-------------- Regatta July 18, 2009 -------------------

The Kettering Model Sailing Club would like to invite any and all V-32 skippers to join us for an Ohio Invitiational Regatta at our sailing site in Delco Park, Kettering, OH. We will be sailing V-32s. All boats must comply with the AMYA V-32 Class rules in order to compete. Boats are subject to inspection.

• Saturday July 18, 2009
• Practice anytime after sunrise--this is a city park
• 12:30 pm Registration/Practice
• 1:30 pm Skippers Meeting
• 1:45 pm Racing begins
• 4:15 pm Racing Complete
• 4:45 Trophy Awards

Trophies to 5th place. Photos of trophies will be posted here, soon. There is a $5 entrance fee to help pay for the trophies. Lunch will not be served for this one-afternoon event.

REGISTRATION DEADLINE: Please send in your registration NLT July 10, 2009, so we can work out any frequency conflicts. Each registrant using one of the 75 Mhz channels will be assigned their 1st channel preference on a first-registered basis. Later registrants will be asked to use another channel. To insure you are assigned a useable channel, it is recommended that at least three channels for which you have crystals are listed on your registration form. We would like to enable all contestants to sail at the same time. Walk-up registrations will be accepted the day of the Regatta if there is not a frequency conflict. Walk-up registration fee is $10.

Facilities: We have city park restroom facilities nearby. There are a number of good eating places about a block away. The park also has a playground and ample open areas for kids to play. A very nice paved walkway circles the pond.

For information about Delco Park and a photo map of the pond and some surrounding facilities go to Kettering Parks and select "Detailed Map of Delco Park."

Click on the Images or text below for printer friendly PDFs of the announcement and the Registration form.

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V-32 Sailing Schedule:

This is our sailing schedule. See 2009 Sailing Schedule.

During suitable weather, the KMSC sails every Sunday afternoon at 2:30 to 5 or 6 PM. We race with formal scoring that counts toward the season standings almost every other Sunday, We just fun sail or practice sail with no formal score keeping on the other days.

Scored Racing is cancelled if less than three boats show up, the temperature is less than 50 degrees F, the winds exceed 12 mph, or are less than 3 mph. However, we have had some sail days in winds from 12 to 16 mph and it was pretty exciting. The V-32s are tough boats.

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2009 Activities

Sunday, June 28, 2009. This is a scored day for V-32s. See you there.

Sunday, June 21, 2009. Sadly, no one was nice enough to their father on this Fathers' Day to bring them out to the pond and say, "Dad, if this is something you would like to do, we sure would like to buy you one of these boats." No one!

What a great day! Six V-32 skippers showed up at the pond today, and we practice raced in near perfect conditions.Nice winds, but variable as always. That nasty green marker still gave us a lot of trouble. The wind gets pretty mixed up behind the windbreak caused by the gazebo and tree; it appears the wind is coming from a completely different direction when you move as little as 5 feet.

We ran about 14 practice races with the recorded countdown. There were a number of races where we were really spread out at the finish, then there were several where we all showed up at the finish in a nice, tight group.

I have to compliment our KMSC V-32 skippers. Although many V-32 skippers are relatively new to RC sailboat racing, as a group, we have shown good sportsmanship in keeping clear when required and being pleasant when called to take a 360 when a mistake is made. Most of the actual collisions happen near the marks when the wind is shifty, the view of the boats is blocked, or the mark is so far away you need binoculars. Of course, there was the T-bone Ralph did on Jose's boat which was none of those. (Sorry, Jose, the 360 penalty I took was well-deserved. -Ralph) Playing by the rules makes the afternoon a good time for everybody.

It is no longer easy for the old skippers to get the choice positions on the starting mark every time, because everyone is getting better at being in the right place when the bell goes off. No, I didn't say everyone is at the line at the bell....I said we are getting better.

Sunday, June 14, 2009.. The scored racing was cancelled today. The wind was less than 3 mph at 1:00pm. Eight skippers showed up anyway for fun sailing at 2:30. The winds were very light and we spend a lot of time in lulls. We set up a very short practice course and sailed anyway. The wind gradually got better until we got rained out at 4 pm. Someone asked if we should postpone this scored day to next weekend. No, we will not because next Sunday, June 21, is Father's Day. We will not schedule scored races on holidays and special Sundays such as Father's Day, Mother's Day, Easter, etc., since many have family events on those days. We will look at the calendar and see if we can make this up on another day--or just let it pass.

