Official Bancroft Orion V2 465mm Sailboat RTR Thread

[Tooeleflyboy]

Hello guys,

Well, I reluctantly took on the sailboat challenge. Even with a strong desire for scale ships and speed boats, wind powered models never really caught my fancy. Until today! It was short lived, but was incredibly fun and relaxing. So strange to operate an RC boat, completely void of any sound. When I launched, I had about an 8mph wind moving across the lake due East, and to my back. There she went! Never to be seen again! That was my feeling anyhow, thanks for being a great table decoration. About 100ft out, I closed the sails a bit and rudder to the left. She came around nicely, the sails fluttered, I opened them back up, and she started across the wind right back at me! Look Ma, I'm sailing!!! Needless to say, 50ft from shore the wind stopped. So did the fun! Then it was just relaxing, thinking should have brought a beer, not much to do except wait. Kinda like fishing! HAHA. She drifted in, grabber her from the water and of course as soon as I packed up the Jeep, the wind returned. All I can say is, for what time it lasted it was a great stress free, blood pressure lowering time. I am excited to enjoy some cool fall evenings at the lake, with some wind of course, and have fun with this newly discovered challenge. I am going to post some picks and point out a few things that will make your build easier then it was for me. If you are a regular at sailboats, the instructions would be adequate, but not for a newbie like me. I was a little confused on the rigging.

[Tooeleflyboy]

Packaging is simple, plane white box but packed well.

[Tooeleflyboy]

Boat comes with a nice stand, radio is simple and streamlined in it looks.

[Tooeleflyboy]

The instruction manual comes with a nice layout of the parts, but reading through the steps kind of lost me. I was overthinking it! What should have been done in 40min, took 3 hours! I am going to upload a few pics here to show just how simple it is to put this model together, "rigging wise". The pictures should also help to see just where the rigging lines all go. Please feel free to ask any questions. I think these photos will also be posted under the support tab on the boats web page as well.

Regards,

Derek

[Remoteremotecontrol]

Thank you for posting these photos and explanations of how you assembled your rigging. It was really helpful when I was deciding to get the Orion V2. This was my first RC sailboat and I was confused by some of the rigging directions too. My experience was a lot like yours although I did a couple things differently. Mainly, I tied a figure 8 knot to finish each bowsie. It looks great and holds strong. The other thing I learned from the DF95 directions. I fixed each knot with super glue when they were tied correctly. The first time I took the boat out (I had not glued each knot) one of my bowline knots came undone because I tied it wrong. It caused the jib to fall over! I lost the S hook in the lake at that time too. I was able to feed another line through the jib and fix the rigging pretty easily. Today I sailed it for about 45 minutes in light wind. What a fun boat! Oh yeah, another trick I learned was to treat the cord with super glue before cutting it with a razor blade. This prevents fraying and leaves a stiff, clean end to feed through a bowsie. I will try to post some good photos like you did. Thanks again for your help and I hope my additional tips can help someone else.

[johnda]

Thanks for those rigging pictures! I am in assisted living and wheelchair bound. I just started a RC sailing group here and ordered a Bancroft Sportsail. Our assisted living complex has a van to carry us to a sailing pond. Possibly we will be able to get some sailing in this fall, and detail the boat over the winter. Happy Sails to you!

[Tooeleflyboy]

Welcome!

[CaptainO’Harbours]

Anyone still using this chat? It’s now 2026 and the Bancroft Orion that just bought for my first RC sailing experience is acting up… Where can I go with my questions? Thanks in advance

[quitcherbitchen]

Well, as they say in the Navy " you may fire when ready Mr Gridley" . I don't own an Orion, but I have owned quite a few sailboats and the knowledge should translate over to the the Orion. So what is acting up?

[CaptainO’Harbours]

Hi, thanks for your prompt reply!! So day 1, the sail servo started off working just fine but after a while it started making loud noises, even when I turned off the transmitter (receiver was left “on”). Later that session it just stopped working altogether. That’s okay, I guess, because I can still sail. Then yesterday, day two, after about a half hour of good sailing, the rudder salvo started with the noise, then eventually it stopped working. I’m pretty sure I have it rigged up properly, What should I do now?

[quitcherbitchen]

Sounds like both servos died. Best thing to do is see if you can find a waterproof version in that same size as a replacement. Servos in water environments are notorious for not lasting, especially if they are not name brand. If you plan to race you might have to stick with a stock replacement. Depends on the Class rules, but generally most one designs accept upgraded servos for reliability. Hitec is a good brand. I believe they sell winch servos as well. Be prepared to pay more then what an average servo would cost, but they are reliable.