Newb ?'s about Buying my First Boat

[small=breakable]

EDIT: these questions have been answered perfectly however, I now have new questions I am hoping to have answered at the bottom.



I am sorry that this is so long but it is everything that I need to know before i get endulged into this hobby. Thank You in advance for ANY help or advice you can lend.

I have been searching through a lot of good info on this site but I am still foggy in the direction I should take. I will soon buy my first boat but I don't know if I should get an electric catamaran or v for driving in medium sized man made lakes and maybe once at the natural table rock lake (which will have real boat waves).

Background:
I have never driven rc boats but I own 70mph+ rc trucks. I will most likely only be running the boat this summer as I will soon be off to college (at Pittsburg State U). Because of this (and the fact that I don't know I will love rc boats) I plan to purchase my boat used at a good price in hopes of selling it for little or no loss.

Question 1: V or Cat? Which one brand and model exactly?
As I read in a recent topic, some great choices for new boats are:
ProBoat Miss Geico (I LOVE its looks but nowhere can it be found cheap. Are there others like it?
AquaCraft SuperVee 27R Brushless
ProBoat Formula Fastech
ProBoat ShockWave 26 Brushless (Only needs one 2s LiPo!!!!)
TSL Pursuit But these are often hard to find used, especially at an amazing price. Are there some that I am missing that are a great price used? A top priority is one that rarely flips. I knot that cats dont flip often but when they do they stay flipped unlike v's Maybe I should start out brushed but then again, I am used to my mamba monster converted revo on 6s.

Question 2: Battery situation, are there boats that fit my current batteries?
I own a 2s 5000mah 20c spc lipo, a 3s 5250mah 30c MaxAmps lipo, and a Hyperion 6s 5500mah 35c lipo. It would be great if I could use one of the 2s or 3s lipo alone but it seems only brushed systems and the brushless shockwave requires the first 2. If I need to buy a battery or two I will probably get cheap and possibly unreliable turnigy lipos.

Question 3: ESC amperages
I see on hobbyking.com, they have a turnigy 35a esc. My understanding must be completely wrong because otherwise this is useless. If amps are C ratings times Mah then 35 amps is useless. The lowest battery you could use that is 20c is a 1750 mah battery. WHAT!? (I did 1.75Mah x 20C = 35A which is the correct fomula if the previouse thread I read was reliable). So then that brings me to what amp rating is sufficient? I know that a lot of batteries are rated with 5000mah and 40c continuous and 80c burst which would be 5mah x 80c burst = 400amps which could kill someone right? So, what am I missing.

Question 4: Retreival method
Since I won't be on a boat or canoe, I will need a snazzy way to get my boat back after it flips. I see that having a spare rc tug boat is best but that is expensive. Second best I have read is using fishing line with a tennis ball on the end to catch the boat. The third way (I thought of!) is to sit and eat pizza while it floats toward one of the shores.

[Diesel6401]

Welcome:

1) If you plan to run at a lake/pond with actual boats and waves a deep v will better serve this purpose and out of the vee boats you have listed the pursuit would be best. TFL is the maker of that boat by the way.

2) Most RTR boats run off of 2x 2s lipos in series for 4s. With that being said your 2 5000mah will work fine in something like a SV or a MG, but depending on what verision of the pursuit you get they may or may not work. Theirs a cheap verison of the pursuit and a bada$$ verision of the pursuit. Hull is the same but power inside is night and day.

3) The formula you used is correct for getting the amps for the battery! All that means is the batts can supply "x" amount of amps IF NEEDED to the system. The esc rating is the amount of amps the esc can handle from the motor, not from the batts. If the motor pulls 35 amps the esc will then use 35 amps from the batteries if the esc only needs 20 amps it will only use 20 amps from the battery ect ect. It is good to know what you batteries can supply to your system. You wouldn't want a motor that can pull 120 amps but your batts can only supply 80 cont amps. That would lead to bad things. The more amps the batts can supply the better.

