Model Yachts

The Model Yacht Group (MYG) at Frensham Pond SC was set up in 2007/8 and is a properly constituted Group as part of the main sailing club. The objective of the MYG is to provide enjoyable, fun sailing and racing for as many interested sailors of all ages and experience levels, as possible. It is affiliated to the Model Yachting Association (MYA).

Those who are starting out will find it easy to get advice from MYG members on which boat to buy/build, how best to rig, tune and sail their boat - and many other tips to enhance their enjoyment of the sport. This advice is, of course, free and is available to anyone who is interested and who joins us at the lake on a Tuesday - ie: membership is not required at this stage!

We sail on TUESDAYS throughout the year - starting at 11am for those who prefer to sail in the mornings. Some prefer to adjourn for a pub lunch at around 12.15pm and some choose to bring their own food. Continuing after lunch, organised racing starts at 1.30pm and continues until around 3.30 - 4pm when tea and biscuits are usually available in the Clubhouse. Clearly the warm sanctuary of the Clubhouse is valued more in January than in July in most years. Sailing can be done on other days during the week provided there are no conflicts with Training Courses etc organised by the Club. There is plenty of room at the lake for all model yachts to be able to sail or race without interfering with other sailors. All sailors need to register their transmitter frequencies and obtain a 'peg' (except those on 2.4 GHz) to avoid conflicts.

Full facilities are available at the Club:

• Clubhouse with toilet (even when the Clubhouse is closed), tea-making equipment and an excellent view of the lake.
• Launching can be done either from one of a number of long jetties or from the bank.
• Sailing can be watched and boats are controlled from a large grassed area close to the launching jetties.
• Yachts that go astray can be recovered by a recovery boat manned by trained MYG members.
• Power boats are not allowed.

MYG Membership is free to all full members of FPSC and is available to all others at a (2011) subscription of £35 pa (with no joining fee).

Contacts

If you are interested please contact either:

Pat Cushing on 01420 83555 or email her at 1963 at pandbshelties dot plus dot com
or
Peter Wallis on 01256 363988 or email him at phwallis at btinternet dot com

....or just turn up at Frensham Pond on a Tuesday where you will be very welcome.

Newsletters

If you would like to see what is going on at present and what the plans are for the future of the Model Yacht Group, please have a look at the Newsletter. It is published monthly in the Summer sailing season and less often for the rest of the year.

1. July 2010
2. August 2010
3. September 2010

Classes Sailed

The Model Yacht Group sails and races many classes of Model Yachts but concentrates primarily on three:

10 Raters

These are light, sleek, seaworthy and fast. It is an 'open' rule Class with great freedom to develop design and construction, particularly in rigs and sail plans. Any boat can be a 10 rater and several Marbleheads have been successful in the class. A typical 10 rater is approximately 1600mm long, weighs 6kg and carries one square metre of sail. The cost of a second hand boat will vary substantially depending on its age and design - but a reliable and exciting boat can often be had for around £300.

IOM (International One Metres)

These boats are light, responsive and fun to sail. This is the most popular of the four international classes and is sailed at most Model Yachting Association (MYA) clubs. The class rule is 'closed', meaning that many aspects of design, materials and construction are restricted to promote close competition, but there are many different designs from which to choose. However the rule is designed to allow the DIY enthusiast some freedom to construct an inexpensive and competitive boat. The important speed related criteria of length, draught, displacement and sail plan are limited to a maximum of 1000mm, 420mm, 4kg and 3 prescribed rigs. A typical second hand boat can cost around £200 depending on age, condition and design.

Footy

As its name implies, it is just 12" long. The rules are very open and allow tremendous scope for creativity in design and construction. Despite their small size, the boats sail very well indeed. Their manoeuvrability makes them excellent boats for tactical sailing and they respond very well to tuning. They are ideal as a technical project for young people or as a cheap test bed for budding designers. A typical new boat would cost around £25 to build.

All costs above exclude the cost of the electronics (transmitter and receiver), which can be obtained new for under £50 depending on sophistication and type.

However all boats of any type or class are welcome, especially replica and vintage yachts.

The lake at Frensham Pond is very suitable for all types of Radio Controlled yachts and has excellent launching facilities - as well as a large grassed area for viewing and controlling boats on the water.