Appearance:

The King of Shaves catamaran is a beautiful boat. The color scheme matches the full size off shore racing boat and venom went the distance including many scale details. The clear wind shield, realistic looking air intake cowls, and metal exhaust tips put this boat over the top.

The laser cut and sealed boat stand offers a padded surface to display this beautiful fiberglass boat.

Hull Construction:

The hand laid fiberglass composite hull provides a solid base and displays the scale King of Shaves graphics with glossy finish beautifully. The hull is sturdy and a high level of craftsmanship went into creating this catamaran style hull. Each sponson is beautifully laid with great detail creating the clean sharp ribs and steps molded into the bottom.

Plenty of foam is secured to the inside of the hull for flotation.

The laser cut and sealed wood battery tray, receiver tray, ESC mounts, and shaft stabilizers are glued to the hull with what appears to be epoxy or resin. The shaft stabilizers are also reinforced with an additional layer of fiberglass cloth.

The Canopy:

The hand laid fiberglass canopy includes a clear windshield and realistic looking air scoops. Two pins in the front of the hatch work together with the two Neodymium magnets in the rear to keep the hatch fastened. Water proof hatch tape should also be added each time you run to ensure water stays out of the boat. The underside of the hatch is lines with thin foam just incase.

Some of the added details include a perimeter glued clear windshield, molded center scoop, and two fiberglass air-scoops (non functional) which are held in place with two screws.

Electronics:

Motors

The Venom KOS brushless catamaran uses dual air cooled Venom V380 2700KV Brushless Outrunner Motors with 3.17mm shafts. The air cooled motors use a rotating can design. The entire outer can rotates with the shaft. This is effective in cooling because the machined blades in the end of the can force air into the motor.

The CNC machined aluminum motor mounts use a clam design to secure the motors in place.

Motor Specs:
Length: 41mm
Diameter: 27.8mm
Weight: 80g
Battery: 2-5 LiPOs
Max Current: 42A
Kv: 2700
No Load Current: 2.1A

Electronic Speed Controls

Two water cooled Venom 60A Pro Marine Brushless Speed Controls are used to regulate power to the motors. The two ESCs are perched on two laser cut sealed wood stands.

ESC Specs:
Length: 94mm
Width: 33mm
Height: 18mm
Water Cooling Pipe Dia: 5mm
Continuous Current: 60A
Burst Current (10S): 120A
BEC Mode: Switch
BEC Output: 6V/3A
Battery Cells: 2-6 LiPO, 6-18 NiMH

Radio

The Venom VR3T 3 channel FM computer radio has many great features. The multi data display screen clearly displays settings such as end point adjustments, Steering dual rates, sub trims, channel reversing, 15 model memories, steering/throttle center, modulation, brake mixing, function mixing, throttle hold (for gas vehicles), and fail safe.

The buttons are laid out and marked well with an auxiliary switch on top and steering dual rates on the handle. Throttle hold is also located on the handle but is only used with gas vehicles.

The Venom 4ch PPM/FM receiver operates on the 27MHz frequency. The receiver is compact and is strapped into the laser cut sealed wood receiver tray with a hook and loop strap. To keep moisture out, the receiver is kept inside a balloon which is secured around the exiting wires with a rubber band.

Servo

The steering servo used in the KOS is a Venom VEN-1825 high torque metal gear servo. The servo is held firm by a CNC machined aluminum mount that has been anodized red. The mount is glued to the fiberglass hull with epoxy or resin mixture.

Servo Specs:
Speed: .17sec/60º
Torque: 107 oz/in (7.0kg.cm) @ 6v

Performance & Handling

The first time I tested the Venom 34" brushless King of Shaves there was a wind advisory with extremely choppy waters. I thought that would be perfect to see how capable this thing really is. I started with two 2s 5000Mah 20c LiPO battery packs. I had intentions of also using the 3s packs but the conditions wouldn't allow it.

The electric KOS is wide and sleek in design so it handled the waves well. I managed to hold full throttle for about 5+ seconds each pass. The waves weren't my most feared opponent, the wind gusts were what worried me. Waves are predictable, but strong winds can be costly. I could feel the wind catch the underside of the boat at times. I flipped it three or four times total, which isn't bad at all considering the conditions. Thankfully I sealed the hatch with waterproof hull tape and the water stayed out of the hull. The flipped boat floated on its top until I was able to get the kayak out to right it. Off it went for some more adrenaline filled power boating.

I must say, the rough waters added a whole new level of fun and excitement to RC boating. The 34" KOS did an excellent job of bashing through the waves sometimes jumping and sometimes cutting through. It was cool to watch the catamaran hull dive through waves to come back up and tackle the next.

Stability:

This boat is definitely a stable one. Even in rough conditions, the KOS was able to make high speed passes and fairly high speed turns.

The KOS performs outstanding on calm waters. High speed passes with high speed full throttle turns. This boat performs great with the factory set-up and with a little tweeking, it performs amazing. I actually tried to flip this boat with 3s 20-25c batteries and was unable to in calm waters.

Turning:

The E-KOS easily and quickly turns in either direction. Turns are sharp and stable. During extremely high speed turns, the KOS literally shaves a layer of water off the top and throws it aside as seen in one of the action photos above.

At full throttle, the boat performs stable sweeping turns. Let off the throttle some and sharp turns are served.

This boat is stable enough for a beginner and powerful enough for the serious racer.

Acceleration:

The electric KOS rockets to speed. From a dead stop, the boat actually launched itself out of the water and quickly reached top speed. I'm not sure what was more fun, driving at top speed or the thrill of quick acceleration.

Cavitation was not an issue with the KOS brushless C1 boat. The counter rotating props also removed any thought of torque roll. This boat is dead on when it comes to acceleration.

Top Speed:

I tested the KOS with 2s LiPOs and 3s LiPOs. The boat is capable of handling more power but that was all I had at the time of review. The KOS is no slouch with either battery, but the 3s was definitely most fun.

Below are the top speeds as tested with a GPS unit. Unfortunately, because of the lack of extra space in the cock pit, I had to put the GPS in the front of the boat which caused excess nose weight. This slowed the boat some, so even though these speeds are not a true depiction of the speeds this boat is capaple of (with the two batteries below), it's fairly close.

Two 2s 5000mah 20c LiPOs: 28mph with added weight of the GPS. (looks more like 30-31mph without GPS installed)
Two 3s 3200mah 20c LiPOs: 32mph with added weight of GPS. (looks more like 34-35mph without GPS installed)

Increasing the "c" rating will increase the speed of the boat.

Run Time:

The KOS allows for ample time for decent runs. With the Double 2s 5000mah 20c LiPOs I was getting 8-10 minutes of run time.

With the Double 3s 3200mah 20c LiPOs I was reaching 8-9 minutes.

See the 34" King of Shaves C1 brushless off shore racing boat in action!

The electric King of Shaves from Venom racing is a well built fiberglass catamaran power boat with near unlimited potential. Out of the box this boat is stable enough for a beginner and the dual brushless motors with dual ESCs provide more than enough power to get your adrenaline flowing and onlookers eyes popping out. Hopefully not literally!

The finish and realistic rendering of the full size King of Shave C1 catamaran are stunning, to say the least. This is a solid boat with quality parts. If you like RC boats, you will love the Venom C1 34" RTR Electric Boat.