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SAN FRANCISCO MODEL YACHT CLUBNAUTICAL NEWSMailing Address:
S.F.M.Y.C.450 Taraval ST. PMB 235San Francisco, CA 94116
VOLUME 116 MARCH, 2014 NUMBER 3
March 8 Saturday 0930 Board of Directors MeetingMarch 8 Saturday 1100 Opening Day, Ragtop Stinkpot Regatta
There will be no General Membership Meeting. The next Meetingwill be April 12.
March 9 Sunday X class, Dickie Cup, Classic X, race 1March 11 Tuesday Odom class, race 1
1 March 15 Saturday Santa Barbara class, race 1March 16 Sunday M class, race 1March 19 Wednesday Victoria class, race 1March 22 Saturday Infinity class, race 1March 23 Sunday 36R class, race 1March 27 Thursday RX class, race 1March 29 Saturday Star 54 class, race 1March 30 Sunday Open
Please advise us of your new address when moving! On the Web: Http://www.sfmyc.org/
TIME CRITICAL MATERIAL - - - PLEASE FORWARD IF MOVED.
The Nautical News is published on a monthlybasis by, and serves as the newsletter of andfor the San Francisco Model Yacht Club, aNON-PROFIT, TAX EXEMPTCORPORATION.
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March, 2014 Vol. 116 No.3
2014 OFFICERS
Commodore
Jim Forbes
Vice-Commodore
Colleen Stobbe
Secretary (acting)
Bruce Ettinger
Treasurer
Jeff Brooks
Power Squadron Officer Craig Carter
Sail Squadron Officers
Freesail: Mike Stobbe
R/C Sail: Rich Styles
Directors at Large
Lee Duvall
Dave Sands
Til Mossi
Steve Ma
Gerry Bowen
Historian
Jeff Stobbe
Nautical News Editor Jim Harvey
The deadline for items for the Nautical
News is the 20th of each month.
Send to Jim Harvey
([email protected]). The editor
reserves the right to edit submissions,
based on space available.
COMMODORE’S CORNER
Our year was off to a good start with the Frost Bite Regatta on
February 8th
. There was a good turn out and some outstanding winter
projects were on display. I am sure Craig will report on winners in this
edition of the newsletter.
There were a couple of unusual models on display at the Frost Bite this
year, Bob Van Vranken’s partially complete all steel hull tanker, each
plate welded into place by Bob, and Rich Styles’ hand built Sprint Car,
complete with a working V8 engine. Rich has promised to crank up the
engine for us sometime in the near future. Apart from the model itself,
many of us were fascinated by the two miniature, fully functional,
hydraulic jacks that Rich uses to display the under carriage of his
vehicle.
Elsewhere in the newsletter will be a piece written by one of the Frost
Bite participants, Bob Pearsall. Bob won first place in his category for
his tugboat, “American Spirit.” His write up about the boat was not just
a description of building her, but a story of Bob’s personal journey in
this wonderful hobby of ours.
Several of us attended the Petaluma Hobby Show on February 15th
. We
had many more participants this year than in years past. Not only was
our display outstanding, but also several members of our Victoria Fleet
staged a regatta. John Super was the Race Director and provided a play-
by- play narration of the event for the pleasure of the crowd.
At our February meeting the Brothers Stobbe were honored for their
outstanding contributions to free sailing. Jeff and Mike have made
contributions to our club and free sailing fleets too numerous to
delineate in this column. One of their most outstanding contributions,
however, is the introduction of the 36R class. Through their efforts, the
class was introduced, boats of outstanding design were made available
to members at a reasonable cost and competition in the class has been
extended to San Diego and England. Perhaps most importantly the
introduction of the class has extended the free sailing lives of many of
our older members and has opened up free sailing to our distaff
members.
The 36 R Class is perhaps the fastest growing fleet, often fielding as
many as sixteen sailors for a regatta. By unanimous vote of the board
and the members in attendance at the February meeting, the annual 36R
Invitational Regatta has been renamed the Jeff and Mike Stobbe 36R
mailto:[email protected]
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Invitational Regatta. Congratulations gentlemen well deserved. It’s nice to see this kind of recognition and
honor extended during the active careers of sailors.
On Sunday, April 13th
the annual Derek Ward Memorial will be held at the Brisbane Marina. Our club has been
represented at this event for several years. If you are interested in participating by displaying some of your
boats, please contact Don Ciucci.
