are getting confused. It is NOT The same boat.

It is a 36" Long scale type of a kit with railings and all kinds of scale accessories.

I have heard very positive things about the Seawind Yachts. I hope this clears things up.

I still think that with boats of this cost, they could remove the flashing as I haven't seen this on any other kits---Rob

[bfraser]

The Kyosho Seawind sure looks cool! From what I've read about it it is a very high quality boat and definitely worth getting. My next sailboat though will be (if I can't find a cheaper priced CR-914 somewhere other than in the USA) a Laser. Its around the same price as the CR914 is now but is a much better boat and definitely worth the cost.

[U-96]

G'day Mr slowflyer
Don't just look at the picture.Read the post and you will see that i said the Fairwind is an entry model. In other words,you get what you pay for. When you build a boat from scratch, a bit of flashing is nothing. In any case, I would rather remove it myself as I would do a better job of it than some machine or a person who did not care.
Keith

[Aten W Arthog]

I have to say I feel this bad review of the Fairwind is somewhat of an exaggeration, having enjoyed one for over ten seasons. I think it's an excellent boat, and it certainly is a popular one. If you still have this "dog" by all means I'll take it off your hands! I especially am looking for all the topsides decorative parts for mine.

Let me just address a couple things:

You'd have to be an idiot to pay a huge penalty in shipping for a fully pre-weighted keel, when a trip to any local sporting goods store will get you the bb shot you need locally for a buck or two. Sending the keel empty is a smart cost-cutting move. Saves weight for shipping cost and minimizes damage in transit.

As to the blow-molded hull plastic: Yes, you have one seam to scrape down and fill a little bit, but this is not a huge deal, takes minutes and it's only cosmetic above the waterline, invisible while sailing, and unimportant below the waterline unless you plan on racing. I sailed mine for a couple seasons before I even got around to that seam. It's otherwise been a very sturdy hull and it handles well under sail, very realistic.

The problem you complain about with your use of the screws, besides over-tightening self-threading screws until they strip out the hole, is not a problem, ALL screws thru the deck need a backing underneath, whether plastic or lite ply. This is true on ALL MODELS. This is just as true as it is for full scale boats, and your critique of this is unfair, given that the boat instructions SHOW the backing plate plastic component (chainplate) that needs to be installed under-decks to back up the screws for the mast shrouds. It is unfair to call this a design flaw when it looks like you didn't follow assembly directions. Any other deck screws fore or aft, I find have stayed tight all these years (over a decade) on my Fairwind because I put a drop of CA or epoxy in the hole before tightening the screw down the final turns.

The stock sails are fine for casual sailing, racers would of course replace much of the running rig for something higher-performance, but then again this is common to every model boat and adds expense to the base model's price that not everyone needs. I have never felt the need to upgrade the stock sail rig on my boat: it is durable, scale-like, and works perfectly well for pond cruising. I did sail it for a few years with a home made fiberglass/carbon mast, booms, and sail I cut from kite cloth. The difference was slight. All I have added to mine now is a boom vang and Cunningham. The rigging for this boat is uncomplicated and easy to maintain in stock form. The extra scale details on deck are a problem only if you are racing the boat. Frankly, I have been trying to make mine more and more scale-like over time. It just makes it that much more fun.

These boats look ultra-realistic on the water, and are easy to sail, I often hand over the controls to passers-by at the park pond from five to fifty-five and we all have a great time tacking, reaching and running wing and wing.

The boat takes a lot of abuse with aplomb, strong winds don't phase it too badly, it has plenty of freeboard and never ships water. It has enough tunability to satisfy any tweaker. It can be run with cheaper servos for economy if you want. It's an AMYA class so you can race it. It's a good size for making a good imperssion on the water but still breaks down to fit in the car trunk without too much trouble. It's affordable too.

