Newbie with old boat. Need some advice!

[Dan Shaver]

What's up guys! I am a long time R/C guy that is getting back into boating after being out of it for a long long time. I sold all of my racing(car/truck) stuff a few years ago, slowed down and have been rock crawling latly but the go fast bug has bit me once again. I have an old DPI American Dream boat that I just got back going with old nicd batterys and a brushed motor that I had laying around. So yea, it is time to upgrade! I want to step up to Lipos and brushless stuff. Any advice on good motor, battery, ESC, and charger to make this thing really go? Also, is my old boat still worth trying to make fast or are there way better hulls to start with? Thanks for the great forum and any help with this!!!

Dan-O

 

[Joe Steele]

The best place to start is to see if there is a local FE group and see what they are running. If you are on your own, here is an article that will help make your boat go faster: http://www.astecmodels.co.uk/dpi-american-dream-hopup.htm.

Most guys in our club start with a UL 1 motor and ESC. A popular hydro hull is the Phil Thomas Sports 20. One of the biggest classes is the OB Tunnel. Best hulls are the Woodstuff, VS 1 and the Cobra. A good RTR is the Pro Boat Stiletto, Traxxas Spartan and the Aquacraft UL 1.

I do electric, gas and nitro and I enjoy the gas boats the most.

 

[jayt]

I raced an American Dream almost 20 years ago. Today I'd start with a better hull, that one is really too small, and it will break apart too soon and damage/ruin your electronics. If you like a hydro the AquaCraft UL-1 is a good way to start. That hull will work better at the 40+ mph speeds a modern BL setup will give it. Too, all the parts - motor, ESC, 2.4 gig radio, hardware - can be used in another hull later. I have a ProBoat Stilleto and find it's ESC very difficult to drive smoothly at low speeds, but it is the best OB. The AquaCraft SV27R and the ProBoat Miss Geico are other good RTR choices. These 4S powered boats all use "limited" motors, meaning the motor cost is relatively low and all give similar performance. In most FE clubs today the most popular classes use the "limited" power systems. In"P Limited" sport hydros speeds are in the mid-50s and in riggers the little motors push them into the mid 60s.

I mentioned the 2.4 gig radio, this is important IMO. The old 27 and 75 band radios just don't cut it in today's frequency-crowded environment and will result in glitching or worse a runaway. Entry radios like the Tactic are cheap and reliable, all the way to the top of the line Futaba FASST system, my own favorite. Either will work far better than a 75 MHz system, although a few guys still use quality 75FM radios with good success.

I don't know of any FE clubs in central Tennessee but if you ask around another site you may find other FE boaters in your area. This gets a lot more FE traffic: http://www.offshoreelectrics.com

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[Dan Shaver]

Thanks for the quick replys! I am fired up about this stuff! I would love to do some racing but for now it will just be some friends having fun. I would like to start with a good hull that I can work with for race use later on. I have been looking at the UL-1 and ProBoats "Miss Elam" but I am not much of a RTR guy. If that is a good way to start then I might do that though. I thought about starting with the Miss Elam hull and adding good parts from there. I would laso like to stay away from China hulls if that is possible. What do you guys think? I love the look of the hydro boats but are they good to use for racing? I see a lot of cats out there that are FAST!

Dan-O

 

[Joe Steele]

I have races a UL 1, SV27 and a Stiletto. They are all okay boats with the Stiletto being the most fun. None of them will keep up with purpose built boats. If you want to build a boat go with the Phil Thomas Sport 20 with the UL 1 motor and ESC or the VS 1 with the Hyperformance bullet lower and UL 1 set up. Both run well with a 4 cell Lipo.

 

[Dan Shaver]

So what is the best hull to start with? I dig the Miss Elam, UL-1, and maby the Miss Geico cat. I want a good hull to work with for top speed and maby racing down the road but I am having a hard time trying to figure this out. I do like the look of the hydros but I want speed over the looks.

Dan-O