Maker Faire is scheduled for the weekend of May 17th
and 18th
with set up on Friday May 16th
. This is a joint
venture with The Western Warship Combat Club (W.W.C.C.). The W.W.C.C. stages live fire demonstration
battles during the event. We provide assistance with set up and take down, maintenance of the warships and
their targets between battles and sailing demonstrations. There’s work to be done for sure, but there is also fun
to be had. Tens of thousands of people attend Maker Faire and this is one of the most popular and well attended
of all the exhibits. The event provides us with excellent exposure. We need volunteers. Please let Rob Wood or
me know if you are interested in volunteering and your days of availability.
Saturday, September 20th
has been selected as the date for this year’s Wooden Boats on Parade, John Strebel
has offered to assist an as yet to be named chairperson for this event. If you are interested in being the
chairperson for W.B.O.P. please contact Craig Carter or me. Time’s a wasting’. There are lots of preliminaries
that need to be taken care of sooner rather than later.
March 8th
is opening day with boats on the water around 10:00 am. All boats are welcome. The Rag Top
Stinkpot Regatta begins at 1:00 pm. For those of you who may not be familiar with it, the Rag Top Stinkpot
Regatta is a relay race featuring mixed teams of power boats and sail boats, the order of sailing to be determined
by team captains who are democratically elected at the beginning of the race and a course to be determined by
Craig Carter, the Power Squadron Officer. Sign-up sheets will be available at the front table in the clubhouse at
the beginning of the day. All classes except free sailers are welcome. Obviously free sailors might have a wee
bit o’ trouble sailing a predetermined course.
Due to opening day activities, there will be no general membership meeting in March. The next general
membership meeting will be on Saturday, April 12th.
The board and the members at the February meeting voted to schedule a club members/boats panoramic
photograph for April 12th
. Details will be published in the next newsletter. The last such photograph was taken
in conjunction with our Centennial Celebration in 1998. It’s time for another group photograph.
Copies of Issue 175 of the AMYA magazine will be available at the general membership meetings. This issue
features the SFMYC in several outstanding articles written by club members - a first for the club and the
AMYA. The price is $4.00 per copy.
Jim Forbes, Commodore
American Spirit
In every model builder's lifetime, there should be at least one boat where you would say, "I've got to build that
someday", and American Spirit is that boat for me. Back in my early days of model boating, I saw Fred
Eastman's Tug Weymouth, and I knew that someday I would have to figure out a way to build a boat just like
his. To get this seemingly monumental task accomplished, I would have to overcome a number of obstacles,
including; finding plans, acquiring the skills to build the boat, and overcoming the emotional hurdle of
achieving a life-long goal. This project has been in the works for 32 years.
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By chance, I ran into Fred Eastman's son and I asked him for the plans and he agreed to let me copy them. The
original plans were published in Live Steam Magazine back in 1975. The plans called for building the boat
"bread-and butter" style, where a series of pine planks are stacked, cut, shaved, and sanded into a tugboat.
Looking at my skill set, I realized that I probably couldn't build that boat that way. At stopping points like this,
you have to ask yourself, "What do you know?" My answer was......"I want to build this boat and the only way
I can do that is to build it plank-on-frame".
Going back to the model plans, I redrew them to build the model using a keel, frames, and planks, allowing for
the wood thicknesses, and all of the other engineering that would go into a working model. To check all my
new drawings, I built the keel and frames of Depron Foam to make sure that all of the parts would come
together and produce a good looking tugboat...and happily they did.
The foam parts were redrawn and cut from wood and construction began.
When you start on the path to achieve a life-long goal, you realize that there are some dreams that will end
when you turn them into reality. With this project, I now had the plans and the skills to make it happen, but I
would have to deal with how to end the dream. At some point, the alarm clock will go off, I'd wake up, and the
project would be done. This project started in January of 2013 and the alarm clock went off in August. She
was done.
It turns out that I'm not the only dreamer when it comes to building the Weymouth. Another boat like this is
also under construction. I originally thought that the dream would end, but I was wrong. Up from the ashes,
rises the Weymouth and the dream will continue for as long as modelers are inspired to build.
Model Specifications:
Length is 42 and 1/2 inches.
Width is 12 inches.
Weight is 40 pounds.
She is powered by a geared Astro 25 electric motor, a 40 amp Viper Speed Control, and two 7 amp/hour gel cell
batteries.
She is equipped with a Harbor Models Steam Sound Generator and Smoke Unit. Included sound effects are a
steam whistle, bell, and steam chuff timed with the throttle.
She is planked in balsa wood and then glassed with West System Epoxy.
Her deck is clear pine, held in place with over 150 wooden pegs.
She has working navigation lights that represent kerosene lanterns.
Run time is over four hours.
Sea Trials took place in August 2013.
