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Everything I learned about my favourite Britpop. Setup, rig tune, sails setting and trim. Working up a Britpop As most of you know I gave in and bought a Britpop mid 2021 to take out the one variable to boat speed that was unknown to me. It was not that my Alternative was slow, it was just all the fast designs today have a significant chine and volume at the back end and that sowed an element of doubt in my mind over my boats overall performance. Funnily enough I thought that any tiny lack of performance was in light weather rather than heavy. In a breeze on flat water, I felt the Alternative had a slight edge The road to glory is not as simple as buying a Britpop or similar modern design and does not lead to race winning performance. Here is my story so far. The initial set up The third hand hull (2014 Robot build) was sound with a few scratches on the hull and bulb that I was able to polish out however it had a couple of chunks taken out of the trailing edge of the fin. It had an excellent RMG winch and fittings so nothing had to be done to the hull fin and bulb. There was no RC so I bought a Futaba I6 transmitter and receiver which I found to be excellent and replaced the rudder servo with a futaba 3010. The reason for using a Futaba instead of the Flysky was the Futaba had a ratchet on the winch. I coated all the connections in Corrosion X to stop any corrosion in salt water. However I found that was not enough as when the radio pot leaked with salt water and I left it for a couple of days, the connectors showed signs of corrosion and had to be replaced. A cut down kilner jar rubber seal inserted in the lid fixed the leak or so I thought and replaced connectors got the electrics back up and running reliably. The hull is cleaned with T cut and left at that. There are a couple of chips in the trailing edge of the fin but I have not noticed any problem with that but are now repaired. I had worked up good rigs on my Alternative and all I had to do was transfer them to the Britpop. The rigs are BG sails set on PG spars with 11 and 7 mm pre bend on the A and B rig. The settings are almost identical between the boat designs. You can see the rig set up here. although I have made a few changes to the jib attachment at the head because the loop knot I used to attach the topping lift slipped on the B and C rig with disastrous results so I attach the topping lift and jib luff direct to the hook on the mast (See the story here ) . On the A rig, my loop knot is a bowline with a locking half hitch coated in super glue to make sure there is no slippage. there are more pictures of the current rig below. The sheets are 35kg line as is the line to the winch. The sheets need replacing regularly but I find anything heavier does not ease effectively in very light weather. I have tested the 35kg line in 25-30 knots of breeze with the C rig and top end of the A rig so they are strong enough. I use the standard setup settings on the BG website as my starting point and always carry a rig stick to make sure the rake is correct and therefore the boat is balanced and run a tape over the foot and leach measurements. A wise man in Birkenhead said to me, the secret in setting up the boat is to have a list of goto settings and keep everything as simple as possible. There are changes made to my original rig setups which I have previously documented but the latest are from events occurring at the 2 Islands ranking event where I broke a shroud and had no spare. I now have spare A and B Jibs on booms, and completing spare A and B masts with mains, along with spare shrouds and backstays. The last thing was to put the boat in the measuring tank to look at two things. One was the fore and aft balance of the boat which I am happy to say is good. The bow was out of the water for just under an inch from the back of the bow bumper so no need to do anything. The other thing was to see if I could drop the bulb/fin as I know we had approximately a 5 mm gap to the measuring bar when last measured. Sure enough, it could drop 4.5mm which does not sound a lot but sailing hard up wind, moving 2.5kg, 4.5mm further out is quite a bit of righting moment. Of course, now I need a securing bolt with an extra 5mm on it. To drop the fin, I put together spacers on top of the fin (three section of cable tie stuck together with super glue and packed out the trailing edge with Isopon so the fin was nice and snug in the case. The last thing was to replace my futaba 3010 servo with a BLS471sv. It was not a cheap replacement but the rudder is tighter with no movement and centres perfectly every time. WIth the 3010, if you move the rudder, there was about 5mm movement on the trailing edge. With the 471 there is no movement at all. Once the Britpop was set up and sailing it was time to apply some magic which I hate to say only seems to come through experience, racing and practice, or as my old 470 sparing partner and super coach said, you just need many hours on the water. The observations below are my learnings from the racing so far. Where is the magic A simple rig setup Articles on setting up the rig on an IOM may talk about how the mast control is split into 3 sections. The bottom third is controlled by the mast ram, the middle third is controlled by the spreaders and the rig tension and the top third is controlled by backstay tension. That is the easy bit. The hard bit is to determine what