This proposal is to replace the current set of rules with a NAVIGA compaitbale class structure, cheaper higher performance entry class, and additional scale classes for offshore, sport hydro up to 1/8th scale and outboard tunnel which are compatible with Naviga race formats.
DRAFT AMPBA Fast Electric Rules
17.1 GENERAL
1. Electric racing rules are intended as a supplement to the General Power Boat Rules of AMPBA. In the case of a conflict, the electric racing rules shall prevail.
2 The purpose of the rules is to encourage and promote a national standard for electric RC Boats
17.2 BATTERIES /MOTOR
1. Batteries may be NiCad or NiMH to sub-c size
2. Each boat will have a means of stopping and starting the motor/s via radio control.
3. Each boat will be fitted with an external plug inserted in the positive cable from the battery to the motor, which will enable a rescuer to disconnect the motor from its power source
17.3 CLASSES
1. The following motor and cell configurations will be considered official for electric racing in AMPBA:
The approach taken was to create:
• a simpler class structure
• compatible with NAVIGA classes (7 -12 -20)
• offers lower controlled costs for the entrant modeler (700)
with improved performance on existing classes
• meaningful increases in performance levels across the main
competition classes ie 25% per class.
• performance potential comparable to existing IC classes (24v
& 48v) from commercially available equipment
CLASS CLASS BASIS Comments
Formula 700 Graupner 700BB Turbo 8.4v / 12 class power Replaces “Stock” 6 cell class with a spec motor which is cheaper than ROAR stock and more powerful with long run times of up to 8 minutes on 3.3AH battery. No maintenance or equipment needed, indefinite lifetime, extremely reliable. Mono/Hydro speeds approach 55/65 kph
8.4v Any amount and/or size of motors and 7 NiCad/NiMH cells up to a nominal 7.2 volts. Replaces 6 and 7/8 cell classes with one. NAVIGA compatible(mono/ hydro 1). Voltage designation compatible with Lithium Polymer and emergent cell technologies which have varying cell voltages.
or
7.2v Open motor as unlike IC engines electric motor size is not directly related to power output motors are optimized to voltage current and heat dissipation. Speeds up to 60/75 kph
14.4v Any amount and/or size of motors and 12 NiCad/NiMH cells up to a nominal 14.4 volts. Voltage replaces 12 cells. Most popular class in North America. Equivalent to NAVIGA (mono/ hydro 2). Open motor. Speeds up to 80/95 kph
24v Any amount and/or size of motors and 20 NiCad/NiMH cells up to a nominal 24 volts. NAVIGA compatible. Replaces 18 and 24 cell classes. Open motor. speeds up to 90/115 kph
48v Any amount and/or size of motors and 40 NiCad/NiMH cells up to a nominal 48 volts. Standard voltage. Commercially available RC control units. Replaces 32 cell with 40 cell equivalent. Open motor. Speeds up to 90/115 kph Voltage replaces cell count, open motor speeds up to 100/140 kph with improved runtimes due to optimal power:weight ratios
17.4 HULLS SPECIFICATIONS
1. All of the above classes will be further divided into Mono and Hydro per the Section 7 of the Competition Rules.
i. An exception is the strake measurements below 30” the horizontal strake dimensions will be limited to 10 mm.
17.5 RACE SPECIFICATIONS
1. Heats will be run in either:
i. sprint format which will be a minimum of 6 laps of the 160 meter course or 4 of the 20 meter course
or
ii. per NAVIGA rules which will be
a. 6 minutes for mono hulls, including stepped mono hulls
b. 5 minutes hydroplane and tunnels hulls
2. All 700 class heats will run under NAVIGA race format.
3. Each heat will start using:
i. One minute Pit Time.
ii. Mill Time will commence immediately upon the expiration of Pit Time, and will last for 30 seconds.
iii. At 10 seconds, no more boats will be allowed to be launched. Any boat launched after this time will be ordered off the course and will receive
a "Did Not Start" for that heat.
iv. All boats shall leave the launch area and shall go to the left of the start buoy and to the right of the buoys in the left end of the course. During Pit Time and Clock Time all boats will utilize a 3/4 mill.
v. No boat may be stopped on the course in order to better time the start. A disqualification will be given for this infraction
4. The start of the race will be at the end of Clock Time when the countdown reaches zero. Stop watches will start at this point, and will stop when the driver finishes the required laps.