American Spirit was launched on September 4, 2013. I hope you enjoy her as much as I do.
Bob Pearsall
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Power Squadron Report: March 2014 The FrostBite Regatta
The Frostbite was held, as tradition
demands, after the February Meeting on
the Eighth and was well attended with 21
entries from 13 members.
Gerry Bowen entered five boats, Eric
Hansen entered three, and Robert Van
Vranken and Carl Brosius entered two
each everyone else entered singles.
Finial Standings were:
Best of Show (5 pts.)
36R Experimental
Mike Stobbe
Class Pleasure Craft Commercial
Craft Sail Military Pts
First Race Car
Rich Styles
American Spirit
Robert Pearsall
Finisterre
Carl Brosious
USS Monitor
Gerry Bowen 3
Second Ceres
Carl Brosious
Long Liner
Bernard Price
Star 45
Jason Halaby
USS Mississinewa
Robert Van
Vranken
2
Third Puffin
Gerry Bowen
Bent
Gerry Bowen
SF Bird
Rob Weaver No Entry 1
Also entered and who received one point each for participating, Tony Dodson, Lee Duvall, Dave Gromley
and Eric Hansen.
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Power Squadron Point Standings as of end of February are as follows:
Bowen, Gerry 6
Van Vranken,
Robert 3
Brosius, Carl 6
Weaver, Rob 2
Stobbe, Mike 5
Dodson, Tony 1
Pearsall,
Robert 4
Duvall, H. Lee 1
Styles, Rich 4
Gromley, David 1
Halaby, Jason 3
Hansen. Eric 1
Price, Bernard 3
I’d like to thank all the participants of the FrostBite for bringing their ‘winter projects’ out to the Clubhouse
and sharing them with everyone. There were some very interesting models displayed this year and I am
looking forward to seeing almost all of them on the water. Thanks also to the folks who were dragooned
into helping out with the event. Your assistance and good spirits are invaluable.
Once again we participated in the International Plastic Modelers Society, Sonoma County Model Show
held every year about this time and it was a roaring success.
As always, we shared the R/C room with the model plane guys of the Wine Country Flyers
(www.wcflyers.com) and our fellow boaters from the Sonoma Country R/C Boaters, aka ‘SoCoBo’
(socoboaters.webs.com), our friends from the Western Warship Combat Club
Power Squadron Points make a
comeback this year and are awarded as
follows:
All participants in an event receive 1
point.
First Place: 3 points
Second Place: 2 points
Third Place: 1 Points
The more you play, the more points you
get!
http://www.wcflyers.com/http://socoboaters.webs.com/
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(www.westernwarshipcombat.com) and the Redwood Empire Model Shipwrights.
(www.fundemoniumtoys.com/index.php/9-latest/103-
redwood-empire-model-shipwrights-meeting)
This year was a great event and there was a lot of interest
shown not just for our boats and display, but for model
boating in general.
Coming up on March 8 The RagTop StinkPot Regatta
The March meeting (Saturday the Eighth this year) is traditionally given over to the Opening Day Regatta,
our RagTop /StinkPot relay race open to and for members of both Squadrons. It, as some of you will
remember, is a relay race made up of teams of four, two power boaters and two R/C sailors and their craft
probably starting around the Sixth Bell of the Forenoon Watch (11:00) or so. Sign-ups will open around the
Fourth Bell (10:00).
Participants usually will be divided up into teams of four; two sailors and two power boaters. How each
team arranges their ‘order of battle’ is up to them and whatever strategy they work out as a group. If there
are more participants, then the teams may possibly be expanded to, say, three sailors and two power boaters.
That’s part of the fun of the RagTop/StinkPot. You’re never sure how things will work out until the race is
ready to start.
Each boat running the course must carry (and not loose) a baton which will be passed to the next boat in turn
and must be turned in to the Contest Director at the end of the race for their finish to count!
Each boat running the course must carry (and not loose) a baton which will be passed to the next boat in turn
and must be turned in to the Contest Director at the end of the race for their finish to count!
The Regatta will once again be run on the south side of The Lake from the Power Area so as to conform to
the Rules regarding power boats not running on the northern shores of the Lake.
As the course used last year seemed to be sufficiently challenging for most skippers without being too long
for the boats, we will be setting it up again this year. Remember, the buoy lines are supposed to be solid
walls, a breakwater and a seawall of stone with the opening between the 50 and 75 foot markers of the
fast/slow divider line.
file:///C:/Users/Craig/Documents/www.westernwarshipcombat.comfile:///C:/Users/Craig/Documents/www.fundemoniumtoys.com/index.php/9-latest/103-redwood-empire-model-shipwrights-meetingfile:///C:/Users/Craig/Documents/www.fundemoniumtoys.com/index.php/9-latest/103-redwood-empire-model-shipwrights-meeting
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Be sure to give all your boats a once over before you bring them out. The main problems last year seem to
stem from mechanical glitches and gremlins that crept into the hardware over the winter. Get out your
gremlins before you come, it’s too late to discover them 100 feet out in The Lake.
