Scot Tempesta, founder of Sailing Anarchy, joined us at the San Diego Model Boat Pond during our Wednesday lunch sail this week. In this 35-minute podcast episode, he shares his first-hand impressions of sailing a DragonFlite 95 with the San Diego Argonauts fleet.
Scot reflects on how much fun he had racing DF95s with Jon Rogers, Scott Harris, and others, touching on everything from rigging and race starts to the occasional “in irons” moment. He also highlights the welcoming, friendly community he experienced at the Pond—one of the things that made the day especially memorable.
In the episode, Scot gives a candid, often hilarious account of getting back into radio-controlled sailing after years away, openly owning both his rust and his rediscovery of why he loves racing sailboats. He walks listeners through his first Wednesday session at the Mission Bay Model Boat Pond—from struggling with tiny rigging components and fat-fingered mistakes, to immediately appreciating how well-tuned and fast the DF95 felt thanks to Jon Rogers’ setup. Despite early missteps (snagging the anchor line, getting caught in irons, running aground while leading), Scot emphasizes how forgiving, welcoming, and genuinely helpful the San Diego Argonauts fleet was throughout the day.
Scot repeatedly highlights what surprised him most: how real the racing feels. Starts matter, shifts matter, mistakes are instantly punished, and moments of pure groove—when the boat hooks up and just goes—are every bit as intoxicating as on a full-size racecourse. He reflects on how RC sailing compresses decision-making, forces constant focus, and exposes weaknesses in boat handling and situational awareness far more quickly than big-boat racing. For him, the DF95 is not a toy but a legitimate training ground that sharpens instincts, accelerates learning, and reconnects sailors to the essence of the sport.
Ultimately, the episode becomes a love letter to accessible, low-drama racing. Scot contrasts the simplicity and fairness of one-design DF95 racing with the cost, politics, and rating frustrations of big-boat handicap systems, concluding that model sailing delivers more joy per dollar than almost anything else in sailing today. He encourages experienced sailors—and especially lapsed racers—to try RC sailing if they have a fleet nearby, promising they’ll find strong competition, generous mentorship, and that unmistakable “I love this f***ing sport” feeling all over again.
