|
|
|
Introduction and General Information
For a few years now I've been trying to build an radio controlled sailboat. Earlier designs I made eventually never satisfied me enough to actually build them, but when I came into contact with Francesco Bussi from Italy, who had made great VO70 plans, I finally started building my boat. Francesco's site can be found here if you want to request these plans for yourself. What is a "VO70" you might ask? VO70 are the boats that are used in the Volvo Ocean Race (editions 2004-05 & 2008-09) and stands for "Volvo Open 70" meaning that these are 70-foot boats designed by very detailed box measurement rules. These boats are currently the fastest monohull boats available, thanks to their new canting keels. My intention is to build an accurate scale model of one of these boats, including a working canting keel, working daggerboards and scale looks. The original drawings by Francesco Bussi were drawn on a scale of approximately 1/17, with a hull length of 122,7cm. Because I want a working canting keel en daggerboards, I felt that building my version a little bit larger would be a good idea, in order to have that little bit of extra room that would be required for everything needed to control these things. Therefore I enlarged the original drawings by 116%, giving me a hull length of 142cm. |
 |
Let's quickly compare the dimensions of the actual VO70 with my scale model:
| Ericsson VO70 | My Model | ||
| Hull Length | 21,50 m | 142 cm | |
| LOA (including bowsprit) | about 23 m (no official measurement found) | 154 cm | |
| LWL | 21,50 m | 142 cm | |
| Beam | 4,85 m (no official measurement found) | 32 cm | |
| Draft | 4,5 m | 60 cm (not true to scale) | |
| Displacement | 12500 - 14000 kg | 8,5 kg | |
| Height above water | 31,5 m | 205 cm | |
| Mainsail area | 172 m² | 0,64 m² | |
| Jib area | 140 m² | 0,44 m² |
The draft on the scale model is by comparison somewhat larger, but this was already the case on the original drawings and gives a beter stability to the model. The lower the ballast can be put onder the hull, the longer the lift and therefore it gives a higher efficiency.
I will be making the model from epoxy/carbon/fibreglass composite so I will start by making a plug. A plug looks like the actual model you are building, however is can be made from any material you are confortable working with, and weight is no issue. It is only used to create the actual form where a mold can be made from. The actual hull will afterwards be made inside that mold.
For those who really are curious on how the plans look like, I will give you a small preview! (the actual plans can be requested on Francesco Bussi's site: www.velarc.it)
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|