Sunday, June 7, 2009.. We had a great time sailing on Sunday.  The weather was perfect. Nice 5 to 8 mph winds with an occasional big gust and very few lulls. The sky was overcast so the sun did not beat down on us... temperature about 80 degrees. Seven boats practice raced.  No one counted or kept score, but we must have done about 15 to 18 races. Because of the good wind conditions we were able to set up an interesting zig-zag course instead of going round and round.  Brian suggested it and then took a first place.  He said he really liked that course!

Sunday, May 31, 2009. We had a great time today. KMSC set a new record for the number of V-32s racing.  We had ten boats, even with three of our regulars missing.  Thanks to all those who came out. Results were sent out to all on the KMSC mailing list. The wind and temperature where perfect. Two different courses were followed--one to avoid the fishermen and then a little different when they left.  There were quite a few pile-ups at the marks.  The wind was variable, maybe averaging 6 mph, but there were some lulls and a few good, hard gusts. We had one start where the wind changed about 90 degrees right at the starting bell, and the boats seemed to drift off in many strange directions.

Sunday, May 24, 2009. Six V-32s practice raced in very light winds. A few times there were some decent gusts, but mostly it was a real drifter. We quit at 4 pm. A new skipper sailed with us for two hours. Dale, we were happy to have you sailing today. Chris tried a boat for a few minutes. Nice to see people stop by and be interested in our hobby. Hope to see you again, Dale and Chris.

Sunday, May 17, 2009. Eight skippers showed up for this scored day. We had a great time. Results were sent to all members. Wind was quite strong at times, and often laid our boats over. At other times the wind was light. Steve's mast came off--the bottom of the mast was split and the adjusting screw assembly was gone. Fortunately it happened near the starting line and the boat drifted to shore in a convenient place.

Sunday, May 10, 2009. We had six skippers out sailing practice races this Sunday. The weather was outstanding--fair temperature and good wind. Some of the guys with shorts wished they had some warmer clothes. We had mostly light winds, a few hard gusts and a few almost calm times. This was a much better turnout than I expected on Mother's Day. Phil and Mark brought out their boats for the first time. Mark got his boat from Victor already built; Phil built his boat. Very nice to see new skippers and new boats out there! We had the interest of a number of the folks who walked by.

Sunday, May 3, 2009. Today was a great day of sailing at Delco Park, Kettering. Thanks to all those who came out today. The temperature was perfect, and the sun was not hot. We had six skippers and boats at the pond, but only five sailed at one time due to a battery problem and a late arrival. This was our first Scored Race Day. Nine heats were sailed in light winds that were very shifty. A few times it became calm, but never lasted more than a few minutes. The marks were laid out so we could start in any direction, and the wind cooperated with our plan--it came from every direction.

Sunday, April 26, 2009. Scored sailing was cancelled due to winds of 14 to 20 mph. Three V-32 skippers sailed at the pond from 6:00 to 8:20 PM. Winds lightened up quite a bit and by 8:00 it was calm close to the south shore.

Saturday, April 25, 2009. This visit to Indianapolis is cancelled due to high winds. The Indianapolis Admirals will be sponsoring a V-32 invitational regatta on April 25, 2009 at Avon Park. V-32s sail at 1:30.

Sunday April 19, 2009. Eight V-32s practice raced at the pond today. Mark brought out his new V-32 still in the box, but it did not get wet today. Raul came out at 3:30, just when we were quitting due to rain. So we only had 1 1/2 hours of sailing in cool,temperatues (55 degrees), but beautiful 8 to 10 mph winds. It was fun. We sailed the new marks. Looks like the green mark moved about sixty feet from where we originally put it. Need to have it moved back. We were missing three of our members--We are going to have quite a crowd if all 12 show up!

We finalized plans for attending the Spring Fling at Avon Park, Indiana, next week. Five skippers have agreed to go early so we can watch the US1M boats sail at 10:30 am. Here comes TEAM OHIO!

Sunday April 12, 2009. Two V-32 skippers were at the pond, but did not sail..Most skippers did not show up this day. The weather was cool and windy, and it was Easter Sunday.

Thurs April 9, 2009. 2 pm. Kettering Park personnel put out five marks for our course. The marks are located a little closer to shore than before, and provide a number of options to set our start line perpendicular to the wind. Thanks to Russel for working out a new course layout and also to Steve for helping get the marks in the right positions.

Sunday April 5, 2009. 2 to 4:30 pm. Four V-32 skippers sailed in nice weather with ideal winds. We set up the throw out marks and sailed an inverted V course to avoid a fisherman who was fishing from our favorite rock.

