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Author Topic: Moonsoon 900  (Read 19757 times)

romainpek

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Moonsoon 900
« on: June 11, 2007, 05:48:27 am »

As I said elsewhere, we ordered 3 Moonsoon (spelling varies) to try such a cheap priced boat.

We received the 3 kits today in Beijing. One hull was smashed open in transportation but the 2 other seem perfect.

The aspect of the hulls (except the broken one ;D) is very good as they are made with fiberglass + gelcoat, much smoother than the ABS hulls in the Kyosho sea Dolphin, you can see a picture of the break.

I will investigate further later tonight, but the defects I already noticed are :
-no switch to power on/off the model
-the big hatch sealing system makes me believe that a miniature Niagara falls will start as soon as the deck is under water. I'll show you pictures and I hope you'll tell me how to improve on that.
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cdog46@yahoo.com

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Re: Moonsoon 900
« Reply #1 on: June 11, 2007, 11:57:01 am »

My Monsoon 900 I bought on Ebay and has shipped to the colonies( Maine USA) arrived in good order & has not yet taken its maiden cruise. Caiser will make good on a new hull.  The trip from China is deceptive.  My box looked it had a mild ride but the servo tray in mine was knocked loose!  Meaning those boxes must be flinged & tossed etc etc.

Overall- I think the Monsoon is a very nice boat for the money.  I agree with the hatch.  My solution is to use silicon fuel line as a gasket.  I have not yet decided on just how I'll use it-either slit it lengthwise and put it around the perimeter of the hatch- or I may mount it on the hatch perimeter itself.

Even though I have yet to sail the boat-I think she is a little over rigged meaning I think she'd go just as fast with a slightly smaller sail plan especially in >12 knot breezes.

All in all Caiser has a done a nice job and deserves our support.  At least he has mine!
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romainpek

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Re: Moonsoon 900
« Reply #2 on: June 12, 2007, 12:15:08 am »

Do not worry, Caiser has my respect. He already said he will replace the broken hull.

I started to assemble the kit yesterday. I made the boat support and assembled the fin + keel bulb. The latter is a very nice and smooth finish.

If I could suggest, I would make the fin steel rod thicker than it is today, and not try to hide its deck end under a plug. It will be annoying to open the plug and fumble with this little nut each time I want to remove the keel for transportation (which is every time I will be sailing the boat).

Bad luck on my fin, it is not straight and swerves left, as you can see on the pictures. I have asked for a replacement from Caiser.
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tigertiger

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Re: Moonsoon 900
« Reply #3 on: June 12, 2007, 12:30:08 pm »



Bad luck on my fin, it is not straight and swerves left, as you can see on the pictures. I have asked for a replacement from Caiser.


this is a problem on the Triumph as well.
I have also seen other photo with wonky keels on Chinese Manufatured boats.

There would seem to be a knack to moulding a straight keel fin.
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romainpek

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Re: Moonsoon 900
« Reply #4 on: June 13, 2007, 12:22:40 am »

I built the mast yesterday, and that was a pleasure : only one screw to tighten to get the two aluminum mast parts together, slide the sail in the groove, attach the ready cut shrouds and there you go ! One full mast + mainsail ready in 15 minutes, compared to hours needed on a kyosho Seadolphin. The jib is as easy to install. There is no jib backstay (balancine in French) but I do not now how to tune mine on the kyosho anyway.
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romainpek

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Re: Moonsoon 900
« Reply #5 on: June 13, 2007, 12:30:27 am »

But also I had a big disapointment on the gooseneck + boom vang...

The boom vang is only for show. You can't adjust its length, it is just a carbon rod without threads. This rod should be replaced by a steel threaded one, or by something else altogether.

Wait... there is no need to change the vang, as the gooseneck gives you only the freedom to move the boom left and right ! It cannot move up and down due to the screw maintaining it.

The boom itself is in a nice material, I would say light steel square tubing with plastic end caps, but the connection to the mast should be modified.

I know it's supposed to be a beginner model, but it would not cost a fortune to redesign a few things and make it a proper boat
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romainpek

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Re: Moonsoon 900
« Reply #6 on: June 13, 2007, 12:33:10 am »

I dread the next step which is the tuning of the servo winch...

