Duke City Model Yacht Club

DCMYC.INFO@GMAIL.COM

2024 INTRACLUB FLEET RACING SERIES (PDF)

2024 RACING SCHEDULE (PDF)

2024 SEASON RESULTS (PDF)

THE CLUB THE RACING
THE POND

THE BOATS

PAST RACE RESULTS AND NEWSLETTERS

The Duke City Model Yacht Club (DCMYC) was formed in April 1996 in Albuquerque, New Mexico to promote radio-controlled model sailboat racing. The DCMYC (#213) is the only club in New Mexico sanctioned by the American Model Yachting Association (AMYA).

The Soling One Meter, DragonForce 65 and DragonFlite 95 fleets race on rotating Saturday afternoons throughout the year at Tingley Beach Acquatic Park.

Registration in the Intraclub Fleet Racing Series allows you full Club membership including allowing you to vote on club affairs. Membership is not limited to local residents.

All are welcome to visit us at the pond and we will help you sail one of our boats before or after the races.

The Pond

Tingley Beach Acquatic Park provides a permanent year-round sailing location with handy parking, handicap access, and nearby toilet facilities.

The model boat pond is the northernmost pond at Tingley Beach Acquatic Park. The pond is slightly hour glass shaped with the distance across the pond at the neck about 125 feet. The pond widens to about 160 feet to the right and left of this neck. The long axis of the pond is 322 feet, oriented about NNW-SSE. The pond edges are sloped about 45 degrees from the edge of the sidewalk down to a four foot depth at the edges and about five feet deep at the lake center line. The pond has a five foot wide concrete sidewalk adjacent to the water around the entire pond. Two sections of steps lead directly into the water for launching or retrieving boats. The water is chemically treated to reduce vegetation, and no fish are planted.

From I-40

  1. Exit I-40 at Rio Grande Blvd (exit 157A)
  2. South on Rio Grande Blvd 0.8 mile to Central Ave.
  3. West on Central Ave. 0.6 mile to Tingley Dr.
  4. South on Tingley Dr. about 1/10th mile to the Tingley Beach entrance road.

From I-25

  1. Exit I-25 at Lead-Coal (exit 224)
  2. West on Lead Ave. 2.2 miles to Tingley Dr.
  3. North on Tingley Dr. 0.6 miles past the three fishing lakes to Tingley Beach entrance road.

The model boat pond is immediately north of the entrance road.

SAFETY NOTE: Each fleet bag includes a rescue throw bag. Each bag is attached to 50 feet of floating rope to enable towing someone over to the stairs so they can get out of the pond. A bag is also available for folks who go to the pond during the week for informal sailing. We will also hold training sessions at the pond for each fleet several times a year.

GOOGLE MAP CURRENT WEATHER AT TINGLEY BEACH
BRIEF HISTORY OF TINGLEY BEACH RESCUE THROW BAG VIDEO
BIOPARK WEATHER

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The Boats

Soling One Meter

The Soling One Meter (S1m) is 1 meter (39.4 inches) long, weighs 10 pounds with its 54-inch mast, and uses flat dacron cloth sails. Two radio control channels--sails and rudder--are permitted. The class rules are very strict in that no performance enhancing changes may be made. We have been racing the S1m class yacht since January 1998. Approximate costs: Basic kit without electronics, $225, electronics, from $90 to $260. The boat is available built and ready to sail, see manufacturer for details. This kit requires model building experience to complete. The club has a building jig available for members use.

DragonForce 65

The 650mm/25.7in x 1338mm/52.7in DF65 is well-suited for the size of our pond and is easy to transport in any vehicle. As a one-design boat, you will be putting their sailing skills to the test not your wallet.

New DF65's are available as easy-to-assemble kits for less than $300.