Coming up on April 20 Titanic Rescue Regatta
Once again, Sailor Bill and the intrepid band of survivors in his lifeboat are lost and still awaiting rescue …
Come-on people! It has ONLY been a bit over 102 years adrift!! Can’t we do better than this??
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Anyway, since I was feeling somewhat vicious, I have contracted with Evil Geniuses, Inc. to supply a
particularly devious mystery guest Contest Director for this event who has implied he has some particularly
“interesting” obstacles and tasks plotted out for this year’s Titanic Rescue. And that’s all I am gonna say
about that – for now. (‘Cuz he refuses to tell even me!)
Coming up on May 10 & 11
The International Days of the Ship Model Builders
This year marks the second annual Ship Modelers Days,
May 10 and 11 so there will be a Power regatta to celebrate
the occasion on Sunday, May 11
This will count for points toward your yearly Power
Squadron points.
May 15 – 18 Park Roads Closure Bay to
Breakers Marathon
Coming up May 17 & 18 MAKER FAIRE San Mateo County Fairgrounds
This event is very important in that it will get The Club out in front of not just the
media, but possibly as many as 160,000 people! The Maker Faire, as people who
have been there in the past is a great event to help out with and a great place to share
our hobby with lots of people.
Robert Wood who is also a member of the Western Warship Combat Club runs the
model boat booth at this event and he will be the person you need to talk to arrange entry passes and other
details. When you are not working at our display, this is also an incredible event to attend and see all the
new technology happening in not just our hobby, but others as well. Modelers and modeling are well
represented at Maker Faire. Last year I saw all manner of aircraft, tanks, boats and submersibles, just about
anything you could imagine including the biggest model Disney “Nautilus” you could imagine. So while
Bay to Breakers closes the Park, come down to Maker Faire and have a blast.
R/C Squadron Report
Gentlemen and Ladies, start your engines! Oh-oh, I mean: boats in the water! The 2014 SFMY
Power Squadron Pocket Schedule
March 8, Sat. RagTop / StinkPot Regatta
April 20, Sun. Titanic Rescue Regatta
May 11, Sun. Int’l Ship Modelers’ Regatta
May 17-18 Maker Faire
June 14-15 Tug Fest (Contact Lee Duvall)
July 19, Sat. Spreckels Steam Up
August 17, Sun. Fishing Boat Gambler
Sept 20-21 Wooden Boats on Parade
Oct 11 & 12 Fleet Week & Regatta
Oct 25 Spooktakular*
Nov 9 Swap Meet!!
Nov 23 Navigator Regatta
Dec 14 Final Power Regatta
Dec 20 Parade of Lights*
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R/C Sail Squadron Report
Gentlemen and Ladies, start your engines! Oh-oh, I mean: boats in the water! The 2014 SFMYC R/C racing
season is underway…And it will be a busy one: Five R/C classes, eight race-days each, at least 6 races per
day—that’s almost 250 “official” races around the Spreckels Lake marks between now and October, and
literally hundreds of unofficial, informal races in between.
In addition, we are preparing to host, we hope, two AMYA Region 6 Championship Regattas here at
Spreckels: The Infinity 54 class in April and Victoria classes later in the year. The R6 Championship
Regatta for the Santa Barbara class will be held nearby, in Sacramento—we expect to make a good SFMYC
showing there, as well. There will be two more invitational regattas sponsored by the Monterey Peninsula
Yacht Club this year that our fleet will be attending, as well.
To make certain that our skippers are well-versed in the Racing Rules of Sailing, US Sailing judge Charlie
Roskosz, a new member and captain in our Victoria fleet, is working with our Race Director John Super to
schedule several seminars on the RRS—stay tuned for those sessions. We hope that all competing R/C
skippers will plan to attend.
Our active Victoria fleet got a jump on the racing season up in Petaluma last month—sailing six races during
the Petaluma Hobby Expo. The Power Squadron brought out some of its most beautiful boats on display,
and the Victoria fleet had a table with 10 of our 20 boats there. Here’s a photo of the display table that
attracted attention from literally hundreds of Expo-goers. Thanks to Bob Heacock for making the
arrangements for an attractive display—banner, photographs, Club boats—it looked first-class. Check out
Mary Rose Cassa’s article on the scene in Petaluma.