I can't understand how the sheets will not tangle. There is no rubber band to maintain tension in the system.  ???
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tigertiger

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Re: Moonsoon 900
« Reply #7 on: June 13, 2007, 03:04:58 am »

I dread the next step which is the tuning of the servo winch...

I can't understand how the sheets will not tangle. There is no rubber band to maintain tension in the system.  ???

I haven't seen a mousoon (monsoon) but on the Triumph the running line (loop) hooks into a fine wire stay that acts as a tensioner. I wish I had a photo. It is can be seen on the outside rear of the cabin on the triumph.

This seems to work, as when you don't run it through the stay, it pops off the pulleys continously.

TT
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romainpek

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Re: Moonsoon 900
« Reply #8 on: June 13, 2007, 03:38:45 am »

OK Tiger, I think I understood, the Triumph 800 has a whole loop going around the boat on the deck. There should be no entanglement. The monsoon 900 is not designed the same way...
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romainpek

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Re: Moonsoon 900
« Reply #9 on: June 13, 2007, 03:51:35 am »

This is the sketch of the monsoon sheets + winch position.

I don't think it will work as is...
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HS93 (RIP)

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Re: Moonsoon 900
« Reply #10 on: June 13, 2007, 04:12:02 am »

romainpek

  What program do you use to create the magic sketch , They look very impressive.

Peter
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romainpek

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Re: Moonsoon 900
« Reply #11 on: June 13, 2007, 05:07:25 am »

 ;D it's too nice of you !

Just the silly "paint" program, available on all Windows OS... saved as jpg instead of bmp to lower the weight of the drawing.
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Martin (Admin)

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Re: Moonsoon 900
« Reply #12 on: June 13, 2007, 07:10:37 am »


Your winch system looks the same as my Victoria ( except the Victoria uses a sail arm type servo )  and there is always the damager of a mid lake  'knot' - although I'm not sure how often it Actually happens!.

I found this on the great   American Model Yachting Association website.....

Loads more info here http://www.modelyacht.org/sailservo.html


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romainpek

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Re: Moonsoon 900
« Reply #13 on: June 13, 2007, 12:45:49 pm »

Thanks, that's about the same as this diagram (in French  :o ) which I found there http://navi.modelisme.com/article374.html
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JayDee

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Re: Moonsoon 900
« Reply #14 on: June 13, 2007, 04:28:05 pm »

Hello,
The most trouble free system I have ever seen is the one I use on my Schooner, Bluenose.
No tensioners to fail, never tangles up, always works 100%.
The winch drum only needs one slot, all of the sheeting line can be wound out, BUT, can still be inside the Box, yet it will pull out with NO snags,
The winch draws the line in, the Sails pull the line out, dead easy !!.
John.
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romainpek

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Re: Moonsoon 900
« Reply #15 on: June 17, 2007, 02:11:26 am »

I did a flotation test of the Monsoon 900 yesterday. No leaks, it's a proud boat.  :)

However, I could not do its maiden voyage yesterday as I forgot to bring along the transmitter...  :-[
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romainpek

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Re: Moonsoon 900
« Reply #16 on: June 18, 2007, 07:20:59 am »

Just a little update to mention that today, we received a brand new hull (to replace the broken one) and a new keel fin (to replace the twisted one). Thanks to Caiser !

Which leads to an interesting development, if we fix the old hull, could we do an electric powered boat to be used as a rescue ship for our sailboats ?

I have opened a new subject : http://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=4544.0
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romainpek

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Re: Moonsoon 900
« Reply #18 on: June 24, 2007, 05:18:45 am »

We tried a Monsoon yesterday, un-modified except for the sail color.

It worked beautifully but the wind was low to start with and eventually died completely, so we can't say we have done a real trial.

No leaks but the deck never got wet. You can see it's quite bigger than a Sea Dolphin 770.

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romainpek

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Re: Moonsoon 900
« Reply #19 on: June 24, 2007, 09:06:23 am »

As Caiser sent me a new keel fin, I replaced my twisted one and the new one seems OK.