DragonFlite 95

The Dragon Flite 95 is a new class that our Club started racing in 2017. Another a new class for AMYA, it has been growing rapidly in popularity. This boat is a tightly restricted one-design class, only available from a single manufacturer. The boat is 95 cm long (37.4 inches) and weighs 2000g (4.4 lbs) without batteries. The boat can carry four sail sets. The largest set, the A rig, has a mast height of 105 cm (41.3 inches), with sail area 3736 sq cm (579 sq inches). The Dragon Flite 95 sells for around $375, which includes the stock radio. DF 95 class rules may be found at the DF 95 class owners site.

NOTE: DF95's race on the same days with RG65's but times vary. Email DCMYC.info@gmail.com to confirm.

SOLING ONE METER AMYA WEBPAGE

DRAGONFLITE 95 USA WEBSITE

DRAGONFORCE 65 USA WEBSITE
BOAT COMPARISON

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The Racing

2024 INTERCLUB FLEET RACING SERIES (PDF)
2024 RACING SCHEDULE (PDF) RACE RESULTS AND CLUB NEWSLETTERS
DCMYC STANDING SAILING INSTRUCTIONS (PDF) GUIDE to GETTING STARTED in RACING (PDF)
PLAY THE RULES QUIZ SAIL WARS YOUTUBE CHANNEL
WORLD SAILING RACING RULES 2021-2024 (PDF)

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The Club

BYLAWS OF THE DUKE CITY MODEL YACHT CLUB
OFFICERS CLUB HISTORY
TINGLEY BEACH---A BRIEF HISTORY TINGLEY BEACH BEFORE DCMYC
PAST OFFICERS & MEMBERSHIP

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Officers

Commodore: Mark Sutton

Treasurer: Peter Eschman

Regatta Captain: Mike Wilson

Club History

In the Summer of 1994, Joe Frasier was sailing a CR914 he had assembled and embellished to look like a scale twelve meter Americas cup boat. At one of the AMMA club sails he suggested that interested club members might acquire this relatively cheap and simple boat kit and begin one class racing. The racing done previously in this group had been with boats from one meter "Peapods" and Star 36's down to 16-inch Rivieras, all sailing together, which wasn't much fun for the smaller boats. Three of us (Joe, Vic Rotolo and myself) committed to getting these CR914 kits and racing. At that time the kits MSRP was $350 ($175 from the distributor in Seattle), but Joe arranged a purchase of 6 kits for about $150 each. The other kits sold quickly once others saw us racing these easy to build boats. By August, nine CR914s were sailing or under construction.

We rigged buoys from plastic toilet floats (about six inches across) and fishing weights with string wrapped around pieces of wooden boards with a large nail inserted to hold the boards to the sandy shore.

At the time we were sailing at the lake at the South end of Tingley beach. Tingley Beach was a shadow of its former glory days. It consisted of a pond about 200' long and 80' across with a concrete dam at the North end. Overflow from the lake dropped about 4' into a long ditch extending about a mile North to Central Avenue. The lake was located about where the catch-and-release pond of the New Aquatic park is now located. The lake water level was maintained by pumped water and the fish were replenished by the State in the Winter months. This was the only fishing lake other than the irrigation ditch system in the metro area. When the ditches were running (March 1st to Oct 1st) they were stocked by the State Fisheries.

In general, the AMMA (Albuquerque Model Marine Association) consisted of older retired people interested primarily in scale R/C boat modeling. Mostly it was a social group. Each Saturday morning, weather permitting, they would set up folding tables and chairs in the shade along the NW corner of the lake and place their assortment of boats on the tables. In general these were scale tugs or high-speed racing boats, with rarely more than two in the water at one time. When the speed boats hit the water they were alone because they were not too controllable. The start times varied throughout the year such that the core group started at the most comfortable time, 9 A.M. in the summer and noon or 1 P.M. in the winter.

