Hi,

I have been into RC flying almost 30 years now. And all that time I have been dreaming about getting a sailboat too. ( I fly gliders ) I was planning to buy a cheap HK sailboat to test it out now that my Transmitter is allowed to be used with other than planes too in Finland. I got myself 2.4GHz module to my tx so that I can fly my old planes and also use it for sailing.

While I was cutting balsa for a cobra footy my soon 10 years old daughter came in asking what I'm building. And when I showed her the pictures she wanted to build one too. I thought the cobra is a bit too much for her first real build of anything so I went on and printed a set of Papaya III plans for her. She then worked the sheets together and cutted all templates out and went on cutting the balsa with my help. And we are now in a phase that the hull is done to accept the doublers for the rig.

And here comes my problem. I have not built a sailboat model beforehand. I would like the boats rig to look somewhat "real" however accepting that the first one should just be functional and easy to build so that it is something I can build with my daughter. I have taken a look at the plans for McRig and the Una Rig. But cannot decide which one to try out. In the end I would like to have something like the Kittiwake A1 rig which pleases my eye but it might be too steep of a learning curve to try to come up with that and get it properly tuned.

So much for the chattering, how is the proper place for the rig measured? And what kind of rig would you recommend as the first one to build to a Footy class ship? Keeping in mind that She will be doing the build. I have some carbon rods & tubes in stock because of my plane background. Is there a good tutorial of a simple rig build and tuning? There are lots of good pictures available but there must be more than meets the eye for the measurements & placement of the pieces.

Here are few pictures of where we left yesterday, My cobras hull balsa was wetted and then taped together and left to dry to pre-bend the wood before gluing. My daughters ship is waiting for a decision on the rig so that I can go on and reinforce the hull and build in the attachment for the rig.

Welcome to the world of Footys!
There is not much published on McRigs, but they are a major reason for this classes' popularity as an entry level class for youngsters (and latterly for RG65's).
I have some very simple instructions on making a McRig on here, and simple plastic bag sails.
To facilitate multi rigs designs I recommend a very simple fluted plastic sheet. This can also hold the keel and allow it to be removable.
The pivot point is designed to place the centre of effort of the sail (CE) slightly in front of the point of lateral resistance (CLR) of the hull. Usually this will fall in the range of the centre of the fin to the leading edge.

There is not a lot of discussion on Footys and rigs on here, but see the original thread for McRig theory and practice. Two latest threads are the Italian Claudios' Esteral and Easy Footys.
Witness the venerable Angus et al discuss CE and CLR (the good old days of Footys!)

Thank you! Just the kind of information I was looking for. It's very difficult to look for it not speaking english natively and being new to the hobby. Now I am hoping to maiden my daughters footy soon after her school ends next weekend. I even have all the parts carbon tube included available! Just need to get some better thread for the control lines and some lead to stuff into keel.

You are welcome. Your written English is impeccable!
Most homes have all most all the bits needed to make a Footy, especially if it has a bottle hull!
The two parts often missing are a helicopter blade for a quick, accurate fin and a streamlined fishing sinker for the bulb.
Another advantage of Brett McCormack's design is no required stays for the mast and no fiddling with mast rake, bending and all the messing about with slots and other arcane arts. A small compromise in appearance for major convenience and performance. Most store bought yachts with 'conventional' sloop rigs come with only one sail. Any Footy can have a suite of sails made quickly for pocket money, and swapped over in seconds.

Don't skimp on the hatch seal and put some floatation material in the hull. Protect the electronics and battery connections from water especially salt by placing them in a balloon.
Look at Roger Stollery's simple servo arm design for more torque, and consider a whipstaff for a simple rudder steering system as shown on my above thread.

Looking forward to hearing about your first sailing adventures.

Ok some more questions. Is there a good thread already about the "waterproofing" the hull balsa. Or is it just a side effect of a good paintjob? I have tried to glue all the seams so that there would be no leaks but one can never be too careful. And yes I was short on heli blades ;-) Now I have two of those to complete both of our ships. I don't have the plastic sheet fot the mast & keel installation so I will go on and glue the keel in. I planned to put a 4mm carbon tube into the hull for the mast and if necessary add another one later just next to it. I may need to glue a metal washer on the top end of that so that the z wire won't eat into the tube. Girl went to bed already but she insisted doing some building so I let her to paint the inside of the hull once...

Terve!

For the balsa wood, I recommend you coat it with 24hr epoxy and light fiberglass cloth. You can paint it easily after.

Thanks for the suggestion with the fiberglass. Although I am not going to let my 9 year old do that one just yet. I might try that on my own one once we get hers to sail. Today we added the stem block and it was shaped. Also destruction of a brand new heli blade was on the menu. Now the boat has keel fitted. Interior seams were filled with epoxy / microballoon mixture and the inside of the hull is now coated so that the water that will find it's way there will stay out of the wood. I found a source of the plastic sheet so I will visit that shop tomorrow. I'm considering to make my own bulb but once I hit the town I might as well visit a fishing store to see if I can find a fitting one from the shelf. What comes to the rig I am tempted to replace the chopstick with 3mm round carbon spar. Now this is where the fun starts. My younger daughter came to us today and told me that she wants a boat too! That means that there will be two boats sailing before I get back to building my own...

Haha... you got trouble same as me!

I started my first build, and then my 2 kids came in "we want sailboats, too!" And as I already own a kit boat (on which I spent a lot of time doing mods), I culd not sey no... So now I'm into buying lots of parts and two new radios! I also decided for Footy's as they are 10 & 8 years old. So here we go...

Best wishes!

The problem with balsa is its porosity and the need for laborious painting. Probably best to use a plastic like 3mm depron (ar la Easy footy) for the third one? Roger uses fluted plastic signboard from sign writers and tape for his Bug kids yachts.
Balsa finishes involve a sanding sealer and fine grit sanding to prevent excessive weight from absorbed paint.. Some rub talcum powder into the grain and sand with 400 paper. Finish with a few light coats of dope or polyurethane or alcohol diluted laminating epoxy if you have it. Sand with 600 grit between coats. Strength is not an issue with a racing Footy as the water loads are very low. However with kids its the off water loads that do the damage and weight is not important. Hence the bottle hull solution.

The bulb is a lot of work to make from scratch so a 8 ounce (depending on fin length) sinker with a ballistic shape or an over size one that can be filed roundish is easier. At Footy speeds shape is not too important but slimmer rather than bulbous is technically best. Angus used to use a non lifting cylindrical body with rounded ends. Claudio uses plumbers' lead sheet cut in laminations and epoxied together, then filed. You can use two part epoxy putty to make up for shape deficiencies.

A 3mm tube carbon spar is fine, but reinforce the end to avoid splitting with a toothpick in the ends. I use a solid fibreglass 3mm rod in my kit. The plastic sliding retainers need to be a snug fit on the boom. The bamboo does give more flex for bending off the excess wind loads, and is more a house hold item.

Looking very professional so far!

Yeah, I have to be proud what she has put together. It's not all straight and there are bits here and there that could be done better. However what matters is that she enjoys building the ship. So if this enthusiasm keeps up I will order her a good kit for the winter evenings to build together. And then we can be more accurate. My younger daughter wants to get the bottle footy so that she will get. I'll be starting a build on that one hopefully next week. She will be needing much more help with it though.