I also did the first upgrade of my Monsoon by installing an on-off switch. Surprise, the space to mount it is already there on the plastic servo tray. I wonder why the boat doesn't come already equipped with a switch in that case...
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tigertiger

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Re: Moonsoon 900
« Reply #20 on: June 24, 2007, 09:14:11 am »

Hi Romain

She appears to sail well. How did you change the colour of the sails, or are these new?

About switch. Whenever I have bought radio gear the switch is in the box with the tx rx.
Have never got one with a boat before.

BTW we will be in Beijing on evening of 8th if you want a beer.

Mark
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romainpek

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Re: Moonsoon 900
« Reply #21 on: June 24, 2007, 10:27:01 am »

Hi Tiger,

The boat included the Radio Tx + Rx + Servos already positionned. A switch could have been added, even if that meant increasing the price a bit.

Regarding the sails, they have been PAINTED with a very diluted solution of Acrylic and Water. It's surprising how well the colour is showing.

We'll try to have that beer together  :P
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mulleted

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Re: Moonsoon 900
« Reply #22 on: June 26, 2007, 04:18:52 am »

G'day fellas,

I too got sucked in by the shape and price of the monsoon900.
When it arrived the first thing I did was strip those awful decals off the hull, it looks very nice on the workbench with white sides. However I was disappointed by the rigging and spars, the quality of which is woeful, definately not up to the standard of the hull.
So it looks like a thorough workover of the rigging will be in order. A set of more appropriate sails will also be on the list, and I think the diluted acrylic painted sails (thx romainpek) look like a brilliant idea. Does the acrylic add any noticable stiffness or weight to the sails?
I too was worried by the sail winch set-up, I am not sure it has been very well thought out in that department. However, to be fair, I did buy the yacht just for the hull (sexxxxy).
In total it is probably an okay kit, but I am beginning to think that with a little reworking this gem will really begin to shine.
I am keeping a list of mods as I go, and will be very interested to compare modifications with other monsoon owners.

Brief list so far;
a) Throw away that cotton/poly rigging and replace with braid fishing line.
b) Remove the spars (very thoughtfully screwed to mast - they must have known the spars were only decoration and would need removal) and replace with oval section c/f spars of correct proportions and positions.
c) Aluminium mast is very heavy and looks to be way over engineered, mine weighs 135g - holy cr@p! - currently testing aluminium 12mm dia x 1.6mm mast (105g - stiff but can be curved with stays) and tapered c/f 15mm x 1.5mm mast (80g - very bendy, will need an extra set of spars and more complex rigging but light and strong). Will also see how much weight I can get out of original mast by drilling out excess material.
d) Throw away hatch cover and replace with flush fitting hatch so it can be taped down and sealed properly.
e) 75mm x 5mm c/f bowsprit with mini-forestay to top spar to allow for mast curving.
f) Replace plastic chainplates with aluminium bar stock cut to shape.
g) Reinforce fin mount and strengthen deck under chainplates.
h) Remove boom gooseneck and vang and replace with ball-jointed adjustable parts to allow proper boom movement.
i) Move servos to alternate locations to hopefully spread sheets underdeck as far as possible.
j) Separate mainsail and foresail onto individual servos (channels too) and consider a pair of trimming micro servos to control any slack in the sheets.
k) Move chainplates to square out forces on the mast.

Well, I am temporarily out of ideas.
These mods are mainly for my pleasure, I suspect they may improve the yacht, but frankly would not be surprised if I totally ruined it. Guess time will tell!!
If I have made any silly mods, please feel free to highlight my stupidity (queue starts to the left) as these mods are not so much planned as totally off the cuff.

cheers,
Dave.
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romainpek

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Re: Moonsoon 900
« Reply #23 on: June 26, 2007, 08:46:37 am »

Hello Mulleted,

The diluted acrylic we used on the sail did not have any obvious effect on the sail stiffness.

I see you have a lot of suggestions for ameliorations, I give you below the list I thought about, we can compare and settle for the most pressing ones !