Ed Schoenstein, Michael Fischer, John Super, and Jim Hartney after the races. Photo by Bob
Heacock
Speaking of such events, make sure to mark your calendars for this year’s Makers’ Faire: May 17 and 18.
Once again, we will have a chance to show off our sport to many thousands of new model yachtsmen and
women—and hopefully to realize more new members as a result. Please plan to help out.
Because it took such a special effort for nine skippers (Tony, Bob, John, Kevin, Jim, Ed, George, Michael,
and myself) to schlep an hour north of Spreckels to sail in Lucchesi Park’s great pond, the winning skippers
took home small trophies. Jim Hartney, a new member, scored a second-place finish, Ed Schoenstein a third,
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and Michael Fischer the first in what we called the “Petaluma Palm Regatta.” John Super did a great job as
RD, providing running commentary on the microphone to let the bystanders know what was happening on
the water.
Ed Shoenstein teaching future sailors. Photo by Bob Heacock
The ODOM, Star 45, Infinity, and Santa Barbara fleets have been warming up, with great attendance each
week. For example, the December and January Winter informal sails saw about six Santa Barbaras on the
water. The Robinsons came down from Sacramento as well and showed off one of their new hulls. Another
Robinson boat is nearing completion at their shop in Sacramento and should be sailing by March. Also,
Ryan purchased a deck and rudder for a SB that he is building for an unnamed customer. I hope that means
a new, active member of our racing fleet?
During one of the ODOM practice races last month, we saw unexpected violence and drama on the water!
One of the seagulls got tired of our boats sailing through the flock of them—so he took off, gained about 100
feet of altitude, and then dove straight down at the Club boat being sailed by innocent Bob Benson. Feet
outstretched in front as he dove, the bird attempted a landing atop the mast, and CRACK! the forestay parted,
dismasting the boat. The gull was at first entangled in the shrouds; when it finally freed itself, glowering, it
took off again. At that instant, the rest of the flock of gulls also took off, wheeling over the fleet and
shoreside skippers, letting loose the only ammunition they had at their command. (Luckily, all were clear
misses.)
The dismasting was especially irksome for Jason, who had spent many hours completely rebuilding the Club
ODOM—removing the deck and refurbishing the below-deck structure and electronics. He has named the
boat “String Theory,” and it is now a finely-tuned, well-balanced, competitive boat. Between skippers Jim,
Bob, and Nancy, it is being used virtually every Tuesday.
See you soon on the water, I hope.
Rich Styles, R/CSO
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Freesail Squadron Report
Frostbite Regatta
The Frostbite Regatta will be held on February 8, right after a shortened general meeting. The Frostbite
Regatta is not only for powerboats. If you've got a new sailboat project that you want to show off, be sure to
bring it. This is a static display in the clubhouse, not a real "regatta". Basically, the Frostbite Regatta is to
show off what you’ve been up to over the winter, but any new project over the past year is welcome, even
unfinished boats in progress. Winners are chosen by popular choice, with each participant being given a
ballot listing different categories. Entries are free, and trophies will be awarded. For what more could you
ask?
2014 Regatta Calendar
The 2014 regatta calendar for both freesail and radio sail is included in this newsletter. The calendar has also
been posted on the website and in the clubhouse. Significant items to note are as follows:
The first race will preceed Opening Day, as it will not be at Spreckels Lake. The Victoria class will be
sailing at the Petaluma Hobby Exposition on Saturday, February 15th
. This will not be part of the regular
class series.
Opening Day will be Saturday, March 08. Powerboats will be on the lake until 12:00. Lunch will be
provided in the clubhouse from 12:00 to 1:00. During lunch, Rich Styles and Craig Carter will take sign-ups
for the Rag Top-Stink Pot Regatta, and teams will be selected. There’s room for everybody who wants to
participate. The size and number of teams depends on the turnout, but Rich will aim for 4-boat size teams.
The Rag Top-Stink Pot Regatta will start at 1:00 on the lake's north shore. This is the Club's only in-water
"competition" that combines both RC sailboats and powerboats together in the same race. It's a team relay
event open to all types and classes, fast and slow. Chaos ensues. It's great fun for participants as well as
spectators. An attempt will be made to make up teams that have similar proportions of fast and slow boats, but when Wheelers are racing tugboats, one can only shake one’s head in disbelief.
Afterwards, the lake is open for general sailing for all boats. Let's have a great turn-out and do the club
proud!
