Is it or isn't it, seems to always be the question. I rememberwhen I had just finished the construction of my Elam only to be told it wasn't to scale. I was sent pictures showing the rear end of the boat a swooped extension on the one side and cut up ends on the back of the sponsons. So, I cut off the back of the boat and made it to scale. Then here come some guys ( I won't mention any names) who have built the same Elam and don't do any work to the rear of the boat yet they say they have a scale model of it, enter it in contests and are allowed to win.
So here I start working on the T-4 only to be told that the little canards never ran in a race and if I leave them on the boat won't be considered a scale. Hogwash, the Bud team built them for a reason and I'l bet they were tested on the water that way so in my book a boat with the little wings on them is a scale.
My ten cents.
Mark,
save your money,
Scale boats are to resemble a REAL Unlimited Hydro that raced, and the objective is to build them as they were built, NOT the way you want to build them.
As for your E-LAM, if you build the 2000 or ealier design, the standard cut out at the transom, like in PT hull is fine, but you cant keep the cockpit spar in front, that is from the newer 2001-06 hull, but the rear area IS different, so you need to make the changes, and you did a great job doing it, be happy you spent the time to make the boat the way it really is.
As for the 2 wing bud, it DIDNT race with the 2 stub wings in front, it had the full wing in front, and it raced with the horizontal wing in Madison (the only place it raced) and did break off in heat 2, finished without the wing in the 3rd heat, why build a broken boat ?
We have discussed this many times in the past, what the IMPBA needs is a group of (3 maybe) knowledgable
people to make decissions on what is legal or real or what needs to be corrected. We have fumbled around with this for years without any changes, someone step up and take the ball and go.