An RC Sailboat (RC – Radio Control) as you may or may not expect, uses the exact same controls as a full size sailboat. If you’ve been lucky enough to pilot a full size sailboat, then you should have no problem with an RC Sailboat.
One of the unique characteristics of an RC Sailboat is it’s one of the few RC’s that operate using renewable energy for its main power source. This means you don’t need large, expensive batteries or gasoline to power it.
If you are completely new to RC Sailing, it is recommended to read through some of the terms at the bottom of the page, or if you are looking for a quick refresher. Once that is out of the way, we can look at the different options available in order to get hooked. Or what we mean here is more involved, you get the idea.
Depending on either how much time you may have or your building skills may determine how you get more involved with RC Sailboats. First we will consider the easiest way to get in to the hobby.
There are many RTR (Ready to Run) RC Sailboat s available that makes it a very easy transition in to the hobby. Typically RTR includes everything you would need to start sailing except for maybe some disposable batteries. AA are the most common.
The boats are classed most commonly by Length where the general rule for RC Sailboats is they come in lengths less than 30 inches, a length of one meter, and larger lengths up to 2 meters. Due to being an all around performer the One meter class is the most popular, largely from the ability to perform very well on the water and look awesome from land. It is also large enough to see as you sail it 50-100 feet away.
The number one recommended RC Sailboat for someone new to the hobby yet desiring one that is both competitive, RTR and a larger size, being in the one meter class, for ease of visibility is most definitely the Aquacraft Vela One. This hull performs well, is super easy to get sailing and is large enough to sail from a good distance. Expect this hull to excel.
40″ Hull Length and a 79″ Mast Height, Wow! All control system components come included in the 2.4 GHz System.
If you desire a less expensive high performing hull the perfect beginner Sailboat is the Aquacraft Paradise Sailboat. This boat will teach you the basic skills of sailing your own boat and perfecting the skills to become profecient in sailing. The hull length is 26″ and the mast height is 50.” At this size, it is quite visible at close to medium distances away from the sailor. All radio equipment comes include with this RC Sailboat with very little Setup required to start sailing.
Common Parts of an RC Sailboat
There are 7 common components that are found on nearly all RC Sailboats. The 7 common parts consist of the hull, mainsail, mast, boom, jib, keel and rudder. The hull is the main structure of the boat that contains all the other parts within it.
Typically found in the center of an RC Sailboat on the under side of the hull is the keel. The keel is responsible for holding the hull straight during forward motion. The difference between a full size boat and our RC Sailboat is that the keel you would find on an RC Sailboat contains a weighted bulb at the very bottom that assists in stabilizing the hull under heavy wind conditions.
The mast is located relatively close to the center of the hull and points directly up from the boat. The boom is positioned 90 degrees from the mast and helps support the mainsail which is attached to the boom and the mast.
The mainsail is responsible for capturing the majority of the wind energy to propel the boat forward whereas the jib is a smaller sail commonly near the front of the boat that serves the purpose of capturing extra power to propel the hull forward.
How an RC Sailboat Works
An RC Sailboat works by either capturing or redirecting wind energy to propel the boat forward. This is accomplished by the Sailor of the boat placing the sail in the proper direction to catch the wind and at the same time providing a constant heading for the boat to travel in. Steering on the hull is accomplished by controlling the rudder. An input signal on the radio is sent to the Sailboat and this is converted into motion that operates the rudder. The Sailboat controls are powered by a small battery that only operates the control system.
RC Sailboat Controls – Radio Layout, Radio Setup
RC Sailboat Controls are rather different then your typical Radio Control.
We will first look at what channels on the radio control transmitter, control which part of the RC Sailboat and then we will look at the specific setup concerning the radio gear on an RC Sailboat.
Transmitter Channels and Controls – RC Sailboat Controls
The most common type of transmitter for RC Sailboats are the stick type transmitters. The stick type transmitter allows the ease of use over the sail control. On a stick type transmitter referring to the image below, the left
side channel, typically throttle on an airplane controls the Sails. Moving the left side stick up or down would draw the sail in or let the sail out. Motion on the stick is vertically.
