newb q's, outrigger

[ben hughes]

hi there. ive just discovered rc boat racing after buying my first rc car about a month ago. im flat broke so have decided to jump straight in to the deep end and build an outrigger with a weed eater engine on my small budget. the engine is an 18cc kawasaki and the hull will be approx 1.2m (47in) long. im making the front spontoons quite wide apart because the lake where i live is quite rough. i know that i shouldnt be starting off in such a way but if anyone has any suggestions, links, tips etc it would be very appreciated.

i was also wondering if anyone could suggest a prop to suit that engine. thanks

 

[TomMoorehouse]

i believe you will be highly disappointed with a converted gas 18cc engine. it will be real slow.....

if you want a cheap rigger read up more on the .12 nitro riggers. the engines can be had easily for under $100. I have my current firefighter boat plan for $8 and some free ones are available as well.

 

[ben hughes]

thanx for your reply tom. when you say slow exactly how slow do you mean, i figured that if people can get fairly good performance from deep v's with weed eater engines then an outrigger with less drag should be even quicker. if im wrong in this assumption i may have to reconsider. im living in nz and a nitro engine is unfortunately really expensive to get here.

 

[Twin_k90]

Ben the 18cc gas motors are nothing special, the stock 23cc in a rigger is nothing special, the only gas rigger i have seen that impressed me was a mathe and they are big $$$$

i would go the fire firghter 12 or 21, i am helping a mate do a firefighter 21 and they look like a awesome boat!!

Dale

 

[Ian Inverarity]

Ben,

While it is true that at high speed an outrigger has less drag than a mono, at low speed the opposite is true. Outriggers work by having a high power to weight ratio. An 18cc line trimmer motor does not put out very much power at all, it would need to be highly modified to make sufficient power, and many commercial engines cannot be modified to make useful power. Also they are generally bulky and heavy, all of which conspires against working in an outrigger.

You would be better off getting a large fiberglass V hull for such water and motor.

Ian.

 

[ben hughes]

thanx for the help guys, ive already started work on the hull for my rigger so ill finish it and look in to the cost of a better engine for it. i havent much $ at the moment so i might have to put it to one side for the moment. anyway thanx again - ben

btw - there are no clubs or anything here so the boats just for mucking about really, speed is good but im not going to be competing like you guys.