The state of the hobby

[Jonathan Linde]

Hi, everyone - I'm a relative newbie to the world of RC boating and think this is a fascinating topic. First, though, an introduction: My name is Jon Linde and I live in Marblehead, MA. I am currently running a 1/10 scale hydroplane originally run in the ERCU series and sold to me several years ago by Craig Mullen; the boat is modeled after the 1971 Hallmark Homes and was, I believe, built by Jeff Campbell. It is, in a word, beautiful. I like to think I'm giving the boat a second, less demanding life!

Because Marblehead is the spiritual home of model yacht (i.e., sailboat) racing, there's a gorgeous pond in the center of town complete with a rescue dingy where I can run the U-32. (Google Redds Pond and you should get some photos.) I originally thought the yacht guys would be disinterested in the hydro, but they've been surprisingly welcoming and helpful. That said, I have not once encountered another serious RC power boat on the pond.

As to the state of the hobby, I come to RC boats from RC planes and model trains. I'm lucky from the LHS perspective, as I live only 20 minutes from Offshore Electrics. On the other hand, most of the parts for 1/10 hydros are built by the cottage industry of hydro enthusiasts in Washington state. There's a very local store run by some really nice kids that specializes more in RC cars, but boat demand is such that they have a very, very limited selection of boat parts on hand. More generally, product development in the RC boat world clearly lags behind the RC plane world. Horizon hobby probably releases 10 planes for every new Proboat offering.

That said, the dynamics of the RC boating market are similar to the market for the large scale, live steam trains I run. Most of the interesting work is done by individuals, there is a small cadre of very dedicated enthusiasts, and the chances of the local hobby shop carrying replacement parts for a live steamer are nill.

I'm curious whether you think this general state of affairs (if you agree with my description) has changed much during the economic downturn. My sense is that these market dynamics are fairly stable. While I'm a little surprised that RC planes are as popular as they are (since the learning curve involved is pretty darn steep and they crash A LOT), they have a strong history, a relatively high-visibility sanctioning body in the AMA, and numerous clubs. Furthermore, lots of us who have been full scale pilots also fly RC - it just seems natural. Similarly, HO and O scale trains continue to be popular by virtue of Christmas and the baby boomers. Whether that popularity will last is questionable, though, since the train target market is aging fast and fewer and fewer people feel nostalgic about rail travel. And RC cars? Well, if you just want a toy, the learning curve is minimal, and there's no shortage of places to operate them.

Where does this leave boats? I suspect the biggest limitation is the fact that potential RC boat buyers need to be near a hospitable body of water. I'm surrounded by water, but most of it is ocean water - I'm just lucky to have a great pond nearby and lakes in New Hampshire to run on. Noise is another problem for those who run gas or nitro. One man's ideal racecourse is another man's Walden Pond. Another is lack of awareness - it seems like everyone has had an uncle, father, or grandfather who loved RC planes or model trains. Not so many had a family member with a model hydro. Finally, and one can argue this is a result not a cause, product availability in the LHS is mediocre.

Finally, it's just a fact that "hobbies" are less popular than they were in the past. Heck, we have a 1/32 scale railroad running around our backyard and my kids barely notice it. I've also noticed that its the older folks and the kids who really love the hydroplane and train. I've had more than one 40-year-old guy (my age, btw), look at me as if I were the biggest dork in the universe ("why can't he play golf like a normal person") when I'm running the boat on the pond.

Hopefully, I'm being too cynical about the last point. My grandfather was a master modeler in 50's and built live-steam fire engines; my own father took me to Rhinebeck Aerodrome in NY to see WWI airplanes when I was only 10 and built spectacular static airplane models; I'm just continuing the tradition.

Jon

 

[P THOMAS]

Good old days? Buy a basic hull and make your hardware, Octura got many going by providing good props and hardware.

Now days go buy a 60mph boat RTR.

Internet resourses are many

google

RC BOATS About 466,000 results (0.21 seconds)

google RC BOAT RACING About 3,440,000 results (0.26 seconds)

 

[Hydro Junkie]

I think the real problem is that there are no dedicated race sites. In my area, there are 6 or 7 R/C flying fields and two or three R/C offroad race tracks. So, that being said, were is the dedicated boat race facility? There isn't one. I think that has a serious impact on our hobby, buy boat(don't care what kind), assemble as needed, then go run. Umm, run where? Take it to a local lake park...........personnally got run out by a county park ranger, was too dangerous to run IF swimmers showed up. Go to a different lake, run at boat launch.......run out by police, local residents complained about noise EVEN THOUGH full sized boats were running on the lake with outboard engines. Go to friend's house on lake.......full sized boaters intensionally try to swamp R/C and made water too rough to run. So where do you run? This is the crux of our problem. It almost comes down to buying property, building a race pond with a permanently laid out bouy set and enclose it in a building to contain the noise. Then you have the problem of having to charge a usage fee for facility maintenance and to pay the property taxes and utilities. Would any of you pay to use such a facility?

