Thinking of buying a sailboat(i've been into rc cars for a while now), but i have a couple of questions:

1) are sail winch servos requiered or will standard servos work?

2) What is a good starter boat?

3) Can I use my pistol grip radios?

1) are sail winch servos requiered or will standard servos work?

A lot depends on the particular boat you choose, and how it is set up. Several of the smaller models will use a standard servo for sail control. A specially designed "Sail winch" (arm type or drum type) will have more power and or better speed than a standard servo.
Larger boats (more than 3 feet) typicall all use a sail servo of some type.

2) What is a good starter boat?

Again depends on what you want to do with the boat. If you want to class race with your fellow modelers, then whatever boat they are already sailing. If you are on your own, or dont care about what other people sail, then get a boat that you like the look of.

3) Can I use my pistol grip radios?

In a simple answer...yes you can. Will you be happy using it? No you won't. THe "trigger" throttle is very hard to control your sails with. You have to constantly hold it in the perfect position. Your hand will get tired very quickly. Best off to get a simple 2 chan. stick type radio system.


Visit www.climatboatworks.com

CR 914 is agreat boat. Complete package with radio runs 400.

which is best sail arm or sail winch? whats the difference?

A sail arm servo is just that-a servo that swings a solid arm (usually included with the servo) and this controls the movement of your sails via lines. A winch is a servo that has a round drum attached to it's output shaft and it winds/unwinds the control lines running to your hull's sails. Hitec makes a good sail arm servo (HS-815BB) and also a winch unit, but it travels a bit too far on some sailboats. A sail arm is usually easier to setup, but you'll have to have enough hull width to swing the arm once it's mounted inside the boat.

RickE

Would the standard Hitec servo that came with the boat (MRP Voyager) be sufficient for a beginner or would it be worth upgrading to a sail arm before I even start building the boat?

What exactly does using a sail arm give me? I suppose using a sail arm means better control over the sails in heavier winds?

Would a beginner benefit from having such an upgrade or is it something I would need when I get more experienced sailer?

Basically is it worth spending the extra cash now?

sorry if my questions are dumb.

- rich

Go ahead and try the standard servo in your Voyager and see if it's strong enough for your lake's wind conditions.

Both arm and winch work equally well in strong winds-you just need enough torque for the sails to move in if the winds increase.

To update your hull to either an arm or winch you'll have to cutout the plate inside the hull and mount the bigger servo via a plywood or plastic plate. Again, try the yacht as-is and then you can decide on whether or not you need more sail control power.

There are no dumb questions!

RickE

I actually got to sail this weekend. it was great fun but think it will take a while before I become a proficient sailor. My brother who has sailed a bit was very impressed and was more sucessful in controlling it. we noticed that there was some issue relating to pulling the sails in when the wind was behind (it was only really a gentle breeze). I assume this was due to lack of torque in the standard servo, so have decide to get something with more power. but now need to decide one? i assume that a sail arm would be best choice for a voyager? but from what i see there is only one arm with those types. Does this mean the rigging needs to be rigged in a different way if a sail arm is used? can you get different arm lengths to suit the size of boat?

If you're using a "standard" servo for the sails that's rated at around 50 0z/in of torque, bumping-up to one with between 100-200 will afford you more power to pull the sails in a heavy wind. You'll have to match it to the opening in the Voyager's servo tray; or, you can actual cutout the depression in the plastic plate and install the servo on a new plate made from plywood or thick plastic. You'll also need to now the best voltage for whatever servo you chose as they vary from brand to brand as I've seen both 4.8 and 6.0 volt ratings on some manufacturers servos.

I've also seen some Voyager owners who's cutout the radio plate and installed the Hitec HS-815BB servo with a homemade dual-arm setup that's much like a Soling hull's sail control layout.

RickE

decided not to get sail arm or sail winch as would men me having to rewire the control lines instead just go a higher torque servo.

futuba s3305 - heavy duty metal gears servo

speed 0.2 sec/60 degs @ 6V
torque 8.9 kg/cm @ 6V

should give me plenty of extra torque i think the standard hitec servo is 3 kg/cm

advantage is that it is same size as the hitec standard servo so should be simple matter of swapping it with the one thats currently in the boat, right?

i think i read somewhere about that when using high torque servos you need to change the way that power goes to servo - eg. do not have power source going through the reciever to the servo. Is this true? can you advise how i should change it?

It's possible to wire the servo so that it receives direct voltage from the battery pack, but I'd try the Futaba as-is first and see if it works okay in your hull. Be sure to securely mount it in the yacht as there'll be a good amount of force as it pulls-in the sails in windy conditions.

RickE