RC Boat Basics
High-flying helis and dirt-spewing monster trucks may be the darlings of the RC world, but they've got nothing on the RC boat. Whether gliding gracefully across the pond or kicking up plumes of water in their wake as they shoot from shore to shore, RC boats provide hours of outdoor RC entertainment.
RC boats operate in much the same way as other RC vehicles with a hand-held controller that communicates with an on-board receiver for adjusting steering and speed. There are both toy-grade and hobby-grade RC boats, with the toy-grade being more basic and less powerful than the hobby-grade versions. Many RC boats come in build-your-own-boat (unassembled) kits but Ready-to-Run (RTR) models are becoming more readily available as well.
Scale Boats
While many RC enthusiasts are consumed with thoughts of power and speed, scale boats are more about authenticity and realism -- on a smaller scale. Scale boats, generally built from kits, are meant to be as true as possible to their full-size counterparts whether that's a sailboat, a powerboat, an ocean liner, or a battleship. Appearance and scale performance are more important than being the fastest, most tricked out boat on the water.
Sailboats
The main power for a sailboat is the wind. If you can master sailing, the RC sailboat can be a good beginner RC boat because there is generally less maintenance required -- no motors or engines to deal with. But sailing is different than flying or driving (on land or water) so you need to consider whether or not it's a skill you are willing to master. RC sailboats are not necessarily slow either. There are both sport and racing models.
Powerboats
This is the type of RC boat that attracts beginners and it's probably the largest portion of the RC boat hobby. Powered by motors or engines, there are sport boats and racing boats. The sport boats are fun and relatively easy to operate. And because they aren't primarily about speed they are a good choice if your only body of water is a large swimming pool or small pond. Racing boats require more skill because ease of operation is sacrificed in order to get more speed from the boat.
The Pro Boat Classic Runabout (Buy Direct) and Traxxas Villain EX Deep V (Buy Direct) are two very different styles of sport boat while designs like the Pro Boat Miss Elam (Buy Direct) -- replica of the ABRA top speed record holder -- are built for racing.
Like RC cars and aircraft, RC powerboats come with electric motors, nitro engines, or gas-powered engines. Choose the kind of motor or engine you want.
As with other RCs, toy-grade RC boats are all-electric. Hobby-grade powerboats gives you the choice of electric, nitro, or gas.
Electric
Just like RC cars and trucks, electric RC boats operate with brushed or the more powerful brushless motors. Electric RC boats come in all shapes and sizes and are generally less expensive to purchase, less expensive to operate, and easier to maintain than fuel-powered engines.
Nitro
The nitro or glow engine provides an extra boost of power and speed for RC boating. The standard nitro engine differs slightly from the nitro engine on RC cars and planes because it is water-cooled instead of air-cooled. Water enters through a tube beneath the boat, passes through a cooling head on the cylinder and back out the boat, taking heat from the engine with it. There are also a couple of other configurations that use the nitro engine and additional hardware to create an outboard motor or a jet drive system -- popular on some racing models.
Gas
The gas engine in an RC boat is a gasoline-powered 2-cyle engine similiar to the engine in a gas-powered leaf blower or weed trimmer. Much larger than your typical nitro engine, the gas engine goes into much bigger RC boats -- so you'll probably not want a gas powered boat to play with in your swimming pool. Although the initial cost is usually higher and the maintenance more complicated, gasoline costs less than nitro fuel, making gas engines less expensive to operate.
Next, choose a hull style for your RC boat.
The hull is about more than just good looks. The shape of the hull affects the speed, stability, and maneuverability of the RC boat.
Flat-bottom
Airboats or hovercraft have a flat-bottom design. As the name suggests, the bottom of the boat is flat or very nearly so. They float on a cushion of air just above the surface and have motors that sit up above the body at the rear of the boat. They use an airplane propeller to provide forward thrust. Dinghies and rowboats also have flat-bottomed hulls, but you're not as likely to find them in radio controlled models. Hovercraft can be a lot of fun for all skill levels.
AquaCraft Alligator Tours Airboat (Buy Direct) and the Prop Boat Vortex .46 (Buy Direct) are both examples of nitro-powered airboats. These Cajun Gator RC AirBoats are both ready-to-run and built from kits and include a semi-tunnel hull design as well as flat-bottom models.
Monohull
There are several styles of monohull or monoplane hulls but the most popular is the familiar vee-shaped hull. The monohull design maintains a single continuous surface in contact with the water. Deep-vee is the hull shape commonly seen on sport boats. Some racing models may have a shallow-vee hull design that puts less hull surface in contact with the water, thus increasing speed but sacrificing some of the stability of the deep-vee design.
CEN Grey Thunder has a deep-vee hull while the CEN Aqua Jet features a semi deep-vee monohull. AquaCraft Reef Racer 2 (Buy Direct) is a small electric monohull.
Hydroplane
The 3-point hydro, catamaran, tunnel hull, and outrigger are RC powerboats known for speed. The hull design has more than one surface in contact with the water. This design creates space for trapped air under the boat that helps to lift it up out of the water so that there is less drag (less hull touching the water) and the boat can acheive higher speeds. Outriggers are the fastest of the hydroplane hull designs but the trickiest to handle. Catamarans and tunnel hulls provide a better balance of speed and handling for the beginning racer.
AquaCraft Top Speed 2 features a tunnel hull design. Pro Boat Miss Llumar is a nitro hydro with the 3-point hydro hull. Pro Boat Apache (Buy Direct) and the Pro Boat Blackjack 26 Brushless (Buy Direct) are electric catamarans. Dumas Hawk Hydroplane 7.5 is an example of an RC outrigger.
Next, find the best style of RC powerboats for beginners.
Sailboats and scale boats can be for beginners if your tastes run more toward sailing or building/owning authentic scale models. But for the first time RC powerboat owner, a ready-to-run electric sport boat with a deep-vee hull design is a good choice. They are generally less expensive, easier to maintain, and easier to control. These RC boats are a good way to get out on the water with an RC for the first time.
Start with an Electric RC Boat
Electrics are usually less expensive to buy, require a little less maintenance than a nitro or gas boat, and can be easier to control -- an important consideration for the novice boater.
Get a Monohull RC Boat for Stability
The most stable hull design is the deep-vee, so cruisers and speed boats with a deep-vee hull make excellent entry-level RC boats. They can also handle rougher waters than the more shallow hull designs.
Get an Entry-Level Racer
If you want a racing boat, look for an electric speed boat with a shallow-vee hull design. It can be a good entry-level racing boat because you still have the stability of the monohull design but with a little less drag (and thus more speed) than the deep-vee hulls and the ease of maintenance of the electric. Upgrade to a brushless motor for more power or start with a nitro engine if you already have experience with nitro engine care and maintenance.
Hydroplane hull designs, while cool and fast, require more skill to master. Because their hull design has them skimming the surface of the water they can go very fast but at the expense of maneuverability. They also require much smoother water surfaces for best performance. If you feel you are ready, begin with an electric catamaran or tunnel hull design.