5. Boats which cross the start line before the end of Clock Time will complete a full lap of the course before making a legal start.
17.6 REGULATION COURSES
1. The Oval course shall be defined and measured as follows:
i. The oval will have:
a. Two parallel straights 50 meters in length with a 19 meter diameter
corner linking each straight to be 159 meters;
or
b. The oval will be 250 meters per lap per Section 10.3.5 of the
Competition Rules;
ii. The start finish line will be as close as possible to the centre of the straightaway nearest the drivers stand.
iii. Heats will be run over a minimum of 1 kilometer for all classes;
a.. An exception being offshore classes where the race distance will be
1.5 kilometers on a course with at least one LH turn
b. The Contest Director may redetermine the number of laps which will
be run for each class at a district event.
c. Separate AMPBA Electric Heat Racing records will be maintained for
both the 160 meter course and the 250 meter course.
2. Straightline racing will be over a straight 100 meter course as specified in Section 9 of the Competition Rules.
17.7 SCALE CLASSES
SPORT SCALE HYDRO
1. General Rules
i. Racing shall consist of 10 laps on the official AMPBA electric course.
2. Hull Specifications
i. Hull designs shall generally follow those for Grand Prix Hydro in
Section 19 with the following exceptions:
a. Sport 700 class hull length shall be a minimum of 600mm and use a
combination of Graupner 700 spec motor and 14.4v battery. (speeds
60kph)
b. Sport 20 class hull length shall be a minimum of 700mm, use any
motor, and a class 24v battery . (speeds 90kph)
c. Sport Unlimited will be scaled per the rules for 1/8th hulls and use a
battery up to the 48v specification . (speeds 110kph)
17.8 OUTBOARD TUNNEL CLASS
1. The spirit of the rules is to duplicate Scale Formula 1 Outboard Tunnel Hull
2. Hull specification is per Section 16.1 & 2
3. Hull classes are:
i. 700 Tunnel minimum length 500mm
ii. OPC Tunnel
4. Power Specifications are700 OPC;
i. 14.4v battery and Mabuchi 775 motor (speeds 50 kph)
ii. 24v class battery and open motor (speeds 90 kph)
17.9 OFFSHORE
1. The spirit of the rules is to provide a standoff scale class based on APBA / SBI / UIM offshore class race boats and to ensure diversity of setup.
2. Deep-Vee or Catamaran (tunnel) hulls with stepped or continuous running surfaces are legal
3. The Production Class will run as a single class.
4. The Open class regardless of setup used will run as one class.
5. Hull classes are:
i. Production: any mass produced ABS hull minimum length 26” using
inboard or outboard motors.
ii Open: hulls of any material and production volume
6. Power Specifications
i. Production class
a. will use a 14.4 volt battery and one Mabuchi 775 motor.
b. Outboard hulls in the Production Class may run one additional cell
of 1.2v (speeds 50kph)
ii. Open Class (speeds 80kph)
a. will use a 24v battery and:
b. 1 or 2 inboard motors; or
c. 1 to 4 outboard motors as defined in Section 16. (multiple electric
motors are reliable, and simple to sychronise)
d. Outboard hulls in the Open Class may run an additional 1.2v per
motor so that: one O/B motor will run from 24v + 1.2v: two O/B
motors will run from 24v + 2.4v: three O/B motor will run from 24v +
3.6v: Four O/B motors will run from 24v + 4.8v
e. Minimum weight of Open class boats at time of launch and race
completion will be 3000 grams.
Note: the extra cells for the outboards are designed to overcome additional driveline friction and drag of the hardware in the water.
The minimum weight is designed to encourage diversity by equalising performance on an oval by eliminating differences arising from a significant power to weight ratio of inboard hulls and across the 160 meter and 250 meter courses.
