I’m happy (and slightly proud) to say the King Edward made it through two days of intensive combat with zero breakdowns. With a few improvements before the battle the beltdrive performed perfectly and I had zero issues. I’m very happy with it! The pump was a beast as usual and kept me afloat for all but the very last sortie where I took heavy damage. Love that thing! Guns worked pretty well too. I made some changes to the sidemount and changed the firing angle which made it a whole lot more fun to use. Overall the King is becoming a very fun boat to run with all the bugs worked out. I think she’s starting to earn a little respect from the vets too.
with a rudder rule just passing for this year, on the heels of one the prior year, i have a hard time envisioning IRCWCC clamping down on fishtails this upcoming ballot. Last year there seemed a fair amount of rule change fatigue expressed and while there was interest in banning the fishtails, it fell short. Seems like we're due for a more sedate rules process unless something blows up mightily between now and Nats.
Fishtails are hated on the internet, support is much higher at actual battles. Last year at the rules meeting there were only a couple of votes in favor of outlawing them, no where close to enough support for changing anything
Thanks for the replies, sorry to derail. just wanted to see if they were still kosher, since the KE had one
They are legal. The only thing changed with new rule is the combined width of your rudder(s) cannot be more than 7/8".
I've been playing around with prop and rudder arraignments this weekend. After trying the propellers on opposite shafts and flipping them I decided they were best the way I had them. But then I made a new rudder based on Rick's advice and I noticed a significant decrease in turning radius. On a slow turn she will nearly pivot on her bow. For a two shafted "pig" of a boat I think that's pretty good! Nassaus beware!
Battle report after Nate's: Overall I'm pretty happy with the performance of the King Edward. The main issues I had were vibrations on the belt drive (pretty sure it's just poorly made mounts causing it) and very poor ROF on the sidemount. Otherwise she handled well and I was able to mix it up with the big ships and not take terrible while dishing out questionable damage myself. Before Nate's I changed the angle of the bow guns to directly forward from the 15 degrees to port which made them a lot more fun to use. Range was much more consistent and nobody figures on bow guns so the fun points are awesome when you light somebody up as they pass your bow. The only things that really need any work is the sidemount so it will fire faster (tweak the interrupter and add a accumulator tank) and adjust the mount to improve down angle. Then resheet the boat and she'll be ready to fight again or become my backup boat once the France is done. Here's a few pics from Nate's. Teams were Flag vs. No-Flag.
Nice. I've been debating dual bows for the surprise factor . glad it worked out for you. what's this about another boat?
If you have better mounting options (like dual sterns) bow guns aren't a great choice. Dual sterns will always be more effective. I use them because I prefer a stern sidemount and dual bows over a bow sidemount and dual sterns. If I could have mounted them in the back I would have. But they are fun. Yes, another boat. FN France (Coubet class) will be built this winter with one of Kevin's hulls. Time to get into a man's size boat apparently. lol
Love what you have done with the king there Beaver. However I seam to be misunderstanding why you want to build a Corbett?????? The last pic you posted demonstrates you are already ahead of all french boats!!! At least the king battles before it sinks, the Corbett you have to scuttle the moment they call battle so I would think less fun factor. Than again I go to Irish Festivals and Have fun cuz My Kids are Irish so there in mite lie the problem. Be sure to post picks of your build I am looking forward to your build. craig
Aha! You have discovered my strategy. Patching the King Edward gets tedious and the general word has it that French boats don't have a lot of damage to patch. Seems like an obvious choice! lol I'll be documenting the build. Probably will start a build thread once I get a hull from Kevin. In the meantime I've been procuring parts and assembling different subsystems.
Speaking of the mother country, too bad the Frenchies never finished the Normandie class. that's be a neat-o little boat with quad sterns. After Kevin's Plug work turned out so well, I've been looking forward to the Courbet build threads.
