To all IMPBA Outboard Racers.

[LawlessMan]

There are several similar ones available from Amazon, as well as Wish.com. Wish's prices are usually lower, but the wait can be 6 weeks. Both sources have .18, .21, and .28 sizes, so be careful what you are buying.
It is also a lot easier to return to Amazon than Wish. Been there, done that.

 

[jaxracer]

There are several similar ones available from Amazon, as well as Wish.com. Wish's prices are usually lower, but the wait can be 6 weeks. Both sources have .18, .21, and .28 sizes, so be careful what you are buying.
It is also a lot easier to return to Amazon than Wish. Been there, done that.

I found this one on Amazon. $83.80 and same bore/stroke/crank mm numbers as a NovaRossi RX21

 

[Joey Jones]

Good find, thanks for that. May be worth investigating at that price!

 

[Geraghty]

I found this one on Amazon. $83.80 and same bore/stroke/crank mm numbers as a NovaRossi RX21

That's the motor.....the machining is magnificent and ..... the materials of construction the are very good.....You have seen it run....
Cut off the clutch end off the SG shaft and screw on the 1/4 x 28 thread by .150 squared cable adapter and zhazaam you are in business on an adapter from Lawless .... I believe the cable to motor adapter is included in the Lawless adapter kit....
You will need a motor with a pull start.....which I have converted to roto-start for $18.00......You need an extended crank pin to start the motor...
I have one of these motors still in my possesion totally assembled and on the stand ready to run .....

I also have adapted a way to use the car carb on the adapter.....
Throttle linkage adapter car carb 001 - YouTube
The point is there is a way to mitigate the loss of all the nitro outboard motors....
Time will tell if the leadership will and will the nitro outboarders have the courage to respond to save nitro outboards...........
I no longer have a dog in this fight so if the nitro outboarders don't care I for dam sure don't care either.....

 

[Joey Jones]

Thanks for the video, Rod. I was just about to ask you for a pic of that throttle linkage.

-Joey

 

[Carl Van Houten]

The attached picture is of a 7.5cc Super Sport Outboard Tunnel. This class has been raced here in the South East for many years as a special class at club races. If/when the proposal for the Super Sport Outboard Tunnel goes through, you could then put a dimensionally compliant muffler on a Nova Rossi, K&B, Nelson, O/S or any engine you may want to compete with and go race. The muffler will control the class performance and the racing will be tight and FUN!
-Carl

 

[Iceman]

I found this one on Amazon. $83.80 and same bore/stroke/crank mm numbers as a NovaRossi RX21

I have bought both from Amazon and EBay, this has been an engine used in 1/8 rc off road racing and can also change timing for lower level 1/8 rc on road racing. Very similar to Nova Rossi P5 if not a direct copy.

 

[Randy Rapedius]

I’ve been following this thread and have to ask, do you guys really think that adding a new class or altering rules will actually resurrect nitro OB racing within IMPBA or NAMBA?

There once was a time I was strictly nitro. I actually won the Sport Tunnel class back at the 2002 Internats. I switched to Gas in 2005 only because I could see the writing on the wall that nitro classes were becoming less and less filled at the races.

It is my belief that the best you guys could do is to alter the class at a local or district level. Simply run an “Open OB Tunnel” class and hope you have enough boats registered to race the class. Adding more rules and possibly another class will only hurt nitro OB’s.

 

[Carl Van Houten]

I’ve been following this thread and have to ask, do you guys really think that adding a new class or altering rules will actually resurrect nitro OB racing within IMPBA or NAMBA?

There once was a time I was strictly nitro. I actually won the Sport Tunnel class back at the 2002 Internats. I switched to Gas in 2005 only because I could see the writing on the wall that nitro classes were becoming less and less filled at the races.

It is my belief that the best you guys could do is to alter the class at a local or district level. Simply run an “Open OB Tunnel” class and hope you have enough boats registered to race the class. Adding more rules and possibly another class will only hurt nitro OB’s.

