done minus new sails and mast ram

here she is and she sails great still. just added battery and receiver pot and elastic that runs from mainsheet post thru block in stern and then to control sheet to tension the sheets so they do not get caught up inside on sail arm. All needed now is new "blackmagic" sails and mast ram to make perfect. Love to see how she does against other IOM's but none around here.... oh well.

Test Sail... SUCCESSS!!

Took her out on her maiden voyage with my recycled sails. Installed new mast ram. Boat sailed great. In the light air, 3-5 knots, match racing my "triple crown", she was slightly faster with a lower point. When breeze built and came up to 8-12ish she was way faster and pointed as high or higher. Wasn't expecting this as the "triple crown" is 7 inches wide vs 9" for the "vektor". Even more surprising was that even with crap sails, the boat was faster. On a reach, forget it. On a run, forget it, upwind virtually the same. Ordered new turning blocks for smoother trimming, and recessed pot to store batteries and receiver. Will order sails and rigging as soon as $ come in. May not even need to though as this test sail was way beyond what I expected. I wish there were a few racing IOM's to match race against other than my other build. If anyone comes to Eastern LI and you own and IOM, let me know. Or if your close, I'll take a daytrip within reason

All-in-all, a great success.... Will try and get pics and a video soon....

more pics

custom mast ram

found a 1/2 inch pvc pipe holder in hardware store and fit it to be a new mast ram with a 3/16 inc SS bolt and two nuts. one nut will hold pvc ram into the molded piece that stabilizes mast.

Cut down a 7/32" brass tube to about 1/2 inch and drilled ans set it through bulkhead. Set tube with wood epoxy inside and flush with outside bulkhead. Mast ram will sit inside this once set and i'll be able to adjust mast rake and fine tune better with other bolt. I also took some more detailed pics of insides where recessed pot will go to hold battery and receiver

more pics

Just about done and ready for a test sail

Going to pretty up and add a few more things including, new sails/mast rigging, mast ram, recessed battery/receiver pot, turning blocks instead of screw eyes, pretty up deck with paint and clear coat,. Recycled old AC boat parts including sails, mast, rigging.

Right now only need to add bow bumper (AKA cut up flip flop) in order to sail.....

foredeck finished

Waiting to order more parts (story of my life). Fordeck installed, mid-deck will be installed after I get more parts (recessed pot for batteries and receiver).

Partial deck installation

here are a few more pics.

Getting closer to end

Recycled my old 48" AC class RC boat as it sailed poorly with homemade sails. Used ballast, sail arm servo, tangs from mast and gooseneck. Used tanks to do the jib tack leads and installed the jib sheet leads. Got fore and aft deck birch ply 1/32 and 1'64th inch for fore and afte deck respectively. Trial pained the stern with a cobalt blue metalic finish. Will fade it from back to front from blue to white. Ordering remaining fittings and would be sailing in less than a day once these and sails arrive.

Mast box set

Here is second to last step before decking goes on. All is needed it to add balsa to inside of gunwales for deck to be installed and glued on, add mast ram, and install recessed pot for receiver and batteries. Still need to order rigging and sails. Will be using very thin marine ply like 1/32" or 1/64" for deck and cut outs for access holes for mainsheet post, rudder, rudder servo, sheeting servo and mast box.

Sail servo and final bulkheads installed

See how servo is angled to keep it under deck. Will be using a sail arm servo for sheeting. Did a dry run with it before adding deck. Dead ended to fore bulkhead with arm pointed right back to the bulkhead. Single turning block will go on end of arm, approx. 85 mm from center. Control sheet will run through bulkhead and just above deck to turning block at stern then to mainsheet post. When fully sheeted in, will tie jib sheet right to control line at the back block. The control line will be the mainsheet. May add some elastic from the mainsheet post run to the point where both sheets attach to avoid a birds nest below.

Sail arm moves forward to sheet in. Without fine trim, I have 12 inches of travel. Probably a bit too much, but will install a stop point on transmitter knob, i.e. balsa glued to it, if it is too much. Got to order sails, rig , paint, lead ballast and then will likely be ready to sail. So far, seems very light. Yet to weigh it, but I am sure it is under where it should be.

more pics of keel box and, rudder post and mast box