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

jandjaforbes@earthlink.net

Vice-Commodore

Colleen Stobbe

Secretary (acting)

Bruce Ettinger

doc.ettinger@gmail.com

Treasurer

Jeff Brooks

jbrks@pacbell.net

Power Squadron Officer Craig Carter

craig1@pacbell.net

Sail Squadron Officers

Freesail: Mike Stobbe

mwstobbe@comcast.net

R/C Sail: Rich Styles

stylinrick@aol.com

Directors at Large

Lee Duvall

Dave Sands

Til Mossi

Steve Ma

Gerry Bowen

Historian

Jeff Stobbe

cjstobbe@live.com

Nautical News Editor Jim Harvey

ja_harvey@yahoo.com

The deadline for items for the Nautical

News is the 20th of each month.

Send to Jim Harvey

(ja_harvey@yahoo.com). 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:jbrks@pacbell.net

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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.

3

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

4

5

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.

6

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/

7

(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

8

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??

9

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*

10

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,

11

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

13

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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