Great first boat, highly recommended. Can't say enough good things about it.
No I DON'T work for Kyosho:-)

[BillPTC]

After seven years sailing the boat the only two problems I had was the elastic thread around the post finally lost there stretch and the numbers on the sail came off. Otherwise it has been a great boat and still going strong.
Lead shot from the local gun club is cheap and the seam was only noticeable on the rear and I painted it blue anyway and do not notice it. Only problem now is my daughter wants me to plank the deck like I did on my wives Robbie.
Bill

[Petewp]

No problem taking off the flashing. Had to wotk on it.
Bill


Back in the day i used to do injection molding for plastic electronic connectors that went on subs, jets etc. Upshot is that flashing form allthe zillions of connectors i popped off the mold varied from piece to piece. Sometimes if theres excess flash stuck to the mold itself itll create more than usual. Theres so many reasons fo different flash thicknesses and overall overspill from one piece to another. The other chap couldve gotten the extra "flashy" product.
In the end - nothing sais "NO" to a Dremel :) .

Pete

[BIGSails_0830]

PKBOO,

Yes, there are a few issues that need to be address when you build this boat. However, this boat is one of the most robust available. I have had mine for nearly ten years and have sailed it, with stanchions and pulpits installed, in 25mph winds on Lake Superior (inner harbor Duluth, MN). I like how the hatch cover overlaps the hull opening. Even in heavy seas I’ve never had water get into the hull. The guys on AMYA, this boat is registered 035, are trying to tweak the boat to go faster and still stay with in the rules. So you are going to hear them complain about things like the sail. I have a Seawind and several Soling 1M boats, but I prefer to sail the Fairwind because it is more stable in all but the most severe winds.

Matt

[RickM]

buy a Vicki for a first boat...
Mine is 8 years old. had to replace the sheets and stays with 50lb fishing line.
More or less stock outa the box still. Plus I keep it in the box it came in.
easy to transport.

Rk

[Angus R]

For a poor, stupid Brit, what on earth is a Dremel?

[tallastro]

It's a rotary tool. Spins various bits from 5000-30000 rpm. Useful tool. Drill bits, cutting blades, grinding stones, polishing ...

See http://www.dremeleurope.com/dremelocs-uk/Category.jsp?ccat_id=469
I used to have one like the Multipro but now I own a Black&Decker brand version.

[msprygada]

I am just about done building a Kyosho Fairwind 900 sailboat kit. I feel that I must warn all of you out there that this has been one of the WORST kits that I have ever built.

When you open the box and pull out the hull, the first thing you'll notice is that there is EXCESSIVE plastic flashing left around the outer edge of the hull. The instructions say to simply trim it off with a razor blade....Good luck on this as the flash was so thick on mine that I could hardly cut through it to trim it off. It runs all the way across the top of the deck.

Also the plastic that they used to mold the hull out of seems to be extremely flexy. I hope it holds up to the rigors of sailing.

You will also have to spend an extra $20 on keel ballest, as it is not included.

All in all I'd say you could do a lot better then this kit. I have now built a V32, a Victoria and am working on restoring an old Marblehead hull.

The finished 900 seems to look ok. All I've gotta do is rig it and then I'll post a report on how it sails.

Does anyone else have one of these boats?

Do yourself a favor and get yourself a RC Laser. Comes to the door ready to sail. Set up takes less than 5 minutes. The easiest to transport, can't sink it. Waterproof cockpit, and you can't kill it. No stanchions to mess with and can handle winds from zero to 35+. Can be transported in a carrying bag that will easily fit in a small car or checked as luggage to take with you on vacation. And is about same price you paid.

[genastro]

Hi Thumbs down:
Read my construction tips on Fairwind 900 homepage.
The Japanese sequence of construction needed rearranging, plus several tips on construction.
I bought and built 4 FWs for 4 grandkids.
Reason: they have NO keel bulb to catch lake underwater grass.
FW keel passes right through grass.
We REALLY enjoy sailing our FWs.
Frank Perry

[Joe Wells]

to Slowflyer -- I agree with you completely. It may be an entry level hull but I wouldn't wish it on some beginner. I have sailed full scale from 8' to 66' and models for years. Built three S1Ms and some others as well and was never so disappointed as when I opened the FW kit box. It was a tough build and didn't sail as well as the S1M. I put all the go fasts that the class allows and it still wouldn't get out of it's own way.

