Well here's what it was like over Lunch and later this eve after work today.. No one in sight then..

I plan to try to hit DeAnza Cove in the afternoon after lunch tomorrow..
it's another PowerBoat Friday at the pond..

Cheers.. JimS

I was there later in the day sailing my new S/B....

Originally Posted by Krowbar69

I was there later in the day sailing my new S/B....

Neat.. Louis and I were over at DeAnza rippin the reaches round a boat upwind and a buoy downwind .. had a blast.. JimS

Originally Posted by jims123

jpparisy
Thanks for the help.. I guess I'd need Google Translate to figure out how to get a login and passwd to see this info tho.. Regards jimS

I don't thought that a login was required to see pictures.

The buoys are made from "noodles" (or "frieds") as said Rich, Glass Fiber rods, and the counterweights are made from five to ten nuts of 8 to 12 mm.

These pictures are from "Guillaume FRA72":






"Sardine" means picket, "bouee" means buoy, and "plomb" means lead.

Note that you need a cord in Nylon (polyamid), and not polypropylene which has a density less than water (it floats!).

The description of the RC boat used to anchor the buoys can be found in my Web site.

Look also at this other solution proposed by our Swiss Friend Yves Walter.

Jim
Very good stuff. I am going to start working on some of these. Thanks for sharing.
Boomer

Originally Posted by Boomer1

Jim
Very good stuff. I am going to start working on some of these. Thanks for sharing.
Boomer

Hey Boomer ..
you are most welcome but all the credit here should go to our French friend jpparisy who kindly posted it, and "Guillaume FRA72" (William) who built them,.. not me. These are pretty fancy.. but I think I do need to go pool-noodle shopping. I just went to his site http://jpparisy.free.fr/le_lac/

and Google Chrome is all set up to translate it.. talk about how to build a better mouse trap.. that buoy launch utility boat is totally amazing! did you see that gizmo?


Regards
jimS

I'm kinda anxious about it too.. the prediction at 10am for the Start is there's going to be only zero to 2 mph of wind.. (and i hate super light conditions like that).. and something odd occurred yesterday that has me baffled.. especially cause it "healed itself" and could come back at any time I suppose..

Friday Louis and i sailed DeAnza cove and as I was rigging the helmet cam. the freeking neck strap clip failed yet again.. and the Tx fell 4feet to the asphalt.. this is after I was simply working hands free for 10 minutes getting the camcorder set up.. aargh.. that Turnigy strap thing's got to go.. but is what i THINK?? might have caused this new issue below!

Sailed for a couple hrs yesterday (Saturday) and then noticed I lost Main/Jib control for 15 seconds.. and it came back.. then another 10 minutes later it happened again.. the Rudder was rock solid.. no issues at all with it (and by the way it's got the new servo in it and is working flawlessly).. However, the Main was totally dead.. got the boat out of the water , cycled the Receiver and the Tx power several times and was still dead.. Got Home, was still dead, tapped on the transmitter case a lot more.. (thinking the prob is a loose contact and only in Servo Chan 3 Throttle stick control) but no change.. the receiver and all connectors looked perfectly dry, voltage indicator was maxed at over 6.0vdc, Rx green, but no Mainsheet servo control.. Shut down yet again.. recharged the boat's RX 2300mah 10C surge battery.. which was fine and only drew 340mah's to recharge, and put it back in having changed NOTHING else.. but then found that the main started working just fine again.. and try as i might.. I can't make it fail.. So, i suppose the problem will come back while I'm racing today.. but I want to see if it really is in the Transmitter as i suspect.. or the Rx/ servo battery in the Receiver.. Guess we'll see.. More to follow.. JimS

If you are using a 2.4 set up try re binding the transmitter and receiver--that should eliminate the problem or you have transmitter problems re the drop--Cheers Bill.

Originally Posted by 5353billboat

If you are using a 2.4 set up try re binding the transmitter and receiver--that should eliminate the problem or you have transmitter problems re the drop--Cheers Bill.