Once organized sail racing began, the scale people objected to the buoys in the water. Finally, a schedule was arranged whereby the non-sail group would have the water for 2 hours, then would clear out and the sail people would set up the race course. When the non-sail people would clear the water early, the sail guys wanted to set up earlier but were met with objections such as "I might want to put my boat back in". Another source of contention was the informality of AMMA, an informal core group would make policy at lakeside. In the early Spring of 1996, Bill Petynia, Jim Scheibner and Joe Frasier wrote up a set of bylaws for AMMA with the encouragement of the official president, Jerry Solenberger. The bylaws set up scale, high-speed and sailing fleets each with a fleet commander reporting to an overall commodore. These fleet commanders would control the operation of the club with all members voting on proposals. The proposed bylaws were submitted to the group at the March 1996 monthly meeting but were shouted down by one of the members, essentially, "this is a social group, we don't need no stinking bylaws". This was the last straw. Joe, Bill, Vic and Jim decided to remove themselves from AMMA and form a new sailing club. We named it Duke City MYC in April 1996.

The following Saturday we appeared at the lake at 10 A.M. and set up a race course in a wide spot in the ditch (Tingley Trench) below (North of) the dam. By this time, three others had bought CR914's and eventually joined DCMYC over the Summer from the other club. During 1996, bylaws were written, all four joined AMYA, and we received designation as AMYA club #213 in August. We wrote a DCMYC Handbook which included the purpose of the Club, sailing rules and our Bylaws, which was presented to all new members. In October Sergio D'Antoni moved to the area and joined us. Earl Boebert joined in December 1996. By years end we had eleven members.

Joe Frasier had been working with Budd Conner in Maine to get class sanction for the CR914 from AMYA. This was done. Our boats were among the initial 20 registered. In early 1996 Conner asked us to host the first ever CR914 ACCR (Annual Class Championship Race) in Albuquerque, which we had to decline since we couldn't guarantee a decent venue. The regatta was held instead at Marblehead, MA, attended by Joe Frasier. In 1995 or 1996, the CR914 distibutorship changed hands from the Seattle importer to Worth Marine in Marblehead, MA. Worths first action was to up the cost of the kit to $450, including electronics. About this same time, Worth bought the Pekabe fittngs company. Budd Conner became ill and relinquished the class secretary job to Chuck Winder in October 1996. In January 1997 we held our first awards dinner at the KAFB Officers club. Trophies presented were handmade by Sergio's wife Maya. Dues for 1997 were upped to $25.

In the Summer of 1997 we met with the curator of the Botanic Gardens, and negotiated rights to sail at the Botanic Garden pond. They requested we sail also on Thursday evenings at the Summer Nights musical events as a scenic backdrop. We attempted racing at this pond, but the size and shape discouraged us. The Zoo also requested we sail during the Summer concerts in the pond in front of the bandshell. This sailing was short lived at the Zoo since the pond was much to small, but continued for several years at the Botanical Gardens until the weeds drove us out. These excursions netted us much goodwill with the Park management and helped in our bid for a better place to sail than the crowded and polluted Tingley beach trench.

Some members thought the cost of the CR914 now excessive, and we debated and investigated other classes. Since Sergio and Vic had raced the Soling 1m in NY state, and both owned and touted the Soling, we added that inexpensive (cost $95 for the kit) boat to our fleet. Some members objected that we shouldn't dilute the fleet, and that the Soling was too difficult to build. The Victoria (a kit boat similar to the CR914) was also considered. It cost slightly over $100 for the kit, was easier to assemble than the Soling 1m, and was obtained by two members. Jim Scheibner built a construction jig for the Soling 1m from plans supplied by Jim Linville, and then assembled a Soling. The Soling sailed much better than the Victorias. We began Soling 1 meter racing unofficially in the Fall of 1997. Royal Blue Club caps were bought and made available to members.

Vic Rotolo arranged with the Zia Pueblo to sail at no cost on their lake this year. This lake is about 1/4 mile across and 1/2 mile long. Because of rocks, a dam, sandbars and weeds, the sailing areas were limited to three locations. Buoys had to be towed out by a boat (tug or soling). The longer courses were both cursed and heralded. Out-of-control boats were sometimes difficult to retrieve. This lake is 45 minutes from Albuquerque, West of Bernalillo on Highway US 550.

