Building a ‘Woodie’ IOM
Notes: I’m not an expert on this subject and without all the links referred to on this page, plus the help of members, I couldn’t have built a Woodie.
If you want to win the World Championship then a woodie’s probably not for you as they tend to be older designs, but they still win races at club level and they get a lot of admiring comments.
Giving it a go…
Building my first wooden IOM was quite a challenge but as my confidence grew, so did my enjoyment. Whilst it may not be for everyone, it can be extremely satisfying to build and race (and occasionally win) with a boat you’ve built yourself.
One of our members had built a corbie 5 and I really loved the look of the woodie compared to the fibreglass boats so I decided to give it a go.
Build No.1 - Ian Vickers’ V8
Looking around at available plans, I came across the Ian Vickers V8 rendered as laser cut plans by Steve Deligan in Seattle. His blog: Stix of Wood is an excellent resource for a number of things on RC sailing. I built the boat following this blog almost exclusively. This series of blogs covers all stages of the build. Vickers had agreed to sell Steve’s laser cut drawings and that made my starting point a whole lot easier. My local Men’s Shed has a laser cutter, so I just needed to work out how to use it, but there are commercial operators out there if you dont have a good Men’s Shed.
I decided to cut my own strips of wood as I’d found an old piece of what I think was Western Red Cedar. Back at the Men’s Shed again, I stripped this down to varying widths of between 5-8mm, then through the band saw down to approx 3mm thick, then through a sander/thicknesser to smooth them off, finishing up at around 2.5mm. Alternatively use balsa wood readily available from hardware or hobby shops. Note: Balsa is not as strong as cedar, but after an epoxy glass coating it is quite durable. The plywood required was sourced from Boatcraft Pacific, as was the fibreglass, epoxy and aquacote. The ply was birch ply, 0.5mm to 3mm small sheets.
The decking on this build was made from thin ply sheets as per the plans. The appearance of planking is made by etching the wood in the laser cutter. Something you probably won’t get commercially unless you can manipulate the files yourself as I did. You can of course plank the decks.
I also built and used Steve’s Alignment jig in order to make sure the fin and rudder were aligned correctly. An excellent tool if you like building your own. I built Steve’s boat stand as well.
I followed the Stix of Wood blogs when building the boat and with the help of a couple of club members ended up with a boat that I’m proud of. It took me a few months to build my first boat but only a couple of weeks to build a second ‘Woodie’ IOM around a year later (see Equinox below).
Here is the Link to ‘Stix of Wood’ blog which I used extensively.
I also referred to these links from Radio Yacht Squadron Nelson New Zealand for more information.
Some of the tools and items I used
Men’s Shed tools including laser cutter, Band saw etc
Jig Stand and Laser level (vital in my opinion) Plans for jig available here
Set of Mini Files (essential)
Set of japanese cutting Tools (I didnt use them much)
Titebond III PVC glue
Supa Glue, 5 min and long set epoxy glues
Needle tip Glue Bottle for PVC glue application on each plank (well worth the $2 at the discount store)
Dremel (didnt use much)
Razor blade Plane (essential)
Scalpel or cutting knifes
Epoxy and glass for coating hull
Clear Coat for finishing hull
Some parts and materials required
The bulb, fin and rudder were built and supplied by a member of our club.
The rig kit , I purchased from radio sailing
Winch (808) from Radio Sailing Shop
Other parts from Radio Yacht Supplies Australia
The sails from Sailboat RC Croatia
Transmitter from Amazon
Wood from Mens Shed
Boat Stand design from Stix of Wood
Plywood from Pacific Boat Craft
PLANS
V8 Plans are available from Ian Vickers website. Paper plans are available or the laser cut files which are what I used.
https://www.vickersrcsailing.com/product-page/v8-laser-cut-frames
For images on the boat build, please see the Stix of Wood blog as it outlines the build in very good detail.
J Price
Build No.2 - Frank Russell’s Equinox
Having a lot more confidence from building my first boat, I came across Frank Russel’s Equinox.
Frank kindly released the laser cut plans and again making the build a whole lot simpler. To make things even easier I purchased Frank’s Ellipsis fibreglass deck, which fits the Equinox. A bit of a cheat as not all woodie, but I wanted to speed things up. Plans and deck are fantastic value and really appreciated. Thanks Frank.
Once more, the bulb, fin and rudder were built and supplied by a member of our club.
Plans
Plans are available from Frank Russell Design as a pdf file, DXF, or DWG, 2D or 3D or printed paper plan.
https://www.frankrusselldesign.com/plans/iom/
J Price
My version of Frank Russel’s Equinox. I modified the fibreglass deck supplied
Other IOM plans available
Ellipsis from Frank Russel Design. Available as pdf files, DXF, or DWG, or printed paper plan
https://www.frankrusselldesign.com/plans/iom/
WMRMYC member: Rob Higgs’ lovely ‘Woodie’ is a Frank Russell Ellipsis design and made from cedar and balsa.
Paperclip Mk3 IOM 2024 The hard chine version of the Ellipsis and Equinox IOM’s. It is intended to be built “Tape and Glue” from 1mm plywood sheets. The PDF and DXF drawings for theses hull and deck panels are included as are the sections if you would like to build the hull over frames.
See here for plans: https://www.frankrusselldesign.com/plans/iom/
The Corbie, available through Mirage Radio Yachts. Paper plans only. Laser cut stations can be ordered from the UK, but no access to laser cut files for DIY
https://www.mirageradioyachts.com/
WMRMYC member: Andrew’s beautiful Corbie 5
The corbie 6. I came across Art Prufer from Canada on the IOM forum. He has built a beautiful looking Corbie 6. He has shared a photo log of his build. Great to look at and a fabulous resource.
The Alternative by Brad Gibson. These plans are only available as paper plans.
http://www.bgsailsanddesign.com/store/p9/ALTERNATIVE_-_IOM_Lines_%26_Rigging_Plan.html
A good forum thread here on building an Alternative by Richard Moroney. Yes I pinched your images Richard. Sorry about that. https://www.mya-uk.org.uk/forums/topic/692-alternative-build/
Images by Richard… https://www.mya-uk.org.uk/forums/topic/692-alternative-build/
Hopefully other designers will release more recent plans as most of the available designs are a few years old, although I believe they can still be competitive at club level. I understand the costs and time involved in research and development of these boats and am grateful for the release of the designs above, but remain forever hopeful…
This article will be updated whenever new info comes to light. If you have any information that might help, I would really appreciate an email.
Other older designs
Franks Russell also has FREE designs available for the GOTH and the PAPERCLIP
https://www.frankrusselldesign.com/plans/iom/
NOUX 2
https://www.anderswallin.net/wp-content/2006_10offset/offsets.pdf
MAXIMUSS MK2
https://smys.yolasite.com/plans.php
Article on fitting out a hull
https://radiosailingshop.com.au/index.php?main_page=page&id=6
The technical bible – Lester Gilberts IOM