Category Archives: Beginner’s Topics

Beginner Topic : How Does Your Swing Rig Swing…??!!

If you entered a class with Swing rigs, have you taken a moment to figure out how the swing rig swings ??

I’d thought about the deck level bearing for the simple reason one can see it. But have you considered how the load below deck is handled? I hadn’t until I found a rather smart ring bearing lying on the concrete beneath my boat stand last Sunday. See photo above. That little circular bearing is a press fit (note to self : or “press and glue fit”) into the end of the carbon tube. That goes down the hole through the deck and engages on a little vertical cone at the hog. Then your mast swivels like a merry-go-round !!

Beginners Guide to Diagnosing Under-Deck Problems – Electrical/Radio/Winch/Servo….!!

I had a little outage last Marblehead Sunday. The boat slipped into Failsafe mode and drifted quietly off toward the Royal Castle of Windsor!!

The Commodore leapt into RIB duty mode and helped me get it back, no problem! Useful to take a lifter with you! As soon as racing finished, in classic Datchet manner… everyone gathered around, tool boxes came out, to get my fault diagnosed.

It was pretty educational and a great learning to see them go about it. We quite quickly figured all the electrics and radio were OK and identified the winch as a possible failure point. It was great to see them checking out the transmitter, receiver, battery, cabling etc.

All this learning was a delight. So as not to lose it, I have documented the diagnostic and repair process here. If you find yourself in a similar position, it may be helpful. Click below to download.

Fabulous Radio Sailing Promotional Video from The Datchet 2024 Marblehead Nationals ….!!

Have you seen the fabulous video from the Marblehead Nationals, brought to us by our Commodore (!). It does a super job of outlining the sport’s attractiveness to newcomers!!

Take a look !! Just released on the excellent MYA Video Channel….!!