Following tradition, the first class race of the season will be the X Class' Dickie Cup, on Sunday, March 9,
right after Opening Day. Once again, the Classic X class will be racing simultaneously with the X Class this
season, as they have for the past two years now.
Other items to note on the calendar: there are no class National Championships scheduled for Spreckels Lake
this year. There will be a late-season National Championship for the 36R class, held in San Diego on
Saturday, October 25. The San Diego MYC will host this (non-AMYA) event. All 36R skippers should
plan to go. San Diego is a fun place to visit, with lots of attractions, and the SDMYC has a marvelous lake
set in a lovely park in the middle of Mission Bay. Our contact there is SFMYC member Ernie Mortensen.
The absence of nationals this year has freed up enough days to avoid having to piggyback two RC classes on
the same day. Santa Barbaras, Infinity 54s, and Star 45s will all have exclusive race days.
In a change from prior practice, I have staggered the sequence of ODOM, Victoria, and RX races. ODOMs
will continue to race on Tuesdays, Victorias on Wednesdays, and RXs on Thursdays, but no longer in the
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same week. This year, the three classes will sail on consecutive weeks each month. These three classes will
continue to sail an eight-race season. All other classes will stick with their six-race season. The freesail
classes will count their season points with one throw-out race unless for some reason they fail to sail a
complete season. This has typically been the case for the Classic X, where low turnout has scrubbed one or
more races in the past. Fewer than six races will be tallied with no throw-out.
The Wheeler class will host a regional series regatta at Spreckels on June 28th
.
The Skipper's Cup, July 13, will once again be an all-freesail event, conducted as a pursuit-type handicap
race. This worked pretty well last year, with handicaps as follows: 36Rs will be given 90-seconds over X
boats, and 60 seconds over M boats. M boats will be given 30-seconds over X boats.
This is a bye year for the US/UK Challenge Cup regatta. This biannual 36R class competition will be hosted
by the SFMYC in 2015.
The regular season will end with the 36R class race 6, on October 12. As usual, the calendar is subject to
change due to unforeseen circumstances such as weather or major park events. Logistically, there are several
scheduled races that may incur access problems. These are:
May 31, Saturday, M-class. There is a NAMI walk originating at Lindley Meadow. This is a relatively
small event and I don’t anticipate road closures, but be alert.
June 1, Sunday, 36R class. The bike leg of the Alcatraz triathlon will be in the park. This is an early event,
so it should be long over before noon, but I’m not sure how quickly the street barricades will be removed.
June 8, Sunday, Star 45 class. This is a San Francisco “Sunday Streets” day. There are no specific events
scheduled, but all park roads will be closed to traffic. Plan on parking on Fulton and walking in. If coming
from the south, you will have to cross the park on 19th
Ave. or the Great Highway.
September 13, Saturday, Victoria class. There is a large bike tour, the Tour de Fat, originating at Hellman
Hollow from 10:00 to 11:00am. If they stick to their schedule, there should be access to the lake before race
time. There will be a police escort, but roads will not be barricaded.
Note the revision date in the upper right-hand corner of the calendar. This first edition is marked Rev. 1,
January 20.
Mike Stobbe, FSO
Minutes of SFMYC General Membership Meeting of February 8, 2014
Attendance: There were 29 members present. All members of the Board were present including Commodore Jim Forbes,
Vice Commodore Colleen Stobbe , Treasurer Jeff Brooks, Secretary Bruce Ettinger, Sail Squadron Officer
Mike Stobbe, Power Squadron Officer Craig Carter, Sail Squadron Officer Rich Styles, Members-at-large
Til Mossi, Dave Sands, Steve Ma, Gerry Bowen, and Lee Duval.
The meeting was called to order at 11:05AM.
Upcoming Events:
1. Frost Bite Regatta will be held today after our regular meeting.
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2. Petaluma Hobby Show will be held on February 15th
, 9AM-4PM. Contact Lee Duvall or Craig Carter
our exhibit coordinators, if you wish to participate. Rich Styles will take 4 club Victorias that will be sailed
and could be used by the public.
3. There will be no general meeting in March. Instead, we celebrate Opening Day on Spreckles Lake, March
8th
. The events start at 10AM and will feature the Rag Top/Stink Pot Regatta. This is a relay race that
combines sail and power boats. Contact Craig Carter for more information.
4. The Derrick Ward Memorial Car/Motorcycle Show will be held in Brisbane on April 13, 2014.
5. The Maker Faire will be held in May 17-18 at the San Mateo County Fair Grounds. Contact Rob Wood
if you are interested in volunteering. Help is needed on the 16th
to build the display pond that will feature
scale model naval battles.
