I don't believe most 1/8th Scale boaters are that particular about a recess in a 7207 transom, or whether or not the mount of the wing on an Olympia is as configured on the real boat. When I saw that the R/C Unlimiteds group is allowing the 1986 U-100 Boat to race without the tail feathers - I think we can safely say: "That ship has sailed".
Most of the boats entered in Scale events are commercially available hulls that have been painted to look like a picture the owner has of the Scale boat he's trying to model. Many are built and painted by someone other than the particular owner. They are not 1/8th Scale "one off" builds of a particular real hull. Once you get beyond ensuring the measurements are within the range limits of +/- 1" of Master Hull Roster length, and +/- 10% of Beam, Maximum Depth, Afterplane length, and Tunnel width - - the rest just has to be close, not exact.
The specifications for R/C Unlimited is certainly more stringent than IMPBA or NAMBA. Their Rule Book is available on line - all 35 pages of it. Scale Unlimited Hydroplane rules in the NAMBA Rule Book( available from (
www.namba.com) are four pages. Don F. has posted IMPBA Rules for Unlimited Scale Hydro. They may be 4 pages when available.
- NAMBA Rule Book states: "Photographs of the boat are an acceptable form of documentation"
- Section F. Scale Concours Judging 1. All boats are to be judged from six feet off (stand off scale). A picture must be supplied to the contest director for each boat entered in the concours judging
IMPBA and NAMBA Scale boats are - at the best - Stand Off Scale and will never be come 1/8th exact models of a particular real Unlimited. In most cases, scale three view, or engineering drawings are not available from any source. They are generally colorful, look like a boat a spectator can associate with, and have provided a lot of entertainment to competators and spectators over the years. There are "Race Boats" and there are "Concours boats" and each fills a place within Unlimited Scale Hydroplane modeling , no matter what their scale. CHEERS !!! Bob