your initial racing setup should be based on your understanding of the mast bend/mainsail relationship. The experts are able to set their boats up almost by feel. They have done it so many times before and know what works and what doesn't work and have good reliable base settings. The ultimate test of a correct set up is to tack your boat on the limit of a rig and have the boat accelerate away with little or no helm interaction. To learn about the impact of different adjustments, I like to experiment by laying the boat with the mast horizontal. Bear in mind I use BG sails which has luff curve built in so giving great flexibility in the way you shape the sail and these are fitted to a PG mast (10mm prebend) on a Britpop. My goal is to understand how the mast bend works given different settings from one extreme to another. Once I have been through this exercise, I identify one mid range setting, mark everything up to this setting and this will be my start point for racing. If there is more or less wind, I will make mm adjustments to the backstay, and maybe shroud tension. The first thing to do is set the mast up with relatively slack shrouds for light weather. The leeward shroud must not go soft when on the wind and then apply enough backstay so the mast is as straight as possible even through the deck. You should have a couple mm of rake on your spreaders. This is the starting point for light weather. Now if you apply more backstay you begin to de-power the rig, the mast will bend evenly but more in in the central third. If you keep the shroud tension the same and apply more backstay, the main will end up flat at the middle/ bottom third and be too full at the top and may even break down in the middle, if you overdue the backstay tension. Our goal is to keep the power low down and blade out or flatten the top. As the wind builds above an imaginary 5 knots or so, gradually stiffen the mast low down by applying a little more rig tension and add a tiny bit of reverse bend at the deck with the mast chock. Remember the rig tension will affect the middle third of the mast. As you stiffen the bottom and middle third of the mast, you encourage more bend at the top which will help blade out the sail effectively depowering the rig. The rig tension is gradually increased through the wind range, 0-5, 5-10,10-15. At the top end of the A rig you need max rig tension to get as much bend as possible in the top third of the mast so you blade out the top of the sail. You should end up with slight reverse bend at the deck level, an even bend through the mast with slightly more induced at the top. If it all works out when sailing upwind, your main should fill evenly top to bottom and invert at the top as the rig becomes overpowered. The goal of this exercise is to develop an understanding of how the rig works not to develop a myriad of settings for different wind ranges. Once you have tried this indoors and understood how everything fits together, find a mid point setting (5 to 10 knots) and test it out on the water. If you are happy with what you see, mark everything up so you can repeat the setup when you next rig your boat. The usual rules apply for rig set up, set the kicker for downwind, use the backstay for upwind leach tension, make the jib slot parallel to the main as well as using the BG measurement for distance from leach line to jib leach and main and jib foot depth. From this setup you will only need to apply mm adjustments to the backstay, and maybe a slight increase of decrease on shroud tension. When I set up, I have marked positions for the shroud bottle screws (locking nuts), sheet hooks, sail foot depths, mast rake and leach twist distances from the topping lift, sheeting angle for the main and jib. With these as a starting point, I know I have a reliable setup and if I need to adjust anything by more then a few mm, something is wrong in my initial setup. Some pictures of the extreme setting to see their impact on the mainsail 1 The shrouds are as slack as they can be with a straight mast. Perfect starting point for light weather The effect of too much backstay with little rig tensions. The sail has inverted at the numbers and the top of the mast is still relatively straight at the top third. The same setting as above only I have Increased the shroud tension to the max. Note how the middle has straightened out. I could straighten the middle of the mast more if I want with a little more mast chock. Setting adjustments are subtle for any given condition and needs only mm's of change but one must read the settings guide thoroughly, otherwise basic mistakes can be made. In light weather I noticed at one of the ranking events, that Chris Harris who won the day, using more depth in the jib foot in light weather and I estimated it to be 25-30mm. The BG standard measurement is circa 22mm. It was the same on his mainsail, so I tried the same and went from 22 to 30 and saw an increase in speed with the boat pointing at the same height or higher to windward. Of course you still need to sail fast and free to maximise speed around the course. On making further enquiries about the main and jib foot depth, I had assumed that the BG measurements were from the centre of the boom to the foot of the sail. I emailed Brad Gibson and he replied saying that the measurement is from the edge of the booms which make 5mm difference. Took me 6 months to work that one out. The second setting adjustment was on