The City of Albuquerque finally managed to purchase the Tingley beach area from the MRGCD for $3.875 million. The press release stated the City would build "a fishing pond, model boat pond, a swimming pool and other amenities".

By the end of 1997, members were actively sailing eight CR914's and five Soling 1 meters. Club sanctioned racing of both boat classes began in January 1998 . The election of officers changed the Regatta Captain to Sergio D'Antoni.

In 1998, Avian Botulism was killing ducks and geese so the trench below the dam was partially drained. We were sailing primarily at Zia lake, but it was iffy because of higher winds than in Albuquerque, and unannounced closings of the Pueblo. Interest was being shown by some skippers for the EC12 class. Both Sergio and Bill Petynia had previously sailed this boat, and new member Eddie Sigman from the Socorro area was building one. The end of the year 1998 showed nine active CR914 skippers and seven Soling skippers.

There were no changes in officers or dues for 1999. The Club sailed at Zia exclusively until June, when we returned part time to Tingley. The first EC12 race was attempted on Sept 11, 1999. Sergio D'Antoni's boat suffered servo problems and Bill Petynia had a mainsail casualty; Eddie Sigmans new boat was flawless. On October 2nd, the EC12s sailed successfully at the brand-new Escondido park lake, North of Soccorro. A special event was held by the Club on Oct 30 at Escondido. Beginning in October, the race schedule was changed such that both CR914s and Solings would alternate heats on the same day. This proved tiring for those sailing both classes. At the time DCMYC was sailing only on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays.

Officers and dues remain unchanged for the year 2000. EC12 races are scheduled for the 1st and 3rd Saturdays, with Both CR914 and Solings alternating on the other Saturdays. In January, Jim Scheibner generated and brought the DCMYC web site on-line. Also in January, Escondido lake sailing was discontinued (for large groups) due to the increased popularity of fishing. Fishing at Tingley also precluded sailing, and our sailing was moved to a point further North at Tingley, nicknamed "Tingley Trench". This site was long and narrow, perhaps 70 feet wide as a maximum. The course length was limited by brush and trees along the shore, and should a boat be marooned on the opposite shore a very long walk was required for retrieval. This site along with Zia Lake were to be our venues for the foreseeable future. In May, the Zia Tribal Ccouncil decided sailors should pay the same entrance fee as fishermen--$5 per day. Steve Bailey joined the club sailing a CR914. The combining of races on one day for CR914 and Soling was beginning to crumble, as some members sailing both boats found it too tiring, and chose to sail only one boat. At year end there were five active CR914s and 12 Solings. The racing schedule for the following year was changed such that the two smaller classes, EC12 and CR914, would alternate races the same day and the Solings would have a day to themselves.

Joe Frasier desired to drop the Secretary Treasurer post while continuing as the newsletter editor. Steve Bailey was elected to Sec/Treas position. Dues were unchanged for 2001. Solings were divided into two classes (Gold and Silver) for scoring/trophy purposes but sailed together. The City erected a sign at the entrance to Tingley stating construction of the Aquatic Park would begin in the Spring of 2001 with completion Fall 2002. At the end of 2001 there were five active CR914s, thirteen Solings and five EC12s, and no pond construction had begun.

For 2002 the officers and dues were not changed. It was decided the participation of CR914 skippers was too low and the class wasl be dropped from club racing. In January the above mentioned Tingley entrance sign was altered with the new Mayors name, and the start and finish dates were painted out. The minimum number of heats needed per race day was reduced from 7 to 5, with the reasoning being to encourage longer, 2 lap heats. New member Pete Eschman arranged a special day on June 1st, for members of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society to meet us and sail our boats. They seemed to have a great time. The Aquarium began a permanent exhibit of model boats including four boats belonging to DCMYC members. The year ended with 5 active EC12 skippers sailing twelve races and the fifteen active Soling 1m skippers sailing twenty races.