[pompebled]

The Fairwind' speed suffers greatly from the thick draggy keel.

A fellow boater has sawn off this bulky thing and is replacing it with a Graupner Saphir keelfin and bulb (sold seperately).

Chances are this Fairwind will be able to keep up with the Sapihirs, Seawinds and Voyagers.

Regards, Jan.

[eavidor]

How long would it take for a novice to put together the FairWind900 kit
Elie

[Aten W Arthog]

You could do it in 24 hours if you put your mind to it. You'd want that much time for the glue holding the ballast in the keel to harden anyhow. The boat is highly fabricated, it doesn't take long at all to install the radio components, just an hour or two. If you want to detail the boat out, scraping and filling the seams and painting the hull, etc. that could take a day or more but understand that doing so is totally optional; if you are not planning on racing the boat, it comes together quite fast and will look and sail fine on the water. Rigging the stays for the sail is not even all that hard, takes maybe an hour the first time at home, then once you have everything set up, stepping the sail and hooking up the servo lines at the pond takes five minutes or less. The instructions are well-illustrated.

[eavidor]

Thanks for the head's up. How important are the improvements that some suggest, like ribs in the hull ?

[eavidor]

Hi Aten, Also, any good source for the parts that are not included in the kit, like the servo and radio ?

[Aten W Arthog]

I don't know anything about adding ribs inside the hull, don't see a need, though adding carbon fiber ribbon reinforcement on the underside of the deck around the large hatch opening would be a good thing. These hulls are very tough as supplied, IMO. A compression strut belowdecks under the mast step is about the only thing I can think of in terms or reinforcements needed. Maybe extra build-up around the tube for the rudder, because that's the part that's likely to get bumped hard in day to day transportation of the model. I use a rudder pushrod with some z-bends that will naturally deform and prevent further damage if the rudder is suddenly hit or wrenched.

Since I built up my Fairwind over the years from a bare hull, my radio setup is not stock, but I've seen the stock setup and it's okay. For the radio, any brand of 2-channel surface radio for boats will do, I use a 2-stick version of the multiplex-hitec brand, with a standard supplied servo (radio normally comes with 2 of these) for the rudder, and instead of a more powerful, but more expensive winch servo for sail control, I use an inexpensive quarter-scale airplane servo for around $30 and a custom double-ended arm I made myself out of glassfiber circuitboard material. Since I don't race, this is more than enough torque for any weather conditions I care to sail in, in the first place. I'm doing a similar setup in a Kyosho Seawind at the moment, it's a little stronger but still plenty cheap (Tower hobby''s own house brand ball-bearing quarter scale airplane servo), under $40, with only about 20 percent less torque than a winch servo, for less than half the cost of the winch. It does pull higher current, so I am using a y-harness to power it direct from the battery pack so the extra current doesn't need to course thru the reciever circuitry and burn it out. I have never needed to modify my servos to get extra movement out of them, they are completely stock except for a home-made arm I made and attach to the supplied servo output wheel with a couple screws. The arm servo in the Fairwind is now 17 years old, good as new. The home made servo output arm is just a little less wide than the boat's inner hull at the hull's widest point, has a lot of leverage, even without turn-arounds and blocks and etc...

This is a hardy, roomy boat, you can play around with it and make mistakes and modifications without fear or dire consequences. i find it has a very scale-like look under weigh in scale-speed winds, just very pleasant. You'll like it.

[Aten W Arthog]

BTW, picture of my Fairwind in another thread:

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=691768

[mrfirkin]

I like the Fairwind 900 and almost bought one.

I ended up going with a Voyager but will add a Fairwind to my fleet when I have a few $$$ to spare.

Like the Voyager, it needs a few mods, upgrades and a bit of tinkering but that's half the fun.

Nice scale looks too.

Paul.

