The DF 95 Project

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Here is the story of my entry into the world of DF 95.  I launch a new boat on 14/6/23 and sailed in my first TT event the following Sunday.  With the Tips from Richard Calas at Emsworth and Craig Richards from his facebook posts I was able to be competitive from the start.

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There is no point reinventing the wheel so rather than post ideas on setup, I start with Craig's wonderful series of articles on facebook on how to set your boat up and then I will add my own observations.

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The DF95 is a great one design boat and I have no regrets moving into the class.  It is a delight to sail and  the only way you will get more speed than someone else is by achieving a better setup or sailing better.  What more can you want.

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Starting with the build I was given some helpful advice:

 

• It is worth applying Epoxy all deck eyes. Unscrew, apply a tiny amount of epoxy and re-screw to seal all the deck fittings.

• Use epoxy when assembling the booms to give time to align the components.

• I upgraded to the newer brushless rudder servo as I thought the upgrade would be more reliable when centering the rudder. A lesson I learned on the IOM

• I bought 3 1000mAh life batteries from rc yachts as they were the cheapest supplier

• I chopped the top of the on/off switch as when I turned to port the electrics neatly switched off as the servo arm hit the on off switch.

• I bent the wire connector between the rudder servo and the tiller ever so slightly, so it did not catch on the deck hatch housing as this was straining the servo.

• I counter sunk the servo tray screws so the hatch sat neatly in its housing

• I threaded cord through the bung and added a restrainer to stop it coming out. This way I could empty the boat without ever losing the bung.

• I drilled a second hole on the A rig can for the mainsail fastening, 5 mm aft of the supplied hole

• Left the top sail tie loose on the A rig so sail flops nicely from side to side. I used fine cord to tie the sails to the mast.

• Every knot is secured with super glue.

• The assembly instructions are spot on although they only cover the A rig and could add a few comments about the B_D rigs.. Whilst the specs on the DF web site were good for the mast and boom. it took me a while to figure where do you attach the jib tacks and jib sheet eyes.

• Put a bigger knot on the topping lift inside boom.

• Be very careful with the jib wire terminals on the jibs. I have already had one ferrule that slipped. On my IOM, I terminate the wire by bending the wire using a Dupro tool. Might do that in the long term on the DF.

 

These are all simple tasks which I hope will improve the longevity of the boat or make it more efficient.

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With no boat speed advantage to be had it is all about the sailing, much of which I cover in racing an IOM. Whilst the tuning details are specific to the IOM, the rest applies to any class.  Maybe the heading should be Racing a radio controlled yacht.  Enjoy.

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