The Soling One Meter is a model of the one-design Olympic 3 person Soling Class keelboat. Since its introduction, it has grown to become the largest class of model sailboats in North America with fleets in the United States and Canada as well as Australia, Europe and the United Kingdom. The American Model Yachting Association (AMYA) Class Secretary administers the class. The CRYA adopts the AMYA Class Rules, which facilitates cross border racing. National championship regattas are held each year.
The boat is assembled from a kit that was formerly purchased from hobby shops or ordered directly from the manufacturer Victor Model Products (www.victor-model.com). They are no longer in business, so the AMYA approved kits are now being produced and sold by VAC-U-BOAT & 3D RC BOATS.
A hobbyist with moderate skill can assemble the kit. The hull and deck are each one-piece vacuum-formed styrene plastic. The spars are wooden, and the rig is assembled using stainless steel wire and brass tubing. The sails are single panel woven polyester fabric. Spare parts such as rudders, keels, spars and fittings are widely available.
Although a one design yacht, the rules, available on the AMYA Soling 1M Class website (www.soling1m.com), allow for some flexibility in certain aspects of the assembly but still focus on promoting the concept that the boats should be equal and differences in performance should be related to the skipper’s abilities not the construction of the boat.
In addition to the Class Rules, the Class website is also a source of links to kit building tips and sources of radios, batteries and various parts and materials.
Reasonably priced and with good performance and handling with its single rig, the boat is simple enough to appeal to the beginning radio control sailor as well as of interest to more experienced sailors.