For 2003, Jim Scheibner was elected Commodore, Sergio D'Antoni continued as Regatta Captain, and Bob Schoos was elected Treasurer. The By Laws were changed to make the Secretary an appointed position, which was passed to Joe Frasier, the newsletter editor. Dues remained at $25. The large number of Soling skippers increased the number of frequency and interference problems of those using AM radios. (Note: FM radios were immune due to double conversion receivers, and spread spectrum was not yet announced). Some skippers were not coordinating with the club before buying new radios or crystals. The city announced $22 million was made available through the Army Corps of Engineers for "Bosque Revitalization" which was to include fishing ponds and a separate model boating pond. Plans were to be completed by Fall 2003 with construction to begin early 2004. Blue Polo shirts with the club logo silk screened on the back were made available through the Treasurer. The first annual picnic was held at La Cueva lake (above Jemez Springs) with our families. A visitor to the the pond wrote an article about her impressions of the Club for her neighborhood newsletter "The Desert Boatmen of Tingley Beach". Our newsletter, The Rudder, began publishing photos, thanks to computer advances. The year end showed 5 active EC12 skippers had sailed twelve of twenty-two scheduled races while the thirteen active soling skippers had sailed twenty-one of Twenty-two scheduled.

For 2004, there was no change in officers or dues. Beginning this year, non-sailing RDs will receive a 2 point score for their efforts. Tingley beach closed March 1 for construction of the new aquatic park, and racing was to be at Zia until the the new ponds are open, scheduled for Summer 2005. The second annual picnic at La Cueva was a success, except for Pete Eschman trying to eat a yellow jacket. Sergio D'Antoni became inactive due to health reasons. End of year statistics show six active EC12 skippers sailed only 6 of twenty-four scheduled races, while the thirteen active Soling skippers sailed fifteen of the twenty-three scheduled. All races after the Tingley closing were sailed at Zia.

For 2005, Jim Scheibner continued as Commodore, and Richard Dickhaut and Bruce Wagner were elected Regatta Captain and Treasurer, respectively. Dues were increased to $30. During the year it became obvious the Aquatic Park would open before the Model Boat Pond (MBP) was completed. In fact the opening was held October 15, but the MBP had not yet started. In October it was decided to forego our monthly meetings because of low attendance. The EC12 group sailed only one race of the twenty-four scheduled and no races were run after March. The Solings skippers were down to ten active, but managed to sail thirteen of the twenty-three scheduled--weather cancelled six and the pueblo was closed on four. Skippers had to pay the fee of $6 at Zia as well as drive the distance.

For 2006, officers were unchanged but dues were reduced back to $25. No EC12 races are on the schedule because the skippers would not commit to race regularly. The new MBP was opened, unofficially, on July 8th, with no fan fare. The Soling race scheduled for Zia on that day was moved "Back to Tingley". In October the pond was vandalized by a person or persons cutting long slits in the pond liner. The pond was temporarily closed (October thru January), and a layer of gunnite was sprayed over the upper three feet of the liner. Unfortunately, that made the sides of the pond slope instead of being vertical, which makes launching keel boats difficult. The new pond brought some skippers out of semi-retirement, with sixteen Solings active at season end. Sixteen of twenty-four scheduled races were sailed. Two EC12 races were held in August in an attempt to reinvigorate that class. Joe Frasier announced he was stepping down as newsletter editor effective the new year. He had performed the job for Ten years.

Officers elected for 2007 were Steve Bailey, Commodore; Vic Rotolo, Regatta Captain; and Bruce Wagner, Treasurer. Dues were reduced to $18 since the newsletter would be distributed by email, eliminating postage and printing costs. The EC12 class was again scheduled for alternate Saturdays, but no races were sailed. There were 12 active Solings at year end.