Sunday, Mar 29, 2009. Sailing cancelled due to high winds.

Sunday, Mar 22, 2009. 2 to 5 pm. Four skippers showed up for a great day of racing. We used the tempoary marks again. Hope to get the permanent marks put in by the end of the month. Wind was light to moderate. We had more than a few interavals of no wind, however, they were short lived, and we never had to swim for a boat.

Sunday, Mar 15, 2009. 2 to 5 pm. Four skippers met at the pond for our first fun sail and racing practice. We threw out the temporary markers, Dave brought an extra marker, so we had two end points and two markers for a starting line. The weather was extremely nice. 61 degrees and nice 4 to 10 mph winds with only a few gusts that may have exceeded 15 mph. It was a nice initiation of the new season. We post some pictures soon.

March 14, 2009. 4:00 to 6:30 pm. We had our Spring meeting at the MCL cafeteria. Fourteen attended including spouses and family members. Russell did a fine presentation of the Rules of Racing, focusing on the ones that most of us seem to have trouble with. Four skippers said they will attend the April 25 Spring Fling in Indianapolis. We discussed the course arrangement and laid out some basic plans for an Invitational Regatta in June.

Feb 12, 2009. We have a new boat owner. Raul has been sailing with us last summer and has obtained a boat to race this season. Rumor has it that this boat did pretty good in last year's standings. Watch out! Welcome aboard, Raul.

January 17, 2009. We held a KMSC Dinner meeting at the MCL Cafeteria in South Dayton. Fifteen people attended including spouses and children. After a fine meal, we awarded certificates to the top four skippers, elected officers, and made plans for the 2009 racing season (See 2009 Racing Schedule). The top four skippers for 2008 are:1st Ralph Kanko, 2nd Jose Garcia. 3rd Russell Hardie. 4th Jerry Kunk.

KMSC History Page describes what KMSC has done the past three years.

No V-32 Nation Championships were held in 2008

V-32 National Championships 2007

The National Championship for the V-32 AMYA Class was held in Bondurant, IA, about 30 mi NE of Des Moines on Aug 9-11, 2007. The first five places received trophies. Congratulations go out to these great skippers.

1st Place Bruce Zemke

2nd Place Charlie Rhinehart

3rd Place Dave Haggart

4th Place Paul Thompson

5th Place Hank Evans

V-32 Region 4 Championship 2006 See photos of this event.

Our Club

The KMSC races model sailboats in accordance with AMYA Racing Rules and our boats comply with AMYA Class rules. We require our skippers to be AMYA members.

You can find us sailing on most weekends sometimes Friday, Saturday and almost every Sunday.

If you are considering getting a V-32 and joining us, please look at the Radio Frequencies page to determine what channels we are be using. You are always welcome to join us sailing even if you don't have a V-32. The pond is a public pond and open to sailing by anyone at all times. However, we would ask that the regularly scheduled Club activities of racing V-32s be given priority on the assigned channels. Thank you for your cooperation.

V-32 Fleet

KMSC has only one fleet at this time. The V-32 fleet. We now have ten members. The races get very interesting while the lead as well as the last place positions change ownership with almost every race.

Come out and join us this spring! We start sailing in April.

The V-32 was chosen as the initial fleet because of its overall performance, reasonable cost, durability, factory build/kit option, and beauty. No other low-cost factory built boat comes in such a wide variety of hull and sail colors, and with a beautiful wood deck. This boat is manufactured in California and can be purchased online in as a kit or as a fully built, Ready-to-Sail (RTS) boat from the Victor Products factory. The V-32 is a recognized AMYA Class and boats participating in KMSC club racing as well as AMYA sanctioned events must comply with the V-32 Class rules.

THE Footy

This is AMYA's smallest sanctioned fleet. This cute little boat is only 12 inches long! KMSC does not have enough boats right now to even run a match race. However, some of our club members have expressed an interest in building these boats.

The Footy Class Rules allow almost any design or configuration that complies with the rules. Free plans are available and kits can be purchased online, but you can design, build, and race you own original "winner" as well. See Links for more information about this boat.

AMERICAN MODEL YACHTING ASSOCIATION

This is the US model sailboat association that keeps the sport of RC sailboat racing organized and fair. Please go to the AMYA web site to find the most complete compilation of information about this hobby.

If you are thinking of buying your first RC sailboat, please visit the AMYA FAQS and Getting Started pages to get some good advice about choosing the right boat. The AMYA Sailing Manual contains complete information about how to sail, and is strongly recommended reading for novice and experienced sailors.