New 48" Brushless cat from ProBoat!

[jonesjj]

I was wondering also how much adjustment is there for prop angle and height position

[mappo]

Hope these pictures help those wanting to see a bit more detail of the inside and the business end. Don't mind the criss cross wires. Production ESCs come pr programmed for CCW rotation which allows for the wires to cleanly connect to each corresponding port in the ESC.

Hi Rafael, what size prop are you using on 8s?

[Rafael_Lopez]

Rafael,
NAMBA 2-Lap Time Trial at Legg Lake Oct 10 & 11. C'mon down ...[Q & S Catamaran records are "ripe for the 'pickin"]

Tony

Have they cleaned out all the weeds yet? That's why I've been testing at Elsinore. Last time I was there, about a month ago, I couldn't get more than a lap or 2 in without bringing the boat in to remove what seemed to be 2 pounds of vegitation from the rudder.

I'd love to come down, I'll see if the old lady has anything planned for that day. Thanks for the invite!

[Rafael_Lopez]

I was wondering also how much adjustment is there for prop angle and height position

There is about 2* of negative angle, no positive angle adjustment. This is on purpose, because the boat need the negative to keep the nose down, depending on battery configuration. Honestly, the setup is so light that battery placement is realy all you need to get it dialed. In the last video, the strut is all the way up, in a neutral position.

Hi Rafael, what size prop are you using on 8s?

The boat comes with 2 props. 1.4x1.9 and 1.4x2.0. The original intent was to market it as 50+ with the smaller prop on 8s getting just at 50-51, while at 100 amps continuous. You'll get about 45 with the larger prop on 6s, just under 100 amps, which is great for people who don't have that much room to run in. But, once we got this ESC dialed I threw the large prop on it, on 8s to see what would happen, and haven't ran it any other way since. The 1.4x2.0 is the equivalent of a x452. Which is what I use in all my videos. With the best packs Dynamite makes.

I've ran it with an x452/3 to see if I can burn up the ESC, but didn't get it to do anything more than thermal after 2 minutes. Powered it off and went for another 2 minutes beiges hitting LVC. I wouldn't recommend anyone do this, but this is part of developement; tenement my job is to find the melting point of electronics as much as their performance. Push it till the smoke leaks! But so far the smoke is very well packaged in this one. Over voltage protection and thermal protection work very well.

[properchopper]

Have they cleaned out all the weeds yet? That's why I've been testing at Elsinore. Last time I was there, about a month ago, I couldn't get more than a lap or 2 in without bringing the boat in to remove what seemed to be 2 pounds of vegitation from the rudder.

I'd love to come down, I'll see if the old lady has anything planned for that day. Thanks for the invite!

All I will let on (since the enviropolice may be monitoring this thread) is that prior to the last two race events some sort of mysterious alien intergalactic chemical-mechanical force-field blanketed the lake and now the weeds have oddly disappeared. Weird

[In a completely unrelated news story, the Legg Lake Parks Department recently hosted its second annual seminar : " Converting lakeside piles of drying vegetation into mulch/compost for Fun and Profit"]

[Steven Vaccaro]

Looking good.

[rayzerdesigns]

we actually had a gas version of this boat race in g1 cat this weekend in tempe..lets just say its a big boat..will be interesting to see how much lighter the electric version is..they hardware looks great..though the sevo may be overkill..as for the hull it looks beefy and it dwarfs a insane cat..any idea of the weight of a bare hull??

[Rafael_Lopez]

What we call a bare hull with canopy weighs 11.5 pounds. This includes stuffing tube, rails for electronics tray, thumb screw bases on hull, and thumb screws on canopy.

[Flying Scotsman]

Hi Rafael,

Quote
"There is about 2* of negative angle, no positive angle adjustment. This is on purpose, because the boat need the negative to keep the nose down, depending on battery configuration. Honestly, the setup is so light that battery placement is realy all you need to get it dialed. In the last video, the strut is all the way up, in a neutral position".

I know it is an RTR and has to be built for novice users in mind but that is a bit of a shame that the angle can not be adjusted and that was evident in the photo you supplied, any future possibility of including or providing a fully adjustable strut, as you know that users are going to push the envelope and then possibly, incorrectly blame the manufacturer for design flaws....just a thought...... Also I think there is a good sized market for this as a bare hull with optional motors, hardware and ESC's marketed by ProBoat. That should also remove any liability issues.

Douggie

[Doby]

My friend and I have been messing around with a FE Rockstar 48, I assume the hardware is the same as the FE version..if so, the boat carries a lot of air underneath it at speed..but seems to stay planted nicely....we are currently slowly moving the CG forward using the battery location...I personally prefer to do it that way rather than adjust negative angle on the drive line.

The boat shows a lot of promise.

[Rafael_Lopez]

Douggie, you've really lost me with your post, specifically the parts about the strut being a flaw that could lead blame to be place on Pro Boat/Horizon Hobby as well as offering other models to remove any liability. Please don't take my response as more than my point of view on what I interpret from your comment. I'll apologize in advance if my written text comes off the wrong way.


