Electric vs. gas vs. nitro?

[Chop]

I belong to a loosely knit group of RC boaters with a diverse number of boats & boat types. Is there something out there that might lump together both FE and Nitro (& gas) boats into reasonably equal categories?

I don’t want to run my Graupner Mini Hydro (powered by a brushed 400 motor and a 3s lipo) against a .60 powered nitro boat.

What suggestions do you have???

[Spot Me 2]

What exactly do you want to do? How fast do you need to go? What are you running against?

[Chop]

Just looking to see if there is a fair way to race FE boats against nitro or gas.

[AntronX]

Is there something out there that might lump together both FE and Nitro (& gas) boats into reasonably equal categories?

speed?

[Dr. Jet]

Just looking to see if there is a fair way to race FE boats against nitro or gas.

Large caliber handguns?

[ED66677]

if you put $$$ on the table you can go much faster than nitro and gaz will ever do!

[J Solinger]

There realy isn't a cross reference between them. All you can do is try to tune them all to the same speed. Off the cuff I would recomend selecting one spec class boat that everyone can agree upon and organize some heat racing.

[longballlumber]

Just looking to see if there is a fair way to race FE boats against nitro or gas.

Easy answer is no.....

[SteveReesor]

The only way to combine all the types right now is in Open class racing which allows any fuel type and boat that fits within the rules of Namba or IMPBA. IMPBA is the clear leader in this regard welcoming any fuel type to compete in their Open classes.

Unfortunately their is a catch. Gas boats swing huge props which create very rough water. You need a big boat to run with gas boats. Gas boats come in a very narrow range of displacement and the size of the motor dictates a larger hull. Large boats with large props make for difficult racing conditions. They run anywhere from 50 for a stocker to 70+ (mph) for sport hydro's and riggers. To go that fast with nitro and electric you need to match both speed and handling in rough water. For nitro this means .45's ("D" class in IMPBA) and up for power. The hulls in this class of nitro (D) are still smaller than their gas cousins.

For FE you can go that fast with 4S powered boats, easily with 6S, but again, these are usually 40" and less in length boats dictated by rules. Therefore you need to go to 8S or 10S powered rigs which jumps the cost exponentially.

I run a 47" Delta Force gas hull with 10S power to compete with these guys. Its the hull length and displacement I need to remain stable at these speeds.

When I race against nitro and gas, I don't care what the other power systems are, I am just racing my boat to have fun, and hopefully, if everythig works out during the heat, I'll place well.

Just ask them to toss a few of them together and see what happens...usually its just fun that happens.

[Doby]

I have seen Steve's boats run