Comment criticism etc welcome
Andrew Gilchrist
HVMMC 404
_________________
DRAFT AMPBA Fast Electric Rules
17.1 GENERAL
1. Electric racing rules are intended as a supplement to the General Power Boat Rules of AMPBA. In the case of a conflict, the electric racing rules shall prevail.
2 The purpose of the rules is to encourage and promote a national standard for electric RC Boats
17.2 BATTERIES /MOTOR
1. Batteries may be NiCad or NiMH to sub-c size
2. Each boat will have a means of stopping and starting the motor/s via radio control.
3. Each boat will be fitted with an external plug inserted in the positive cable from the battery to the motor, which will enable a rescuer to disconnect the motor from its power source
17.3 CLASSES
1. The following motor and cell configurations will be considered official for electric racing in AMPBA:
The approach taken was to create:
• a simpler class structure
• compatible with NAVIGA classes (7 -12 -20)
• offers lower controlled costs for the entrant modeler (700)
with improved performance on existing classes
• meaningful increases in performance levels across the main
competition classes ie 25% per class.
• performance potential comparable to existing IC classes (24v
& 48v) from commercially available equipment
CLASS CLASS BASIS Comments
Formula 700 Graupner 700BB Turbo 8.4v / 12 class power Replaces “Stock” 6 cell class with a spec motor which is cheaper than ROAR stock and more powerful with long run times of up to 8 minutes on 3.3AH battery. No maintenance or equipment needed, indefinite lifetime, extremely reliable. Mono/Hydro speeds approach 55/65 kph
8.4v Any amount and/or size of motors and 7 NiCad/NiMH cells up to a nominal 7.2 volts. Replaces 6 and 7/8 cell classes with one. NAVIGA compatible(mono/ hydro 1). Voltage designation compatible with Lithium Polymer and emergent cell technologies which have varying cell voltages.
or
7.2v Open motor as unlike IC engines electric motor size is not directly related to power output motors are optimized to voltage current and heat dissipation. Speeds up to 60/75 kph
14.4v Any amount and/or size of motors and 12 NiCad/NiMH cells up to a nominal 14.4 volts. Voltage replaces 12 cells. Most popular class in North America. Equivalent to NAVIGA (mono/ hydro 2). Open motor. Speeds up to 80/95 kph
24v Any amount and/or size of motors and 20 NiCad/NiMH cells up to a nominal 24 volts. NAVIGA compatible. Replaces 18 and 24 cell classes. Open motor. speeds up to 90/115 kph
48v Any amount and/or size of motors and 40 NiCad/NiMH cells up to a nominal 48 volts. Standard voltage. Commercially available RC control units. Replaces 32 cell with 40 cell equivalent. Open motor. Speeds up to 90/115 kph Voltage replaces cell count, open motor speeds up to 100/140 kph with improved runtimes due to optimal power:weight ratios
17.4 HULLS SPECIFICATIONS
1. All of the above classes will be further divided into Mono and Hydro per the Section 7 of the Competition Rules.
i. An exception is the strake measurements below 30” the horizontal strake dimensions will be limited to 10 mm.
17.5 RACE SPECIFICATIONS
1. Heats will be run in either:
i. sprint format which will be a minimum of 6 laps of the 160 meter course or 4 of the 20 meter course
or
ii. per NAVIGA rules which will be
a. 6 minutes for mono hulls, including stepped mono hulls
b. 5 minutes hydroplane and tunnels hulls
2. All 700 class heats will run under NAVIGA race format.
3. Each heat will start using:
i. One minute Pit Time.
ii. Mill Time will commence immediately upon the expiration of Pit Time, and will last for 30 seconds.
iii. At 10 seconds, no more boats will be allowed to be launched. Any boat launched after this time will be ordered off the course and will receive
a "Did Not Start" for that heat.
iv. All boats shall leave the launch area and shall go to the left of the start buoy and to the right of the buoys in the left end of the course. During Pit Time and Clock Time all boats will utilize a 3/4 mill.
v. No boat may be stopped on the course in order to better time the start. A disqualification will be given for this infraction
4. The start of the race will be at the end of Clock Time when the countdown reaches zero. Stop watches will start at this point, and will stop when the driver finishes the required laps.
