Originally Posted by Boomer1

Wooow buddy! that was a close call! Glad the MM was able to make that "about face"
Boomer

Got that right. When it happened I steered away in a reflex. When I later looked at the video, I realized it was very close. My luck is that the shore is a little recessed beneath the wooden rail on top. Those few cm made the difference between "crack!" and "pfffffff, that was scary!"

Another great days sailing this week @ Port Kennedy WA

A slight change in dates due to other commitments but we managed to get some really fun sailing on Friday.

Test sailed my Champ Edition at a New Lake in very strong winds the previous week & was very impressed with the boat straight away. Coming to grips with the extra weight in the keel was a little difficult in the conditions but all good fun.

This weeks sailing we had 8 skippers on the Day. Jack brought along his grandfather who is a Life Member of East Fremantle Yacht Club. I think Ken enjoyed himself, but found the Brain-Fingers-Boat of Radio Sailing a little difficult, but came good as the day wore on.

Our refreshed Handicap system seems to be working & we trialled our 20/10 handicap system. Bob & Jill were a little late arriving & missed the 1st Race. Discard in the Bag early.

The day started in a light easterly (typical weather pattern for this time of year.) & Bill once again got off to a flyer.. Hanicap Handicap Handicap. In the end Both Bill & Bob were out to 50 seconds with John (me) on 40.

Brian as ever was consistent & ended up with the lowest Total Score @ 30 (pity about those discards), closely followed by 3 skipper on 31. After a Countback Brian slipped to 3rd & Bill down to 5th.

Peter had a 1st & a 2nd but the handicap took its' toll. Enjoyed the day, couldn't stop talking about having such a great day all the way home..

The Big Winner on the Day was Jill who sailed very well & consistently every race. No wins but always in the top 3 or 4. Never away from the close finishes. The secret to Handicap Racing.

First Lady in WA to win a MM Days Sailing, Congratulations Jill.

Will Bob let you use his boat Next Time

In total we managed 8 races which seems the norm with the light conditions, so only one Discard as per OZ MM SI's

15 SCORING

15.2 There will be 1 discard for every 5 races sailed.
15.3 Any ties will be resolved in favour of the boat with the most first places. If the tie still exists, the most second places and so on.

Another great days sailing & hopefully enjoyed by all.

Next Day is Scheduled for 4th October 2012.

Might try to squeeze another test sail in at the new lake before then.

Cheers

John
AUS 137

The Pinjarra area Model Boat Club. (Ravenswood Sanctuary) has a group of Micro Magic Sailors that get together at various lakes in their area about twice a month.

They also use the Port Kennedy site quite regular. A few of the guys that sail Mid-week also sail with the group & have a great time .

Usually get a small report on the AUS MM Site but for now here is a photo of the fleet from yesterday (Saturday 15/9).

Jack made the trip down 2 days in a row... that would be around 250km's just to go sailing.

He must be keen.


Update on Results


Top 4 Positions
1st Bob W 14pts.
2nd Jill C 19pts.
3rd Jack H 21pts.
4th Brian E 23pts.

All 4 Mid-Week Sailors

Didn't get to sail this weekend, too much other things to do, but to make up for it, here's a pic from my red one a few weeks ago, surfing time:




Btw, did someone notice in the latest vid I posted, where I almost trashed my other MM into the shore, that I gave it a little "makeover"? The hand written "Winn3r" that the previous owner had chalked on have been polished off, and I've used some of the rMM stickers to make the white side a little more attractive. Also makes it directly clear what type of boat it is to any spectators that happen to walk by as I sail:

Solo

You'll have to find some other MM Sailors in your area. Lots more fun in a group.

You get to know how Fast.. or Slow.. your boat really is...

Don't know how you manage it taking photos & Video all the time controlling the MM in heavy wind..

I have enough problems during a Start Sequence never mind during the race.. I'll have to sit one out so I can get some action shots. But I like sailing too much,

Cheers & Keep enjoying the Fun of MM Sailing

John

Thanks for the advice. I've sailed with a regatta sailor and know his boat does considerably better in every wind imaginable. But to get mine to sail as good I need new rigging, new sails, new bulb and time to rebuild my boats, as well as tuning them. And possible even a new hull, as the rMM hull appears to do just a little better than the classic MM hull, which I like better for it's looks. As a fun sailor, I am not really sure I'm ready to invest as much time into all that.

As for sailing and filming at the same time, it's a matter of practice, and even then, I sail better when I have all fingers on the transmitter. It helps that the boat is trimmed quite neutral, so it's less twitchy, and also probably just because of that a little slower.

Video & Photo by Sam

Micro Magic 望龍埤 (2 min 16 sec)

Been sailing a few times last week. These pics were taken yesterday:








And a little vid from a few days earlier:

Sailing in very nice conditions with my second Micro Magic (1 min 8 sec)

Perhaps the passage should be narrower for more of a challenge, but considering the wind was gusty, and I was filming while sailing, so holding both transmitter and camera at the same time, I still think it's worth posting here:

Sailing through the "Stepping Stones" with the Micro Magic (0 min 57 sec)

October 4th

Turned out to be a nice day with foreast morning showers. None of which arrived.. Neither did the 6 knots of wind.