 

[Tom Foley]

HJ and Jonathan hit the nail on the head ...places to run... if you don't have a club lake nearby . This problem is very similar to Off highway vehicles , Dirt Bikes and 4 wheelers . I am lucky in one respect in my area to have a State OHV area within 35 miles . I frequently go for a15 mile blast early on Sat or Sun mornings if not working , racing , or boating . Sticker costs 60.00 a year . RC boating requires a 120 mile round trip to our pond in Dover, Fl that is in a county park that requires expediant removal of vehicles after unloading whether at a race or just testing (People constantly piss and moan about moving their cars despite this rule being in place for 20 plus years ) . Boating is not easy for many and will keep RC boating in the relative stone age compared to other motorized hobbies. I take my 14 FT skiff to the local lake launch area (20 miles away ) on weekday mornings for needed quick testing with no interference . Keep positive and don't whine if you have to travel a bit to race because the rush is there . On to the Charleston Fall Nats ..these guys know how to roll !!!!!!!

 

[Bill Gibson]

For all the years ive played with toy boats, its always been the same occurance...find a local pond, run there awhile, lose the local pond, find another, run there awhile, lose that local pond, and so on and so forth.....Tom, i can only imagine how much we would run if there was a pond say, fifteen miles or less from each other....i used to run at Orange Lake in New Port Richey with some other people....we would run 2 or 3 nights a week and then run on the weekends!

 

[Tom Foley]

I guess if it is important enough and you can scrub up the funds then one can make it happen . I personally have sold off a bunch of stuff to be able to fund my hobby and do two out of town big races that cost 700.00 or better each . i guess Racing and Model Boating are two different things . I don't have time for both so I race ...so just get the hell out of the way !!!!!!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[TUNLBOTR]

Tom, it has changed indeed.

The numbers seem to be there in race attendance, 200+ for the last 2 day.

If it weren't for IW and others our resources would be virtually unknown. What was really the recognizable "death blow" was the losing of RCBM, and the constant loss of Manufacturing. Use to be, go to a local shop, find out about racing, pick up a RCBM and start reading. Go to the race and ask questions, or join a club.

This hobby has a lot of serious race minded individuals. A flying field is a group that is flying, for the most part, non competition.

Everyone that shows up at my pond are racers. We have been fortunate to have maintained our user status within the county for OVER 20 years, and that is due to the very hard work of dealing with politics to run a little toy boat. The noise, the soccer fields, work days are what is never seen. I myself and everyone I know put much more time into it than they get out.

If we don't make it enjoyable, it isn't enjoyable.

It all starts with one person, then another, another, working to maintain the momentum. United We Stand. Just like the displacment variable from org. to org. we get the sanctioning bodies and manufacturers to understand this, and its WIN WIN all the way around.

Bring back RCBM, and not just RTR tests. We need our VOICE

 

[David Homer]

Several years ago I seen this coming. I commented way back then about how our boating organizations should follow AMA's lead and make running site procurement a #1 priority. Folks don't want to drive an hour or longer just to put a boat in the water. Many years back I tried putting together a club here in Kalamazoo. I had a phone/address list of maybe 25 people. Out of that 25 or so, there were 3 of us who showed any interest at all in racing. All these folks wanted was a LOCAL place to run! It all unraveled in a few months when we were unsuccessful in finding an IMPBA-insurable site (yes, another issue..) I still have some boat stuff, but its been in storage now over 5 years. Economics forced me out of participation, but it is unlikely I will return to racing if for some reason I can do it again...

 

[Ron Olson]

Hey Dave, call me as I'm on vacation this week, I'm in the phonebook. John keeps giving me your number and I keep losing it. I've got a new boater not too far from your place (unless you've moved) that I've been helping like how you helped me over the years.

Dave tried getting a club going back in 1979 or `80 but we only had a few members then. He tried later on and finally got enough to hold a race here but I was into the RC truck scene when that happened.

Yeah, I'm driving an hour to get to the club lake in Grandville, I was up there yesterday. My normal watering holes around town are either busy this weekend or weed-choked. Thanks to thank million gallon oil leak in the Kalamazoo River I lost one place to play as they weren't allowing anything in the water, they didn't even want you to get your feet wet.