Kyosho Sea Dolphin 770

[Steve Rosadini]

I am totally new to this but can anyone offer their opinion on the Kyosho Sea Dolphin 770?
A friend and I would like to try the hobby and this seems to be the most bang for the buck?
Thanks,
Steve

[slowflyer]

I am not familiar with the Sea Dolphin, but Have you looked at the Victor Model Products V32? Myself and several others have them here and absolutly LOVE them. Even though I now have bigger boats it is still my favorite. I paid $299 for mine fully built nad ready to go. You get your choice of hull and sail colors also.

Just a thought for a beginner boat--Rob

[dgoebel]

Steve,
I would recommend as Rob did the V-32's, I have two and a Victoria, R/C Laser, and Spinnaker 50.

The Sea Dolphin is about the same size as a Victoria, and the Tower Hobbies combo for $150 doesn't include the proper sail servo you really need, See
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p.pgm?Q=1&I=LXUW96&P=7
and
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0161p.pgm?Q=1&I=LZ1868**

Both pages indicate the Futaba S3802 should be used, but the combo only includes two S3003's, So you add a S3802. And if
the sails are anything like the other small boats that size, you
gotta build your own or buy some to really have a good sailing boat.

So you end up putting $200.00+, plus construction time into a boat that doesn't have an active class anywhere, and you do still have to build it, or assemble it and install your radio gear, whatever.

You can order a V-32 ready to sail, radio and all, all set up, painted, good sails and all from Victor-Models at
http://www.victor-model.com/ for $300 and be in the water 10 minutes after the delivery truck arrives.

Plus you'll have a longer boat, less of a weed catching keel, (where are you going to sail it), a more established class of sailors, A Class Resource Center for tips and such at
http://www.sipe.com/v32/
and, did I mention, no assembly required, just go racing...

David Goebel
rcsail@intellisys.net

PS. If you get the Sea Dolphins anyhow, find some local Victoria
skippers and race them, we're all anxious to find out how they
sail against the Victoria
http://www.victoriaRC.org/forum

[Steve Rosadini]

Well I have to say we bought the 770 and so far so good. More to come!

[mikethepipe]

Hi chaps,
I'm new to model sailing, but after having a few sails with other club members' boats I fell in love with the feel and the thrill of the wind! I decided on the Seadolphin as a quick and cheap entry, and took her out for the first time last weekend, sailing with a mixed flotilla of yachts. She sailed very well indeed, holding her own with larger models, and I'm very pleased. A club member with a Seadolphin had made some changes to his model, replacing cord 'fixed' rigging (back stay, jib luff, mast shrouds) with stainless steel wire and fittings. I'll see how well the cord lasts on mine before considering these alterations. He suggested making the yacht more waterproof by using a smear of flexible silcone sealer around the rear circular hatch, and also he tapes over the eges of the main hatch before sailing. Apparently in choppy conditions you can get water ingress. Another tip was to make sure the rudder post/tube is well greased.
I'm also building the Kyosho Seawind SE - I managed to find a secondhand unbuilt kit for a reasonable price. Looking forward to this one!
Happy sailing, Mike

[Steve Rosadini]

My friend and I have sailed these twice and agree that they are an excellent boat. We both had technical difficulties the first time out but the boats handled well in a substantial wind (probably too much for a model like this) We do recommend getting a special servo for the winch weather it be a winch or a high torque. The sails won't pull in very easily with the regular servo.
Happy sailing!
More to come. . .

[mikethepipe]

Yes, I agree, I used a Futaba S3802 lever arm servo - not cheap, but works a treat.
Mike

[Ed Morales]

being new to this wonderful hobby, i chose to get the sea dolphin because of it reasonable price. since my location is not in the rc sailing map and i'm probably the only rc sailboat owner within a thousand mile radius, i did not take the advice of others to get the boat which the local club is sailing. in my case there is none. i built my boat stock, changed the mast with a carbon fiber kite spar, made my own sails from drafting mylar and replaced the futaba 3003 sail servo with a hitec 615mg, i regularly enjoy sailing. the boat is fast and nimble, can hold on with winds in excess of 10 knots, my estimate is around 15 knots. i can even get it to plane nicely downwind on strong windy days. i seal the rudder hatch with some light grease(from tamiya rc cars intended for plastic) and the main hatch with some cello tape. i'm quite satisfied with the performance considering the money spent and i'm confident that it can hold up with the modified vics if not beat it. somebody should try match racing one with a vic. check out the pics i posted on http://groups.msn.com/rcsailing/allicanafford.msnw
during my vacation in manila, i got to match race it with some mini solings and left the competition behind:)

[dgoebel]

Ed,
That sure is a pretty boat, and I'm guessing they'll be just as fast as tweaked Vic's. But, with all your upgrades, didn't you end up spending just as much as a tweaked Vic...? :p

Your CF Mast upgrade and the Booms, Gooseneck, and Vang are VERY nice. Is any of that Stock fittings?

Shame you didn't have any Vic's there in Manila to race against.

Mike, Steve, have you raced against any Vics yet?

[Ed Morales]

hello mr. david,
actually the cost is quite small, the boat kit is around $80, the CF mast, plain kite spar $6(1.8 meter 6mm diameter, enough for 2 sets),the booms and gooseneck comes with the kit, the sails, drafting mylar, i have rolls of this stuff, the solid vang($1?), left-over goods from an old rc-plane, the sail servo is a hitec hs 615mg, about $25. since manila is near japan,korea and taiwan where all these kits and servos are made, the prices are a bit cheaper when compared to the states:) i think the most expensive part was the paint. i painted it with a 2 component automotive urethane paint. i actually made an overkill by painting it with 2 coats epoxy primer, 2 coats urethane and 1 top coat clear. since i work with cars, i even painted it inside an oven spray booth:) . i ended up with a nice and shiny finish and about 200 grams heavier than the stock weight. lesson learned, (less paint,less weight:) )that's how it is when your starting out.

[jimmyboy]

Hi all,
Like you guys once were I am new to this, I need a few tips on how to finish the hull of my new Seadolphin. The instructions say that there is an edge to cut off around the ABS hull where it was joined? there is a seam but you couldnt get scissors on it and a craft knife seems a little drastic!!! Can these edges be sanded off or do you think that would make a mess of it?
Tips please guys :(
Cheers Jim.

[tdonily]

If you were to take a sanding block and some 400 grit sand paper, it should remove that flashing. Just take it slowly or you run the risk of removing too much of the material.

[Keith Watson]

I don't know what the particular flashing looks like but you could use a sanding block to take it most of the way down, then at the end scrape a hobby knife to take it down flush.

[MILLERTIME]

I put masking tape on both sides of the seam to protect the finish, sand with 400 sand paper and polish with rubbing compound.

[jimmyboy]

Great tips guys, I will keep you posted!
Cheers Jim.

[Dewees]

I first built a Sea Dolphin followed by a Victoria.

Regarding the flashing i both sanded it smooth and filled the depressions with Bondo to acheive a smooth surface.

I have installed my aftermarket Victoria mast and sails on the Sea Dolphin and it was faster than the modifiedd Victorias I sail with except for downwind where it just sailed right underwater, stern to sky, in the 5 - 7 knot wind.

[webskipper]

I got mine at RC101.com (http://www.RC101.com)

The specialize in Kyosho yachts. The carbon rig really made a difference.