The AquaCraft SuperVee 27 is constructed of durable, hand-laid fiberglass and is available in 6 different colors. Each color represents a different frequency allowing you to race with 5 of your buddies! An AquaCraft B36-56 Brushless Marine Motor comes preinstalled complete with a water cooling jacket. The motor is driven by an AquaCraft Water-cooled 45 amp brushless ESC. A two channel pistol grip transmitter (made by Futaba) puts you at the helm of this bad boy and an AquaCraft servo, (also made by Futaba) sends your inputs to the rudder.

A nice wooden stand is included making it easy to display your boat when your back at shore. The stand is also very helpful at the water for starting the boat. A full sheet of decals and a 12 page instruction manual are also included.

Over the years I have tested many boats from Gas to electric. While large gas boats will always be my passion, they are big, noisy and can be messy dealing with the fuel. The electrics that I have piloted in the past have used conventional brushed motors and have always left me disappointed with the performance. The SuperVee 27 with its brushless motor bring a whole new element to the water. Lets get this thing in the water and see how it performs.

Model name: Super Vee 27 Brushless
Type: Brushless Electric Powered Deep Vee
Manufacturer: AquaCraft by Hobbico
Distributor: Great Planes Model Distributors
Total Length: 27 in (686 mm)
Beam: 8.13 in. (205 mm)
Height: 5.5 in. (140 mm)
Hull material: Fiberglass
Weight (w/o batteries): 4.5 lb. (2.04 kg)
Includes: AquaCraft B36-56 water-cooled brushless motor, brushless 45A ESC, AquaCraft 2-channel radio
Batteries Used: Two Duratrax Shark 1500 Mah Nicd Packs
Requires: (8) AA batteries for the transmitter; (2) 6-celll battery packs with Deans Ultra connectors
Street price: $279.99

The included AquaCraft 2-channel pistol radio is made by Futaba and the receiver and servo are already installed. The transmitter includes a battery status monitor, as well as trims for fine-tuning steering and throttle action. Lightweight transmitter includes: Battery status indicator Fine trims for steering and throttle Servo reversing on both channels Adjustable steering rate Charge jack for (optional) NiCd batteries Both a SX-100 standard servo and an RX-100 receiver are already installed!

The AquaCraft B36-56 water-cooled brushless motor features: High Efficiency Tons of Power Water Cooling Jacket to keep the motor cool 45 Amp Water Cooled Brushless ESC I Powered the boat with 2 Shark 1500 Mah NiCD Batteries

Upon taking the boat out of the box, I carefully removed the hull and other components. The quality of the fiberglass and paint job are second to none. The boat comes with a nice wooden stand which makes it easy to work on and display the boat. The first step in getting the boat ready for the water was to adhere the stickers from the sheet to the hull. They go on very easily. You can used some water with a drop of dish soap to allow you some flexibility in positioning the stickers in the correct spot.

Surface Drive Adjustable Strut Assembly
Made of machined aluminum, with a .150" flex drive cable and a 3/16" prop shaft that allows for unlimited prop selection.

The SuperVee 27 comes as a Ready to Run (RTR) boat, and it is just that. The boat requires absolutely no assembly other than the stickers and install 8 AA batteries in the transmitter. You have a wide range of battery options available. I chose to used a pair of Duratrax Shark 1500 mAh Nicd packs to power the boat. I would have went with 3300 Nimh Packs but I did not have two in my possession that were the same. It is necessary to make sure the batteries have Deans connectors on them. Most 6-7 cell battery packs are design for Car use and come with a standard Tamiya-style connector. These packs were no different so I cut them off and installed the Deans. The included Velcro strips aid in making sure the batteries remain put while under way.

I looked at the AquaCraft website and noticed that they put a Tech Bulletin up with some comments on Arming the ESC correctly. You can view the full page here.

To arm the AquaCraft SuperVee 27 Brushless power system, follow the steps below:

1. Install fresh "AA" batteries in your AquaCraft transmitter.
2. Turn the throttle trim knob - located on the far right top of the transmitter - fully counter-clockwise (see illustration).
3. Make sure that the throttle servo reversing switch is in the down position (see illustration).
4. Turn the transmitter "ON".
5. Install two charged, 6-cell battery packs in your SV27 Brushless boat. Then, plug them into the ESC (electronic speed control) inside the boat.
6. Listen for a single beep.
7. Pull the throttle trigger all the way back (as if to apply full power). Listen for a single beep.
8. Release the throttle trigger to neutral and listen for the five remaining beeps. Your boat is now ready to operate.

Basically that is it! Off to the lake!

I plugged in two freshly charged battery packs and armed the ESC. A quick pull of the trigger and the motor jumped to life. I double checked the rudder direction and all was a go.

The SuperVee 27 has a surface drive power system which means that you need to launch it to get the prop to bite in. If you place the boat in the water and try to gun the throttle, the prop will cavatate and suck air with very little forward motion. So I gave it it a gentle, level toss with my finger on the throttle and as soon as the rear of the hull hit the water, the prop grabbed and she bolted out across the water. I took it easy on the motor for the first couple runs to allow the motor to break in. I had no idea what kind of battery life I would get on these 1500 packs, but I was happy to see about 5 minutes. Again my first choice would have been some 3300 packs which should yield between 7-9 minutes on a charge.

On the third run, as soon as it hit the water, I punched the throttle and the boat seemed to leap out of the water. The bow was running a bit low, so I brought it back to shore and made a minor adjustment to the trim tabs by simply bending them up a little. The next run the boat was up on plane very fast as it screamed across the glassy water kicking up a really cool rooster-tail.

	Video of the SuperVee 27 From AquaCraft Models

With the trim tabs properly adjusted the boat responded much better in the turns as well as gaining a few MPH in the top end speed. Right hand turns were much sharper than left ones, most likely due to the FE turn fin on the right side of the transom. When doing a high speed left turn the boat would tend to skid into the turn more and you needed to be more careful of capsizing. It screamed across the water as if it were on rails. I felt the rudder was very effective reacting instantly to my every input.

The next few runs were uneventful - Just a whole lot of fun!

I was really surprised at the speed of this boat. For a RTR package, it really compared to many of the smaller nitro powered boats on the market. There is just something so nice about electric, just charge and go.

All in all I was very impressed with the overall performance of the SuperVee 27. This is a boat that will please both the novice and racers alike.

For $279.00 Ready to Run it is a great deal for anyone at any skill level!

AquaCraft Models
Distributed Exclusively in the U.S.A., Canada and Mexico by:
Great Planes Model Distributors
P.O. Box 9021; Champaign, IL 61826-9021
Website: www.AquaCraftmodels.com

Futaba Corporation of America
Distributed Exclusively in the U.S.A., Canada and Mexico by:
Great Planes Model Distributors
P.O. Box 9021; Champaign, IL 61826-9021
Website: www.futaba-rc.com