Racing

By Paul Williams.
Article posted 13th March 2008.

Why Race?

Racing is not for everyone. I'd estimate that only a small fraction of those boat modellers who've built a fast electric ever race. For me, building fast electrics is about one thing and one thing only: competition. I don't build boats for the fun of tearing up my local lake. I did, at first. Then I got bored. Racing and speed records kept me interested because it brings a whole new dimension to the hobby. The boat ceases to be an end in itself, instead it becomes merely a tool necessary to achieve an objective: winning. You can't cut metal with a blunt tool, and you can't win races with a rubbish boat - unless you're very lucky.

Racing at Beale Park
Racers enjoying the sunshine, Beale Park on the Thames.

The Internet and the World Wide Web have changed fast electrics more than lithium polymer cells or brushless motors. Ideas, discussion, plans, videos and new products are literally a few mouse clicks away.

Internet forums are a mixed blessing. They can be a rich source of ideas and sound advice, and they can rapidly descend into a viper's nest of petty name-calling and back-biting. Forums are also the natural hunting ground of the self-appointed "expert" and the "armchair racer". We all know these characters; they have an opinion ready for any occasion and are always ready to give you the benefit of their ignorance.

If you really want to learn how to compete successfully, look at the guys who are winning, study what they use, how they prepare their boats and the way they drive. If they're winning on a regular basis, they must be doing most things right. Most fast electric racers are more than willing to share knowledge and help, so don't be afraid to ask - it's in everyones' interest to have new people joining the hobby. I say "most" - I've only ever met one racer who had "secrets"...

How To Win

Technology aside, the basic rules of how to win remain the same:

Build a reliable boat
Don't hit anything
Don't allow anything to hit you
If you're still running at the end of the race, you have a chance
The fastest boat is never guaranteed to win
Keep calm
Luck plays its part

You don't win races through flash driving or by spending more money than the other guys. Winning is attained through preparation, through testing and by making doubly sure that everything works reliably so that, come race day, all you have to worry about is driving.

60 metre oval course for surface drive classes such as Hydro 1/2 and Mono 1/2.

Testing and preparation allow you to fine tune your boat so that it's not only fast, it also handles in a predictable way and requires the minimum of effort to drive. You should aim to setup your boat so that it tracks straight "hands off" along the straights between the corners. If you need to constantly fiddle with the steering to keep the boat straight, something is wrong with radio system, the steering linkage or the rudder. Constant small steering inputs have the same effect as repeatedly tapping the brakes in a car: the boat is unlikely to hit its potential top speed.

When racing, you not only have to drive around the course, you need to know what's happening around you, where the other boats are, where the next marker bouy is. Having to fight your boat around the course as well gives the other guys an advantage.

Reliability

This may sound an odd thing to say, but forget about speed. Instead, concentrate your efforts on reliability. Once you have a reliable boat, then you can spend time making it fast.

You don't need to win every race to win a championship. Consistent points scoring will guarantee some kind of "pot" for the trophy room at the end of the year. There's a dreadful, hackneyed phrase that everyone uses: "to finish first, first you've got to finish". Yes, it's a horrible cliche and you've probably heard it a hundred times already, but that doesn't mean it's not true. Building a wickedly fast boat that never finishes a race means you'll win precisely nothing.

In my experience, the single biggest cause of breakdowns is the radio system. Second in the list is speed controllers, breaking either due to water ingress or overloading. Then we have mechanical failures, things breaking mainly because of poor installation or vibration from out-of-balance propellers. The overwhelming majority of "DNFs", however, are due to crashing, either into another boat or into a turn marker bouy. Practice, practice, practice...

Mind Games

My list of "rules" above says "keep calm". You wouldn't believe how the tiniest amount of pressure makes some people go to pieces, or do stupid things. I'll hold my hand up here and admit that, in the rush to get to the start of a heat, I've shorted out a cell pack by plugging the wrong pair of connectors together and more than once picked up the wrong transmitter. I've forgotten to charge a cell pack, forgotten to tighten up a coupling and once brought a boat to the start line with its isolator loop left on the table back in the pits. I hadn't noticed, but thankfully another competitor very sportingly pointed out that my boat wasn't going anywhere without its loop.

Ideally, when building a boat try to make it idiot proof. Decide on a cell pack connector scheme and make it common to all your boats. For example, always make the red positive plug the male connector. Use coloured heatshrink tube to pair up the connectors to the isolation loop, the cell pack and the speed controller. When designing a boat, err on the generous side when deciding on the space allowed for each component. I once built a beautiful 7 cell outrigger. It was the neatest, best finished hydro I'd ever built and it looked superb. Because I'd pared it own to the bone trying to save every last gram of weight, there was so little space inside that servicing was a nightmare. I ran it for one meeting then scrapped it.

If you're in the enviable position of winning a race by a comfortable margin, do yourself a favour: give yourself a bit more space in the turns. You wouldn't be the first or last racer to throw away a win by clipping a turn bouy and breaking your boat on the last lap because you kept driving a really tight line when you didn't need to.

Conclusion

Everyone makes mistakes, the more so when we are under pressure. If you can make a few less mistakes than the other guys, if you can build a reasonably fast, reliable boat, if you can avoid crashing into things, then you have as good a chance of winning as anyone else. Racing is like good food and decorating: it's all in the preparation.

Oh, there's one last thing. Almost forgot. Have fun!

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Last modified: 08th July 2010 @ 09:06