the mainsail in a breeze. I have always struggled to keep the top third of the main from backwinding at the top end of the A rig, even with the jib leech well open. I found by flattening the foot by 5mm, increasing the shroud tension to move the bend up the mast with 1-3 mm of extra back stay, the top of the sail is flattened and works more effectively and does not backwind so much in the gusts. It seemed similar to when we used to blade out the top of the mainsail on fractional rig yachts. When you measure the luff curve on the mainsail luff of a BG sail, there is a max of 10mm in a smooth curve from the mast head to 600mm down. This is the ideal curve one needs to achieve on the mast so the top of the sail flattens evenly and remains stable. I slightly flatten the jib on flat water at the top end of the A rig but only by 5mm or so. The third adjustment is with the shrouds. Starting lose in light weather they should be progressively tightened as the wind builds. The critical thing to look for is that the mast stays in column on either tack when set up for windward work and the leeward shroud should not go slack when the boat is under pressure otherwise the windward spreader will push the middle of the mast to leeward. The shrouds should not be so tight that the middle of the mast cannot flex fore and aft to de-power the rig in a gust. Check that the shrouds are of equal length when pulled down the front of the mast so you know when equally tensioned the mast will be upright and when you rig the boat, lay it on the ground or stand so you can see down the mast to make sure there is no sideways bend caused by uneven shrouds tension and double check the backstay crane is central. When the boat is set up correctly it rarely needs changing. I have sailed for a whole day with variable conditions without changing a thing. If you find yourself tinkering after each race your boat is not optimised. If the wind does build during the day you will need to tighten the jib luff slightly which has the effect of tightening the jib leech. A loose jib leech will cause the boat to luff up in a breeze and that is slow. If you have a transmitter with a ratchet sheet, you have a huge advantage with the precision you can set the sheeting angle of the sails. The video below show the effect of easing the sheets 1 2 or 3 clicks. Double click on the screen for full screen view. Once your boat is set up, the rest is down to your sailing skill which I cover on another page. See my latest setup checklist at the bottom of the page but I regularly re read the BG setup tips to make sure I have not made any silly mistakes. Finally a couple of pictures. The first is the method of keeping the jib boom as low as possible. I use a sheet hook with a series of holes spaced 2.5mm apart so I can get the jib as close to the deck as possible. The only downside with the use of the clamp on the boom is that the line wears after several weekends and has to be replaced however this is only a 5 minute job. I have changed to tying the tack line onto the boom which eliminates there clamp, sheet hook and ring The next picture shows how I have lowered the mast by 7 to 10mm to get the lower band below the deck level by 5mm. It involved modifying the kicker fitting, shortening the length of it by 10mm which I explained in a thought for the day. I also learnt how salt crystallises inside your mast if you do not flush them out on a regular basis. Note that if you lower the mast too much the gooseneck will not be able to but up against the mast ram and stop any mast rotation. I use a standard Cunningham arrangement feeding to the two cable ties and the bowsie is to tighten the jackstay (luff wire of the mainsail). This one shows my final jib head arrangement for the A rig which allows the jib to freely rotate in very light weather. The design is the one suggested by sails etc however I have gone back to attaching the leech line and jib luff to the hook on the mast Here is the sailsetc boom end fitting that eliminated the wear on the elasticated topping lift. The elastic runs inside the boom. Here you can see the velcro in the radio pot which allows me to position everything at the top of the pot so I have no issues if salt water accidentally gets in. A note for open water compared to inland sailing In open water there is a good chance you will be sailing in waves. The boat is constantly accelerating and de-accelerating. The sails will nearly always require more depth and twist than on flat water to power through the waves. Again we are only talking a mm or two of change in your setting but it will make a huge difference. One last thing. I picked up a rig tension meter in mid 2022 and found this to be invaluable. Bearing in mind the impact of rig tension on the middle third of the mast, you must have a base starting point. If you want one, email JohnGill1003@gmail.com . He is based in the UK. It is a quality product and each one is individually tested. 活動前 確定 你的 航海目標 了解你的 賽車規則和戰術 謹慎管理您的投資 船隻維修 向右快速航行 船隻調整和設置 了解您的無線電控制 有效的 船練習 確保使用一致的設置 檢查清單 知道如何 天氣 會幫助你 有用 參考

My experience of sailing 4 IOM designs. Alternative, Britpop, Alioth and Proteus. The IOM Project BUILDING AND RACING ONE METRES 2 Alternatives 2 Britpops 2 Alioths 2 Proteus (One broke and current)

Learn about building, optimising, tuning and all aspect of racing radio sailing yachts 聯繫我們 感謝提交！ 提交

What to do before during and after racing plus tactics to get round the race course.