4) some guys use canoes some guys made rescue boats. I myself made a rescue boat and used some pvc piping to attach to the boat. http://forums.offshoreelectrics.com/...077#post285077

[small=breakable]

Thank You soooo much! I truly appreciate you donating your time and knowledge to these long questions!
1. Good info, I didn't think about that. Since I will be running on even surfaced water 90% of the time should I go with a cat?
2. Are the versions of the sv rtr? What should I look for within the hulls?
3. Great! So as long as I purchase a motor that is within the limits of the esc and the within the limits of the battery then I should be good. How can I check how many amps the motor will pull? I know it will deal with prop size and boat weight so it might be really tricky.
4. Sweet rescue boat! If I knew I would love this hobby I would purchase a second boat but that is just too much to get into right now.

[Diesel6401]

Thank You soooo much! I truly appreciate you donating your time and knowledge to these long questions!
1. Good info, I didn't think about that. Since I will be running on even surfaced water 90% of the time should I go with a cat?
2. Are the versions of the sv rtr? What should I look for within the hulls?
3. Great! So as long as I purchase a motor that is within the limits of the esc and the within the limits of the battery then I should be good. How can I check how many amps the motor will pull? I know it will deal with prop size and boat weight so it might be really tricky.
4. Sweet rescue boat! If I knew I would love this hobby I would purchase a second boat but that is just too much to get into right now.

1 - if calm (glass) water is what you will be doing most of your running in then yea a cat is a great choice. I run mostly at the same location and water conditions like most places depend on the weather. If windy and choppy I use a vee, if slight chop to smooth I run a cat & mono if glass then I can run a hydro,cat,vee (I don't own any riggers... at this time )

2 - Their are 2 verisons of the SV27. The orginal SV27 & the SV27R. The orginal has a blue can motor, 1 side turn fin the esc has the older style jacket. The new has black hardware re-inforced sides (it is missing the transom doubler which sucks) 2 turn fins a much MUCH better motor (gold can) and a different water jacket on the esc.

3 - When looking for a new motor the motor will have the specs given for the approx amps it will pull. Many things can also change that amount rating. Always get a higher esc amp load example if you motor says 80 amps, don't get just a 90 amp esc go higher to a 120 for cushion. ect... The 35amp esc you listed will not work in most of the boat you selected (exception is the shockwave 26) other then that Poof....

4 - I have a feeling you might like it... I have been hooked since day 1!

[small=breakable]

Once again, I really appreciate the effort you put in to help.
1. Well I didn't think of it but the water is bothered by a few fountains that keep it from getting stagnant. So, my choices would either be a shallow v, cat, or mono. I don't know much about all of their characteristics but I will try and research them all over the weekend as I want to make a clean decision. I am imagining this as being my boat that I always use, instead of having a deep v for bad conditions and others for in between (atleast now before any addiction).
2. Very good, I would have never thought a thing. Is the old one still worth getting if there is a bargain price? I don't know my way around prices for these things right now but I am sure I soon will.
3. Perfect. That is what I wanted to hear. So should I stay away from the shockwave 26 both brushed and brushlessed? There are a lot of good deals on them but a good deal on junk doesn't mean anything at all.
4. Whoops I just realized that the closest lake probably won't let me swim in to get it if all else fails. Does the wind always push it over after time goes by? Or does it sink first with the holes set for the cooling tubes and the tape coming undone from the lid?

I am getting excited for my first boat!

[Diesel6401]

Once again, I really appreciate the effort you put in to help.
1. Well I didn't think of it but the water is bothered by a few fountains that keep it from getting stagnant. So, my choices would either be a shallow v, cat, or mono. I don't know much about all of their characteristics but I will try and research them all over the weekend as I want to make a clean decision. I am imagining this as being my boat that I always use, instead of having a deep v for bad conditions and others for in between (atleast now before any addiction).
2. Very good, I would have never thought a thing. Is the old one still worth getting if there is a bargain price? I don't know my way around prices for these things right now but I am sure I soon will.
3. Perfect. That is what I wanted to hear. So should I stay away from the shockwave 26 both brushed and brushlessed? There are a lot of good deals on them but a good deal on junk doesn't mean anything at all.
4. Whoops I just realized that the closest lake probably won't let me swim in to get it if all else fails. Does the wind always push it over after time goes by? Or does it sink first with the holes set for the cooling tubes and the tape coming undone from the lid?

I am getting excited for my first boat!

1 - That's fine. The small ripple won't make a difference.

2 - Yea the old ones are good also. SV's pop up for sale often around here. Check the swap shop out for some deals.

