Salescall

My son really wants a good quality RC boat for his birthday. We have gone the battery powered route with the boats under $100, and weren't really impressed with what is out there. As a dad who is going to be maintaining the boat, Iwant something that Iam not going to have to repair a lot. He will be using the boat at our house on Lake Hartwell (SC). We live on a cove that has some boat traffic, but not a ton, so the RC boat needs to be able to handle waves and work long distances away. I'm not yet sure how much we want to spend yet. It will really depend on what is out there. We are also not opposed to a good slightly used one as well. FYI, he is one of those kids that can really work RCdevices, but does have the occasional slip up.

Thanks in advance for the help!

Dan S

can you tell us which one you have tried already,
that way we won't give you names on something that you have already tried.

Dan.

Salescall

Honestly, I don't even know. It was one we bought at a local hobby shop. The biggest problem was water intrusion. It killed the motor before we even knew what was going on. Feel free to through out any suggestions...

redlined_b16a

Try the Tower hobbies turbo vee,cheap and easy

Doc.316

Take it back....<thinking>....it should not leak....
I would not recomend the proboat "Volare"....I made the mistake of suggesting it to a friend (since it does look beautiful)....but....
1. The esc (electronic speed control) burnt out..
2. The first one took on water...right off the bat.
3. It planes into the water....(when going slowly like a beginner would have to do to learn the left right direction control the boat REALLY takes a lot of water over the bow)!

If I had to do all over again....I would see what kind of boat the kiddo wanted...(fast electric powerboat....or scale type boat)...
A scale type boat is slower and less flustrating to learn on...a powerboat is well faster and will run slowly if the kiddo is willing to keep the speed down....(there are ways to limit this).

The turbo vee would be a good boat ....(see above post)....I have the nitro version and it runs well....but I can't find the any version on towers websight....
The alantic harbor tug is a good boat if you want slower...(a friend has one for the pool).

I am still wondering if you took the original boat back to the hobby shop? They (if they are worthwhile) should be able to help you sort out the water leakage....did you put grease/oil in the shaft?

Steve

Salescall

The boat we got from the hobbie shop is long gone (as is the hobbie shop!). As I have researched a little more, I think we are leaning to the electric. What are everyone's thoughts about the Shockwave and Widowmaker by ProBoat. They seem like good starter boats. Just have to figure out the LiPo battery thing.

Thanks again for the advice.

LakeErieRCBoat

I have three kids and started them on the cheap toys. It was ok for about 1 year, then I purchased an Aquacraft Hammer and they love it. We have been running the Hammer for the last 4 years (burned a motor after 2 years, but that is the only problem). I purchased a second Hammer last year and it is going find. The problem is the Hammer has been discontinued by Aquacraft, but it is now called the Power Vee and offered by Tower Hobby. This is the exact same boat. I purchased a Power Vee just last May and it is running great. My three kids race each other. I run these boats on a harbor off of Lake Erie (Ohio). They will handle the boat traffic. My suggestions would be to look for a used Hammer or purchase a new Power Vee.

LakeErieRCBoat

If you want information on the Widowmaker and Shockwave, go to the forum Speed - Electric. You will find plenty of information on all the boats you are probably considering.

rcguy1411

i was just at my LHS and saw the new miss gieco by Proboat looks like it will be a verry nice boat with alot of posibilities for upgrades in the fucture not shure on any isues with this boat as of yet as far as reliabilty but the hull seames sturdy and the scale looks were verry nice [link]http://www.rc-hydros.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=PRB4100[/link]

res3567

Those two boats are brushless from ProBoat and are a lot faster than the brushed boats. But if your son can handle the speed.....they are great.....

Salescall

Thanks for all of the help. After looking at the Speed - Electric forum, Ithink I have decided to go with the Shockwave. Sounds like it's a great boad, and they got the prop thing fixed. Still need to figure out which LiPo battery to get. Will more mAh give you more run time, or more power (and potentially fry the ESC)?

rcguy1411

the higher milli amp will give longer run times but that causes more heat that can fry the esc not an big problem if your on and off the throttle but when running full tilt boogie that is when the problems can happen

pompebled

Hi Salescall,

As (close to) all RTR boats are manufactured in China these days, keep in mind there's no such thing as RTR!

The boats are assembled at best (often not very good) and you are the one that has to make the boat ready for the water:
- check all bolts and nuts, use loctite where required
- check for leaks and fix them prior to tunnig the boat
- allign and lube the drive train, check if the coupler grubscrews are not overtighted (damaging the flexshaft) and secure with loctite.

Great as it looks, my biggest issue with the Shockwave is the steering outdrive, the universal coupler is something that doesn't belong on a fast electric!

Did you check out the new supervee27?
http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/pro...prod=dh-AQUB23

Slightly more expensive, but a lot more 'speedboat' than the Shockwave.
You can see in the video that it's fast...

I know it's hard to judge from a video, but 30+ mph is really fast on the water, specially for a ten year old.

My son was eight when he held his first transmitter, sixteen years later he's beating me on a regular basis in the national competition we're racing in together...

Regards, Jan.

Salescall

Thanks for all the tips/advice. There is some really good information there. I ordered the Shockwave last week, along with a Dynamite charger and 5000 mAh LiPo battery. Thinking about getting a metal prop, but feel like we spent more on a b-day gift than we were expecting. I'll be sure to let everyone know how the 1st trial run goes!