Touring car guy getting into boats....help

[naptalene]

Hi guys, I need some advice.

I'm really keen on getting into catamarans but am not sure whether to build or buy.
I've got plans for a 30" cat that I can get laser cut etc or I was looking at the Pro
Boat Mystic CAT.

It will be my first powered boat ( built 3 yachts) so is it stupid to try do it myself first?
I love fiddling so is the RTR a bit of a deadend?

And are the boat transmitters the same as the Touring car transmitters? I've got an Airtronics M11x for my cars so I'd love to use that if they are the same thing, and go for the pnp option If the proboat is the way to go.

I am also not aware of any racers out here so I dont need to worry about class etc. Gonna be me on my lonesome, and my brother too if the build option wins.

Thanks in advance and I think this is in the right forum (I promise I read the 101)

[pyroM!KE]

Hi guys, I need some advice.

I'm really keen on getting into catamarans but am not sure whether to build or buy.
I've got plans for a 30" cat that I can get laser cut etc or I was looking at the Pro
Boat Mystic CAT.

It will be my first powered boat ( built 3 yachts) so is it stupid to try do it myself first?
I love fiddling so is the RTR a bit of a deadend?

And are the boat transmitters the same as the Touring car transmitters? I've got an Airtronics M11x for my cars so I'd love to use that if they are the same thing, and go for the pnp option If the proboat is the way to go.

I am also not aware of any racers out here so I dont need to worry about class etc. Gonna be me on my lonesome, and my brother too if the build option wins.

Thanks in advance and I think this is in the right forum (I promise I read the 101)

Welcome to the addiction!
My first FE boat was a Miss Geico which is the same as the Mystic..Its a great starter boat..And as far as tinkering your gonna learn real quick that you can spend countless hours fine tuning..Theres not really any dead end you run into..Theres all kinds of things you can re-do or try..Keep in mind a boat around 30 inches, if you build one, will cost substantially more but will be of better quality..My recommendation is start off with a RTR then build one..I just built my first FE and if I hadnt had my first RTR boat,it would have been quite a bit more difficult to complete..
Your on the right track..I say the Mystic is the best RTR out there (all-around). But also, depending on your building skills, building one from scratch isnt out of the question either..One thing you will find out real quick is your gonna be looking for more power pretty much right off the batt with a RTR..if this sounds like something you would do, you might want to consider just building one..Might save you time and money in the longrun..
Also this forum rocks!!

[Darin Jordan]

I say the Mystic is the best RTR out there (all-around)....

As far as Pro Boat RTRs go, I'd actually put the MG/Mystics a close second behind the Impulse 31. As far as a versatile and upgradable package, it has the most going for it. In fact... about the only thing that would every really NEED to be upgraded would be the power system to add more "hp"...

Of course... I guess similar things could be said about the Mystic as well... I think that the Impulse 31 will handle a little more abuse, however, and has a more refined hull/hardware package out of the box.

But then... I'm a little partial to all of them... can't quite put my finger on why...

[siberianhusky]

What do you want the boat to do? Some cat designs are better suited to going fast in a straight line, others are more for offshore style racing where turning makes up a good portion of a lap.
What do you already have in terms of batteries and chargers etc.
How big a place do you have to run? A 55mph boat can eat up a lot of water quickly.
Another consideration is some safe way of getting a flipped boat back to shore, it will happen and swimming after a boat is not an option, enough people have died that way!
The more we know about what you're after the better the suggestions as to what will help you enjoy the hobby even more.
I have a couple of cats, my favorite are the scale hydroplanes though, eventually I'll own a 1/8 scale vintage hydro, something from back in the 50's.

[dlx3200]

I also owned all land toys until my buddy talked me into a the Miss Geico. I now have Miss Geico a 48" gas boat and thinking hard about getting another elec boat. So ya it is addictive. MG was my first boat then i was
hooked. I think you will like the speed of MG right out of the box with lipo's but of course later you will want to upgrade the motor and esc like me. Even stock MG can eat up a lot of lake pretty quick.

[Flying Scotsman]

If you have built yachts, my suggestion would be to build a bare hull pussy, there are many options to be had and lads here with experience will help you with a setup. As far as the radio is concerned I have no idea for a boat application.

Douggie

Hi guys, I need some advice.

I'm really keen on getting into catamarans but am not sure whether to build or buy.
I've got plans for a 30" cat that I can get laser cut etc or I was looking at the Pro
Boat Mystic CAT.

It will be my first powered boat ( built 3 yachts) so is it stupid to try do it myself first?
I love fiddling so is the RTR a bit of a deadend?

And are the boat transmitters the same as the Touring car transmitters? I've got an Airtronics M11x for my cars so I'd love to use that if they are the same thing, and go for the pnp option If the proboat is the way to go.

I am also not aware of any racers out here so I dont need to worry about class etc. Gonna be me on my lonesome, and my brother too if the build option wins.

Thanks in advance and I think this is in the right forum (I promise I read the 101)

[LarrysDrifter]

Well said, Douggie!!!

[NativePaul]

Welcome.

Gonna be me on my lonesome, and my brother too if the build option wins.

The build option won right there, regardless of the qualities of the boat you are running running with someone else at a similar level will be MUCH more fun.

Also if you can build a yacht which is basically one bug double curvature, an FE will be easy as its all flat sheets and single direction curves just remember to keep all the edges as sharp as you can.

Where exactly are you? There may be boaters closer than you think.

[naptalene]

Thanks guys


I'm in South Africa. There are some pretty large dams around here that we can use.
I would like something that can turn well etc as I'm not too into straight line racing (although it definately has it's place......)

I must be honest, I find planking a hull easier than doing the sheeting LOL. Little thin bits tend to bend better. I also lean towards the build as I work in a Studio and do nothing but work on a computer all day, so building something physical is quite good therapy for me.

The problem I'm also running into is my choice of electrics starts with what is probably a good choice and then by the end of the surfing session I'm on the biggest esc and motor
I'll definately check with you gents when I get to that point.

I'll double check the other boats mentioned by the secret subversive advertising guy.

Welcome.


The build option won right there, regardless of the qualities of the boat you are running running with someone else at a similar level will be MUCH more fun.

Also if you can build a yacht which is basically one bug double curvature, an FE will be easy as its all flat sheets and single direction curves just remember to keep all the edges as sharp as you can.

Where exactly are you? There may be boaters closer than you think.

[DURAMAX11]

I got a mystic for my first boat and loved it. Then I decided I wanted a little more speed and dropped in a keda 2364kv/seaking 180 and it jumped from 40 mph to 52 mph on 4s! I couldn't be any happier with the boat.

[naptalene]

Hey guys, Been a while lol.

Thanks again for all the input. The M11x seems to have a range of 400m and is used in boats too. There were 1 or 2 issues that I could find online but they seemed to be specific to those peoples situations and they got them figured out with different regulated frequencies on them (FHSS vs the french version) when binding the recievers

I've looked at getting some pre-made glass hulls and it's just WAY too expensive to get them shipped down here due to there size. The Mystic was the equivalent of about $550 ......... the build it is. I'm aware that it may end up in that price range anyway but I'll rather get good hardware that I can put in different boats down the line.
So I've got the MAX Cat V1 plans and was thinking of scaling them down to 1 meter (39") Are there any better ones that you guys can recommend? Just want a stable boat to gun around in. There will be 2 of us both with the same hardware (I'll learn more then ask closer to the time for help)

Cheers
Andrew