Building a travel boat for boat and rigs, boat storage box, rig box and stand Protect your investment International travel box, boat box, rig box and stand What you need to know Boat box made of 1/8th plywood to my own design and painted with epoxy and polyurethane left over from the boat build. Rig box is made from Correx reinforced with strip wood bonded with purpose made double sided tape Boat stand made from 20x20mm strip wood. Boat box for international travel designed by Peter Stollery The Details Boat Box The design is such you can lay the fin rudder and bulb in the bottom of the box on felt. The movable frames are cut out using the frame shape on the design plan. A layer of felt is added to protect the boat. Channels are cut out of the bottom of the frames for the fin bulb and rudder. The frames hold these securely in place. Once the frames are in the boat is added. The lid is designed to just touch the frames so nothing can move inside the box whichever way up it is held. 圖 4 Local Transport To transport the boat locally when fully rigged to the club, I wrap a couple of loops of insulation foam around the hull to stop the hull resting on the boot of the car. In addition I edge the fin and rudder and bulb with the same foam. Boat support frame A very simple construction made out of 20x20mm strip wood and hinged with a couple of bolts. Remember to cut any excess bolt off as this can damage the fin. The boat can be sat at an angle to for rig set up. 保護您的投資 船箱、鑽機箱和支架 你需要知道的 船箱由我自己設計的 1/8 膠合板製成，並塗有船建造時遺留的環氧樹脂和聚氨酯。 鑽機盒由 Correx 製成，並用特製的雙面膠帶粘合條狀木料 船架由 20x20 毫米長條木製成。 細節（圖 1,2 和 3） 船箱 設計是這樣你可以把鰭舵和燈泡放在盒子底部的毛氈上。 使用設計平面上的框架形狀切割可移動框架。 添加了一層毛氈以保護船。 從框架底部切出用於鰭球和方向舵的通道。 框架將這些牢固地固定到位。 一旦框架在船上被添加。 蓋子設計為僅接觸框架，因此無論以何種方式向上放置，盒子內都不會移動。 本地交通（圖 4） 為了在完全裝配到俱樂部後將船運送到當地，我在船體周圍包裹了幾圈絕緣泡沫，以防止船體擱在汽車後備箱上。 此外，我用相同的泡沫對鰭、舵和燈泡進行了邊緣處理。 船用支撐架（圖 4） 一個非常簡單的結構，由 20x20mm 的條形木頭製成，並用幾個螺栓鉸接。 切記切斷任何多餘的螺栓，因為這會損壞散熱片。 船可以傾斜放置以進行鑽機設置。 帆箱（圖 5 和圖 6） 這需要一些完善，但它是製作堅固、防風雨的鑽機箱的一種非常便宜的方法。 我從這裡 買了 3 張 8 英尺 x 4 英尺 x 2 毫米的 Correx 和雙面膠帶，將條形木條粘在這裡 Correx 它非常容易切割和折疊，而且非常堅固 當在邊緣用條形木加固並固定在每個桅杆下時。 我使用用雙面膠帶粘住的筆架夾子將桅杆固定到位。 請注意，Correx 很難粘上任何東西。 上面的雙面膠帶和魔術貼粘得非常好。 總共花費 30 英鎊，如果這一張損壞了，我還有 2 張 Correx。 Peter Stollery's international travel box Peter very kindly sent me the details of his magic box for transporting my IOM and rigs on a plane to Australia. The box is easy to assemble with care and cheap to build. I have made one myself but painted it white inside and out. With a 3d printed boat, I wanted to reflect heat if the box ever got left out in the sun airside. Basically it is a standard rig box shape on plan but with a much deeper section at the top of the rig to enclose the boat. A strong bulkhead is fitted in the middle to which the bulb and fin is bolted (the rig bag slides under the bulkhead). I carefully slide the bulb into a tight fitting piece of plumbing pipe for which there are standard brackets to hold it in place (short pieces of pipe insulation are rammed into the ends and then jammed against the sides of the box to make sure the bulb can't move). For the Italy trip I also carried 2 Tx which were secured with string and then sandwiched with soft foam when the lid was fitted. Also added for Italy was a small tool kit (ice cream tub) and all the essential spares dotted about and wrapped in bubble wrap. All up weight was 15kg. Everything else went in hand luggage. I built the box to go to Canada in 2003 and it has survived trips to Spain, Australia and Italy without any damage [also San Fransisco 2015, Brazil 2019, Croatia 2022 and Spain 2023 with Shaun Priestley]. The only down side is that the lid is secured by 20 screws so it is a bit of a hassle if security want to look inside!! If you do decide to build, make sure everything is carefully packed and secured (especially the bulb) as the consequences of 'loose' packing with this type of box are obviously much more dramatic! Here is a diagram with the overall dimensions of the magic box followed by a set of pictures showing how everything fits inside The grey pipe is 38mm internal diameter and is 380mm long. The slit is 218mm long and about 5mm wide. The bulb has a sock which is a bit of old duster I think. The bulb goes into the tube with the aft end of the bulb first. This means the trailing edge of the fin comes to a stop at the end of the slit. This is because the tube is secured in the box with the forward (blunt!) end