The Fiesta yacht was the brainchild of David Swain who after many years has passed production of these wonderful craft to Tony Watson of M&M, who has used his experience with plastic mouldings to update the kit. This is the second model yacht I have built, the first was a semi scale AC Cup yacht whereas this is a genuine model racing yacht, very similar to its larger and more expensive cousin, the one metre.
Inside the deceptively small box are a superbly moulded glass fibre hull, an all new plastic deck and servo tray, aluminium fin, rudder, mast booms, an exellent suit of sails, various small items and of course a cast lead bulb. This package is rounded off with a copy of the original drawing and a set of instructions.
As with all models it pays to read and re-read the instructions and get the building sequence clear in your mind. I found the supplied instructions slightly confusing and out of order in some places. The mast plate should be dry fitted in place until the keel box has been sanded to fit the bottom of the hull, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
Making a Start
Hull minus deck on top of fullsize plan.
The sails are controlled by the extended plastic lever arm.
A moulded plastic stand is the first thing to make up and this is finished with foam rubber tape to protect the hull during building. A keel box is built around the top of the fin to make for a good sliding fit. The wood was then sealed and glued together with Devcon 30 min epoxy.
The hull was covered in masking tape and the small indentations wich mark the position of the fin and rudder highlighted. After several checks a series of holes were drilled and joined up with a thin file until the fin would just pass through the hull. A small bolt has to be inserted into the top of the fin by sawing a slot and then filing a hole to lock the head of the bolt in place. This is then glued with epoxy and when set filed flush.
Timber inwales are fitted at the factory, which makes assembly easier.
Next comes the most important and tricky part. With the mast plate dry fitted drill the hole for the mast, then following the instructions measure the position of the keel bolt from the front of the keel box and drill a hole. Slide the fin into the keel box and its bolt through this hole in the mast plate. Screw on the nut, and check that the fin is exactly vertical and the measurement from the transom is correct.
I tacked around the hull / fin box with come super glue and marked the position of the fin box on the underside of the mast plate. The fin was then unbolted and removed, as was the mast plate, so that the two box supports could be epoxied in place and the wood sealed. The mast plate was then permanently glued in place. The fin was reinstalled ready for bonding the keel box to the hull with glassfibre and polyester resin.
Building then followed the instructions. Two standard servos were fitted to the r/c tray and a sail arm, made from a small piece of aluminium angle, was screwed to the output arm. Wire eyes were glued to the arm using the measurements on the plan for the sheets to pass through.
Side view of the hull. Lead ballast is included in the kit.
The deck was temporarily fitted and I checked the sail servos in operation. I noticed that with the fixed end of the sheets attached through the lip of the hatches the sheets would rub on the undersides of the deck beams making life hard for the servo.
I tied the fixed end of the main sheet around the base of the rudder tube and the jib sheet end was tied around the base of the mast. I made some eyes from safety pins fixed to the deck beams to guide the sheets around under the deck as shown in the plan.
The deck was then glued in place as per the instructions. As an afterthought it occurred to me that the small pot that contains the on/off switch and charging socket doesn't need a base and cutting it off would make life a lot easier when fitting the deck. The switch could then be pushed up from below and held with some tape.
The model was then rigged after a wee bit of confusion over the new gooseneck, sorted after a phone call to Tony Watson. A mixture of the original and the new layouts were used for sail adjustment.
Sailing performance
So with the Fiesta finished, batteries charged, off to the lake where some Lasers had been enjoying a reasonable wind. A quick check of the controls and away she went. As the saying goes, she sailed straight out of the box. To windward she sailed hands off. I was enjoying this. This year I have been sailing the local clubs 'club 1 metre boat' to learn the art of sailing. Well after a few minutes, I forgot that the Fiesta was only 640 mm long. It handles beautifully.
An excellent kit with outstanding performance which you can sail in most ponds over a foot deep. From a beginner's viewpoint the instructions could be clearer but that aside this is a real thoroughbred racing yacht.
This review was reproduced with the kind permmision of the editor of 'Marine Modelling' magazine. For more information about 'Marine Modelling' and other Traplet publications click the logo.
