RC Mustang Tuesday racing at Fleetwood Model Yacht Club

Every Tuesday at 2pm (from March through to October) the golden oldie Mustang skippers are out on the water. There's not many of these sailing any more in the country, but the Fleetwood club boasts about a dozen of these long forgotten gems. Rumour is there's a guy in Cumbria that has maybe converted his hull into a multi rig, otherwise if there's any others left in the country it's anyone's guess.

I thought it would be great to make my way over to see the guys today, as the wind looked perfect for a blast straight down the lake and blowing at about 20mph. A chance not to miss for a quick peak.

I like to compare this uni rig boat with the RC Laser as it's handling must be very similar. About half as big again but maybe twice the weight as they do seem very robust and industrious to look at. Not the prettiest of hulls but with the colourful sail can certainly scoot along at a good old rate of knots.

The format for racing never changes. Every week the same old course of 2 laps, so no excuses for forgetting your way around. The start line is also the same, regardless if the first leg is a beat, a reach or even a run, and a collection of 5 races until completed, with all races to count. So just a spare couple of hours can give you your needed boost for the day.

On this afternoon C rigs were used throughout and most would pull out the drain plug after each race to relieve the boat from somewhere between a pint and a litre of lake water each time. Ballast maybe to stop these beauties from nose diving, but you would think while it's swashing around in there it would affect handling, but apparently not so much. I was told they move along even quicker when the wind drops just a touch for the bigger rigs.

Five skippers had turned up, with 3 of the regulars Jim Lydon. John Plant and Garry Benson also owners of the Laser. It seemed that John was ruling the day, but Jim has been the National winner at some time with this boat. Main rule is that you do your best and try to observe your starboard and port.

If you have one of the Mustangs hidden away and not used it for a while, and if you've thought about getting into RC sailing but terrified with the over complication with too many rules, this might just be the venture for getting your feet wet.

Otherwise I hope you enjoy my video above.

Winner for the day on this not too serious event was John P.

After having a couple of goes with Jim's boat, I might just be tempted to join in and have a go myself.