We knew that there would be people who don't even run outboards anymore that would say this exact thing about this. What it is meant to do is give racers more outboard configuration choices and to be honest it has a lot of people cranked up to build one of these. I am getting two or three calls a day from people who are thinking about building one. What surprises me is the number of people who are talking about blowing the dust off of their 11cc O/B engines that have been laying around in boxes waiting for a place in the show for years. A friend of mine has two 11cc O/B's that have not been cranked in 10 years. His are going to be raced this summer after all this time. Engines like the Nova Rossi require a split clamp flange to bolt the muffler to. You can see it in this picture.

 

[jydracing]

Well Randy it’s kind of like this. this needs to be done to try and save the OB classes. I do not understand how changing the rules to be able to run the engines that are available would hurt the OB classes. If someone wanted to start running outboards there is only one place to get a engine and it will only be a OS 3.5. If they wanted anything larger oh well sorry.

it doesn’t have anything to do with the hulls, fuel, radios, it is caused by the fact that the engines are not available. As the rules state the engine, lower unit, and exhaust has to come from the same mfg

It’s not adding a bunch of classes it is changing the engine and lower unit and exhaust combination. This way if someone had a Rossi 7.5 they could put a regulation muffler on it and put it on a K&B lower and race sport 7.5 class. How would that hurt the OB classes

I wonder if the gas class you like running started having the same problem would you try and save it or turn it into a open class and say oh well

 

[Randy Rapedius]

Guys. The bottom line is that nitro (including tunnel) is dying a slow death. This isn’t a gas vs nitro thing. Having raced nitro for 20 years, I expected a little more respect. Sure there are guys out there with equipment collecting dust and a few clubs that still have enough OB to offer the class at a race, however the nitro numbers are dwindling year after year and anyone who denies this is only fooling themselves. Allowing cross combination of engines and lower units isn’t going to save nitro OB. It might gain a few more entries in the short term. I can respect your enthusiasm and determination to keep this class alive. I too once was a nitro tunnel guy. Good luck boys. You will need it. People might talk about dusting off an old boat or possibly build a new mix & match engine, but until they actually do, it’s nothing but talk and we all know there is a lot of talk in our hobby.

 

[Carl Van Houten]

Here is how it works: A few years ago I was approached and asked if I would help an outboard class get off the ground. You may remember this. It was the LSG O/B Tunnel class. I accepted the challenge because I love outboards (ALL OUTBOARDS) and I wrote a proposal to make the LSG Outboard Tunnel an official class and with a lot of help from others who felt the same way I did it went through. Along the way I had a lot of people tell me that this class was never going to take off and that I was wasting my time but I did not listen (I'm from Alabama) and when the class got approved people really got into it! It started off slow but every year it has gained momentum. Now these boats are really staring to show up in numbers and people are having a blast racing them.

 

[Grimracer]

Those reading in that ARE NOT.. currently racing outboards ARE YOUR audience. Its WAY easer to have a guy like Randy jump back in.. or one if his old nitro buddys.. WAY BEFORE you have some guy off the street just "happen by".

In business customers break down into two groups
Old and new

in a down turn, WITCH... do you think we should be dedicating an effort to?

yes.. there is a right and wrong answer.

Send it in.. you know my vote!

Grim

 

[Randy Rapedius]

Carl.
That’s a very impressive photo. I’ve seen that one floated around social media when guys are trying to promote outboards. Sorry… GAS outboards. (Emphasis on GAS).
Starting a new/revised nitro OB class is not the answer. There is no answer. Best you guys can do is to lump all the nitro OB Tunnels together at the local level, call it “Open” and have fun while there are still a few true nitro OB dinosaurs out there. Sorry if this sounds harsh and pessimistic. I’m simply looking at the direction nitro has been going over the past 15 years and can honestly say that I can’t see it coming back.

 

[Carl Van Houten]

Randy what we really need is great ideas and positive thinkers. Thanks for all of your uplifting comments. I am not going to stop supporting outboards (Gas and Nitro) no matter who predicts doom.

