 For those of you who have asked,
here
is a list of what we purchased to modify our Victoria, both the modifications
and accessories.
After a few hours under sail, weakness
became apparent in the sail attachment areas where the PVC reinforcement
triangles separated from the sail material. Mainsail reinforcements were
not affected as badly as the jib reinforcements, but a few did separate.
Using the jib itself as the forestay guaranteed eventual failure at the
head and foot.
Tangling of the sail control line (sheet)
inside the radio compartment occurred occasionally when the sheet was let
out and there was not enough wind to cause the sail to keep sufficient
tension on the line.
 Lack
of positive sail control from a standard torque servo (40 in·oz)
necessitated a change to a high torque (140 in·oz) servo. Unnecessarily
high friction in the transom eyelet contributed significantly to the
problem.
In the process of making other
modifications, provisions were made to facilitate easy removal and
installation of the mast and sails.
Each modification, along with
instructions and pictures, is described in the hyperlinks at the top of
this page.
Total time spent should be around two
hours with the mod kit, and maybe three without it. Of course, you will
need to spend additional time running down parts and tools without the
kit. |
Although
the Victoria sailboat is basically a fine craft as supplied by Thunder
Tiger, there are a number of fairly simple and inexpensive modifications that will make it a superior
product. The following few pages provide all the detail and instructions necessary to transform your
Victoria into a lean, mean, sailing machine.