5. Boats which cross the start line before the end of Clock Time will complete a full lap of the course before making a legal start.
17.6 REGULATION COURSES
1. The Oval course shall be defined and measured as follows:
i. The oval will have:
a. Two parallel straights 50 meters in length with a 19 meter diameter
corner linking each straight to be 159 meters;
or
b. The oval will be 250 meters per lap per Section 10.3.5 of the
Competition Rules;
ii. The start finish line will be as close as possible to the centre of the straightaway nearest the drivers stand.
iii. Heats will be run over a minimum of 1 kilometer for all classes;
a.. An exception being offshore classes where the race distance will be
1.5 kilometers on a course with at least one LH turn
b. The Contest Director may redetermine the number of laps which will
be run for each class at a district event.
c. Separate AMPBA Electric Heat Racing records will be maintained for
both the 160 meter course and the 250 meter course.
2. Straightline racing will be over a straight 100 meter course as specified in Section 9 of the Competition Rules.
17.7 SCALE CLASSES
SPORT SCALE HYDRO
1. General Rules
i. Racing shall consist of 10 laps on the official AMPBA electric course.
2. Hull Specifications
i. Hull designs shall generally follow those for Grand Prix Hydro in
Section 19 with the following exceptions:
a. Sport 700 class hull length shall be a minimum of 600mm and use a
combination of Graupner 700 spec motor and 14.4v battery. (speeds
60kph)
b. Sport 20 class hull length shall be a minimum of 700mm, use any
motor, and a class 24v battery . (speeds 90kph)
c. Sport Unlimited will be scaled per the rules for 1/8th hulls and use a
battery up to the 48v specification . (speeds 110kph)
17.8 OUTBOARD TUNNEL CLASS
1. The spirit of the rules is to duplicate Scale Formula 1 Outboard Tunnel Hull
2. Hull specification is per Section 16.1 & 2
3. Hull classes are:
i. 700 Tunnel minimum length 500mm
ii. OPC Tunnel
4. Power Specifications are700 OPC;
i. 14.4v battery and Mabuchi 775 motor (speeds 50 kph)
ii. 24v class battery and open motor (speeds 90 kph)
17.9 OFFSHORE
1. The spirit of the rules is to provide a standoff scale class based on APBA / SBI / UIM offshore class race boats and to ensure diversity of setup.
2. Deep-Vee or Catamaran (tunnel) hulls with stepped or continuous running surfaces are legal
3. The Production Class will run as a single class.
4. The Open class regardless of setup used will run as one class.
5. Hull classes are:
i. Production: any mass produced ABS hull minimum length 26” using
inboard or outboard motors.
ii Open: hulls of any material and production volume
6. Power Specifications
i. Production class
a. will use a 14.4 volt battery and one Mabuchi 775 motor.
b. Outboard hulls in the Production Class may run one additional cell
of 1.2v (speeds 50kph)
ii. Open Class (speeds 80kph)
a. will use a 24v battery and:
b. 1 or 2 inboard motors; or
c. 1 to 4 outboard motors as defined in Section 16. (multiple electric
motors are reliable, and simple to sychronise)
d. Outboard hulls in the Open Class may run an additional 1.2v per
motor so that: one O/B motor will run from 24v + 1.2v: two O/B
motors will run from 24v + 2.4v: three O/B motor will run from 24v +
3.6v: Four O/B motors will run from 24v + 4.8v
e. Minimum weight of Open class boats at time of launch and race
completion will be 3000 grams.
Note: the extra cells for the outboards are designed to overcome additional driveline friction and drag of the hardware in the water.
The minimum weight is designed to encourage diversity by equalising performance on an oval by eliminating differences arising from a significant power to weight ratio of inboard hulls and across the 160 meter and 250 meter courses.
Comment criticism etc welcome
Andrew Gilchrist
HVMMC 404
_________________
