Welcome to the sport of Radio Sailing
Radio sailing is a popular exciting sport in New Zealand and their are several classes of yachts
you can choose to sail as well as many Sailing Clubs you can choose to join.
The NZRYA have affiliated Class Associations for these different classes of RC yachts
Our most popular class sailed in New Zealand and raced in over 30 countries.. The IOM is very lively and fun to sail. The hull cannot exceed 1000 mm in length and the complete boat ready to sail must exceed 4000 gms. Two channel radio equipment is required, one operates the winch the other the rudder.
The class was created in 1988 by Jan Dejmo aided by Graham Bantock and the Technical Committee of the IMYRU (predecessor of IRSA). It has continued to grow steadily since its creation.
The modern ‘M’ class yacht is a ‘high-tech’ racer, sporting up to 6 measured rigs with trends of profiled rotating masts, unstayed carbon rigs, pocket luff mainsails, pre-preg carbon hulls and fins offering a wide scope for design freedom. At only 1290 mm in overall length, the restricted development class rules allow both the professional or amateur designer/builder/sailmaker an attractive avenue to test their knowledge and skills in one of the most exhilarating radio yacht classes in the world.
The Canterbury J is a project that lets existing or newcomers to the sport of radio sailing, get started quickly with a good handling model yacht that is easy to build and cost effective. Additionally it has ease of transport and a good resale potential. The Canterbury J is a 1.22 metre (48″) yacht with a main and foresail rigged to a 1.6 metre aluminium mast. 270 hulls have been sold and they are to be found in all areas of New Zealand and some as far afield as the USA, Canada and the UK. It is a one-design yacht and all hulls come from official molds approved by the Canterbury J Association. Each hull has an identification number molded into the hull.
The DragonForce 65 is one of the fastest growing classes of Radio Controlled yachts worldwide. There are many reasons for the massive popularity of the boat. What initially attracts sailors to the boat is its low cost. At a cost around $200 for a ready to sail boat including radio and receiver, it is the boat for those who want an excellent performance boat at a fraction of the cost of other boats.
While the boat is inexpensive, it does not sacrifice quality or performance. It is not just a starter boat but is one that is also sailed by experienced sailors.. As a strict one-design class you are sailing against equal boats in every respect.
Based on the RG65 and manufactured by Joysway there are well-supplied international distributors One being Hobbywarehouse Australia. This means you have excellent access to boats, parts and accessories allowed in the class rules.
DragonFlite 95 (DF95)
The DragonFlite 95 is a yacht designed to be a convenient size, on and off the water. It’s light weight and long, narrow hull give it the kind of light wind performance most other radio yachts can only dream of. The downside of this lightweight design approach would normally be an inability to perform in strong winds, we have countered this by designing low aspect, lightweight rigs with careful sail plan development to ensure perfect handling balance. Even when the boat is overpowered it still remains easily controllable to windward and always has astonishing speed downwind with almost no tendency to ‘nosedive’.
“ At 1.5m in length and with a mast standing 1.8m above the deck, the EC12 is a very impressive looking radio controlled yacht showing great “presence” on the water. The EC12 (East Coast 12) originated in the USA and eventually made its way to New Zealand in the 1980’s and has slowly but steadily increased from these very small beginnings to the class it is today with currently in excess of 160 boats having been built since then, the majority within the last 20 years.
All hulls are now produced from the International One Design mold which is owned by the New Zealand EC12 Owners Association (NZEC12OA). New hulls must be purchased through the Owners Association who in turn passes this building instruction on to the Class approved boat builder who will communicate with the prospective owner discussing as to what level of completion they wish. All boats when finished will be measured by the Class Measurer to ensure compliance with the all important Class Rule again this ensures compliance to the principal of a One Design class where all boats irrespective of age will remain competitive. After that it is go to the water and have enjoy!”
All hulls come from the same mould with the concept of continuing with the Des Townson wooden construction principles using light plywood and small timber stringers and keeping with the tradition of varnish work. Moulds have been completed for a full hull and deck in fibreglass as the full size boat has. The idea of taking a scale model of a full size dinghy and making that into a radio controlled keelboat took a considerable amount of Research and Development to arrive at what we have today.
All the current owners are either current or past skippers of the full size Zephyr who not only have a passion for the class but a love of sailing the ¼ Scale without getting wet or crippled.
We hope you enjoy our news, write-ups, photos and updates on the World of Radio Yachting. Please send updates, write-ups and photos to webmaster@nzrya.org.nz
