Setting Up a Stepped Mono Fast Electric Race Boat

Setting Up a Stepped Mono

A few years ago Dave Marles of Prestwich Models started producing a stepped mono hull moulding, for 12 cell fast electric racing, in Epoxy glass - the 'Cheetah'. The hull weighs in at approximately 200 grams. There were several 'new' concepts here in the UK and due to initial problems neither this boat nor it's smaller sister the 'Targa' never took off sales wise.

These fast electric boats are still fairly little used in the UK for high end racing - a pity as they are fast and stable when set up right. The boats have a fairly shallow 'V' shape with two steps. The hull has moulded in strakes on the front V portion. The front step is angled so that the center section trails the sides by about 1/2". The first step being 1/3 of the length from the transom and the second step runs straight across the boat and trails the first step by 1/3 rd of the remaining distance to the transom. It is set 1mm above a line from the first step to the transom.

The original hull came with a set of C/F (graphite) strut/rudder mounting brackets - these were the source of the first and ongoing problem as the would distort allowing the rudder to touch the prop. When this happened the prop was invariably destroyed - expensive at one per race!

The second problem was that the boat would roll out of a high speed corner and land up upside down, because of the flex in the C/F components this was not very predictable. This was when set up for 3 minute runs.

To add to the problems at this point the UK rules were changed to make the runs 5 minutes plus mill time and final lap. (5m30sec ish). Having found the right prop combination racing commenced - the C/F problem was nearly gone but would still hit at times. Still there was enough room in between to work on a reliable set up.

It was discovered that these boats do not like sideways spread weight - for successful race trim the batteries must go alongside the drive shaft (we use flexi's). The balance point is approximately 1/2" behind the front step. This means that the motor must be mounted in front of the front step in order to achieve the C of G. Having done this the boat became very fast - but still suffered from whip on the C/F supports. Ernie Lazenby had one of these hulls as well - I had nearly given up when he rang one day and said 'I've fixed it'. Ernie replaced the C/F bits with two Aluminium brackets cross braced by a bolt. The bolt locates the strut on the central one and the rudder on r/hand offset one. The offset is 1 1/8^th inches. The pivot point for the rudder is at the same rearward point as the back face of the prop dog drive angled forward at the bottom very slightly. The front face of the pro is 2 1/4" behind the transom.

Had Ernie sorted this earlier he may have won the UK mono2r champs, as it is he came second.

Tip - the access hatch has to be cut in to the deck. Make it as wide as possible - my new one is 5 1/2 inches wide , starts 1 1/2 inches from the transom and finishes 9"' from the transom - this due to lessons learned.

Recap:- The balance point is critical to race performance, keep batteries near the c/l to stop flipping. This means a long flexi with the motor in front of the step. Prop front face is 2/1/4" from the rear of the transom. I'm using a cut 442 Ernie uses a cut 215. Both boats are about the same speed and handle well. The bottom of the propeller boss/strut must be on an extended line from the bottom centre rear of the front step to bottom of the transom. These fast boats are run in Europe with straight shafts - consequently they have down angle on the prop - in the UK we are running them flat to the water surface.

Targa

The targa is a similar case except that it handled well. It initially ran like a dog on direct drive and could not cut the mustard, people with no vision dropped it. We now have the same expected run times as above. I fitted a Hughey box with 1.95:1 ratio - this just fits under the front of the cabin moulding but needs care. Initially I used a budget modified 17 triple motor running a 642 prop. I get 7 minutes run time but have not fiddled as I don't see the need - and haven't got to race this year that often. However since showing them the way Ashley Wilson (jnr) has been running a Targa with similar set up he has missed three meetings and suffered a couple of problems but is still lying 3^rd with a chance at second. I believe that Ray Fuller ran one of these boats on 6 cells against the hydros and blew them away. In the UK we run 7 cells!.

If you want some fun try a stepped boat - watch out for the C of G it is critical to good performance.

Now have you ever seen a self righting 7 cell subsurface drive mono running round a triangle. You want stressful fun try it. Want some info Badger Ian Pearson!

TTFN