Bill,
I fail to see how rebinding will help anything.. the Rx is bound and re-syncing up to the Tx every time I turn it ON .. Rx and Rudder Chan is 100% reliable.. no I don't plan to re-drop it either.. But thanks for the tips.. JimS

Jim,

How did your first experience racing today go? Did you have any breeze?

Rich

Originally Posted by rsgault

Jim,

How did your first experience racing today go? Did you have any breeze?

Rich

Rich,
It was awesome.. they delayed the start an hour for the wind to pick up. to 2 to 4mph, still can't believe i came in second on my 1st ever race for points. was incredibly lucky all the way around the course on that 1st one..

Did Ok on the second of three heats, but was over early at the line.. and on 3-of-3 I got myself into a big problem when I tried to pass in front of another guy who was on starboard and my wind faded, so.. and so, didn't quite make it ahead of him.. we collided and i got stuck in irons.. losing a lot of time and came in second to last (of about 20 ODOMs I think) but aside from that, it was very educational and I had a ball.. The radio issue with the main/jib sheet CH3 never reoccurred.. I'm expecting that will pop up again but I'll be ready to isolate it next time..

I'm just very thankful it was such a great experience today.. Hope my friends Chris Lon and Rich all did well racing later in their boats too.. Met a Lot of new guys I didn't know before .. their new to me at least.. but most i think have been sailing there 10+ years.. I got some video and hope to edit and post some of it later.. Twas Nice to be the rookie of the Day today..
Regards, JimS

Originally Posted by rsgault

Jim,

How did your first experience racing today go? Did you have any breeze?

Rich

Rich,
It was awesome.. they delayed the start an hour for the wind to pick up. to 2 to 4mph, still can't believe i came in second on my 1st ever race for points. was incredibly lucky all the way around the course on that 1st one..

Did Ok on the second of three heats, but was over early at the line.. and on 3-of-3 I got myself into a big problem when I tried to pass in front of another guy who was on starboard and my wind faded, so.. and so, didn't quite make it ahead of him.. we collided and i got stuck in irons.. losing a lot of time and came in second to last (of about 20 ODOMs I think) but aside from that, it was very educational and I had a ball.. The radio issue with the main/jib sheet CH3 never reoccurred.. I'm expecting that will pop up again but I'll be ready to isolate it next time..

I'm just very thankful it was such a great experience today.. Hope my friends Chris Lon and Rich all did well racing later in their boats too.. Met a Lot of new guys I didn't know before .. their new to me at least.. but most i think have been sailing there 10+ years.. I got some video and hope to edit and post some of it later.. Twas Nice to be the rookie of the Day today..
Regards, JimS

Ok here's how it works..

If you're in the lead, you get to Pick an imaginary spot in the far end, center of the pond. Whomever's 1st gets to turn and head back, and the others do the same, once there, the others behind follow turning at the same spot..

in theory this is great.. but in practice it leaves a lot to be desired.. so I ordered a pool noodle from Amazon.com and will get some marks made..

problem is they take a while to set and retrieve.. and I'd rather be sailing ... of course.. Oh well.. i wish marks were my only problem..

Fun Stuff, JimS

Did you know that if you simply type "windspeed" into http://www.wolfram.com/ .. it'll figure out where you are and give you a current and past weather plot?

Am looking forward to watching some of the IOM Regatta here in SD this weekend. Should be wild as it'll be pretty strong winds in occasionally rainy sonditions.. have already met Fred who's come down early and understand Jess Atkinson our ODOM Class Secretary and many other seasoned pros will be here. I'm sure i could learn a lot watching the IOM races this weekend..

By the way I'm hoping my buddy Rich H has his servo jitter issues now resolved.. it was tough to hear his frustration constantly re-correcting course as his Red ODOM 396? would swing to and fro on it's own. I know he got Louis' help putting in a new servo to resolve it yesterday. Hope that helped..

Regards, jimS

Yes, it works!