[Templus_Catticus]

G'day Guy's
I have recently built the Kyosho Seawind and found it to be the best kit I have ever built. I am usually an avid scratch builder but I must say i enjoyed the hassel free building. It too had the excess plastic flashing but it was easily removed and i just buffed the hull to a mirror finish. As for performance, fantastic in the light winds but no good in the high range as she tends to steer straight into wind and i cant seem to do anything to the trim to counteract it. The servo type sail winch is very fast acting and responsive. The fittings in the kit where of a superior quality too with a beautifully made anodised aluminium mast. I think maybe the Fairwind is aimed as an entry model. I am just suprised to here this as all my experiences ,be it not many, with Kyosho have been of the finest quality.
All the best Keith

U-96: Have you ever thought of making an adjustable jib pivot on the Seawind to assist in high winds?

I own a much loved Nirvana II and she has the opposite tendency of the Seawind...the fixed jib pivot point throws the center of effort forward which is great for medium to higher winds but not so good in light airs where she tends to want to run to lee helm.

On the Nirvana, you can't change easily or make adjustable where the jib pivot deck fitting is...but you can rig the line to the jib boom itself by using a plastic connector that the computer guys use to secure cable in the back of the computer instead of a fixed tied knot to the jib boom..

Tighten this connector as much as you can and she will hold fast but still be loose enough to slide up and down the jib boom..

I know there are other ways to correct for center of effort (bending the mast etc.) but these do not cause enough of a change with the Nirvana.

However, with this adjustable jib pivot you can effectively move the boats center of effort more aft (slide the jib connector forward to move center of effort and jib boom further aft) for light winds or more forward for heavy winds and really notice the difference to get that "perfect" heel and tack angle.

Who knows? Could work in the Seawind too and help in heavier winds. ~TC

[DarthDude]

Hi all,

Here's my Fairwind:-

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7d936b3127cce87cb6e0ec81100000026100BZOWLFu0ZsV

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7d936b3127cce87cb6e3ec82100000035110BZOWLFu0ZsV

Got her second hand from a mate who didn't want her anymore. I think she's a very old example of the Fairwind going by her decals which are very different from those on the current Fairwind900 decal sheet. The sails being yellow with age is another clue I guess.

Can anybody tell me what the difference is between the Fairwind, Fairwind 2 and Fairwind900 and which one of these I've got?

Cheers

Darth

[endr]

Well sincerely I don't know what do you find of good in this boat... I've had a Thunder Tiger Odyssey, that has the same dimension, but was really better of this.
It has also the bulb!

[DarthDude]

Oh I'm sure there are better yachts out there, and sure I'm looking to buy either a Thunder Tiger Voyager, ETNZ, Tamiya Round-The-World or Kyosho Seawind to give me more intense sailing action than the Fairwind can give.

I find my Fairwind sluggish in light wind and has an annoying windward helm in high wind which I can't seem to dial out but having said that, she refuses to snag on waterweeds, doesn't stall, doesn't submarine and doesn't need more than 10 inches of water to sail.

So sure... like anything else she has her strengths and weaknesses and I reckon she's good enough for many people- me included. I'm sure I'll keep sailing her even after I've got my 1m racing yacht and I'm sure I'll be having fun doing so.

In the meantime.... can anybody tell me what edition of Fairwind this is?

Cheers

Darth

[doomracing]

mmmmm 1 meter racing. i can't wait till next monday.

[DarthDude]

I LOVE MY FAIRWIND!!!!!!!

Just came back from an evening's sailing. Noticed it was an awfully windy day so I ducked out early from work and headed down to the pond.......

And she was beautiful...... steady 10-ish knot wind from the west and she was zipping all over the 7-ish acre pond like a racing yacht. My Victoria sailing buddy was also there but in that sort of wind- and in the hands of novices like us- the advantage lay firmly with the sluggish but stable Fairwind as the Victoria spent most of its time being buffeted about by the wind.

I lost count of the number of laps I managed to do around that pond.. but I sure was awful sorry when the sun went down just 1 hour 10 minutes after I started sailing..... in conditions like we had here in Kuala Lumpur today, I'd have happily spent an entire day sailing.

WHAT a yacht!!!!

Darth