6. Wooden Boats on Parade will be held on Saturday, September 20, 2014. John Strebel will co-
chair. Another co-chair is needed. Any prior procedural manuals would be much appreciated.
Minutes: Of December 14, 2013 and January 11, 2014 were approved.
Reports of officers:
Commodore Forbes reported the following:
1. SFMYC is featured in an upcoming issue of the AMYC magazine. Copies are now available to our non-AMYC members for $4.00. Additional copies will be used for public relations purposes.
2. Annual audit of our finances is underway and will be completed by Dave Sands and Steve Ma. Report due at April meeting.
3. Budget estimates for 2014 are being prepared by our Treasurer and Squadron Officers. These will be presented at April meeting.
4. The Board approved payment of up to $485 to Tom Watson, a photographer (Belmont, CA) who will take a club picture and make a digital version available to us on a website. The picture will be similar
in dimensions to the one taken 15 years ago that hangs on our award wall. The date for the photo
shoot is now set for April 12th
, after the general meeting. Individual pictures can also be taken of any
member of the club who wishes to pose. Digital files of these pictures will be provided free to those
who pose. Tom will be available for individual picture taking on several days (to be specified)
between 9:30AM and 2:00PM.
5. Catto Graphics, the company that has for some time has produced logo clothing for the Club, can make 1 inch diameter lapel pins that we can wear on our hats or other clothing. The Board is
considering a proposal to purchase 300. (cattosgraphics.com)
6. Several thousand club brochures will be printed in the near future.
Treasurer Brooks reported the following:
1. Club finances are in good shape.
Dues for 2014 are 175 members, 148 payments have been received thus far. Further emails and phone
calls will get to the remaining 27. During February, a staff of volunteers will be contacting those
members who have not returned their membership forms and dues.
2. New members: APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY
a. Dean Miller -sail b. Carl Ruhne - sail
R/C Sail SO Rich Styles reported on the following:
1. A one-day Wheeler Regional Regatta will be held June 28. 2. A 2-day Victoria Regatta will be held September 13-14. 3. Other special events include Titanic Rescue (April 20), Tug Fest (June 14), Steam-Up (July 19),
Fishing Boat Gambler (August 16), Gray Review (October 12), Spooktacular Night (October 25,),
Parade of Lights (December 20).
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Free Sail SO Mike Stobbe reported on the following:
1. The 2014 schedule has been posted in the Nautical News. Minor changes have already been made (switching 36R and SB races September 20-21)
2. 36R “nationals” will be held in San Diego on October 25.
New Business:
36R Invitational Race: In recognition of their immense contributions to free sailing at SFMYC, the Annual
36R Invitational Race will, in the future, be the “Jeff and Mike Stobbe 36R Invitational Race”. The current
plaque will be revised. APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY
Michael Fischer was presented with the collegiality award for 2013.
Good and Welfare:
Catto's graphics (cattosgraphics.com) can provide logo club ware, either using clothing that we send them or
ones that can be purchased from their catalog.
The new Grizzly catalog was on display. It contains an amazing array of wood and metal working tools.
(grizzly.com)
Meeting was adjourned at 11:50 AM.
Respectfully submitted, Bruce Ettinger, Secretary
Ragtop Stinkpot Regatta
What is the Ragtop/Stinkpot Relay Regatta? This annual rite of spring marks the official start of the
competitive season for the San Francisco Model Yacht Club. It’s the only time of the year when you’ll see
sail boats and power boats competing on the lake at the same time. Relay teams made up of combinations of
sailboats and powerboats - generally two of each - compete on a specified course, including handing off a
clothespin “baton” from one racer to the next. Although the competition may be lopsided, the event provides
an opportunity for the entire membership to engage in friendly rivalry. Names of winning team members are
added to the perpetual trophy.
Mary Rose Cassa
Petaluma Hobby Show
Everyone sounded so enthusiastic about the Petaluma Hobby Show that I decided to drive up to Luchesi Park
on February 15 and see what it was all about. It was even better than I expected! The models on display for
various contests were delightful. The creativity and attention to detail are amazing. There were stacks and
stacks of kits in boxes for sale - everything from sailing ships to Star Wars. Speaking of Star Wars, the
Imperial Stormtroopers (real people) and R2D2 (R/C) kept the kids enthralled. We also walked across the
street to Fundemonium Hobby Shop, one of the primary sponsors of the show, and were treated to a good,
old-fashioned hobby shop; one that appears to be holding its own in the age of the Web and probably
provides a welcome respite for parents in the area seeking ways to keep kids occupied sans computer.
