RE: 46" Sea Queen needs running gear help!
I've just finished my first electric boat and the learning slope was a bit daunting at first but checking the Net made life easier and using a little Googling and finding friendly advice on forums it was pretty simple really. Mine is a single water cooled motor connected to a 120 amp ESC with a BEC. I always make sure the ESC has a BEC so I have a constant supply of 6 volts to my receiver, much better than worrying about a 4 pack of AA's plus handy for anything else you want to power. I used just one 11.1 battery to start off with but after gettuing used to the boat I intend to change to 2 7.4 volt lipos to give me 14.8 volts for some extra power and speed it's even possible to go with two in parralel plus another 2 in series to give extra run time. More volts and more amps in steps helps with getting used to the boat slowly instead of a fast boat straight off. The cooling is simply water picked up via the rudder and its forced to the motor and then on to the ESC then spat out through a small vent in the side o the boat. When I increase power I will run a dual system with one inlet to the motor ans a seperate on to the ESC for extra cooling. Fitting it is a breeze.
As for the steering just buy a dual rudder assembly and one decent servo and one channel will take care of that. A couple of trim tabs and maybe a turn fin is about it. so from a simple single motor, ESC cooling system, and a dual rudder (although not always needed) you can grow into a real beast of a boat by simple wiring and an extra cooling loop. Buy the big motor first rather than changing and costing more money when you want more power and get the big ESC as well for the same reason. Then just change your batteries to suit what you want.
I'm no expert and I'd imgine others would do things differently but I'm happy with my boat. A little time spent trimming and adjusting the angle of the prop is all you have to do when you first get her wet and away you go.
Later some experimentation with different props can change the boats speed again. So keeping it simple to start can give you a chance to grow with the boat. Rather than going all out first up and having a beast which is hard to handle and costing a fortune. So you can virtually have a new boat every time you make a change plus it's easier on the pocket
Kepp reading and asking question and you'll be runing your boat in no time, good luck.
Stu