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Radio Controlled Yachting at Mengeham Rythe Sailing Club
Radio controlled yacht sessions have been
organised for March 2015 until March 2016. The
racing is on Sundays meeting at 10:00 for a 10:30
start with some exceptions. The dates and times
are listed below. Adrian Buswell will run be
running the racing. All the sessions have been
arranged so that they don’t conflict with the
dinghy racing. They will take place on the pond
about every two weeks, everybody is welcome to
join the fleet.
Dragon Force 65
Apart from the organised racing the pond can be
used at any time.
At the last count 12 enthusiastic members have
acquired Dragon Force 65 model yachts, the boat is very suitable for the pond and is not too
expensive to buy. You can buy your own boat from Mike Weston who has run the Junior Week radio
yacht racing for the last few years and can be found at www.rcyachts.org.uk. The boats cost from
only £149 almost ready to sail including the radio controller; they come in a box and just needs to be
rigged. The DF65 has two keels the long which is the standard for the boat and the short which
needs to be bought as an extra; the short keel is mostly used on the pond which is quite shallow.
Two other links with more information about the boats are www.rg65.org.uk and df65racing.co.uk
The Radio Controlled Yachts section organises its own racing including maintaining the level of the
pond. This is done by opening the valve on the west pontoon to let in sea water in coordination with
the environment officer who has to balance the use of the pond for radio controlled yacht racing
and the draining of the marsh, see details of the pond management below.
The format of the series racing is either 10 short races or two hours racing whichever is the shorter
with 4 discards depending on the number of races achieved. The final positions for the day are
entered for the series results. At the end of the series there is one discard day for 4 days racing and
two days discard days for 6 days racing. Trophies will be awarded at Prize Giving for the Club Regatta
and the Summer Series.
Radio controlled yacht programme for March 2015 to March 2016
2015 Winter Racing: 22nd February, 8th March
Spring Series: 15th March, 29th March, 12th April, 26th April
Club Radio Controlled Racing Regatta: 9th August
Summer Series: 10th May, 28thJune at 12:30, 12th July at 12:30, 16th August, 6th September, 25th
October at 12:30
Frostbite Series: 8th November, 22nd November, 6th December, 20th December
Mini Winkle: 3rd January 2016
2016 Winter Racing: 10th January, 24th January, 7th February, 21st February, 6th March
MRSC Pond Level Management
The Club site lies below the high tide level and is protected from sea flooding by the sea wall. The
pond is vital in protecting the site from rainwater flooding and is linked to the sea and the marsh
ditch by underground pipes and valves.
There are three points at which the Club normally controls the levels
(a) Automatic flap valve and bypass gate at seaward side of wall.
(b) Weir chamber between pond and south eastern corner of car park
(c) Outflow from ditch where water course goes below ground
The default position is bypass gate shut, free flow through weir chamber, free flow from ditch
outflow, with grating in place to prevent marsh debris getting into pipework.
This allows ditch to drain to sea at low tide, and to pond at high tide, until both pond and ditch are
able to flow to open sea at next low tide. The only circumstance when this is altered is to refresh the
pond to prevent stagnation, or to raise the pond level to facilitate R/C yacht activities.
The sequence for raising pond level is available about 2 hours either side of high water.
1 Replace ditch outflow grating with board to reduce sea water back-flow to ditch
2 Open bypass gate
This allows sea water into pond the level of which should not be allowed to rise above the concrete
lip of the pond inlet/outlet pipe
When the flow into pond stops or the level is high enough
1 The pond is dammed with the screw-valve “pig” at weir chamber
2 The ditch board is replaced by the grating at ditch outflow
3 The bypass gate is shut
From the ambient level two tides should achieve the required level. The level must not cause the car
park to flood with high rainfall. The pond should be emptied when raised level is not required.
All users are responsible for this.
Flood protection will take priority over activities on the pond