The stick on the right hand side controls the rudder on the RC Sailboat. The rudder channel operates as like any other rudder channel. Motion on the stick is horizontally.
These two channels are the required minimum for RC Sailboat Controls. You can see all the extra switches and controls on the radio to the right. These may be used for controlling those fancy features on your RC Sailboat. In some cases these extra features include alternate lighting, winches, or anything else to make the sailboat appear and operate more scale like.
Radio System Controls – RC Sailboat Controls Receiver
Receiver
Now that we have talked about the transmitter we will look at the rest of the components that are required in order to run an RC Sailboat. The component that is responsible for talking to the transmitter is the receiver. The receiver is what talks to the transmitter and then converts the radio signal to an electrical signal that can be used to control the rudder and sails of a sailboat. The receiver can be purchased with the transmitter if you choose to take that route. Purchasing a transmitter/receiver combination is more common when building your own boats.
Receiver Battery – RC Sailboat Controls
To power the radio equipment a standard receiver battery is required. This is a battery that operates on 4.8-6.0v. Although a 4 cell disposable AA case can be used, it is highly recommended for an RC sailboat to use a rechargeable battery. The main reason is to ensure the battery pack can supply a sufficient amount of current to the servos. For larger RC sailboats a rechargeable battery is a requirement. The average user would use a 4.8-6.0v NiMh pack however LiFE, Li-ion, LiPo packs are available but be certain to include a Voltage Regulator in your system to limit the voltage.
Sail Servo – RC Sailboat Controls
The most important servo for an RC Sailboat is of course the Sail Servo. The sail servo comes in two different styles that are most common. Each style has its own specific set of advantages and disadvantages. The first style of sail servo that we will talk about is the sail winch servo.
The sail winch servo as pictured on the right hand side uses a drum like wheel to house the sail line. When the drum rotates the line is either let out or brought in. The Sail winch servo typically allows for 3 rotations of the drum with
torque specs around the 150 oz-in / 11 kg-cm. The biggest difference is that these torque specs are at a relatively short distance from the center point of the drum. This small distance increases the amount of torque relative to the next sail servo type that we will be looking at.
Sail Winch Servo Advantages:
- Amount of force generated to pull in the sails
- Amount of total line length (travel) that can be brought in – approximately 3 revolutions of the drum
- Relatively Small Space Requirement, even with larger servo sizes
Sail Winch Servo Disadvantages:
- Slow Reaction time relative to transmitter input as winch must rotate up to 3 times
- If the Sail Line is not tight at all times, any play/slack in the lines can allow the line to fall off the drum. A line that falls of the drum does not operate correctly
Sail Arm Servo – RC Sailboat Controls
The other Sail Servo style is the arm type. The arm type sail servo uses quite a long arm in order to get an acceptable amount of line draw. As you may expect this operates nearly the same as a standard servo where the only difference is the servo arm itself. For a typical one meter Sailboat, you would require a servo of this style that has at least 150 oz-in / 11 kg-cm of torque as a minimum. This style servo requires more torque then a winch servo as the amount of force produced at the end of the arm is reduces due to the length of the arm.
Sail Arm Servo Advantages:
- Very quick response time vs the Sail winch Servo
- More servo options as any standard servo can be used with a long sail arm. Options for very high torque servos are available
- Line has less chance of getting tangles or wrapped upon itself as compared to the winch style servo
Sail Arm Servo Disadvantages:
- Require a lot of space due to the radius of the outer point of the sail servo arm
- Lower amount of Line Draw force due to length of Arm requiring higher torque at the servo for equal performance that of a winch style servo
- Generally has a smaller total line length(travel) that can be brought in resulting in lower amount of sail movement (travel)
Steering Servo – RC Sailboat Controls
The steering servo is responsible for operating the rudder on an RC sailboat to provide directional control. In most cases a Futaba S3003 Standard Servo