THE QUEEN ELIZABETH SAILS!

Today at about 11:00am, the new R.C.S. QUEEN ELIZABETH embarked on her long-awaited MAIDEN VOYAGE! The voyage was held at Mercado Lake in Scottsdale and lasted about 30-45 minutes. I had the pleasure to record the event with my new digital camcorder and some of the video is spectacular!

The voyage began over by the fountain and wrapped up at the dam in gorgeous view of the McDowell Mountains. My friend Nathan helped drive the ship and take pictures as we alternated controlling the ship.

The ship's performance is very fine and smooth. Being a cardboard/foamcore hull not fiberglassed, she is one of the fastest big boats I have.

It wasn't all smooth sailing as I experienced trouble with batteries. They didn't seem to charge well enough last night. At any rate, the Queen Elizabeth is now an active member of the fleet and I am looking forward to many many more voyages!

Barrett Hochhaus
diamondback78@hotmail.com

ZUIDERDAM TO BE WITHDRAWN

Greensea Ships announces that the 30th voyage of the R.C.S. ZUIDERDAM will be her last.

The ship, which began sailing in October 2005 has made 27 voyages on 7 different lakes and will make her last mooring after a combination sailing with the ECSTASY in February.

Following her retirement, the Zuiderdam is scheduled for a major reconstruction (the second of her short life) and she will be renamed

R.C.S. QUEEN VICTORIA

Efforts to make a Queen Victoria date back to 2004 when the Cunard line announced they were building a cruise ship of the Vista-class (same as Zuiderdam) to be named Queen Victoria. When the hull of the "Crown Vic" was transfered to P&O Line before completion and built as the ARCADIA, the QV project fell on the scrap pile.

In 2005, the Vista-class ship was revived and became the R.C.S. ZUIDERDAM. In 2006, when Cunard announced that they were again build a Vista-class QV, I again moved to make my own. You see, the goal is to have an R/C Queen Victoria before the REAL SHIP can ever sail! That way, MY ship can always be older than the real thing.

When plans to build my Victoria at 8 feet (same scale as my Queen Mary) fell through (no room for another 8-footer), I planned to make her the same scale and size as the Zuiderdam. They might have made a good pair out on the water. However, this plan was also soon dropped and the decision was made to convert the ZUIDERDAM into QUEEN VICTORIA.

If all goes well, the new QUEEN VICTORIA should be making her Maiden Voyage later this spring. Stay tuned!

Barrett Hochhaus
diamondback78@hotmail.com

RAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, the promised meeting between the QUEEN ELIZABETH and the QUEEN MARY will have to wait I am afraid. Since yesterday, there has been near constant rain over the entire state of Arizona (snow in the high country) and it seems that today was not meant to be.

**************RESCHEDULING***************

The Maiden Voyage for the Queen Elizabeth is now scheduled for Sunday, January 21 at Mercado Lake in Scottsdale. She will sail without the Mary.

The next voyage for the S.S. AMERICA should take place later today, if it stops raining.

As for the MARY, I am hoping to reschedule the meeting of the QUEENS for Saturday, February 3. The Mary has no scheduled sailings until then.

Sorry I don't have better news to report, but we'll get 'em next time! Stay tuned.

Barrett Hochhaus
diamondback78@hotmail.com

QUEENS READY FOR HISTORIC MEETING

This Saturday, January 20, 2007, at Dobson Lake in Mesa, the R/C ocean liners QUEEN MARY and QUEEN ELIZABETH will sail together for the first time! It marks the Maiden Voyage of the new 8-foot Queen Elizabeth as well as the 16th voyage of the Mary. It is exciting to me because as far as I know, these are the only radio-controlled Queen Mary and Elizabeth models sailing together anywhere in the world! A rare radio-controlled treat!

The supporting cast on the water features fellow ocean liners RAFFAELLO, 2 models of the AMERICA and the TITANIC, also making her Maiden Voyage. Please look forward to the next post which should come Saturday or Sunday!

Barrett Hochhaus
diamondback78@hotmail.com

TITANIC set for Maiden Voyage

When the R.C.S. OLYMPIC was built in June 2006, it was always expected that she could and would be converted to TITANIC after several voyages. Now the time has come and in the space of an hour, I transformed the Olympic into the Titanic. This was done by adding the enclosing wall to the forward 1/3 of the A deck promanade on both sides. I made the walls out of acid free cardpaper and drew in the windows by hand.

Now, the Titanic steams toward her Maiden Voyage at Dobson Lake on January 20th. Hopefully, she makes more voyages than her namesake!

It's going to be an incredible day I'm sure. A meeting of all known ocean liners in the area, the Maiden Voyage of the QUEEN ELIZABETH, and of course, the first meeting of the QUEEN MARY and ELIZABETH! Good luck TITANIC!

Barrett Hochhaus
diamondback78@hotmail.com

Queen Elizabeth shines in trials!

The brand-new, 10-year-old R.C.S. QUEEN ELIZABETH made her first powered voyage since her construction as a static model 10 years ago. The voyage took place at about 11am January 1st, 2007 at McCormick Lake in Scottsdale, AZ.

The voyage lasted about 30 minutes and included a full-speed run. It is expected that she is the fastest large R/C boat in my fleet, as she has a non-fiberglassed "Nelson Hull". I will have to run her against the MUSASHI sometime to be sure.

During the voyage, I got some great video on the bow of the Lizzie facing her superstructure. The video can be found at

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=619196

Enjoy the pics while the Lizzie waits for her Maiden Voyage and historic rendnevouz with the QUEEN MARY!