First nitro boat- Miss Bud, Aquajet or Hammer?

[AusJam]

I've been into nitro RC cars for 10 years and wanted to try a boat, which one do you recommend?

[Ron Olson]

Nitro Hammer first, then the Aqua Jet. As cool as the Miss Bud/LLumar looks, it is not a beginners boat.

[AusJam]

In what areas will the Bud be bad for beginners? At the moment I'm having secound thoughts about even getting a boat because I'm reading nothing but bad things about all 3 boats I'm considering, does anyone make a decent boat for a beginner under $300?

[Ron Olson]

For a beginner,yes. Unless you have an experienced boater in your area to help you out I'd avoid it.
All boats in this price range will have their good and bad points and some can be fixed for next to nothing. What sells the Miss Bud is simply what it is, a boat people recognize. This 'glas lay-up is thin and won't take a hit. It has to be run at a decent speed all of the time as it isn't one for slowing down. The boat has to be tossed into the water with it revved up slightly to help it get onto plane or the prop will cavitate, you can't just drop it into the water and hit the throttle. The Miss Bud has to be run on almost glass-like water otherwise it will take water into the engine area. The others can be run in rougher conditions.
With the Nitro Hammer there are complaints about the hull cracking. This is usually caused by not padding the boat stand and happens when pull-starting the motor.

[AusJam]

OK thanks for the info, what happens if you can't get the Bud back on plane in the middle of the lake?
The Hammer is slowly growing on me, it's the smallest of all 3 but it is fibreglass so it has one good point over the Aquajet even though it doesn't look as good, decisions, decisions!

[Hydro Junkie]

Plan on a very slow run to shore with the Bud. Also, Ron only touched the tip of the iceburg on the problems with the Bud. In addition to what he disclosed, it's badly balanced, prone to flooding with water, has radio and pushrod problems, a poorly designed fuel tank and is underpowered. I'd go with the Hammer, unless you like the idea of doing serious modification to your new boat before it even gets wet.

[CFRACR]

Out of all three boats mentioned, the Hammer is the all around best choice for a first boat IMO. If you don't like the way is looks, just paint it, or decal it out yourself. :D

[RCUK John]

Stick with a Deep Vee for a first boat.
Remember the second circuit is never the same a the first - waves are not like tarmac

[Ron Olson]

If you really want a hydro, hold off for a little while, as in days. Hobbico/Aquacraft is getting ready to announce their latest offering, a Miss Elam with an OS made .18 installed. None of the bad things that the Bud's/LLumar's are known for, 6 MPH faster and $20.00 cheaper! No cavitation problems either. Keep an eye on their website, www.aquacraftmodels.com in about 3 days.
You ain't seen nuttin' yet from these people! :D

[CFRACR]

Thats good news!!!!!!!! :D
The large companies may actually be starting to take notice. Maybe they are reading our post! :rolleyes:
We know that the Hammer is a good starter boat for the money, we know that Hobbico has done a pretty good job on the package as a whole. So I would expect the same quality if not better for the future to come.

I have a good handfull of boats myself, faster and larger than the Hammer is.
Yet I still like to take it out and buzz it around the shore every here and there. It has been a good model to me, with really no problems. Aquacraft seems to be making good decisions, and paying attention to what makes a good product for a good price all in all..........

[Ron Olson]

There are a few of the pre-production boats on the water already. The bottom of the hull designer, Jerry Dunlap has one as well as Russ Williamson from Aquacraft and has let some of his help drive it. Jerry said that the best that he could get out of his Miss Bud was 27 but 33 out of his Miss Elam. I'm still waiting to see the .21 mono that is coming out and the .21 tunnels that were the Power Surge Racing boats from Mike Z. a.k.a. Grimracer. All of these should be out sometime yet this year. They're burning the midnight oil to get these new boats out for the upcoming season.

[dom223]

There are a few of the pre-production boats on the water already. The bottom of the hull designer, Jerry Dunlap has one as well as Russ Williamson from Aquacraft and has let some of his help drive it. Jerry said that the best that he could get out of his Miss Bud was 27 but 33 out of his Miss Elam. I'm still waiting to see the .21 mono that is coming out and the .21 tunnels that were the Power Surge Racing boats from Mike Z. a.k.a. Grimracer. All of these should be out sometime yet this year. They're burning the midnight oil to get these new boats out for the upcoming season.


Is this new .21 mono going to be inboard or outboard?

[Ron Olson]

Jerry raced the boat at the NAMBA Nat's last year as an outboard but may be available both ways, it's a wait and see right now. I know that he was testing it with the new OS .21 inboard. He was only showing close-ups of the engine but I knew that the boat was something that he wasn't able to talk about at the time.

As a little addition to the Miss Elam, it will come with the .18 but putting a .21 will be easy to do which should make it legal for the IMPBA Sport 20 class. It should also be a little larger than the ProBoat boats so there should be plenty of room in there so no crowbar needed.