3 - It's a plastic hull, the esc is not very good and would need replaced at least to the 35amp verison you selected earilier, it also has a steerable drive that kinda sucks. This is the one I am referring too http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...ProdID=PRB3150

* (with a brushed setup you will be bored very VERY quickly)

4 - Don't swim, bad things can happen. Always add extra foam (pool noodles) to you boats to help with floatation if something would happen. It won't sink from the cooling holes. Just tape it up good and add extra floatation. Depends how hard the wind/current is. May take 5 minutes or 5 hours. All depends on your running location and conditions.

[small=breakable]

Alright cool. I will stay away form the proboat ShockWaves. So finally, what are a few options that you would suggest for mee to watch for? And does it matter in my case if it is mono, cat, or shallow v?

[Diesel6401]

Nope all will work well for you.

SV27
SV27R - http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/pro...t+SuperVee+27R
Pursuit 32" - http://kintecracing.com/Pursuit.html
Prince 25" - http://kintecracing.com/Prince_Upgrades.html

Blackjack 26's modded
Miss Geico - http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/pro...rod=dh-PRB4100
If it just a ripple from a fountain a UL-1 can work also. http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/pro...less+Hydro+RTR

* You also can wait and save up for the AQ cat. http://aquacraftmodels.com/boats/aqu...rew/index.html

[Diesel6401]

Always check the swap shop.

[Diesel6401]

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1395357

[small=breakable]

More than I could have asked for, links and everything. I love the looks of the cats but that can't be my basis on decisions.

Are you suggesting that I jump on the used sv27? Since it doesn't have the gold motor I imagine it is the later model. But what do I know, he built it himself so it might be something I don't know about that is actually great. And $180 isn't too bad. I am not wanting to spend more than $250 and that will have to be a very nice boat for me to drop that amount on something used that I think I might like lol.

[Diesel6401]

More than I could have asked for, links and everything. I love the looks of the cats but that can't be my basis on decisions.

Are you suggesting that I jump on the used sv27? Since it doesn't have the gold motor I imagine it is the later model. But what do I know, he built it himself so it might be something I don't know about that is actually great. And $180 isn't too bad. I am not wanting to spend more than $250 and that will have to be a very nice boat for me to drop that amount on something used that I think I might like lol.

Just a reference thing that's all. It is a nice boat though and meets your criteria's just a suggestions that's all. At the end of the day you have to live with the purchase. A lot of people here including myself started off into brushless boats with a Sv27 and the addication grew from there. The blue motors are good, the gold motors are just great... Also TONS of info on the sv27 can be found here.

[dag-nabit]

Hey small=,

You have received some excellent guidance from diesel.

I bought two of the original SV27's about 2.5-3 years ago. They have been bullet proof, and my daughter and I have had a ton of fun with them.

I am in the process of upgrading the ESC to something that will handle lipos, and upgrading to the gold can motor as well. Only doing this because we really like the boats, but want a wee performance boost.

Not saying the SV27 is the best choice for you, only that they have been great boats for our entry into FE boating.

Kevin

[Diesel6401]

Thank you for reminding me about the non-lipo ready esc in the sv. Both the sv27 & sv27r (sam esc) are non-lipo ready meaning there is no low voltage protection for lipo's. Cheapest thing I did was keep the stock esc and I ran a lipo shield. http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/pro...hld-32&cat=136

* In FE boating we try to stay away from deans connectors. Not sure what you have on your batts already, but most people use 5.5mm bullets or higher or EC5 connectors for our batts. Amp loads can get high in boats and the deans can start to melt/de-solder

[dag-nabit]

Thank you for reminding me about the non-lipo ready esc in the sv. Both the sv27 & sv27r (sam esc) are non-lipo ready meaning there is no low voltage protection for lipo's. Cheapest thing I did was keep the stock esc and I ran a lipo shield. http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/pro...hld-32&cat=136

* In FE boating we try to stay away from deans connectors. Not sure what you have on your batts already, but most people use 5.5mm bullets or higher or EC5 connectors for our batts. Amp loads can get high in boats and the deans can start to melt/de-solder

Good point.

We ran the factory stock Deans Ultra connectors for the past few years. we never had them get hot enough to melt the solder, but they did get too hot to touch a couple times. This was running 7.2v nimh batts in series.

With the ESC upgrade, I'm also upgrading everything to EC5 connectors.

Kevin