General discussions - FAST RC boat

[Diem Turner]

I thought I’d show this. An XlX2 converted to boat use with this aluminum cooling plate made by someone I know.. unfortunately they made a few of these plates only for their own use with no plans for more, I was lucky to get this one.. It turned out pretty great looking I think, it’s almost a mirror finish. The plate works the same way that the Stumpfab conversions do, but with more room internally and larger water channels, and no need for a 3d printed cover as the plate itself attaches to the ESC with the stock screw holes. It’s thicker than the stock cover so longer screws are needed. Also the plate is made up of two pieces, another plate with the channels milled into it screws into this top plate to form the complete assembly. I didn’t get a picture of the interior water channels before I installed them but they were larger than the Stumpfab channels so this should circulate more water over the ESC in general.. I don’t know for sure if it will work any better but it sure looks better I think

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So this, essentially, converts it into a Hydra XLX2, correct? Admittedly, your mirror top looks nicer though.

 

[Notoriousone]

So this, essentially, converts it into a Hydra XLX2, correct? Admittedly, your mirror top looks nicer though.
View attachment 349256

Yup pretty much the same thing but that polished aluminum just looks good to me..

 

[BudUMfan]

@King blitz has me wanting a boat and it was 60 in Michigan a week ago and the wife and I got to drive a few. I’ve been bidding on eBay for an Angry Shark. This guy has an action every week. He must have a warehouse full like king blitz said. I seen one go for 175. One for 220. I’m so close to bash spots with water and these things are ridiculously fast. I drove a 42” deep V that did 70. I need a self righting one for the first rig. But it was like driving my Felony on the water. Except the boat turns better!

 

[King blitz]

@King blitz has me wanting a boat and it was 60 in Michigan a week ago and the wife and I got to drive a few. I’ve been bidding on eBay for an Angry Shark. This guy has an action every week. He must have a warehouse full like king blitz said. I seen one go for 175. One for 220. I’m so close to bash spots with water and these things are ridiculously fast. I drove a 42” deep V that did 70. I need a self righting one for the first rig. But it was like driving my Felony on the water. Except the boat turns better!

Only matter of time before you get one and you'll be out on the water having blast.spring time I'll be out there with mine.winter time is maintenance time for me.

 

[LibertyMKiii]

@King blitz has me wanting a boat and it was 60 in Michigan a week ago and the wife and I got to drive a few. I’ve been bidding on eBay for an Angry Shark. This guy has an action every week. He must have a warehouse full like king blitz said. I seen one go for 175. One for 220. I’m so close to bash spots with water and these things are ridiculously fast. I drove a 42” deep V that did 70. I need a self righting one for the first rig. But it was like driving my Felony on the water. Except the boat turns better!

Yeah they are a blast! The only real surprise for me me was how fast they can suck a battery dry. Run times are legit in the 2-4 min range.

 

[Notoriousone]

Yeah they are a blast! The only real surprise for me me was how fast they can suck a battery dry. Run times are legit in the 2-4 min range.

You aren't kidding.. I have a TFL Osprey 42" that gets me about 2 minutes and 30 sec runtime on 8s, even with two big 6500 mah 4s packs. It runs an XLX2 and 1650kv 4092 motor. Its a blast though, does 70 mph laps and is super stable.. I'll see if I have a video somewhere of it

 

[LibertyMKiii]

Finally working on the 39" Seaducer mono. Bent and mounted the tube, epoxied the motor mount in and drilled the hardware holes for the strut and rudder.
(Temp hardware screws and nuts in this pic used for easy removal during fitting and adjusting phase of the build)

I love walking out and seeing these 2 RCs on the bench

 

[Big Kid]

Just found this thread ...
Yea I raced in NAMBA district 9 for the better part of 20 years !!

One of my accomplishments a NATIONAL 6 lap record in the G1 gas Sport Hydro class.
Picture taken while flat out letting it hang at @ 72mph when shot was taken ... flying on the prop !!!

Did gas outriggers too in the later years

 

[LibertyMKiii]

Just found this thread ...
Yea I raced in NAMBA district 9 for the better part of 20 years !!

One of my accomplishments a NATIONAL 6 lap record in the G1 gas Sport Hydro class.
Picture taken while flat out letting it hang at @ 72mph when shot was taken ... flying on the prop !!!

Did gas outriggers too in the later years

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View attachment 352619

Great pictures, thanks for sharing!
Do you still have your boats?

I happened to be working on my Zippkits R4 rigger last night. It is about ready to hit the water.

 

[Big Kid]

Great pictures, thanks for sharing!
Do you still have your boats?

