My attempt to break a sailing world record

[Scotty Kiwi]

Can you have an autopilot on an RC yacht?

[trifan]

Originally Posted by Fiveslide

I've convinced myself to try and break that world record set by a person with a 2 meter rc boat, just over 85 nautical miles in 24 hours, an average of about 3.6 knots. The record has stood since 2004.

First order of business, see if my current rc boat is even capable of that kind of speed. It is only 1 meter long, so I will be at a disadvantage. It looks quick in the right conditions, I just don't know exactly how fast it is. Perhaps I'll stick my phone in the hull with an app to track its speed. Next windy day... If it won't sail that fast, I guess I might be building a bigger boat, or giving up.

I'll have to add more AA batteries to make it last the full 24 hours. It could use that weight in the stern, I've pitchpoled it on windier days. I'll have to find the absolutely perfect conditions and sail choice and make the attempt on a day those conditions will last the full 24.

I think I can do it, maybe not with my current rc boat, but we'll see.

So here's my thread, to post updates, progress, successes and failures.

You didn't say what style of boat, except to mention you had pitchpoled it on windier days. Can I assume then that you may have a multihull? Obviously a big trimaran would be the design of choice. Since it's a small R/C craft, I would put a set of foils under it to get the hull out of the water, further increasing the speed. Just my thoughts, of course. As others have said, "GO FOR IT!" and good luck.

[Fiveslide]

Originally Posted by trifan

You didn't say what style of boat, except to mention you had pitchpoled it on windier days. Can I assume then that you may have a multihull? Obviously a big trimaran would be the design of choice. Since it's a small R/C craft, I would put a set of foils under it to get the hull out of the water, further increasing the speed. Just my thoughts, of course. As others have said, "GO FOR IT!" and good luck.

Current boat is an rc laser. It is probably not consistently fast enough to do this. I took my son indoor rock climbing on Saturday, my arms still hurt so I haven't gotten it out on the water yet to see exactly what speed it will go.

I've looked at a foiling tri, problem with it is seems like any sea state over a ripple and the foils just don't keep it out of the water. Seems like most people sailing them have to sail on the leeward side of a land mass so the water is calm, and I won't be able to do that. And I'll likely have to weigh it down with 3 to 4 times the normal amount of batteries.

I'm probably looking at building a big mono or cat. I don't think anything off the shelf is going to break this record.

[trifan]

Originally Posted by Fiveslide

I've looked at a foiling tri, problem with it is seems like any sea state over a ripple and the foils just don't keep it out of the water. Seems like most people sailing them have to sail on the leeward side of a land mass so the water is calm, and I won't be able to do that. And I'll likely have to weigh it down with 3 to 4 times the normal amount of batteries.

I'm probably looking at building a big mono or cat. I don't think anything off the shelf is going to break this record.

Then this article may be of interest: Sailing in the 21st century – Foiling cats – Epiphany The Magazine

Again, good luck.

[GILow]

I built my own RC boat with my son years ago. We wanted something bigger than what we could buy in the stores. In the end we bought a set of plans online that looked a lot like our real boat. Then we took them down to a commercial printer and had them scale the print job up by 200% (3x) and print them out on nice big plan printer. The result is a lovely model, about 4 feet long. Not particularly fast but probably one of the most enjoyable things I've done with my son. We still sail it now and then, but we did sell the boat it was based on.

[MarkusK]

Check out this neat RC sailboat!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5aC9okl53k

[Fiveslide]

I got out today to test my current boat. Winds were forecast to be 5-10, looked about right, rustling leaves pretty good but not swaying trees, small chop developed on the water over about 2 miles of fetch.

I stuck my phone in the hull, initially, with an actual sailing tracker app. It didn't work. It showed my track walking in the water and then stopped for some reason. I switched to a cycling app that didn't give course data, but seemed to give accurate max and average speeds.

I used my biggest sail.

Max speed, converted to knots, was 3.5 kts. Pretty sure that was slightly off DDW, surfing with the chop. I tried all points of sail, that looked like the fastest moment during this test. Average speed was 2.4, pretty much hull speed for this boat according to the general formula that gets mentioned here a lot.

Obviously, I need a bigger Boat with more waterline and a bigger rig. I'm OK with that... Off to look for plans or larger, ready-to-sail boats.

[Fiveslide]

Evidence checklist

Witness statement 2

Specialist witness statement 1

Proof of qualifications

Surveyor's report

Witness log books

Log book

Video evidence

Schedule 2 (signed)

Schedule 3 (signed)

Media articles

Cover Letter

Photographic Evidence

Still working on this and finally got my guidelines from Guinness.

Above is a summary of the evidence I'll have to provide. Witness statements says "2", however, the full documentation says that there must be two witnesses at all times and that they can only "witness" in four hour shifts. So I'll have to recruit about 4 witnesses to cover the entire 24 hours, off and on in shifts.

Surveyor, that shouldn't be a problem, I have many contacts in that professional field.

One specialist witness who is an expert in rc sailing?

And a Chase boat with enough capable skippers to cover the 24 hours, and large enough to carry all of the above.

Rc boat just has to look like a scaled down version of an existing vessel.

[Fiveslide]

Construction has begun. I don't have a nice shop at this house, but I do have this nifty brick table. I also have a thieving brother-in-law that has most of my already pathetic collection of woodworking tools. I hope to get more of my saws and clamps back soon, but I'll probably be finished with this boat by the time I see him again.

[Dymaxion]

Love the miniature strongback to take the hull sections. Id worry humidity changes may warp that 2x6 as ypu work. Years back I built a hull mold for a fast PT boat the same way. It was 80 inches long. I'll suggest getting Styrofoam slabs, say 2" thick stuff and fitting them between your wood hull stations, then a hot wire cutter or hacksaw blade will get near final hull shape between 2 adjacent stations. When all stacked together the whole length of the hull you can then fair in with a flexible batten made from 1/4" ply or whatever. Glass it over and vacuum bag the whole lot down until cured.

Some of the pricier drones have GPS and "homing" capability, maybe a crashed one could be scavenged as your autopilot/pilot.

Best of luck with your build and the attempt!! Keep us posted.

[Fiveslide]

I'll be putting the hull indoors when I'm not working on it. And I hope to finish pretty quickly, before it warps. It took me a white find that straight one, today's lumber is just horrible, hardly a straight board to be found.

This boat is 95 ½" LOA. It's got the LWL to do what I need to do, I hope I can make it go fast enough.