Fast Electric Model Powerboat Manual

Fast Electric Book Many years ago, I wrote a book about racing fast electric model boats. A book is a snapshot in time; Fast Electrics, however, is a moving target. The consequence is that this book, while containing much that is still relevant to the hobby, is hopelessly out of date in terms of cells, motors, radio systems and cell charging.

This website is an attempt at an updated version of my book, and is a work in progress. Unlike a printed volume, a website can be constantly updated to reflect new technology and ideas.

The Online Fast Electric Manual is free to use, and can be accessed from the panel on the left of this page. Before reading it, however, bear in mind the following. I do not claim that the online manual is the sum knowledge of fast electrics - it cannot be. Fast electrics is now a big subject to cover, and one person cannot hope to have an in-depth knowledge of absolutely every aspect of the hobby.

For example, the manual as it stands at the moment contains nothing about submerged drive "ECO" type boats. The reason for this is simply that I have chosen to concentrate my efforts on building surface drive models such as outrigger hydroplanes and catamarans, and my experience of building and racing ECO boats is therefore limited.

That said, there are certain fundamental principles which are common to any type of fast electric racing boat, the overriding one being the quest for efficiency. The concept of efficiency as applied to a fast electric boat is simply the minimising of energy wastage through frictional or electrical losses. Or, in other words, making sure the various parts of the boat such as the drive, the propeller and the power circuit are optimised in such a way as to convert as much of the energy stored in the cell pack into speed as possible.

Two other items are absent from the manual: brushed motors and nickel-based cells. Both of these are now pretty much dead in fast electrics, thankfully consigned to the pages of history and replaced by brushless motors and lithium-based cells.

The online manual is intended to help those new to the hobby of fast electrics to better understand their boats. I hope you find it interesting, but mainly I hope you find it useful.

Paul Williams
February 2009

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Last modified: 08th July 2010 @ 09:05