Friday, November 06, 2009

Micro Magic Class

Micro Magic Yachts Racing
Radio Controls

If you want a bit of fun, you might consider trying your hand at radio controlled model yacht racing. The Micro Magic International Class is well established with groups racing their boats in the USA, Canada, and most European countries, including Britain. The UK Micro Magic Class Association has a web site at: http://www.magicmicro.org/news.php and the Micro Magic International site is at: http://www.int.magicmicro.org/news.php .

Weighing only 980 grams, these tiny vessels are 530 mm long and they have a beam of 180 mm. In the UK a ready-to-sail Micro Magic yacht with a Sonic c4 Radio Set and batteries can be obtained for £309.00 from R C Yachts: http://www.rcyachts.org.uk/epages/Store3_Shop2540.sf . Higher specification models range up to £379.00. A Micro Magic 11 kit will bring the price down to £159.00 without the radio and some other parts. If you live in Europe you can order directly from the German manufacturer at: http://shop.graupner.de/webuerp/servlet/AI?ARTN=2014&SessionCheck=4711&language=en for Euros 169.00.

The International Class Association is well organised and Country Associations put on their own races, some offering open meetings.

Here’s a ‘snippet’ from one of the web sites: ‘Racing with model yachts is very attractive and involves a lot of fun in sailing, trimming, boat technologies etc. But boats of the more common international classes are at least 1 m long and sometimes a bit unwieldy.

Whilst competition in these classes is very high, the price of those boats has reached levels many potentially interested people do not want to pay.
Micro Magic is something different. Due to its small size it is very easy to transport. Ready to sail, it easily fits into any car, may be taken on holidays and is something you can take with you all the time just for some moments of sailing. The boat is not expensive to get either. There is no need for an expensive radio control set and the kit is in most countries reasonable priced. Ready to sail the complete boat does not cost you more than you have to pay for just a single component of some other class boats. It requires only few building skills and the kit, manufactured by the well established company Graupner, is easily available in any model-shop.’

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