of the bulb pointing at the ground (ie the away from the carrying handle). This means that gravity will be trying to push the bulb and fin out of the slit in the tube and it will be the blunt end pushing on the side of the box (rather than the really sharp end trying to poke its way out of the box!). That said, the bulb should be so tightly jammed in the tube that it can't move! Back to sliding the bulb in to the tube, there is a piece of thin but tough white plastic folded in half and taped to the back edge of the fin. Not only does this protect the back edge but it protects the sides if the fin from being scratched by the edges of the slit when you slide the bulb in. It is a very tight fit with the duster and the bulb actually opens up the slit a bit to accommodate the bulb. There is some duck tape around the slit end of the pipe to pull this in tight. At the pointy end I jam in some thin walled pipe insulation and then jam in some chunkier short sections of pipe insulation. The box should effectively be pushing these in (ie they should be sticking out of the tube until the tube is put in the box. When clamped to the bulkhead which you'll see in a later email, there is another sponge packer which keeps everything really. tight. The bulk head and the bulb packing is the most important bit as clearly we don't want it coming loose! The plastic pipe is slightly shorter than the internal width of the box but the chunky bits of pipe insulation at each end are long enough so that they can't be forced completely inside the tube. This means they stick out and have to be squashed in against the box at each end i.e. the box ends up trying to force the pipe insulation in which helps keep everything tight. The Bulkhead The bulkhead is 6mm ply with 20 x 20mm stiffner along the top and down the sides. The bulkhead is fitted at 90 degrees to the side with the handle attached. The cut out is shaped with the highest bit 54mm above the base of the box. Basically, you cut out the minimal amount to get the rig bag in so that as much strength is retained. When I slide the rig bag in I have to flex the masts a small amount to get them in. The pipe clips are permanently screwed to the bulkhead through their top hole and then removeable nuts and bolts secure it through the bottom hole. The box is made with 3mm ply with 20 x 20mm framing. The ply is glued and pinned at 100mm centres to the framing. The lid is entirely 3mm ply with the exception of one piece of 20mm framing which runs from the widest end of the box to the bulkhead. The mast laid on the box in the image attached shows the line of where this bit of reinforcing sits when the lid is on. This simply stiffens the lid over the top of where the fin lies. There are 3mm ply 80mm diameter reinforcing patches either side of the bulkhead which take the handle attachments. Here is a picture of the lid with its reinforcing bar. The rig bag slides in under some zig zagging rope which helps to keep it secure. Note that the masts are along the side which doesn't have the handle (ie the bottom of the box when being carried). The bulb tube is bolted into the clips making sure the pipe insulation is tight against the sides of the box. The boat goes deck down (normally with the rudder off of course!). I have two straps which go around the hull which are attached to the handle side of the box. As with the bulb and rigs, the straps are so that the boat can't slip or move down when the box is being carried. I haven't put any bubble wrap or foam packers in around the boat but normally the front section is full of padding. The tool box, spares, txs etc.... Are all secured to the bottom of the box (bottom when its being carried). To be honest I can't remember exactly hiw this is done but so long as the stuff can't come loose it should be fine. All up weight with everything in was around 15kg I think. Note 1. All the dims on the drawing are external overall dims and include the lid thickness. 2. As previous email there is only one bar fixed to the lid. 3. The bulkhead is 6mm ply and framing and is very strong. The framing down the sides of the bulkhead is screwed in from the outside rather than pinned. 4. The 410mm dim is the overall dimension to the face of the ply measured along the line of the bulkhead. 5. There is no bulkhead around the txs. They are just tied in with plenty of foam packing around them.