There were no changes in officers or dues for 2008. In February several skippers began building RG65 models using hulls supplied by Earl Boebert. Scheduled RG65 racing began in April, and we held the first Rio Grande Cup (RGC) invitational meet in October. This was the first RG65 invitational regatta in North America. At year end there were thirteen active Solings, and sixteen races had been held. Six RG65's were being sailed, 4 ABQ65 hulls and 2 JIF65, 6 races had been sailed, but no trophies were awarded in this new class.

For 2009 Earl Boebert was elected Commodore, with Jim Scheibner as Regatta Captain, while Bruce Wagner remained Treasurer. The RG65 class is gaining in popularity, with the AMYA recognizing the class, and our own Earl Boebert the class USA Secretary. The second RGC invitational brought skippers from California and Texas, with Texas entrant Eric Rosenbaum taking home the cup. Sixteen other RG65 races were held, With ten active skippers. Eleven Active Soling skippers sailed a total of nineteen races.

The 2010 officer slate was unchanged. Nine active Soling skippers were in fifteen races, and 8 active RG65 skippers raced in twenty races, plus the RGC. This year the third annual RGC was also the First National championship Race for the RG65 class. The fourteen entrants home states included Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Maryland, Texas, Colorado and California. Once again Texan Eric Rosenbaum won the Cup plus the National Championship.

For 2011 the dues were increased from $18 to $20. No changes in Officers for 2011 until Bruce Wagner moved to Florida and Peter Roupas assumed the Treasurer office mid year. Ten active Soling skippers sailed a total of nineteen races. Eight active RG65 skippers sailed nineteen races plus the Fourth Annual RGC. The RGC pulled in twelve entrants, including seven from four other states, with Eric Rosenbaum of Texas scoring his third cup trophy.

For the 2012 season, Mike Jiron assumed the Commodore position with Steve Bailey taking on the Regatta Captain position. One highlight was receiving permission to install permanent marks on the MBP. It turned out to be more difficult than we had thought to make a mark that would not deflate or be eaten by the ravenous geese, yet be visible. Our newest member sailing an RG65 is only 8 years old. The club had thirteen active solings at year end, at least twenty races were sailed and we hosted the first Soling One Meter Region 5 Championship Race, with 4 Colorado entrants. Coloradoan Richard Ball won the Championship. Nine active RG65 skippers sailed twenty-two races, and the Fifth Annual Rio Grande Cup race attracted twelve entrants, with Texas, Colorado, and California represented. Eric Rosenbaum took his fourth Cup trophy home to Texas.

For 2013 Pete Eschman took over the Commodore office. The permanent mark problem has not yet been solved, but is progressing. The Dragon Force RG65 became available, which should be a shot in the arm for the RG65 class. The DF is almost ready to sail and includes electronics for $175, is the first kit version available. A Soling One Meter R5CR regatta was held in September with the sole out-of-stater, Richard Ball from Colorado, taking home the championship trophy. The Sixth Annual Rio Grande Cup Regatta, the oldest RG65 regatta in North America, drew 22 entrants including seven outside states with three former National Champions. This was our first experience sailing split fleets. Eric Rosenbaum took his fifth straight Cup championship. At year end, twelve were actively sailing Solings and fourteen actively sailing the RG65. Thirteen Soling races were held with eighteen RG65 races.

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Tingley Beach---A Brief History

Tingley Beach was built in the early 1930s in a joint project between the City of Albuquerque and the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District (MRGCD), as a blight and mosquito improvement project (the area had become a sewer-like dump). Water was diverted from the river via the ditch system. The land was owned by MRGCD and leased to the City for operation for $1 per year. The Beach, a linear lake, included extensive swimming and diving facilities, bath houses, and an island in the center of the South end, with fishing in the Northern end. A big draw was the speed boat races around the island. The area was very popular (8 lifeguards) until the late forties when attendance declined because of a Polio scare. The area was then closed until 1952 when a small lake was isolated by a dam and fed with well water. This too was closed to swimming in late '52. The water area North of the dam extending to Central avenue was neglected and deteriorated. The model boaters shared the South lake, whenever possible, with fishermen who did not want to share the water---rocks were sometimes thrown at the boats.

