Which Gas Cat to buy

[Jim Allen]

Robert,

Where is the lake you're running at?

Jim Allen

 

[RobertDoak]

Hello Jim
Im running at the Delmarva club pond in Queenstown MD....district 12 impba..
And for the first time ran at ODMBA in Smithfield Va....last Sunday at ther first club race....im glad I made the drive
Great bunch of guys at both locations...delmarva is only 100 miles one way...the ride to smithfield Va is over 150 one way....both are beautiful places..

 

[john v]

i believe we had the nationals in queenstown last year, extremely well run, excellent management and heather as a pit boss was the most well organized pit i had ever seen. the best nationals i have been to yet. would look forward to running there again

 

[RobertDoak]

Nationals was in fort Richie if I recall

 

[john v]

yes fort richie. great race

 

[RobertDoak]

Woohoo.... 3 day till the Ft.Richie race in Maryland 11 cats entered so this will be a real good test...upper 60's is where its running and handles very well...hopefully I can get a cardboard trophy

 

[Mark Williamson]

47 in. Storm Cat used to be CC racing and now MAD Racing

 

[RobertDoak]

Well believe it or not...i re read all 187 posts to this thread, I wanted to be sure I didn't miss anything...and I want to thank everyone that posted info...as this post shows..i did choose the Aeromarine Conquest...and I'm having an Awesome time with it...i feel the choice was good...
Just an update...i did upgrade the engine to a Gizmo 29.5 pro race with a full circle crank..and a Bob Austin 7016 progressive prop...a couple tweaks here and there and the boat is fast and stable..and all this came from a group of AWESOME racers helping a new guy out..so a huge THANK YOU so everyone....this winter will be a repaint and possibly a strut relocation to the inside of the hull...many suggesting this modification will increase stability and lessen blowovers....
So I still need to work on driving skills and trigger control...if anyone needs setup info..i will be happy to share with you what I have...
Thanks so much everyone....

 

[john v]

glad you like the cat class, lotsa fun and pretty fast. never saw a conquest with the strut inside the hull but give it a shot, might be a great mod. good luck

 

[Daniel's Racing]

I had one. It was fine but just cutting nub and short brackets seems to work just as good. Very little extra benefit noticed. It does not plunge the prop deeper as the nose rises with the prop up further which is a plus or minus depending on how you look at what actually happens when you do that.
I like the skeg behind the transom. I would not personally build another with skeg up under that way but you certainty can get it to run well up under too.

 

[RobertDoak]

John V..
On modelgasboats.com there is a Conquest build that used the inset strut method...im on the fence with the idea...but learning how to drive my boat will benefit in the long run...but the paint will definitely happen.
And daniels racing...im running with a short strut brackets and the strut mounting hole moved as far forward like you suggested to me way back...thanks for the feedback and I still watch your youtube vids on the cats you have..

 

[Daniel's Racing]

John V..
On modelgasboats.com there is a Conquest build that used the inset strut method...im on the fence with the idea...but learning how to drive my boat will benefit in the long run...but the paint will definitely happen.
And daniels racing...im running with a short strut brackets and the strut mounting hole moved as far forward like you suggested to me way back...thanks for the feedback and I still watch your youtube vids on the cats you have..

Did you also cut the extension off the back of the strut ?

This was the Conquest I had strut on inside. It had strut on outside most of it's life it was a old hull someone gave me and I rebuilt it with strut on inside.



This Conquest was a lot of fun. CMB 101

 

[RobertDoak]

Daniel...
I did cut the strut off....well all but a nub....i left about an 1/8"....please dont misunderstand me...i love the boat and how it performs...but if I can do some tweeks to get that extra something out of it...its worth a try...but..i do need to improve on my piloting...i like the video...thank you so much for the help...i would like to spank some of district 12 Cats in the next season....

 

[john v]

so it looks like they are trying to get the prop as close to the transom as possible, this will have an effect on how the bow rides and blowovers. had a conquest with the motor as far forward as possible, bunch of lead in the tunnel close to the bow and a huge amount of positive in the strut, this setup showed me that the bow would not dig into and hold a turn or blowovers were an issue. this boat was already setup like this and i left the setup alone. ran dist 11 for many years with this boat. gave it to a new racer starting out and will hopefully be many more years

 

[Ron Olson]

Owners of the AC R-42 were on the fence about strut placement, the time that I was Cat shopping as some were building it both ways. With it inside (under) the hull it seemed like adjustments would have been a lot harder until you got to the Set It And Forget It stage.

 

[john v]

i remember the r42 guys , some had it inside , some on the outside. i dont think i ran against a r42 but ran with a bunch of 42 sprintcats. fast boat but it was a drivers boat for sure. i am sure your conquest will run well on ether transom setup

 

[RobertDoak]

The switch on the strut prop shaft is easy to do so i think I will work on driving skills....then I will do the strut change...2021 season will be much better...but...i hear yellow paint on a Cat hull is good for another 2mph...just sayin