 

[LohringMiller]

Outboard hulls are as popular as ever. The power plant is the issue. At the NAMBA Nationals gas tunnels were still a small class. The gas lower units are clumsy. Electric tunnels were a larger group. Nitro tunnels were driven my the same old time racers running the same old engines as in the past. The problem with nitro is that it takes experience. Fuel and plugs are getting too expensive to get this experience except with the smaller engines. Crossovers from RC cars is the main hope for nitro in our club. This crossover is even more prominent with electrics.

Lohring Miller

 

[Carl Van Houten]

Lohring, I like your post! The word "CROSSOVER" is exactly what is at the core of this proposal. We are allowing these car and buggy engines to join our sport class so that we will no longer be strapped to one manufacturer. I hope that people see that having options is what is going to save our sport class in the long run.
-Carl

 

[jaxracer]

Outboard hulls are as popular as ever. The power plant is the issue. At the NAMBA Nationals gas tunnels were still a small class. The gas lower units are clumsy. Electric tunnels were a larger group. Nitro tunnels were driven my the same old time racers running the same old engines as in the past. The problem with nitro is that it takes experience. Fuel and plugs are getting too expensive to get this experience except with the smaller engines. Crossovers from RC cars is the main hope for nitro in our club. This crossover is even more prominent with electrics.

Lohring Miller

Lohring is spot on here. Outboards nor nitro are “dead”. Just like everything else in this post-COVID era, it’s in a rebounding phase. Just look at the numbers from the 2018 outboard champs in SOWEGA: 20 mod 20 tunnels, 20 mod 40 tunnels, 18 sport B tunnels and even better, 13 “Super Stock” D tunnels. COVID hit, took racing numbers down and now we’re coming back.

Nitro are still the dominant classes in the RC car racing scene, yes electric has come into the mix but as a compliment, not to steal the show.

The Brandon club in Florida is hosting a Nitro Championships, NITRO ONLY event and currently has 149 boats entered for a full racing weekend. Pre-COVID their 2019 entries were 265 NITRO only boats.

Yes glow plugs are expensive, yes nitro is expensive, but what hobby isn’t? In this post-2020 time frame we have some new challenges with supply chain issues and more, but this is where we put our heads together to figure out how to navigate them.

2 things that will help these issues tremendously, one I mentioned earlier, increasing ease of access to tunnels. Making it EASY to build a boat. The other is marketing. Problem is not a lot of people know about the boat racing scene, let alone tunnels. Traxxas has 403,000 followers on Instagram. IMPBA nor NAMBA have an Instagram at all. If 2% of the Traxxas followers bought a vehicle from them, that’s 8,060 new vehicles purchased. Do you know what 8,060 new boats would do for the RC boat racing scene? It’s about adapting to the times and we have to start filling in the gaps.

 

[Brandon Atwell]

I think what may get lost in translation is the fact this opens up these classes more than prior. Using something like Fred’s car conversion mount instantly opens up a whole new range of power plants to develop a more cost effective solution to the sport classes. I would argue once you have all your pieces together you can have a running engine setup for close to or under $300. Easier to sell Someone on jumping into the sport at that cost vs the current rates. Does that alienate O.S.? It’s a risk to take
I do believe a blending of nitro and electric down the line may be the answer to boost numbers and support, but that should be handled at a district level rather than an association level. There are plenty of tunnels to continually make a class in most areas.

I agree we have a power head issue rather than an equipment issue but we need a more simplified approach to obtain equipment. One reason that gas and electric have done well recently is its simply easier to get everything you need. We need vendors to supply these items in a simpler manner. It’s time to bring the hobby forward to the 21st century. Looking at suppliers like Zipp Kits, Novarossi/ StumpFab and Seaducer boats reflects the key to success of the hobby.

 

[Randy Rapedius]

“I do believe a blending of nitro and electric down the line may be the answer to boost numbers and support, but that should be handled at a district level rather than an association level.”

Boom! Nailed it. Sounds a lot like what I said earlier. Run them all together at a district level.
Surprised you weren’t attacked for suggesting such a thing. Lol.