I need suggestions on how to help this teacher.

[Hoghappy]

Hey guys, I recieved this email the other day and am stumped at how to answer it.

"I am a teacher for gifted elementary students with Montgomery public schools
and I am most interested in getting my students interested in sailing next
school year, perhaps building and testing and racing their boats,etc. Could
you call me sometime and give me some pointers. I would like for them to
build their own craft.
Sincerely,
BB"

This is a chance to recruit interest from a number of young people and I want to do just that. I will invite them to come and watch us, but I don't think I can give stick time to a whole class. What can I suggest to this teacher to get her students into building sail boats? I thought about Cub Scout "Rain Gutter Regatta" boats...but I'm not sure this is the right way to go.

Capt. Crash

[Ed Morales]

try introducing them to footys or rg65s :-)
ed

[hew565]

http://www.simplicityboats.com/pondskiffs.html

We had a competition a few years back, where everyone built a "pond boat" from a kit that was available, similar to the ones in the link. We raced them across a pool, first one direction, then back. It taught us how to balance the rig over the boat to make it track straight in the direction we wanted.

I modified mine so the mast could be tilted in any direction, a-la windsurfer. That made it easy to go trim it to go downwind and up wind, where the "normal" mast/sail/keel arrangement was more difficult to adjust to get it to track.

[gpzy]

Hey guys, I recieved this email the other day and am stumped at how to answer it.

"I am a teacher for gifted elementary students with Montgomery public schools
and I am most interested in getting my students interested in sailing next
school year, perhaps building and testing and racing their boats,etc. Could
you call me sometime and give me some pointers. I would like for them to
build their own craft.
Sincerely,
BB"

This is a chance to recruit interest from a number of young people and I want to do just that. I will invite them to come and watch us, but I don't think I can give stick time to a whole class. What can I suggest to this teacher to get her students into building sail boats? I thought about Cub Scout "Rain Gutter Regatta" boats...but I'm not sure this is the right way to go.

Capt. Crash

How many students ? And how much money do they have to spend on this project? Maybe they can form teams and build and decorate, and then race.
The Victor Footy v12 is 64.95. The kit comes in a bag with everything but glue and paint.
https://secure.victor-model.com/Product.aspx?product=69859D7D6DF074AE6CDF0C925C6DC FD8
The radio is another 79.95
https://secure.victor-model.com/Accessories.aspx?categoryid=radios
If you want a bigger boat next size up would be a Mini Soling.

[jpatters]

Hoghappy,
Here's something you could look at. Below are links to several places where group building and racing for children have been done with the Tiippecanoe T12 Cruiser. If interested, give Will Lesh a call at Tippecanoe Boats. I'm sure he would be quite helpful.

http://www.modelsailboat.com/marbl1.html
http://www.modelsailboat.com/owner11.html
http://www.modelsailboat.com/owner10.html (1/2 down the page)
http://www.modelsailboat.com/t12.html
http://www.modelsailboat.com/index.html

Jack

[CG Bob]

Does it have to be a sailboat? The Lakeside Wooden Boat Society sponsors a jet (baloon) powered pond boat class (http://lakesidewoodenboatsociety.com/?cat=5) at the Lakeside Resort. You could also do a rubber band powered stern wheeler. THere's all sorts of variations to choose from.
Mousetrap powered hydro (http://www.docfizzix.com/shop/vehicle-kits/k500df.shtml)
Rubber band hydro (http://www.docfizzix.com/shop/vehicle-kits/k550df.shtml)
Rubber band hovercraft (http://www.docfizzix.com/shop/vehicle-kits/k950df.shtml)
Midwest Tech-Cat catamaran (http://www.midwestproducts.com/item_detail.asp?item_id=509)
Midwest Hydro Racer (http://www.midwestproducts.com/item_detail.asp?item_id=510)

[pkboo]

CC, this is the ultimate chance in winning more souls for the hobby, what a great opportunity ;) It's probably due to your television appearance and the fame you've given your club that got them interested AND/OR is this teacher trying to make an issue out of the "comadore" thing :D Boo

[toesup]

I would suggest the Footy class yacht... but make them free running rather than adding the price of RC..

[woodybob]

There is always one of these, Sailboat Complete Build and Paint Woodcraft Kit. (http://www.scoutstuff.org/BSASupply/ItemDetail.aspx?cat=01RTL&ctgy=PRODUCTS&c2=CRAFTS&c3=WOOD&c4=&lv=3&item=07047)

[Shaun Hendricks]

I did something similar as a kid. Maybe at about 8-9 years old. We were given a block of pine, some simple hand tools and some dowels and cloth to make a boat. We 'raced' the designs in a large city fountain.