Our club was well represented in the R/C room, with boats of all sorts on display. The Victoria table looked
very welcoming, with models as well as photos of the boats in action; it would be hard to resist the
invitation to “join us!” The adjacent pond suited the little boats well. Job well done!
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Photos above:
Top left: SFMYC was
well represented with a
table full of all sorts of
boats in the R/C room.
Top right: Commodore
Jim Forbes took his
turn staffing the Club
table.
Center left and right:
The Victoria Fleet had
its own table in the R/C
room. Boats, props,
and photos of the boats
in action shouted “join us!”
Bottom left: Michael Fischer and Rich Styles were on hand lakeside to help attendees “have a go” with the
Club’s Victorias.
Mary Rose Cassa
ODOMs Again Available
George Ribeiro has recently retrieved the ODOM franchise. He is in the process of updating some of the
structures inside the hulls, refining the hatch cover design, improving bits and pieces of the kits, and offering
fresh ideas on the rigs. George is waiting for new tooling to produce the decks. Kits ordered by February 5,
2014, will be shipped before the end of February, 2014, if all goes well. Orders received after February 5th
will require 4 to 6 weeks for fulfillment.
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Currently, the hulls are being molded in Santa Cruz, CA, by David Tacklin, who has been producing hulls
for years using the same molds. George has engineering assistance from Stanley Pleskunas of Moss Landing,
CA. Stan produces the beams that go under the deck, the hull frames, the keelson, and the rudder support
plate in aircraft-quality plywood using a router mounted on a computer-controlled machine.
In mid January, 2014, when we visited George’s workshop at his home near Watsonville, CA, there were 12
ODOM hulls in various stages of completion; at the end of January the number of boats/hulls had grown to
16. The teal-colored hull in the Figures is an older hull being used as the initial example of the interior
modifications.
Figure 1 shows the beams forward and aft of the mast position. Each beam has a 1/16 inch x 3/8 inch
western red cedar web glued on the bottom; the web extends 1/8 inch beyond the ends of the beam and is
glued to the bottom of the hull wood shear strakes attached to the inner edges of the hull from the bow to the
stern. The inverted T, beam/web combination, adds a great deal of strength to the structure of the hull and
also provides increased clearance for the sail control sheets under the deck. The keelson is mounted between
two hull frames using an alignment jig, which will also be used to mount the keelsons in the hulls in the kits
so that keel alignment will not be a problem for builders. Two carbon fiber rods go from the forward end of
the keelson at angles to each chain plate. Another carbon fiber support (king post) goes up to the portion of
the king plank directly under the mast, as a mast support; the kits will have a carbon fiber tube rather than a
rod for the mast support. The Hitec 815 BB sail servo (6V; 343 oz in torque; widely available through hobby
shops and on line sources) is mounted longitudinally between hull frames rather than crosswise in the hull to
slightly lower the center of gravity. An optional medicine bottle fits between the hull frames to hold a
receiver protecting it from moisture.
Figure 2 shows the carbon fiber support from the hull to the king plank directly under the screw eye for the
jib boom swivel hold down. In the kit the support will be a carbon fiber tube rather than a rod.
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Figure 3 shows the rudder servo is now mounted at the rudder and held in a horseshoe-shaped servo support
plate. The plywood has groves so that carbon fiber rods can be glued onto the servo support plate and to the
sides of the hull and the transom; the rods angle upwards attaching just underneath the shear strakes. The digital
rudder servo pictured is a Corona DS-329MG (1 oz; 6V; 62 oz in torque; available through online sources).
Other servos of comparable size can be fitted instead.
The kit will include the assembled keel (not shown). The keel bulb to fin joint will be assembled in a jig to
assure that the bulb is at the correct angle.
George’s objective is to produce a series of kits, some completed boats, and hulls and parts so the company
can be transferred to a California manufacturer. He has chosen Chuck Ames of the True Ames Fin Co. of
Santa Barbara. Their primary business is to make fiberglass fins for surfboards, which are distributed world-
wide. During the transition from George’s workshop to True Ames, George will continue to take orders;
(831) 763-2052. Ultimately, True Ames will produce the kits and boats, and sell and ship them; these can be
ordered by telephone, (805) 685-8341, or through their web site (ODOM portion under development).
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Ultimately, they will manufacture the hulls, interior structures, keels, rudders, masts, and booms. Kits will
include all these components. Servos will be available with the kits on request. Sails and fittings will not be
included; however, a list of appropriate sail makers and fitting suppliers will be provided. Spare rudders and
keels will be available. The boats will continue to carry the George Ribeiro Products logo inside the hulls.
Jeff Brooks and Jason Spiller
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