The best boat you built and why, Rtr's are excluded

[domwilson]

I will give you that they do build the "hull." But it is up to the hobbyist to build the "boat."

[yurkanip]

I agree....as I build wood hulls 8 in all, BUT I am building my h&m scale hydro at the moment and it is fully custom....but started as an empty fiberglass hull that Hydro and Marine joined at a factory. When its finished..it will surely be,
"built" Boats are just fun regardless....

[jantagg]

Please don't miss understand what I am saying. Kevin is a club member of HOTMBC and a friend of mine. The detailling on his boats are beautifully done and his hardware installations are impeccable. He knows more about electronic than I will ever comprehend, however, he will admit that he did not build any of his boats. That is all that I'm saying.

[NativePaul]

By best build I'm going to interpret that as favourite and say it's my 36" Crestrunner cat, I started it as a schoolboy back in '96 when I was running 18" Firecrest cats with shallow tunnels trying to keep up with riggers or more like trying to get to the end of the race running loose enough to keep up with them which was much easier in the calm than the rough especially as I was running a relay switch at the time not an ESC, I yearned for something that would handle rougher water and still be fastso I started work on a cat twice as big and optimised more for rough weather than speed, obviously it would take more than a 540 (05) to power it and I couldn't afford a big Plettenberg so I went to the dark side and bought a .21 engine for it, but at around this time i lost my transport and with no FE lake local I had to give up boating, and turned my attention to flight as we did have a flying field nearby i was using all the electrics in from my boats in planes and having a fine time, but seeing half the folks spending a lot of time trying to get cooking engines to run reliably really turned me off the idea of trying to run a rip-snorting racing .21 in a boat and the project was put on the back shelf unfinished but often thought about, time marched on and I got a job and BL motors for planes and LiPos until one day I realised I had enough stuff to power that catamaran so I had to dig it out and finish it off she first got wet in April '08, 12 years after starting her, powered by a mega 22/30/3 and 6s1p on a phoenix 80 the perfomance was just what I was looking for all those years before, but I now wanted more, I pushed things until I melted the motor and made some and replaced the setup with a Neu 1521/2.5d and 8s1p with a HiModel 200 after a couple of hull mods it has all the performance I can handle.


I know what you mean Jantagg, when I buy a glass hull I don't see myself as building it but fitting it out, I consider it to have been already built by the manufacturer, knowing as I do how much effort it takes to make a plug and mould, and even with a good mould doing a nice neat layup with wet in wet join isn't easy either so I couldn't take the credit for the build, but that viewpoint is coming from someone that normally spends many many hours over a period of several weeks, months or even years making a boat (hull) and when its finished spending a few hours one afternoon fitting it out with the hardware and electrics. It doesn't bother me that others may consider what I see as fitting out a hull as building a boat because as they have never experienced the 90% of the work of boatbuilding that goes into making the hull so they are perceiving things from a different viewpoint starting with a useless glass/plastic molding and turning it into a working boat.

[RayR]

I went looking for pics of that boat and couldn't find any. Doug Smock may have a shot of it floating around. That was at the 2006 Valdosta SAWs.

Here ya go Brian.

[Simon.O.]

The build vs assemble discussion could go on for ever. I use off the shelf props and motors, esc, packs. I can not build any of that gear.

If someone takes a out of the box hull and makes it water ready by fitting a lot of parts then I will call that a build.
Fair enough I design and make my own hulls but that does not make me "better" than anyone else, just a little different.

This thread could get interesting in regards to what is a build.
I would rather it stay on topic as to what folks consider thier favourite boat.

[Jeff Wohlt]

Mean Machine would be my best and easiest.

Lots of room

Easy set up

Fast on little power

Handles very well.

[Flying Scotsman]

I do not have the talent to design and manufacture a hull. I have built hulls from kit components, Dumas etc and it is very satisfying, my intent on this thread was as many have construed was the boat that got you hooked on the hobby or your favourite hull.
Sorry for any confussion.

Douggie

[jantagg]

My favorate build was my 1/8 scale Tomyann. I took three months to build that baby but I enjoyed ever minute. I admit that when I was raising a family and working I would not have had time for such a project. However, being retired makes a big difference. I think that people who are retired and build with their hands ( it doesn't matter if it is a bird house or a table or a rc boat) are the most content in life. Whether it is a full blown build or a build out, it doesn't matter if at the end, you are proud of the results. One is just as important as the other. Just don't confuse the two.

[Brushless55]

Mean Machine would be my best and easiest.

Lots of room

Easy set up

Fast on little power

Handles very well.

What's your setup?

Also could we include the motor, esc, and batteries used to give others an idea if maybe they want to do a similar build...
Great thread by the way, I think its giving me direction onto future builds!

[Jeff Wohlt]

9XL, Etti 125 ESC, 4S and m445 prop. 150 cable.

Solid easy set up and around 40 mph.

Want to try my 12Xl and 6S with 545 prop. Lower amps and probably 50ish.

[Flying Scotsman]

My favorate build was my 1/8 scale Tomyann. I took three months to build that baby but I enjoyed ever minute. I admit that when I was raising a family and working I would not have had time for such a project. However, being retired makes a big difference. I think that people who are retired and build with their hands ( it doesn't matter if it is a bird house or a table or a rc boat) are the most content in life. Whether it is a full blown build or a build out, it doesn't matter if at the end, you are proud of the results. One is just as important as the other. Just don't confuse the two.

A great build and what plans did you use or did you do it off photos...very impressive, power, and all the other goodies?

Douggie

[highndry]

Bubble Deck Sanger w/ big block.

[txboatpilot]

Whiplash 40!! Running 6s2p and Neu 1527 it will do 60+ all day in race water.. Nice kit, easy to build and lots of FUN FUN FUN!!!

[Doug Smock]

I've got so many memorable boats that it's hard to pick. I'd have to say my original Dark Horse Shovel. It was #2 out of the mold and painted up like the '66 Mariner Too. It won lots of races and set more than it's share of records, I think four still stand. Three with me driving and one with Dick Crowe at the wheel. It was an amazing little boat.

Unfortunately, that one resides on the bottom of Blue Lake in Valdosta after it came apart trying to back up an 87mph pass on 18 sub-C's. One of these days I'm going to build another just like the original.

I went looking for pics of that boat and couldn't find any. Doug Smock may have a shot of it floating around. That was at the 2006 Valdosta SAWs.

That boat was something to see!!!
I remember going out and looking for it right after it went down.
That was a great weekend for breaking records!
Doug