IOM Build Race tune is the best site on the web for all things IOM and radio yacht racing. How to build, setup and race your boat Building, tuning, racing IOM and radio yachts Welcome to Barrow's site for radio sailing. Whether you’re just starting out or you’re a seasoned skipper, this website is your go-to hub for everything radio sailing. Focused on International One Metre (IOM), DF65, DF95, and Marblehead classes, this site offers a treasure trove of expert tips, build guides, tuning advice, and racing strategies. 🛠️ Build Smarter – Step-by-step guides to constructing and modifying your model yachts. ⚙️ Tune Like a Pro – Learn how to fine-tune your boats for peak performance. 🏁 Race Ready – Get insider strategies to compete and win on the water. 🌐 Connect & Learn – Join a growing community of passionate radio sailors. Whether you want to optimize your boat, learn new techniques, or simply stay inspired, this is a must-visit for model yacht enthusiasts worldwide. Dive in and see how much you can improve your racing. A brief note from the author. I write from the heart and hope I only deal with facts. There is no ego in this site, only information imparted to help the up and coming radio sailor. I have only sailed radio boats since 2020 and will be the first to admit I have much to learn. However in my journey I have collated so much information and tried picked the brains of the best in the sport. There are things they are prepared to explain but there are also things they consider secret. One of my goals is to create a level playing field where everyone has access to the same information. Then it is a case of how you use that information to deliver a winning performance. Work to do.

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若要查看作用方式，請前往您的即時網站。 所有文章 我的文章 The Forum Browse the forum below & start posting questions, tips, and anything else that you'd like to share with the community. 排序方式： 最近活動 追蹤所有類別 建立新文章 Comments 瀏覽次數 最近活動 Item option menu Jib pivot guido02474 5 0 3月29日 I made an improvement to my alternative so that I can adjust the rake better rc zeilen 1 1 3月03日 Forum - Frameless

一些你可能喜歡讀的書 理論 CA Marchaj 的帆船理論與實踐 1964年 CA Marchaj 的航行空氣流體動力學 1979年 CA Marchaj 的風帆表演 1996年 弗蘭克·貝思韋特（Frank Bethwaite）的高性能帆船 2010（第二版） 實踐 Paul Elvstrom的專家小艇賽車 1963年 斯圖爾特沃克的風與戰略 1973年 Christopher Caswell 和 David Ullman 的冠軍小艇帆船賽 1978年 布魯斯·班克斯 / 迪克·肯尼的《看帆》 1979年 勝利 - Stuart Walker 的競爭心理學 1980年 Stuart Walker 1981 年的高級賽車戰術 Eric Twiname 的航海、比賽和勝利 1982年 這是 Fred Imhoff / Lex Pranger 的船調速度 1984年 揚帆取勝系列 - 勞裡·史密斯 (Lawrie Smith) 的小艇舵 1983年 - David Houghton 的 Wind Strategy 1984年 - 由 Lawrie Smith 調整您的小艇 1985年 - 羅德尼帕蒂森/蒂姆戴維森的船速 1986年 Jim Saltonstall 的 RYA 比賽訓練手冊 1983年 感謝 Brian Outram（澳大利亞）的閱讀清單 讓我知道你最喜歡的書，以便我可以將它們添加到列表中

DF95 Videos from the Web Do a search on google with the text "DF95 tuning and build videos" Here are a couple of examples Brad Reads Tips on Setting up and Tuning a DragonFlite95 RC Sailboat Newport Model Sailing Club - DF95 Clinic with Ken Read Fleetwood livestream at the Global championships 2023

The DF 95 Project Here is the story of my entry into the world of DF 95. I launch a new boat on 14/6/23 and sailed in my first TT event the following Sunday. With the Tips from Richard Calas at Emsworth and Craig Richards from his facebook posts I was able to be competitive from the start. There is no point reinventing the wheel so rather than post ideas on setup, I start with Craig's wonderful series of articles on facebook on how to set your boat up and then I will add my own observations. The DF95 is a great one design boat and I have no regrets moving into the class. It is a delight to sail and the only way you will get more speed than someone else is by achieving a better setup or sailing better. What more can you want. Starting with the build I was given some helpful advice: It is worth applying Epoxy all deck eyes. Unscrew, apply a tiny amount of epoxy and re-screw to seal all the deck fittings. Use epoxy when assembling the booms to give time to align the components. I upgraded to the newer brushless rudder servo as I thought the upgrade would be more reliable when centering the rudder. A lesson I learned on the IOM I bought 3 1000mAh life batteries from rc yachts as they were the cheapest supplier I chopped the top of the on/off switch as when I turned to port the electrics neatly switched off as the servo arm hit the on off switch. I bent the wire connector between the rudder servo and the tiller ever so slightly, so it did not catch on the deck hatch housing as this was straining the servo. I counter sunk the servo tray screws so the hatch sat neatly in its housing I threaded