Originally Posted by MRFASTPHIL

..YES Silverfern...your Vela is in a class by itself!!!...looks beautiful and i bet it's fast....we'll be underway soon in Oregon with the Cascades Model Yacht Club

Good- one, they are a good boat, you just need to spend time on it. I spent about 400 hrs upgrading to Luna Rossa.

Originally Posted by HoverDown3K

^ Wow, very nice work.... How was the hull done? Did you repaint or use vinyl?

Full paint job, with marine grade paint, then lots of very fine wet and dry 1600 grit.

Originally Posted by Boomer1

Wow! Super nice boat! That just shows what can be done to refine these RTR boats. One of the very best upgrades I have seen!!!

ATTA BOY!

Boomer

Thanks Boomer, yes if you have a good hull to start with its then worthwhile spending quality time getting it up to race pace.

Hi Guys,
We sail on a 9.2 acre private lake that has great wind and is 2 feet deep at the shore and 9 feet deep in the center, there are also no weeds. I had a discussion with the project owners and asked them if we could possibly have an event there in a couple of years with just vela owners and clubs. They seem very interested.
As we get more and more vela owners this might be something to consider? The area is large enough for various classes from standard to modified velas and could handle four or five races at a time. This event could get a lot of PR for model boating. If any one has some ideas or thoughts on this matter send them to me.Thanks,
ronnied

Guys,
I switched to Hitec 765 servo with their arm and a pekabe single block on the end of the arm with a two to one setup. This works well, and the setup is powered by a 6.6 volt LiFe battery that is 1750mah. Runs me for more than four hours sailing.
I would not run a heavy large NIMH battery. Just my opinion. Ryan

sounds like a nice setup. I am running the stock servo, but only with 4 AA batteries. I was thinking of switching to a 6 volt setup with the same servo.

Are there any issues running the 6.6 volts from a Life battery?

This system works great I use 2 life 6.6 batteries in series and can sail for a long time.

No problems with the LeFi battery setup. I really like it as it is a bit smaller than four AA batteries and is lighter. I like it better than my two lipo packs. Ryan

Where did everyone go? Anyone noticed that their keel ballast is rusting? Noticed some weird white stuff on the keel bulb last weekend. Took the bulb apart and man the ballast had started to rust. I am going to paint the ballast and then seal the joint where the two haves of the bulb join together.
I still would love to hear from any bay area vela owners. Ryan

The keel bulb is a known issue. I just pulled mine apart and used some lead weights and then used some epoxy to hold the weights in place.....no rusting and a heavier keel.

Originally Posted by 04_MINI

The keel bulb is a known issue. I just pulled mine apart and used some lead weights and then used some epoxy to hold the weights in place.....no rusting and a heavier keel.

Mini - interested in doing this as well ....assuming you used lead shot. What size did you use?
Also....How much heavier do you think it might be compared to stock keel?

I did use lead shot, problem is that I don't know what size I used. It was really small stuff, maybe 1/16" round.......?

Originally Posted by ronnied

I have added the wire to the jib sail and tied it off at the front of the jib boom. It seems to have done the trick. I am working on the keel wing and comming along, I think that it will make the boat more stable with the genoa sail. The genoa sail is complete and I can change from the jib to the genoa with a minimum of effort. Am now working on a tracker for the genoa sail, have some new ideas that I think will work. Thank's for all the good input from everyone, will post pictures soon.
ronnied

I'm extremely interested the progress of your Genoa set-up, only ever seen it on one RC boat called Sprinta which I'm lucky enough to own one.

Cheers Alan

Vela class in the Bay area? Lets do it. How many owners are out there in the SF Bay area. PM me and we can get a list going.

A Class Assoc...yes. Here is what I am seeing:

This boat is great out of the box. I have had a breakage problem with the rudder which was all my fault and not an issue with the boat. I tightened a running part or two and changed the lead on the jib sheet by putting a turning point at the port lower shroud chainplate. That is it. It sails great. it's limit seems to be the idiot behind the wheel. What I am saying here is the the boat is great to sail as it comes from the box.

I have noted that there is no such thing in the RC Model Boat world as a true "one design". Every boat I have seen has been tinkered with. That starts the modification race which puts a building learning curve between the front and back of the fleet.

I suggest that a STRICT one design class be started with a separately scored modified division. For the one design, there may only be vary minor modifications with rules very similar to the "Big Boat" Laser Class. The modified Velas can race with the one designs until the fleets get too big. The Class Champion would be from the One Design Fleet and a Modified Champion would be a separate award.

To be successful, the Class should have an email tree, a web site, published class rules and a Class Secretary. Register with AMYA and ISAF(?). Of course, some sort of registration fee would be needed. Sail numbers being on a first come first served basis.

I am a member of the SF Model YC and invite other Velas in the San Francisco area to contact me so we can get a regatta or two organized. As far as a Class is concerned, I would be interested in doing the grunt work to get it rolling. Ahoy the world, let me know if you want to try this out. Pass the word to other Vela owners and contact me with your interest.

Happy sailing.

Super43 aka. johnhsuper@att.net