Boat Racer

Hi!
I'm new to rc Yachts, but a seasoned gas boat racer.
I'm looking into purchasing/building a yacht to race. I have no idea of where to start!
Had a look at the Thunder Tiger ETNZ. Any advice?

tatolazo

Hi:
First check what are using the guys near to you at the pond. It doesn´t make sense to get a deep V to find later that everybody else has hidroplanes.
Also check many threads to get a idea about the class that most fit to you and your requirements.

Good luck

Tato Lazo

mfr02

There have been several threads on other boards about turning the ETNZ into a respectable performer. I think there were about 14 things that needed fixing.  <div>It is a good idea to find out what is being raced where you would like to sail.  If everybody else is sailing a Laser, there is little point in turning up with an IOM or a Marblehead, and vice versa.  Agoogle for "Radio control yacht classes" should turn up some links with useful information.</div>

Boat Racer

Thanks for the info.<div>I have a a small dam close to home, it is in a residential area. SO when I run my gas 26cc boats on it I am not very popular!</div><div>A couple of my friends and I are looking into starting a RC Yacht club on the dam. The residents like the idea as well!</div><div>I was thinking of starting a 1m class(like the ETNZ) </div><div>RC Yachts are not very popular in South Africa, yet!</div><div>So I'm educating myself before making any purchases!</div><div>I will look into the Laser hull,the name has come up in a number of searches.</div><div>I need something with a good pace on the water!</div><div>
</div>

mfr02

The Laser is a complete one design, a really good sailer, but not for a tight budget.  Hulls are probably not available separately.  Have a look over such as the TT Victoria, a great starter, relatively inexpensive, a bit handier for transport than a 1 metre boat.  Before the Victoria, TT were not brilliant, afterwards, they have seemed to forget what made the Vic so good.  Just an opinion.

kiwibob72

Try the Seawind from Kyosho, they are pretty quick in good hands and the right wind, cheap and competitive racing - and this is from an IOM guy!

jaelon

Check for boats being used in waters or by clubs near your location.

Boat Racer

I saw a yacht called a Phantom, brilliant looks and price!<div>Does anyone know of this boat?</div><div>It looks great and is available from hobbyking.</div>

tatolazo

HI:
It all depends what do you want to do with the boat. If you want to use for just have some fun at the pond, anything is useful. If you want to race ( wich is very interesting and finally you only want to be racing all the time for the adrenaline of the starts, the emotion of leg of the track, each bouy turn, etc.) first you should get the same class of boat that the people near you are using. Does not make sense bring a F-1 to race against monster trucks...

If you want to race, there are many posta bout chinese boats in this web site. I personally saw them at the Rc store at a great low price, but eall the components are not made for precision or high performance, sheets 2mm thick!!! pulleys and blocks not so smooth, lines that get trapped between the hull and the deck...etc. so as someone said in a post. You just must keep the hull and put the rest on the garvbage...

But I insist: if you just want to sail alone or just for fun, the price is more than good for what you are getting for,

Let us know what you decide.

Tato Lazo

mfr02

A small point about racing - when you are sailing on your own its interesting and absorbing learning how to do it.  <div>When a second boat appears, if they are both sailboats, you have a race going on.  Nothing formal, no declaration, no actual prize, but it will be a race. </div>

Morspeed

Hey mate,

I own a couple of the TT ETNZ and my advice to you is stop looking at them, too many issues!!.

Not so long ago I spent a couple of weeks stuck in Richards bay on the East coast of SA, not sure how the location works for you but one weekend there were twenty odd IOM's racing just outside the marina.

Cheers..Gary

Boat Racer

Thanks for the advice All!<div>A local hobby shop can supply us with the Hurricane 1000!</div><div>Anyone have experience with the boat?</div><div>It has a massive sail area, might be good for our location as we don't get strong wind here!</div>

Boat Racer

Brilliant!<div>Getting the Hurricane for half the price of any other 1m class available locally!</div><div>And it comes with a radio!</div><div>Not going to be the best quality, but it will be a start!</div><div>Will upgrade things as the need arises!</div>

Yankeepop

Our club sails the Thunder Tiger "Victoria".  It is a great kit to assemble,  all plastic.  Kit includes every thing including CA glue and epoxy.  Boat is about 30" long.  Here in the US the kit is available through Tower Hobby<div>
</div><div>Goes together in about a week of evenings.
<div>
</div><div>I'm just learning to sail myself.  I suggest you look for a nearby club and find out what they are sailing.</div></div><div>
</div><div>Search U-Tube for Victoria.  Lots of videos.</div>

Boat Racer

Hi Yankeepop<div>
</div><div>I'm all new to rc sailing as well.</div><div> Done a couple of races on a full size yacht years ago.</div><div>I found a couple of guys racing the IOM class, but they are far from where we live and not very competative!</div><div>We''re getting 15 Hurricanes in, 7sold on pre-order, so we'll have a nice new class and club!</div><div>One hull racing, brilliant!</div><div>It's going to be very competative!</div>

hew565

Since you have your own fleet, you may want to think about some rules for everyone to follow. If one guy is a good builder, he may show up to the pond with custom mast and sails with carbon fiber booms...etc. the guy who is not handy, will feel left behind and may drop out. If everyone can agree to sail with stock equipment, or with small changes like custom sails, you may get a better turnout.

