Model Yachting News • May 21, 2019

Posted on by Paul McBride

A Weather Battle
Rain and cold, rain and cold, rain and cold, not good sailing weather in May, but our skippers are a tough breed so we did manage a few regattas. A couple were “sail what you bring” which makes for an interesting show on Back Bay. In addition to the Soling’s and US12’s, the Bay hosted Santa Barbara’s, Marblehead’s, Soling 50’s, J Boat’s, Footy’s and one lobster boat.

Yup! Paul Wallace can walk on water.
J Boat and US12

The Competition Begins OR Not
We had high hopes of starting the season on May 21 but mother nature had other ideas. We arrived to very strong and gusty wind, twenty mph plus. It is hard on the boats as well as the skippers. Let’s hope the US12’s have better luck on Thursday.

Join the Fun
We have a wonderful group of participants for this challenging-but-fun hobby. Young and old can join, and those wanting to build a yacht should keep in mind our boatbuilding class at the NH Boat Museum July 8 through July 12. The link will take you to the sign up for the building class:
https://www.nhbm.org/model-yachting/model-yacht-building/

If you don’t want to build a boat, we’ll help you find a used one. Don’t want to sail? Just come and watch — we put on a great show every Tuesday and Thursday starting at 1:00 PM, weather permitting. Be sure to bring your camera.

Model Yachting News • April 30, 2019

Posted on by Paul McBride

The US12’s Start Their Season with a Few Companions
Thursday, April 25, the US12 group sailed, bringing an assortment of boats to test out after a long winter. The weather was cool with a nice gentle breeze, and it was good to get together with sailing friends.

There were four or five US12’s sailing, but skippers were eager to try out other boats early in the season. Tom Greig brought his J-Class model of Ranger, which was ready to go but had a gearing issue and never made it into the water. Rick Parent’s Soling 50 was sent on its maiden voyage.

J Boat and US12
US12’s and Marblehead

Jerry Leach had his Marblehead, which was in the water for the second time in 35 years — the first being two days earlier! Tim Wright quickly staked a claim for mishap of the year, when his Santa Barbara went over the stern of Paul Wallace’s US12. This put and kept the US12 access hatch underwater, and the possibility of a sinking grew as each minute passed. Fortunately, the boats were close to the dock and were pulled from the water shortly before Paul’s boat went under for good. To his credit, Paul resumed sailing in about fifteen minutes with no long-term water damage. Liquid tape was apparently part of the solution.

It was a very relaxed day of sailing — chilly but enjoyable to everyone there.

Raw and Damp
Word on the street for April 30 said the dock was underwater. Yup, it was!  Like most of the lakes in the Northeast, Winnipesaukee is way above normal. We’ve had it rise close to the dock deck but not over.

Yup! Dock under water
Burrrrrrrr !!

Although a raw and drizzly day with cloudy skies and temperatures in the low forties, the wind was great for sailing. The skippers were limited and spectators pretty much nonexistent.

Eight sailors launched for a very casual regatta, just punching the start button and following Tim Wright around the course.

Solings
Time to tune up

A lot of boat swapping occurred, mainly to check tuning. This time of year focuses on learning the best boat setup. For the first few races, master builder Anthony Quinn gave Diane Labella’s boat a re-rig. Thank you, Anthony. Diane now should jump to the front of the pack.

Join the Fun
We have a wonderful group of participants for this challenging-but-fun hobby. Young and old can join, and those wanting to build a yacht should keep in mind our boat building class at the NH Boat Museum July 8 through July 12. If you don’t want to build a boat, we’ll help you find a used one. Visit Model Yacht Building above for details. Don’t want to sail? Just come and watch — we put on a great show every Tuesday and Thursday starting at 1:00 PM, weather permitting. Be sure to bring your camera.

Watch or try taking the helm

Model Yachting News • April 24, 2019

Posted on by Paul McBride

The Season Begins
On April 17, the bay had cleared, the sun finally made an appearance, and it was warm enough to install the dock. Our crew of twelve made quick work of the project, taking just over an hour for transport and setup.

Bringing their energy to this year’s crew were Tim Wright, John Russell, Paul McBride, Paul Wallace, Rick Gates, Jerry Leach, the Koehler trio (Skip,  Kent, and Ellen), John Simms, Bob Brennan, and Mark Whitehead.

Competition Committee
To get started on the right foot, the Competition Committee met on April 20 to review scoring and to set rules for the 2019 season. Chairman Tim Wright welcomed members Anthony Quinn, Bill Hagerup, Wes Matchett, Bob Brennan, and Mark Whitehead.

First Day of Sailing
Boats hit the water on April 23 with fifteen skippers and an impressive array of classes represented. Launched were fifteen Solings, three Marbleheads, two Santa Barbaras and, oh yes, one little footy to round out the fleet.

The scoring is very loose at this time of year — official scoring starts May 21. However, bragging rights will have to go to Tim Wright, Tom Greig, Rick Gates, Mark Whitehead and Anthony Quinn with kudos to Jerry Leach and Paul McBride who also sailed well. Newish skippers Denis Boisvert and Bruce Brown really showed great progress, putting in good performances.

Join the Fun
We have a wonderful group of participants for this challenging-but-fun hobby. Young and old can join, and those wanting to build a yacht should keep in mind our boatbuilding class at the NH Boat Museum July 8 through July 12. If you don’t want to build a boat, we’ll help you find a used one. Visit Model Yacht Building above for details.

Don’t want to sail? Just come and watch — we put on a great show every Tuesday and Thursday starting at one PM, weather permitting. Be sure to bring your camera.