I happened to be working on my Zippkits R4 rigger last night. It is about ready to hit the water.

Still have a few in the parked Interstate race trailer out back ... Thinking whats out there ?

Microburst G1 gas mono ( RCMK powered )
My Custom built G1 Gas Outrigger ( RCMK powered )
2 misc uncompleted Gas Outriggers
B/C class Calcraft Nitro mono ( Picco / OPS powered )
A class nitro mono ( Mac powered )
Custom TWIN ( Inline ) Gas Rigger ( last running radared at 83 mph !! ) ( RCMK powered )
Crap load of gear/ parts & support equipment
Misc Gas & Nitro motors ( Picco / OPS/ CMB-MAC nitro, Zenoah & RCMK gas )

In those years racing @ 1993 to @ 2013 Won a Nationals championship twice, Set IIRC 7 National 6 lap 1 mile Records and acquired a wall full of finish plaques & ribbons. ( B-mono / C-mono / G1 rigger / G1 Sport / Thunder boat is where the records came & went several times )
Sadly the politics of the clubs, water access to practice on and too much unsportsman like conduct during races I had enough !!!
Figured I would cool off after a few seasons and revisit Namba 9 activity, never happened as My interest in Competitive Air rifle ( Field Target ) got it's hold on me now doing this as my primary Hobby/Sport these last 12+ years or so.

Damn good times tho

When I stepped away & my buddies knew it ... The best of my best current Gas boats were swept up right quick !!

Blazer Thunderboat
Blazer Backlash
Blazer Whiplash

GONE !! for pretty good $$$ inside my second season away ... O'well

 

[LibertyMKiii]

Still have a few in the parked Interstate race trailer out back ... Thinking whats out there ?

Microburst G1 gas mono ( RCMK powered )
My Custom built G1 Gas Outrigger ( RCMK powered )
2 misc uncompleted Gas Outriggers
B/C class Calcraft Nitro mono ( Picco / OPS powered )
A class nitro mono ( Mac powered )
Custom TWIN ( Inline ) Gas Rigger ( last running radared at 83 mph !! ) ( RCMK powered )
Crap load of gear/ parts & support equipment
Misc Gas & Nitro motors ( Picco / OPS/ CMB nitro, Zenoah & RCMK gas )

In those years racing @ 1993 to @ 2013 Won a Nationals championship twice, Set IIRC 7 National 6 lap 1 mile Records and acquired a wall full of finish plaques & ribbons. ( B-mono / C-mono / G1 rigger / G1 Sport / Thunder boat is where the records came & went several times )
Sadly the politics of the clubs, water access to practice on and too much unsportsman like conduct during races I had had enough !!!
Figured I would cool off after a few seasons and revisit Namba 9 activity, never happened as My interest in Competitive Air rifle ( Field Target ) got it's hold on me now doing this as my primary Hobby/Sport these last 12+ years or so.

Damn good times tho

When I stepped away & my buddies knew it ... The best of my best current Gas boats were swept up right quick !!

Blazer Thunderboat
Blazer Backlash
Blazer Whiplash

GONE !! for pretty good $$$ inside my second season away ... O'well

Sounds like a good time and big passion. I am sure that was hard to walk away from.

I get on the RC boat forums from time to time and some certainly can be political and rude etc.... They are not nearly as helpful and nice as the guys on this forum. Arrma forum is a special place, which is why I started this boat there on this site.

 

[Big Kid]

Sounds like a good time and big passion. I am sure that was hard to walk away from.

I get on the RC boat forums from time to time and some certainly can be political and rude etc.... They are not nearly as helpful and nice as the guys on this forum. Arrma forum is a special place, which is why I started this boat there on this site.

At one time was VERY active on Jims R/C Boat Dock forum and was the Technical advisor for the Model Gas Boats forum.
Indeed Forums and interaction greatly differ in many instances as to person to person

 

[LibertyMKiii]

At one time was VERY active on Jims R/C Boat Dock forum and was the Technical advisor for the Model Gas Boats forum.
Indeed Forums and interaction greatly differ in many instances as to person to person

Most racers run gas / nitro and that seems to be the discussion content on Jims and International waters forums. Like the Arrma cars I prefer Electric setups.
Offshore electrics is a mix, but the forum software is awful and I hardly can stomach going on the forum due to the technology driving it.

At this point I have mostly figured out what I need to know and just have to test and experiment. I text John Finch and a few others on occasion when I have questions.

 

[LibertyMKiii]

I ran the R4 rigger today for the first time.
The good is that it stayed dry inside and gets up on plane nicely. Looks like it might be pretty fast.