It was a lot of fun and I ended up making a 'catamaran', the only one. I had more experience with hand tools than most other kids (my dad's an avid handyman/craftsman) so I had an edge there. That was also in the days before sue-happiness made kids using hand tools a liability to a city.

Most of the boats just bobbed around the fountain, and there was no real wind. It was still fun and I would recommend any similar program.

Using the Boy-Scouts pinewood derby style of contests as a template would also work well for these students.

[pops52]

....Hmmm... Can't find it right now, but I think Brooks posted some entry level boats that looked like they could be a consideration.

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

The Center for Wooden boats has an "Inspire Kids" program...

Unfortunately their website seems to be down.
http://www.cwb.org/

Basically they promote pond sailers, and help several classes build boats through the winter. Come Spring they host races on Lake Union, Seattle.

We had one pond sailer show up from a Portland school program.
The family launched from down wind of us. The little wooden boat
tacked its way up wind to our location, then tacked to avoid another
large RC boat... When the family came by, we asked what channel
they were on, and were shocked to find out it was free sailing and
under no control. The boom swing turns the rudder to control the tack...

Neat boats. :cool:

[Brooks]

Seaworthy small ships makes kits for free-sailers. They have volume discounts for groups, too. The semi-scale models would be suitable for kids wanting to learn simple woodworking skills, the flea's, and the pinewood sailers would work for younger kids. Of course, one can kitbash any model into as complex a ship as one wants.

http://www.seaworthysmallships.com/

[pkboo]

Brooks, that's a gem of a find ;) Boo.

[nopistn]

well not to put you down or anything, but (to me) sailing a r/c boat is:
1. The most boring type of sailing ever.
2. The most boring form of R/C anything.
And am speaking from experience, I did buy, build, and sail my r/c sail boat... now it serves as decoration and it looks very nice. I have also sailed quite a bit.
I just thought I'd throw this out there if you are trying to get people into sailing: a sail car (Land Yacht as I like to call it). I build one over the winter and took it to the beach during the spring, and that it about the most fun I've ever had without an engine (it's up there with flying a glider). Anyway I used a Hobie 16 rig and bolted it to a double wide jet skit trailer with an extended tongue and a steerable front wheel. Some of my friends who are total rednecks even wanted to lean how to sail after riding this thing (seats at least 3 people).
The drag on a car is much less and is capable of much higher speeds, my said redneck friends could not comprehend how this machine was moving at 2.5X the speed of the wind (it really helps you understand the physics involved).
Maybe a real car would be to dangerous for small children, but an r/c model sail car might tun out really good and could be run in a large parking lot.
If you do build a life sized sail car DO NOT use a Hobie 16 rig, someone will die ;)

[Ed Morales]

well not to put you down or anything, but (to me) sailing a r/c boat is:
1. The most boring type of sailing ever.
2. The most boring form of R/C anything.
And am speaking from experience, I did buy, build, and sail my r/c sail boat... now it serves as decoration and it looks very nice. I have also sailed quite a bit.
I just thought I'd throw this out there if you are trying to get people into sailing: a sail car (Land Yacht as I like to call it). I build one over the winter and took it to the beach during the spring, and that it about the most fun I've ever had without an engine (it's up there with flying a glider). Anyway I used a Hobie 16 rig and bolted it to a double wide jet skit trailer with an extended tongue and a steerable front wheel. Some of my friends who are total rednecks even wanted to lean how to sail after riding this thing (seats at least 3 people).
The drag on a car is much less and is capable of much higher speeds, my said redneck friends could not comprehend how this machine was moving at 2.5X the speed of the wind (it really helps you understand the physics involved).
Maybe a real car would be to dangerous for small children, but an r/c model sail car might tun out really good and could be run in a large parking lot.
If you do build a life sized sail car DO NOT use a Hobie 16 rig, someone will die ;)

did you ever try to sail with a group?
ed

[nopistn]

did you ever try to sail with a group?
ed
no, but I could see where that would make it more interesting.

[Ed Morales]

To Each His Own

[pkboo]

no, but I could see where that would make it more interesting.