Half of Next To Nothing made for a very frustrating morning with only patches of movement within the fleet. You were there or you missed it.

Course was shortened a little & down to one lap of the Triangle.. Managed a few races & some skippers decided to withdraw in some races rather than complete the course so we could fit as many races in as possible.

As usual lots of fun was being had & eventually after 3 races we took an early morning tea break & hope the wind came through. As soon as the coffee was poured the wind obliged.. Put the cups down & away went the wind back into hiding.

Did we say it was frustrating... But still fun working out the wind shifts & pockets of movement. Being first to the windward mark by 20m didn't mean much.

By race 6 things started to change & we got a little more consistent wind patterns.. So we upped the course to 2 laps of the Triangle with an accompanied 20 second handicap for the winner.

Nobody really got away too far with lots of close finishes.. Most people had a win on the day

The final positions for the Day (after countback) were

Brian E 1st
Bill G 2nd
Bob W 3rd

Points Score after 3 rounds

Brian E 72
Bill G 68
Jack W 64

With points scored for each race things can change quite quickly.

Next Sail Day scheduled for 1st November 2012 @ Port Kennedy usual Start Time 9am

No Carry Over Handicaps for Next Sail day...

碧潭帆船賽 (1 min 18 sec)

480p with background music.

Hi guys,

Looking through the R/C Yachts UK flickr photoset, I'm puzzled by the hole in the transom shown here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7731072...7630063895752/

Is it an access hole to allow glueing of the rudder tube from the inside, after the hull and deck are joined?

Or are two drainplugs used? I thought a later photo showed a drain plug on the top of the deck at the stern.

Going to build my second MM, a Carbon Edition, over the winter - doing the planning now to get the ideas sorted out before I make a mess of it.

Thanks

Edit - just realized it's for the backstay. Is it better than an eye bolt?

Mike

Yes it is the backstay fitting. Simply slip the cord over & it sits in the groove..

Much of a muchness same with the Eye-Bolt you can slip the cord over as well. The only difference is the eye-bolt will be more secure IMO & the replacement fitting is not easy to find nor make..

The Bung Plug I will be removing. I will use sticky back cloth instead.. Much neater.

The MM Champ edition is all about saving weight, so No eye-bolts, for sidestays or Jib attachment. everything is replaced with something lighter. The saved weight is then added to the Keel Bulb.. Down Low.

One simple thing that could be added to most current MM's would be the Battery slide/tray. Simple as & you can set your battery as far back as needed.

Cheers

John

G'day Guys

I have been asked a few times to explain how the Battery Tray works in the MM Champ edition from the UK.

Pretty Simple & cheap way of being able to trim the Boat out depending on wind conditions. Battery can be moved forward or back as needed.

The Internal Photo of the Velcro inside the Hull is aligned with an ABS strip with Velcro squares. (Photo 1). The ABS Tray stays in the one position once installed.

The Topside of the ABS Strip then has either full length Velcro or several pieces depending on where you want the Battery Positioned (Photo 2).

The Battery is then placed on the Upside of the ABS Strip (outside the Boat) (Photo 3).

Then it is simply a matter of sliding the strip into the Boat through the Hatch & aligning with the Velcro positioning points.

Hope this helps

Cheers

John

G'Day Guys

A few of the regular Mid Weeks Sailors have been looking @ a New Lake closer to home..

About Half live in the Mandurah area & the other half closer to Perth City... We have located a small lake occasionally used by some IOM sailors.

Permanent Buoys are in the water so not much equipment needed.

We put the word out for another sail to see what interest there was.

Today we managed to get 7 Skippers (3 from Mandurah who made the trip up) & decided on a Combined Scratch & Handicap Day. Alternating Scratch & Handicap races.. Handicaps accumulated for every race.

5 turned up at the 10am start time (Jill & Bob arrived later) & we managed to set a reasonable course with the buoys in place. Added one of ours to make a finish line & away we went.

Bill & Peter got off to a flyer with both having some good results. Peter was perhaps the most consistent on the Day with One win & Five seconds.

Paul has join the group with encouraghement from Bill & once he sorts the thums & the Rudder controls should see him improve

The wind was from almost every direction with some shadows from the trees to contend with. Same for everybody so all have soem great battles on the water. At the Break after 5 races (3 Scratch & 2 Handicap) Bill was well ahead withe 3 on the same score.

Bob & Jill arrived & a new course was set with an increasing wind. Straight away Bob made his usual mark with 3 wins from 4 Races.. All tight finishes taht could have gone any way.

At the end of the Day with 5 Scratch Races & 5 Handicap Races completed the final results were

Bill G 1st (on Countback)
Peter W 2nd (Improving Fast)
John F 3rd

One Point covering the top three.

Pointscore is taking shape with changes in overall positions every sail day. Bill has jumped out to a small lead with ever consisten Brian close behind.

The rest of the Pack are locked together only a few points behind.


The Day was a great success with John F fairing best in the Scratch Races & Peter W well ahead in the Handicap races.


Overall Bill managed to pip Peter on the day with that extra win.


Cheers

John
AUS 137

Results for Today & current Points Standing...