Perfect sailing conditions.
Had to have a little silent laugh. Keith bought along two boats, and as I was helping him set up the Avalon, I asked him where the keel was.
A confused
silence was followed by "Oh ****!",
whereupon, further setting up of the Avalon was cancelled. But this was OK by me,
as I had bought my Victor Model Products "Australia II", and while the Aussie II can really fly, and under certain conditions, can even hold its own with an IOM, it is no match for the Avalon, in some conditions.
So the Aussie II sailed against the Victoria "Lionheart". And competitive it was until Lionheart's batteries died.
And here lies a lesson.
If one hasn't sailed one's boat in a long time, it is not enough to merely charge up the batteries.
They must be discharged and charged a number of times in order to ensure that they will not only be fully charged but that they will also hold their charge.
This only applies to Nicad's and NImh batteries. It does not apply to LiPo batteries which only have a life of around two years pretty much irrespective of state of charge, and they have an optimum storage voltage as well, to which they should be charged/discharged if they are not going to be used for a while.
So, if weight is not an issue, stick with NiMh batteries. They will last a long, long, long time, if treated correctly. Their life is more determined by number of charges rather than age.
-- Edited by Maverick at 15:29, 2008-11-03