If there are a couple are builder types, let them upgrade their parts if they make the same parts available to the rest of the fleet.

Just thinking out loud here, since the Hurricane does not really have a Class Association with rules.

Boat Racer

Hi Hew<div>
</div><div>I had a look at the ODOM class rules.</div><div>We will modify the rules to suit our needs, but will be run as a a complete factory boat to even things out!</div><div>We will only modify rules by 51% vote.</div><div>Our hobby shop will stock all spare parts and upgrade parts that the club approves of, so if we find that a particular component can be upgraded to improve the lifespan of the boat once a stock item breaks we will vote on it at the next club race before anyone can use it!</div><div>About three more weeks till the first shipment arrives!</div><div>Can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</div>

katarinaconnors

Love my ETNN and China Team by thunder tiger... Actually very few mods needed to have a great boat, less than $20! Built my last one in two evenings! If you can find another fiberglass hulled 1 meter for even twice the price I will eat it.. Let alone the great looks! Have any problems I will be glad to give you the fix.. Really great yacht for cheap.. Please register your boat with AMYA! Get a class going..

Katarina Connors

Paulvive

The most popular boat for racing now is the Victor Soling. I prefer an EC 12 but there aren't as many of them racing as there used to be. I had to give up racing my EC 12's (I have three of them) because many of the clubs where I live are not sailing them. I had to switch to a Soling.

FoamCrusher

From the images I found it looks like it would be a good boat for a one-design (everyone sails exactly the same stock boat) class. I cannot tell from the pictures, but it looks like it does not have a jib boom topping lift which means that to adjust the twist of the jib to match that of the main you will need to be able to adjust the jib leech tension, This is a common issue with boats using flat panel saiils - that is sails constructed from single pieces of cloth. Multiple panel sails are constructed with a built in curve that better uses the force of the wind and paneled sails need a topping lift tp get their full effect. Seawinds, and most of the Asian boats, have the same issue in that they were made to look pretty, but do not have rigging built with adjusting the sails in mind.

To get a boat that sails well and will not frustrate beginners attempting to use tuning guides found on-line, I would strongly suggest that you new fleet consider allowing jib boom topping lifts. They are cheap and easy to add to most boats - most of the time you drill two holes and add a line with a bowsie.

It took me a better part of a year of racing and practice with a group of guys to get the hang of tuning a Seawind, where I could tune an Infinity 54 or US1M, both of which have topping lifts, within a few weeks. The use of jib topping lifts for the Seawind has been put to a class vote in the US, but keeps failing to pass IMHO because the experienced skippers do not want to give away their competive advantage based on their knowledge about how to tune the rig.

Anyway, take a look at the Seawind Resource Center website atwww.seawindrc.comto see the Seawind US class rules that you might use as a model for your new class. There is also an article there about how a topping lift could be added. The topping lift article is here:www.seawindrc.com/tips-mods/jibtoppinglift.asp I don't thing the Hurrican would even need the jib boom extension.<a target="_blank" href="http://www.seawindrc.com/tips-mods/jibtoppinglift.asp">
<br type="_moz" /></a>While you are doing some web surfing, the beginners in your fleet might find the following article of value when setting up their boats and tuning their rigs: c_r_y_a.tripod.com/Sterne%20How%20to.htm While you cannot do all the things like the article suggests, like changing to different size sails when the wind blows harder, if you do the things you can do, your boat will be as fast as it can be made to be.

Good luck and welcome to the addiction!

FC<br type="_moz" />

01VIPER27

My Feedback: (1)

If its racing you are aiming for then I suggest you get a yacth that is being raced around your shores. Do(buy) itright thefirst time and you will not have tobuy a 2nd boatjust to race.

If you just want to sail and just race between each other and theHurricane being the cheapest and available in your area then go that way.

If youchoose to buy a Hobby King yacth thenI suggest to get the Monsoon(Grand Father) over the Phantom or Legend (Sons) in my opinion as it has a better keel placement and is faster than the Phantom if set-up correctly.

If you choose to buy a Thunder Tiger ETNZ (Grand Son) or Voyager II which really is a Phantom or Legend with a much better keel and ballast placement then you wont be sorry. Ilove my SHUNBO ETNZ.Yes you heard right. The Hobby KingPhantom and Legend as well as the Thunder Tiger ETNZ and Voyager II is all made bySHUNBO.

With all that being said the HK yacths have no replacement parts through HK but you can upgrade those breakable pieces with the TT ETNZ parts. If you sail them in light wind the small plastic pieceswill hold up for about 6 months depending on how often you sail.If you will be sailing rough water and heavy winds which I do then I suggest you join up shipshapercdotcom where you can learns from us on what mods to do.

It doesnt matter which Chinese boat or yacth you get into be it the Aquacraft Vela, Kyosho Seawind, Pro Boat Paradise, Thunder Tiger Victoria,or Hurricane, you will break the small parts period.

The kit race yacths will cost you more but they will come with properly designed parts for light and heavy wind use.

It does not matter what brand you buy, just dont OVERMOD your yacth or you will never be able to race the same classes of boat if you touch the hull, keel, and ballast.

I am a power boater too but I love my ETNZ which I sail all year round. Search the tube for 01viper27 ETNZ.

happy sailing...