Nopistn, I guess you don't read that well and you probably haven't learned that if you give criticism or opinions do it constructively. Besides not asking if you like it or not it's quite obvious you have no experience of life and still are at the start of the learning process. CC is genuinely asking for ideas here and you're absolutely no help so do us all a favor and bug off :mad: Boo

[patmat2350]

A little beyond what this teacher wants to do, but it reminds me of the program in the Detroit schools which made sail boat construction the centerpiece of the "manual arts" shop classes... to the point where students were casting their own keels and constructing sophisticated free sailers. Some info:
http://www.swcp.com/usvmyg/schools/schools.htm

[steamboatmodel]

The old Cub Scout book had plans in it for a elastic powered stern paddleboat. I had my Scout Troop build Pop-Pop powered boats 18" x 4" that were staight runners.
Regards,
Gerald

[nopistn]

Nopistn, I guess you don't read that well and you probably haven't learned that if you give criticism or opinions do it constructively. Besides not asking if you like it or not it's quite obvious you have no experience of life and still are at the start of the learning process. CC is genuinely asking for ideas here and you're absolutely no help so do us all a favor and bug off :mad: Boo


I thought I told him a that making a sail car might be more exciting and kids might lean more because they can actually make cars that would actually move faster than the wind speed. The OP asked how to get students interested in sailing, and since cars have much less drag and move much faster it might be easier to get students interested. I know he posted this thread in the boating section, which is why I got negative responses to my post, but maybe he didn't consider the possibility of using a car instead of a boat to teach sailing... thats all.

[Hoghappy]

...before this deteriorates any further let me say that I am really happy with the number of responses and all the great suggestions...I knew y'all would be great help! ;)

Here is what I think I need to do at this point.

1. Contact the teacher and verify what exactly she has in mind as far as a vehicle...ie...boat...sailboat...or what? I just assumed sailboat because of the "sailing" comment and the fact that our club is mostly geared to that.

2. How old are the students?

3. How many students?

4. What price range?

5. RC or not?

6. Where does she plan to have the activity?

7. How much help from our club will she expect/need?

What did I leave out? :confused:

Thanks everyone for the time and help...I will update on this as things progress.

Capt. Crash

[gpzy]

...before this deteriorates any further let me say that I am really happy with the number of responses and all the great suggestions...I knew y'all would be great help! ;)

Here is what I think I need to do at this point.

1. Contact the teacher and verify what exactly she has in mind as far as a vehicle...ie...boat...sailboat...or what? I just assumed sailboat because of the "sailing" comment and the fact that our club is mostly geared to that.

2. How old are the students?

3. How many students?


4. What price range?

5. RC or not?

6. Where does she plan to have the activity?

7. How much help from our club will she expect/need?

What did I leave out? :confused:

Thanks everyone for the time and help...I will update on this as things progress.

Capt. Crash

Capt Crash,
How did she come to contact you?

Manny

[Hoghappy]

Capt Crash,
How did she come to contact you?

Manny

She contacted me through our Club Website. Today I got this...it seems we are getting popular!

COMMENT OR QUESTIONS...

Dear Montgomery Model Boat Club Member,

I am writing on behalf of Roosevelt’s Little White House State Historic Site in Warm Springs, Georgia. Our Site is considering a new program that calls attention to FDR’s love of boats, ships and all things nautical. One idea under discussion is the possibility of holding a regatta at nearby FD Roosevelt State Park. I would like to inquire to see if your club has an outreach committee or if any members would be willing to discuss the possibility of participating in a regatta at our State Park. A Saturday date in August is being considered but I am open to consider any date that would be convenient for the MMBC.

I believe this unique experience for our guests would also provide an opportunity for your club to let people know more about you and the fun of model boat sailing.

I would not want to create a complex event, but one of fun and simplicity where children and adults alike come out, sail boats and have some fun. We would like to have our President Roosevelt re-enactor emcee the affair while offering additional educational programs that cover the many nautical themes like sextant and compass reading, model ship building, knot tying and other activities.

If this is something that the MMBC would like to consider and participate in, I would love to hear from you.
David Burke
Ashley Aultman
Interpretive Rangers
Roosevelt's Little White House State Historic Site

----------------------------------------


August in Georgia.... :eek:

Capt. Crash

[keith S]

Cool there Capt. Crash. Sounds like another great oppertunity to advanced the hobby and your club!!

[pkboo]

I thought I told him a that making a sail car might be more exciting and kids might lean more because they can actually make cars that would actually move faster than the wind speed. The OP asked how to get students interested in sailing, and since cars have much less drag and move much faster it might be easier to get students interested. I know he posted this thread in the boating section, which is why I got negative responses to my post, but maybe he didn't consider the possibility of using a car instead of a boat to teach sailing... thats all.

Nopistn, I might have gone a little overboard however you don't have to put anything down, like you did with sailing, to propose something else ;) This is what ticked me off.

Having said that I propose to leave things as is and keep this thread from deteriorating any further and have a new start :) Capt. Crash sorry for the commotion, I think I've explained myself, I can be a passionate man at times :rolleyes: Boo

[nopistn]

just in case ya'll had a hard time visualizing the sail car... here it is, I ran it this weekend.
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s310/nopistn/17052008398.jpg
Edit: I know its not R/C, or a boat... but when you talked about getting kids interested in sailing this just came to mind.