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"If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable." – Lucius Annaeus Seneca. This particular painting used to be my Sunday ritual in my younger days. Depicted is Lake Catherine, located in my neighborhood, and every Sunday a group of retirees would gather to race sailboats… Miniature sailboats. Yes, not only is this a hobby, but also quite the gentleman's sport. Every Sunday I would join this group of avid sailors and bask in the offshore breeze. I have yet to find something more relaxing to this day.
These model boats are EC12's. The class is one the premier R/C Yachts in the American Model Yachting Association. The Class is well organized energetic and active with over 400 members hosting over 20 two-day sailing regatta throughout the East Coast and the Midwest. The posted sailing schedule is 12 months a year. Local clubs offer additional weekly and monthly club events. You can find out more info here : http://www.ec12.org/
Sailboats use the power of the wind acting on sails to propel the boat. Model sailboats are typically controlled via a multi-channel radio transmitter in the hands of the operator with a corresponding receiver in the boat. By changing the position of the two joysticks on the transmitter signals are sent over two separate channels on a single radio frequency (assigned to the individual boat/operator). On the boat, the radio receiver is connected to two battery-powered electric motors or servos. Signals from the radio transmitter are interpreted by the radio receiver and translated into instructions to change the position of the servos. One servo controls the position of both main and jib sails together (allowing the sails to be trimmed), the other the position of the rudder (allowing the boat to be steered). This allows you to perform the fundamental movements of sailing known as tacking. Tacking or "coming about" is a sailing maneuver by which a sailing vessel, whose desired course is into the wind, turns its bow toward the wind so that the direction from which the wind blows changes from one side to the other, allowing progress in the desired direction. The opposite maneuver to tacking is called jibing or wearing on square-rigged ships, that is, turning the stern through the wind. No sailing vessel can move directly upwind, though that may be the desired direction, making this an essential maneuver of a sailing ship. A series of tacking moves, in a zig-zag fashion, is called "beating" and allows sailing in the desired direction.
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