The City built the Botanic Gardens and Aquarium in the 90's, funded by a 1/4% "Quality of Life" sales tax that also allowed the Aquatic Park to be planned. In '94 the MRGCD reneged on the Dollar per year land lease (renewed in '90 for 25 years), feeling they were not getting a fair return on the property. The City sued to acquire the property, and after three years of legal battles and negotiations, obtained the 40 acres North of Central and 26 Acres South of Central (Tingley Beach) for about $3.9 M. The negotiations included condemning the Beach as a "blighted area".

The US Corps of Engineers then cooperated with the City in a "Bosque Restoration Project". The Corps funded the fishing and wildlife lakes while the City funded redesign of Tingley Drive, the Model Boat Pond construction, and the railroad tying the Biopark areas together. Construction began in March 2004, and the Fishing lakes were opened October 2005. The Model Boat Pond was completed in July 2006, but budget problems had deleted the water filtering system, shade structures, and parking areas from the original design.

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Reminiscence of Tingley Beach before DCMYC

by Frank Horine

Recently, I read with pleasure a rendition of the transition from the AMMA (AlbuquerqueModel Marine Association) to the current DCMYC boat club activities at Tingley Beach. As aformer long-time member of AMMA, I can offer some history of our happy times at TingleyBeach.

During the 1960's, 70's, and 80's, we had a diverse group of model boaters sailing R/Csubmarines, sailboats, airboats, speedboats, scale warships, pleasure craft, paddlewheelriverboats, tugboats, etc. Propulsion power came from steam, electric, wind, and springmotor. We used all the assigned 27MHz R/C frequencies and a few of the 53MHz amateurradio channels to enable many boats to operate simultaneously.

Our usable open-water area was much larger than the small current model boat pond atTingley, so we could put lots of different boats on the pond at the same time without anyonefeeling cramped or infringed upon. Looking back, I now realize our time at Tingley Beachwas a "golden age" of R/C boating in Albuquerque, since the very large water area we hadaccess to prevented the squabbles and territory issues that can plague model boaters usinghighly-regulated small model boat ponds. And Albuquerque was much smaller and morelaid back in those days, so the ducks, geese, children, and fishing folks could spread outminimizing use-conflicts so common in big cities.

Some of the more advanced AMMA modelers had multichannel proportional radios, withboth early digital systems or conventional resonant-reed systems. Most of my R/C systemswere multichannel ganged rubber-band-powered sequential escapements driving homebrew"servos" for rudder, throttle, reverse, horn, sheet winches, and sound effects. I built a highvoltageinverter for my vacuum tube MOPA (Master Oscillator Power Amplifier) 27MHztransmitter so I could power the filaments, plates, and grids of the vacuum tubes fromsurplus NiCd secondary batteries instead of the costly A, B, and C high-voltage primarybatteries. I splurged in 1975 and assembled a Heathkit 5-channel transistorized radio system.It was either the radio or a rebuilt engine for my old truck. I wound up rebuilding the enginemyself and so I figured I deserved the Heathkit radio! My sequential escapement systemswere bullet-proof, but the Heathkit radio was easier to operate and maintain.

A local electric motor designer, Ray Kroker, sold his unique double-commutator watercooledboat motors for use at Tingley. Some of the club members could afford these fabulousmotors, but I had Pittman or converted electric trolling motors in my boats. By rigging ballbearingunits into the motor endbells to replace the stock Oilite-bushed bearings, my cheapmotors would last a long time. Another local company, F&M (Frank and Mary Hoover)Electronics made multi-channel resonant-reed radio systems which worked well for modelboats.