Monsoon suggested ameliorations :

1) Packing quality :
-hull sides need more protection
-bulb should be taped in the box and not simply glued (3 boats, 3 free roaming ballasts)

2) Instructions :
-should be completely rewritten in proper English

3) conception :
 a) Keel + fin
 -The design is not enough mistake proof , the lest and keel can each be fastened both ways as the rod axle is centered). Axle should be clearly forward of center.
 -Fin axle rod should be thicker and should protrude on the deck for easy fastening / removal of the keel.
 -the fin itself is not perfectly straight

 b) Hull
 -Hull should be more rigid around the fin location
 -hatch should be made more water proof (maybe sliding ?)

 c) Main boom
 -should be able to move also up and down
 -boom vang should be adjustable in length

4) Radio (if the RTS version is ordered)
-RC-Zone should be able to provide a list of available channels and let the customers choose their frequency
-the sail control stick on the transmitter should be ratcheted (the spring returning to neutral should be removed in the factory)
-moving the sail stick to the top should position the sail booms at 90 degrees angle, nothing more.
-There should be an on/off switch in the boat

About the sheets potential tangle, I wait for more sea trials...
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mulleted

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Re: Moonsoon 900
« Reply #24 on: June 27, 2007, 03:05:43 am »

Thank you Romainpek for the info on the acrylic, I will be using that on my sails soon.

1) Packing quality.
- Keel ballast bulbs were in a box taped within mast box and did not move in either surmount or monsoon (both arrived in AUS last friday)
- Hulls were in perfect condition altho both were floating free with only stem and stern locator boxes (how lucky was I????), could've been taped also, but did arrive undamaged.
- Surmount arrived in a monsoon box also, so obviously I thought I had scored 2 monsoons, in hindsight that would have been nice as the monsoon is the sleeker boat.

2) Instructions.
- Still laughing!!!, when I stop I will re-write and send (offer) to caiser as I have some manual writing experience. The photos are inappropriate and the text is ???? (just random words by the look of it....)

3) Fins
- I didnt realise my fin was bent to the left........aaarrgghhh........if you hadn't mentioned it I would have ASSUMED it was straight....sigh.
- Fin locator rods ARE too small a diameter, mine are 2.8mm threaded rod....should be 5mm minimum with an OBVIOUS offset so that drunks like me can tell leading/training edge.
- Large knurled nut, ON DECK, not recessed, so people (like me) with unco-ordinated sausage fingers can actually unscrew the darn thing without loosing the nut.

4) Hull
- I am thinking that a couple of mini-ribs (75mm x 5mm wide) either end of fin locator box would help significantly, I will try balsa and epoxy them in.
- Throw away standard hatch and remake in balsa so that it fits within the recess allowing plastic tape around joint - 100% waterproof....well, possibly. I like the sliding idea, though space may be a problem, how about a hinge on front edge?

[I really need to get a camera.....SO MUCH TYPING]

5) Competition elligibilty
- only qualifies for open or 36/600 (or 36T) class (although not with my bowsprit.....[insert angry text here])

so sick of typing....

I would hate caiser to read this and think I dont like his boat......I LOVE THESE YACHTS....compared to the $$$ alternatives I do believe they are superior, but should be considered in development only.

6) Radio
- I am using a spectrum DX7 (its my plane radio, dont tell anyone....altho I may use a futuba 3ch car radio for the surmount, so at least I don't have any dramas in that case) except I am looking for uses for the  other channels....:)

In total I feel I got fantastic value for money (freight cost 50% of total price) but again, I feel like a beta tester....;)

I am off to do some painting, then I am getting a camera, so I can post photos, 'cause really I am pleased as punch with these hulls and want to share the joy  :)

For a laugh I am using some of my car decals (BMW or Ferrari for the monsoon and either Honda or Ford for the surmount) to give the appearance of race boats...:) (I may even stick on the "licensed to BMW (etc)" decals...LoL)

check out this site for rigging options     http://www.bow-wave-models.co.uk/page3%20Cap%20MaqYacht.htm 

cheers,
Dave.
P.s Your monsoon (name??) is my screen background...love the yellow sails!
- you do realise the implications of launching an un-named boat dont you - ohhhhh, I wouldnt want to be in your shoes........shiver....LoL
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