Joe B, Ken O,
I don't know if either of you are paying any attention to this thread anymore, but if you are, I really hope you take this as the constructive criticism it is intended as. If you go back, you'll notice that this is my first post, and I am no troll....
I actually went back and skimmed every single post, from the very beginning, and my observation is that you DON'T take advice very well if it's not what you had already decided on what you wanted. In one post you mentioned eagerly awaiting everyone's input in the redesigning of this boat. Without going back and actually counting, I'd say it wasn't ten posts later you were SLAMMING a VERY seasoned builder/racer for pointing out a PROVEN fundamental flaw in your design. There are but a handful of guys with as much model boat design experience than Charles Purdue, and NONE of them, to my knowledge, are named Joe or Ken. Just sayin'. To suggest that Mr. Purdue has no idea how to design something is so far beyond ridiculous, it's hard to comprehend. Research "Zoom Carbs" and get back with us on that, will ya? Then, you start criticizing other's designs. Not the least of which..... Andy Brown. Really?!? The designer and builder of one of the most RACE PROVEN boats on the market, PLANET WIDE?!? It's not my hull of choice, but the proof's in the pudding, as they say. You look at pictures of them online, and suddenly they won't work as well as something you've drawn on a drafting table but never actually ran.....??? Seriously?
The model boating community is always interested in something new. Always. But when that something new is nothing more than a re-hashed "something old", we lose interest pretty quick. I've known a lot of designers over my 20+ years as a toolmaker/modelmaker, specializing in prototyping and R&D. I can tell you that just because something came off a drafting table doesn't make it a viable concept. We race boats, not ideas.
The real problem here is that you decide to design something you could sell, instead of designing something to go out and run, and then commenced to telling us all you were going to turn the hobby on it's ear. Since then, you have rejected every notion of doing away with design aspects that have already been tried and disproven, and rejected every suggestion at using modern construction materials and/or methods, siting the fact that nobody here understands what you understand. All the while, leading us to believe we're not gonna believe our eyes when we see it. I can tell you that what worked in the '70's and '80's is not going to be competitive today, no matter how spiffy it looks. And for the record, yes, it DOES need to survive hitting a brick wall. At the speeds these boats are running today, when they decide to do cartwheels down the back stretch, that water about is like rocks. If a boat comes from together the first time it stuffs, you surely won't sell many of them.
The reality here is that you had the opportunity to truly present a modern retooling of something that was apparently a very competitive boat in it's day. Had you only approached it the right way. Collectively, there is way more knowledge and experience here than any one person could hope to retain, and none of it is accessible via drafting board. It has been offered up with the best of intentions and callously batted away, citing "negativity" and "jealousy". But as the old Chinese proverb goes, "It's hard to fill a cup when it's already full."
Personally, I can't get my head around this "mass production" design process you got going on. When I set out to build the boat that I build, I cheated (I'll admit it). I took an already proven hull, scaled it down to a size that the builder of that hull doesn't build (with his blessing, of course), built ONE and tested it relentlessly for two years, making small adjustments to account for the downsizing and/or miscalculations. I really had no intentions of selling any of them until I was approached about building some for a couple of my buddies. I don't think I've built as many kits as you've prototyped without getting any of them wet (as best as we can tell).
My suggestion is that you humble yourself and take yourself to the pond with one of your seventeen hulls. Most of us who design and build, do so one at a time, but whatever.... Go and make some roostertails, and then see if there's any interest in what you've "created". If there is still any interest, then you've done something worth tooting your horn about.
And for what it's worth, the moderators here DON'T condone harassment in any way. What they ALSO don't condone, is somebody lashing out at somebody trying to help and then trying to play the "harassment card". Again, just sayin'.
Thanks. Brad.
Titan Racing Components
BlackJack Hydros
Model Machine And Precision LLC