My most complex boat was a 7 foot long 55 pound scratch-built "starship cruiser" with Heathkit R/C electronics and a home-made rotary-valve compressed air-driven watercannon. I made a water-jacket cooler for the small 20 pound thrust trolling motor spinning asmall 4 inch diameter prop. This medium-sized model boat was a real hoot to build and I hadmore fun with this crazy project than any other boat I made for Tingley.

I tinkered with a pulsed-steam-jet propulsion system, and I also designed a forerunner of themodern Azi-pod electric drive, but they were difficult to control with my sequentialescapements. I did manage to construct a working (sort of) steam turbine, with reverse even,but the turbine was too inefficient, leaked high-temp steam, and lacked a high-pressureinjection condenser. One of our club members started an air-boat racing class which we allenjoyed greatly and gave us many laughs and good times.

My Star 45 sailboat was rather small, but it sailed well in the winds at Tingley. I installed ahome-brew twin-track linear main-sheet and jib winch with a radio-controlled main-sheetreefing system for variable-wind days. This worked well, and I could adjust the main-sheetarea under way without putting in to port to increase or lessen sheet area. I put a smallPittman bi-directional motor in this boat as an auxiliary motor for calm days, and areverse/brake for berthing. Our club was primarily an electric-drive boat club, but we had afew sailboats among the members.

Our club was small, but happy and lively, with weekend attendance of 6-20 boat owners plusmany onlookers and would-be boat owners. We sure had fun during the 30 years or so of ourmodel boat activities at Tingley. Thanks to our laid-back members, and plenty of open water,we always figured out ways to have fast boats, tugboats, sailboats, and submarines togetheron the pond. Fun for all was our motto! Some of the key members passed-on in the 80's and90's, the city was starting the large-scale renovation of Tingley Drive and Beach, and the AMMA splintered into other activities. I donated all my boats to remaining club membersand returned to my childhood hobbies of model airplanes, electronics, and home-brewrockets.

There were very active model boat and full-size racing boat clubs at Tingley Beach beforeWW II, and gasoline ignition-engine model boat racing in the 1950's. Hopefully, there willalways be a model boat club at Tingley- it just seems to fit in whatever the time period!!

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Past Officers & Membership

Year Commodore Regatta Capt. Treasurer Total membership
2023 M. Sutton   P. Eschman 14
2022 M. Sutton J. Clough P. Roupas 14
2021 M. Sutton J. Bannerman P. Roupas 14
2020 E. Boebert P. Boucher P. Roupas 18
2019 P. Eschman G. Hawn P. Roupas 20
2018 P. Eschman G. Hawn P. Roupas 20
2017 P. Eschman G. Hawn P. Roupas 20
2016 P. Eschman J. Scheibner P. Roupas 20
2015 P. Eschman

P. Montalvo

J. Scheibner

P. Roupas 20
2014 P. Eschman P. Montalvo P.Roupas 19
2013 P. Eschman S. Bailey P. Roupas 21
2012 M. Jiron S. Bailey P. Roupas 22
2011 E. Boebert J. Scheibner B. Wagner/P. Roupas 19
2010 E. Boebert J. Scheibner B. Wagner 19
2009 E. Boebert J. Scheibner B. Wagner 23
2008 S. Bailey V. Rotolo B. Wagner 25
2007 S. Bailey V. Rotolo B. Wagner 24
2006 J. Scheibner R. Dickhaut B. Wagner 16 by 3/06
2005 J. Scheibner R. Dickhaut B. Wagner 20
2004 J. Scheibner S. D'Antoni B. Schoos 23
2003 J. Scheibner S. D'Antoni B. Schoos 22
2002 B. Petynia S. D'Antoni S. Bailey 21
2001 B. Petynia S. D'Antoni S. Bailey 24
2000 B. Petynia S. D'Antoni J. Frasier 25
1999 B. Petynia S. D'Antoni J. Frasier 15
1998 B. Petynia S. D'Antoni J. Frasier 12
1997 B. Petynia J. Scheibner J. Frasier 10
1996 B. Petynia J. Scheibner J. Frasier 10

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