The bad is that my attempts to make it light weight was maybe too extreme. The 2200 mAh g+ 70c packs can't handle the castle ESC asking for 300+ amps.

Voltage dropped to 4.8v with this 4s pack, which is crazy low. The ESC fully cut power.

 

[Big Kid]

Prop down ... RPM up

 

[LibertyMKiii]

Prop down ... RPM up

There is a little bit more to it than that... This is a 30" boat and has a 42mm prop on it which is considered small for this size.
The issue is that the ESC asked a tiny battery (2200mAh) for 340 amps and it killed it.

I am going to try a larger 5000mAh lipo with the Castle ESC that I know can handle the amperage loads and see how much the extra weight kills the performance of the boat.

Originally I was shooting for an ultra light setup, but these Castle ESCs are too much for the size LiPo I tried.

The XLX2 has this disclaimer on it which I believe probably should also be said on the little brother Hydra X8s.

• MINIMUM battery capacity is 5000mAh and MINIMUM of 50C continuous discharge for general use
• For extreme setups we recommend a MINIMUM of 70C continuous discharge LiPo batteries.We have tested and recommend these brands for extreme setups: SMC True Spec Extreme V2 150C 6400mah, China Hobby™ CNHL GPLUS 6000mah (white), Power Hobby Pro Lipo 100C 6000mah and Turnigy Graphene Panther™ 75C

You will notice they added some headroom on the recommended LiPos with 6000 + mAh recommendations.

 

[ActionJackson]

There is a little bit more to it than that... This is a 30" boat and has a 42mm prop on it which is considered small for this size.
The issue is that the ESC asked a tiny battery (2200mAh) for 340 amps and it killed it.

I ordered a flycolor 150a ESC to try. The lower amps will be much more friendly to this small lipo.
I am also going to try a larger 5000mAh lipo with the Castle ESC that I know can handle the amperage loads and see how much the extra weight kills the performance of the boat.

Originally I was shooting for an ultra light setup, but these Castle ESCs are too much for the size LiPo I tried.

The XLX2 has this disclaimer on it which I believe probably should also be said on the little brother Hydra X8s.

• MINIMUM battery capacity is 5000mAh and MINIMUM of 50C continuous discharge for general use
• For extreme setups we recommend a MINIMUM of 70C continuous discharge LiPo batteries.We have tested and recommend these brands for extreme setups: SMC True Spec Extreme V2 150C 6400mah, China Hobby™ CNHL GPLUS 6000mah (white), Power Hobby Pro Lipo 100C 6000mah and Turnigy Graphene Panther™ 75C

You will notice they added some headroom on the recommended LiPos with 6000 + mAh recommendations.

Good catch!

Nice speed run battery recommendations there too!

 

[Big Kid]

Good catch!

Nice speed run battery recommendations there too!

I know R/C racing props ... very very well actually.
So what 42mm prop is in question here ?

 

[LibertyMKiii]

I know R/C racing props ... very very well actually.
So what 42mm prop is in question here ?

All I do is SAW runs so you have to take that into perspective. I cruise the boat out make a turn and see how fast it will go. Then bring it in because I don't want to over heat the electronics (the magnets in the motor are the biggest concern).

There is also no turn fin to reduce drag for SAW use.

This prop is a small 42mm CNC aluminum prop with 1.6 pitch. I chose this specifically to be light weight and less stress on the system. Once it warms up I'll go back and run it again with a larger battery. Depending on how the data logs look I'll then prop up to my nicer ABC stuff.

 

[Big Kid]

All I do is SAW runs so you have to take that into perspective. I cruise the boat out make a turn and see how fast it will go. Then bring it in because I don't want to over heat the electronics (the magnets in the motor are the biggest concern).

There is also no turn fin to reduce drag for SAW use.

This prop is a small 42mm CNC aluminum prop with 1.6 pitch. I chose this specifically to be light weight and less stress on the system. Once it warms up I'll go back and run it again with a larger battery. Depending on how the data logs look I'll then prop up to my nicer ABC stuff.

Octura 1640 with some tip cup and a bit of increased camber roll creating a lower lift profile can be a killer prop. sharpened and balanced with heat treating prior to use is key.
In my many years of R/C boat racing, prop cupping / mods was a part of it. Having prop cupping ball jigs. dial indicator measurement fixtures & heat treat kiln etc to do so was part of the obsession.

Great fun .. but a Very very very deep rabbit hole to grasp all the specifics of the hobby & good for you diving in to figure it all out