Well, it's the start of a new year and thoughts might be turning to what events they could hold for their members. Not the "cut-throat" competitions as beloved by the fanatical "must win at all costs" members, just relaxed, if not fun events, that if anything reward people who know how to trim and sail their creations.
The first two ideas need nothing more than a few buoys. A RC Straight Running event is where the model is sailed through a starting gate with the aim of letting it sail between another pair of buoys some suitable distance away. The catch being that once through the starting gate, no transmitter controls can be used. Even if your model has a bias to turn sightly you can counter it by "aiming off" the target before passing through the starting gate. Any wind and waves needed to be allowed for too so its not an easy task even for the straightest running models. There is also usually a large element of "luck" involved as I have seen models wander down the course in a random fashion before passing cleanly through the buoys!
The second idea is "Blind Steering" and can use the same buoy layout. This time the model is sailed through the starting buoys down between the other pair, then back through them and returning to the staring buoys. It doesn't sound particularly hard until you make the RC operator stand with their back to the course and receive sailing commands from someone standing next to them observing the model.
It is quite a test for the blind helmsman and commander to work together. Ideally the two should have good coordination between commands given by one and the rudder/throttle movements of the other. This might lead to a few humorous situations with mismatched pairs?
Other ideas could be "Nomination" events where the modeller has to declare there time to sail a simple steering course. The closest to their nominated time being the winner. One handy precaution is to make sure people cannot see a timepiece whilst sailing to avoid them deliberately speeding up or slowing down.
Another idea is the "Chairman's Challenge" where the club members are set a problem to solve. It could be to build a model from a limited range of materials or propulsion systems. Judging being by performance and/or aesthetics (the latter may involve a sense of humour?).
So, if you want to add a little more to your club sailing sessions, it's not too hard, unless people want to make it so.
Glynn Guest