cord through the bung and added a restrainer to stop it coming out. This way I could empty the boat without ever losing the bung. I drilled a second hole on the A rig can for the mainsail fastening, 5 mm aft of the supplied hole Left the top sail tie loose on the A rig so sail flops nicely from side to side. I used fine cord to tie the sails to the mast. Every knot is secured with super glue. The assembly instructions are spot on although they only cover the A rig and could add a few comments about the B_D rigs.. Whilst the specs on the DF web site were good for the mast and boom. it took me a while to figure where do you attach the jib tacks and jib sheet eyes. Put a bigger knot on the topping lift inside boom. Be very careful with the jib wire terminals on the jibs. I have already had one ferrule that slipped. On my IOM, I terminate the wire by bending the wire using a Dupro tool. Might do that in the long term on the DF. Put thick lines on the sails so you can see if you are pointing to high or have a backwinding mainsail. These are all simple tasks which I hope will improve the longevity of the boat or make it more efficient. With no boat speed advantage to be had it is all about the sailing, much of which I cover in racing an IOM. Whilst the tuning details are specific to the IOM, the rest applies to any class. Maybe the heading should be Racing a radio controlled yacht. Taking on board the advice I was given, led to a 2nd in the first TT event at Manor Park splitting John Tushingham and Craig Richards. This is the only warm up prior to the nationals. The blog tells the story and learnings from the event.

A directory of associations, boat builders, sail makers, fitting suppliers, building, tuning and racing tip sites. The DF 95 Project Here is the story of my entry into the world of DF 95. I launch a new boat on 14/6/23 and sailed in my first TT event the following Sunday. With the Tips from Richard Calas at Emsworth and Craig Richards from his facebook posts I was able to be competitive from the start. There is no point reinventing the wheel so rather than post ideas on setup, I start with Craig's wonderful series of articles on facebook on how to set your boat up and then I will add my own observations. The DF95 is a great one design boat and I have no regrets moving into the class. It is a delight to sail and the only way you will get more speed than someone else is by achieving a better setup or sailing better. What more can you want. Starting with the build I was given some helpful advice: It is worth applying Epoxy all deck eyes. Unscrew, apply a tiny amount of epoxy and re-screw to seal all the deck fittings. Use epoxy when assembling the booms to give time to align the components. I upgraded to the newer brushless rudder servo as I thought the upgrade would be more reliable when centering the rudder. A lesson I learned on the IOM I bought 3 1000mAh life batteries from rc yachts as they were the cheapest supplier I chopped the top of the on/off switch as when I turned to port the electrics neatly switched off as the servo arm hit the on off switch. I bent the wire connector between the rudder servo and the tiller ever so slightly, so it did not catch on the deck hatch housing as this was straining the servo. I counter sunk the servo tray screws so the hatch sat neatly in its housing I threaded cord through the bung and added a restrainer to stop it coming out. This way I could empty the boat without ever losing the bung. I drilled a second hole on the A rig can for the mainsail fastening, 5 mm aft of the supplied hole Left the top sail tie loose on the A rig so sail flops nicely from side to side. I used fine cord to tie the sails to the mast. Every knot is secured with super glue. The assembly instructions are spot on although they only cover the A rig and could add a few comments about the B_D rigs.. Whilst the specs on the DF web site were good for the mast and boom. it took me a while to figure where do you attach the jib tacks and jib sheet eyes. Put a bigger knot on the topping lift inside boom. Be very careful with the jib wire terminals on the jibs. I have already had one ferrule that slipped. On my IOM, I terminate the wire by bending the wire using a Dupro tool. Might do that in the long term on the DF. These are all simple tasks which I hope will improve the longevity of the boat or make it more efficient. With no boat speed advantage to be had it is all about the sailing, much of which I cover in racing an IOM. Whilst the tuning details are specific to the IOM, the rest applies to any class. Maybe the heading should be Racing a radio controlled yacht. Enjoy.