I'm back! White Rock Cup 2015 and other things...

Hi folk's, sorry for the protracted absence, as you all know, some times, life crowds out ones hobbies for a while, but I'm back and ready to pick-up on some Model Yachting!

The big race for me coming up is the 2015 White Rock Cup here in Dallas, which is also the AMYA Region #5 Championship for the RG-65 class...a class I'm increasingly keen on. The regatta is being held on the 30th and 31st of May, and it's not to late to register if you are interested, check out the site at: http://whiterockcup.blogspot.com/

I'll be sailing Roo's  USA-50 Peck, which I sailed to 10th in the 2013 Nationals. As you may know, Peck's construction has been exhaustively detailed here, he's a Blue Splash design; kit by Eric Rosenbaum and built by Roo and myself. My own boat, USA-62 Mustang, is once again under construction, and I'll post some photos soon. We've also purchased a DragonForce RG-65, when we get it assembled and sailing, I'll be sure to post some on it as well.



Peck cruises White Rock Lake at dusk...

As to the Peck...after RG-65 Nationals the Peck required a brief refit, a new radio board, some better rig tune, and the location of an annoying leak.

The leak was easiest to fix, after rigging up, I set the boat on a stand and poured water into and waited to see where it leak out from (it's easier to find it coming out then going in). A small trickle near down the keel fin confirmed a leak near the keel trunk, so I brushed in some epoxy over the joints, and presto!, the leak stopped. Peck has now been running pretty dry.

The old radio board was a complete failure, along with the internal compartment for radio receiver and battery. I removed them both and built a new board of a thicker material, with cross beams supporting it. This stopped the flexing and cracking that broke the old board apart, and is probably much lighter as well. The battery and receiver are now simply attached to the keel trunk with Velcro, again, lighter and stronger.

I finished out the B-rig and spent some time at the pond with Eric Rosenbaum, and others, and got the rig tuned up. The A-rig is now going quite well, the B-rig needs some heavier wind, but is coming along. I may build a C someday, but don't have much use for it at present. I will likely do an entire post on swing rig tuning later.

Comparison of A and B rigs.

Here's some pictures of the Peck working-up during trials:

Note the wake in light air...the swing rig at work!

Running down the line prior to a start at the TRYC.

Next to Chuck LeMahieu's Atomic Annie DragonForce. Note the huge disparity in A-rigs...

B-rig, powering up at the local duck pond...it's getting there.