Wanted: Cox Tradewinds sailboat

batjac Mon Dec 30, 2019 1:38 am

Since I'm still not 100% on my shoulder, I've been dabbling with sailboats. So, being a Cox fanboy, I'd like to get a Cox Tradewinds and set it up with modern equipment.

The Clipped Wing Mark

roddie Mon Dec 30, 2019 5:57 pm

Hey Mark, I never knew that Cox branded a sailboat. Seems to be a 1978 vintage Japanese-made RC model per my web-query.

Not sure of the "scale".. but I'd say 1:18 or larger.

Wanted: Cox Tradewinds sailboat Cox-tr11

Wanted: Cox Tradewinds sailboat 1978-j10

I have a 1:25 scale "Sea Lite" RC sailboat by Golden Bright.

Wanted: Cox Tradewinds sailboat Sea_li10

Wanted: Cox Tradewinds sailboat Golden12

On its maiden; some 12-13 years ago.. the rudder servo developed a glitch and locked-up heading port.. requiring retrieval from a full size rescue boat. The craft hasn't seen water since.

It would now be feasible to "gut" the cabin, of the toy-grade radio-components.. and retrofit with a more modern hobby-grade radio. I can't remember if my model incorporated a sail-winch type servo.. Huh...

It wasn't the sail-control that was a problem.. so maybe it could be made to work with a radio upgrade.. Huh...

The toy-grade radios are sketchy.. Neutral

batjac Mon Dec 30, 2019 7:06 pm

Hey, Roddie.

The Cox Tradewinds is a 36" sailboat designed to fit the 36/600 Class racing boats, although from what I've read, it is far from being competitive. That "36" on the sail in your picture is the official class insignia for 36/600 boats. I don't want to race this, I just want to play with a Cox sailboat. I've done Sterling and Kyosho sailboats in the past, a couple of Footys, and even a modern Dragon Force 65 sailboat, as that's what the local Model Yachting club races.

As with the Cox Sky Rally ultralight model, the Tradewinds is actually a Kyosho model that Cox put their name on to sell in the States. I've seen pictures of the Kyosho box as well as the Cox box. They look the same, just with different writing on them.

If I can find a Tradewinds, I'll sail it as designed, and then try some tricks of the 36/600 guys. The 36/600 class means 36" hull length at the deck, and 600 sq.in. sails. But, the way that the sail area is calculated for the 36/600 class, you can be creative in your geometry and come up with as much as 940 sq.in. on the sails and still be legal.

For your sailboat, I'd not use a sail winch with a drum. Just a standard high torque servo with a longer arm. Pretty cheap these days. I cant read on your picture how long your sailboat hull is.

The Creative Mark

Marleysky Mon Dec 30, 2019 8:11 pm

Happy Holidays!? A few days late, if I had only knew earlier and searched I could have put you in touch with this auction...ended 12/10/19.. We’ll keep looking.

https://www.shopgoodwill.com/Item/81358713

batjac Mon Dec 30, 2019 8:28 pm

Marleysky wrote:Happy Holidays!? A few days late, if I had only knew earlier and searched I could have put you in touch with this auction...ended 12/10/19.. We’ll keep looking.

https://www.shopgoodwill.com/Item/81358713

$28?!?!?!?!?

AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

roddie Mon Dec 30, 2019 9:21 pm

Thank you for your acknowledgement Mark. We have so much fun with our models! It's always a pleasure to hear about a model's/moddeller's adventure. Thumbs Up

Opie Mon Nov 13, 2023 6:39 pm

I have one here that is available if your still interested.

sosam117 Tue Nov 14, 2023 3:36 pm

Here is the radio set-up of my TradeWinds sailboat.
It uses the "OLD" Airtronics 72Mhz (for surface) and has the high torque sail servo with the extended arm to pullor release the sails.
I have everything watertight and had no problems with it for the years I sailed it.