New ProBoat HydroSport 48 Gas Mono

[Darin Jordan]

ProBoat has a new Gas Mono on it's way! It's in the right size-range to perhaps be a viable G1 Race boat, and comes with the G26M Zen motor, DX3S Marine Radio with the new MR3000 Marine RX, Decent looking hardware, etc...



http://www.proboatmodels.com/ProdInfo/PRB/450/PRB2350-450.jpg

Here is a video of the boat in action: http://www.proboatmodels.com/ProdInfo/Files/PRB2350_hi.wmv


I'm trying to get one of these to bring to the 2009 NAMBA Nats, but we're not sure if production versions will be available by then. Hopefully they are...

[Darin Jordan]

I just got a call from Horizon Hobby/ProBoat and they are sending me the production sample of this boat to race at the 2009 NAMBA Nats next month!

I've only entered G1 Mono, since it's on Monday and I can afford to make it a 3-day weekend (P-Mono on Sat, P-Hydro on Sun, G1-Mono on Monday), and I've never driven a Gas boat before, so I'm not comfortable in GX-1...

I'll let you know how it works out and will post some pictures when I get it here...

Should be fun... Might even be "transformational"... ;)

[Darin Jordan]

In case anyone is interested, here is a link to the manual for this boat which shows more details.

I'll be studying this myself a LOT before July 13th!

[Darin Jordan]

I received the HyperSport 48 last night... Biggest box related to RC boating that I've ever received, that's for sure...

Boat looks really good. Fiberglass work is solid for a RTR, and the hull bottom is nice a rigid; well braced with structure from the inside, and the edges are crisp.

The hardware is of a very good quality. Feels solid and is very smooth, with a gunmetal gray anodizing. No slop in the strut. Looks like they've done like they do it their other boats with the flex... they use a cone piece at the nose of the strut that is attached to the flex (with set screw), so to get the flex cable out, you have to undo the coupler, and I think the nose-cone, then it'll slide out. I'll check this out tonight when I get into it further, because when it arrived, the strut was unbolted. The instructions show that you have to take the entire strut off to lube the cable, so I could be mistaken about the set-screw on the nosecone. This is something I'd like to see changed, as once the strut is set, I hate to take it loose just to lube the cable.

Boat comes with an aluminum ProBoat prop with has the exact same specs as a Prather 270. I'll play with this prop a little to make sure it's balanced and sharpened and then run it and we'll see how she does. I don't own any big Gas boat props, so this one will have to do for now. Would like to get an ABC 2614/3 or 2714/3, but I'm not sure if these will work on a bone-stock Zen motor (any advice???).

The radio is AWESOME! Amazing that a RTR boat would come with a full-blown Spektrum 2.4 system but it does! DX3S with the new Marine MR3000 RX installed.

Radio box is easy to get to. Not sure I like having to undo all the screws to get to it, but I suppose you don't have to all that often.

I'll be picking up some 2-cycle synthetic tonight and will get some gas mixed up and then see about getting some test time.

My overall impression (and I'm fairly picky), is WOW! This is COOL! I think even the vetrans out there will appreciate the decent quality of this boat. My goal is to get through all the heats at the 2009 NAMBA Nats in a couple of weeks, finishing the best I can, and see if this would be a good option for someone starting out in Gas boat racing. Would be cool if, by upgrading the motor to full G1 specs, this boat could at least be competitive and provide someone the opportunity to race and be in the mix.

We'll see!

[Darin Jordan]

Some more...

[Darin Jordan]

Here is the motor compartment...

[Darin Jordan]

A few more angles...

[Don Wollard]

Does a radio come with that set-up?

How 'bout a few water shots?

[Darin Jordan]

Does a radio come with that set-up?

How 'bout a few water shots?

Yes... the radio is included...

I'll definitely get some water shots once I get it in the water! ;)

[brod]

Good looking boat,looking forward to your running review.
We have both FE and gas,the longer runtimes are always welcome with gas.

Plus most spectators seem to show more interest with the gas boats.
I like both.
Brod..

[hydronut]

I just got a call from Horizon Hobby/ProBoat and they are sending me the production sample of this boat to race at the 2009 NAMBA Nats next month!

I've only entered G1 Mono, since it's on Monday and I can afford to make it a 3-day weekend (P-Mono on Sat, P-Hydro on Sun, G1-Mono on Monday), and I've never driven a Gas boat before, so I'm not comfortable in GX-1...

I'll let you know how it works out and will post some pictures when I get it here...

Should be fun... Might even be "transformational"... ;)

Did you race this at the Nats? If so how did it run?

[Darin Jordan]

Did you race this at the Nats? If so how did it run?


I did run it at the Nats... but I chose not to race it. A real G1 Mono runs in the 60s... has some pretty highly prepped motors, etc... This one was maybe into the 40's with the bone-stock motor. After the weekend I'd had, I didn't want to go out and be a speed bump and ruin someone elses race...

Had I had more power available, I'd have had no problem racing this boat. It's a tad on the larger side for the class, but it ran well and handled really well... Might have gotten a little loose with more power, but I think it would have bee quite race-able... One of the organizers said "that looks very respectable for a stock motor"...

I send the boat back to ProBoat (it's the only one they have right now), but we've disussed doing something about developing a performance package for it, so we'll see what happens... I may end up with one eventually.

In the meantime, I'm inspired to build a full-tilt G1 Mono, perhaps over the winter if things go well.

[Bill-SOCAL]

Nice looking boat and it would be interesting to see it run with a race motor in it. People that have done that with the AQ RTR gas boats have found them to be limited with hotter motors since the hulls are not really designed for that kind of speed.

LMK if you get interested in the G-1 mono. I know you'd have a kick racing gas.

[Darin Jordan]

Nice looking boat and it would be interesting to see it run with a race motor in it. People that have done that with the AQ RTR gas boats have found them to be limited with hotter motors since the hulls are not really designed for that kind of speed.

LMK if you get interested in the G-1 mono. I know you'd have a kick racing gas.

I agree completely Bill... on both counts... The Proboat hull, however, is pretty nice. One issue I see is that it has full-length strakes... Might get loose at speed... Might be able to find out one of these days...

The G-1 Mono is in my future... ;)

[Darin Jordan]

I just got off the line with ProBoat and am going to be getting one of these for myself. I'm going to see what kinds of mods I can do to it to get it more raceable, including adding a tuned pipe, etc... We'll see where it ends up. I'll update this thread when I get something going...

I don't expect to make this a National contender or anything, but we'll see if I can make it locally competitive enough to where someone could have a good time with it.

[eddieh]

Darin moved this to "other" forums as it is a fueler...