The following comment is that of myself and not that of me, as a representative of Horizon Hobby.
Lets stop talking about boats here and start talking like consumers, equally. I don't know any other market where a customer would feel comfortable making the comments that you have made about a product that you haven't had a chance to experience yet. I see this as me, as a consumer, telling Honda that my personal Honda Fit is limited by speed because it has a narrow wheel base and I've been told, by people driving behind me, that when I take turns too fast the rear inside wheel comes off the ground. Also, the car becomes a bit unstable over 90 mph with 5 people in it; the back shock seem to bottom out on rough roads. If I try and modify it by doing K series engine swap which would yield more power, it will make the car even more unstable due to the added weight in the front which would probably lead me to try and solve the issue with an infinite combination of struts and springs. How would Honda be liable for this and how could I say that the car has a flaw that could lead them to liability issues; considering the car works great at 80 mph or less, is great on gas, and performs well for the power Honda put in it. I love my little car! Any changes I decide to do are on me, and I'm sure as soon as I make any changes, I'll void the warranty.

Now, back to boats, we market this boat at 55+ mph, quite frankly the fastest and largest RTR that will be on the market very soon. I myself have shown video of the boat handling very well with a neutral strut position controlling the boat's attitude by placement of the batteries, and going nearly 60 mph, out of the box. You are right, people will modify it. But as a manufacturer that is beyond us. What a customer chooses to do with their product after they buy it is up to them and there is no way we can be held liable if the boat developed characteristics beyond it's intended purpose.
In case you missed my latest video https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=1&v=Z53GpvFOm0Y


BTW, here is a picture of the Rockstar 48, which uses the same strut, at maximum negative angle adjustment. You have the same amount of positive angle, though strut depth only travels 3-5mm. I've yet to hear of an instance where a customer has an issue with the strut on the Rockstar 48, which is why I decided to move forward with it. The only thing I changed, on both 48" boats, was made the holes larger to allow this adjustment. The first run of Rockstar boats did not have this adjustment. Everything else worked, so I didn't change it much.

I'd like to say that this boat will suit everyone, but I'd be delusional if I actually believed it. What I am sure of is that there are a lot of people that will make it work, as they make it faster, by using their imagination and compensating with extra weight or even changing out the hardware to what they feel they like or suits their build better.

[Rafael_Lopez]

My friend and I have been messing around with a FE Rockstar 48, I assume the hardware is the same as the FE version..if so, the boat carries a lot of air underneath it at speed..but seems to stay planted nicely....we are currently slowly moving the CG forward using the battery location...I personally prefer to do it that way rather than adjust negative angle on the drive line.

The boat shows a lot of promise.

This project came about from me converting a Rockstar in my garage, and then showing my Director a video; his face lit up and asked me to create a project schedule.......and here we are now. There is many ways to make a boat work, as you have mentioned, other that strut angle adjustment. Battery placement plays a huge roll in this hull.


I'm glad you are having fun with this converted boat!

[Flying Scotsman]

Hi Rafael,

You misunderstood my post...no problem with that....I was just trying to say that as you point also out it will be modified as an RTR. I was just stating that it might be of benefit to offer a strut with more adjustment with that in mind. The liability issue I brought up was just in reference to the bare hull and other components offered as parts and therefore any possible liability issues would be in my opinion greatly reduced and also an idea for marketing the boat to more seasoned boaters. Also, as you state I am not a fan of ridiculous modifications done to the powertrains of model boats in reference to speed goals with no thoughts of handling, component failure or possible injury to others.
By the way a very nice looking RTR package.

Douggie

[Rafael_Lopez]

I'm actually glad I misunderstood your comments, and even happier that you cleared them up.

I understand that people will modify it as an RTR, which is why I made the analogy above regarding my Honda. I don't know what the hull will do past 70, but I have had it as fast as 68, when I was figuring out power systems, very early on. Beyond that, it's all up to the customer.

Honestly, all of our parts are "replacement parts". When I do item setups for packaged parts, I leave out the ones that I feel customers who bought the boat will never need. In this case, the main electronics tray which includes the motor mount base; the black center tray in all of the pictures. The purpose of Horizon selling replacement parts is to offer people who own the boat and break or lose something, the parts to rebuild their boat. In this case, if a customer is to damage the FPR center tray/motor mount/electronics tray, they will more than likely need to replace the entire boat, or if they crunch up the hull completely they can pull their tray and mount it to their replacement hull. This means that is someone buys the boat to build from a bare hull, they will have some fabricating to do, to mount the motor and all the other electronics, though I have setup all the aluminum hardware necessary to mount the parts in the hull.

If someone does buy the hull to build up on their own, they don't have to use the bottom mounted strut. OSE and some over seas companies sell plenty of hardware that will mount to this hull. The cable can be bought is as long of a length as you need it here on OSE so that it reaches a traditionally mounted transom strut; of course the stuffing tube would have to be replaced as well. You see, there are many options out there, if one chooses to build from a bare hull. Our strut is not the only option. I'm sure that people will figure it out, and I'd be glad to help in any way that I can.

[Flying Scotsman]

Thanks Rafael, are you stating that a bare hull will be available.
Douggie