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Born from the R/C “Nitro Class” 1/8 scale racers, these new 1/10-scale boats may be the wave of the future. Duplicating the hydroplane racing with a quiet, non-polluting, motor; the “electrics”!
For more than 30 years, R/C Unlimiteds has been the pre-eminent radio controlled hydroplane club, in the Pacific Northwest, and has built a club model that is highly thought of.
But in 2003, Electric Radio Controlled Unlimiteds (ERCU) came into existence, as an organization modeled after RCU, and the younger club has quickly become the world’s largest fast electric scale hydroplane club.
ERCU is a club that was formed in the Seattle area by a dedicated group of individuals who enjoy building and racing models of some of the great and not-so-great unlimited class hydroplanes from the past and present.
All boats in the club are 1/10-scale in size, which means they are roughly three feet long and just over a foot wide. They must include all of the features that the full-size version had, including engine cowlings, exhaust stacks and windshields. Some entries even include an exposed “dummy” Rolls or Allison motor covering the actual electric motor. The club’s motors of choice right now are the Himax brushless motor or the AstroFlight 25/5 turn brushed motor, which create enough horsepower to help these boats turn some impressive speeds. All motors are stock, and they get their power from 14.8-volt Lithium Polymer batteries. It is not unusual to see speeds in excess of 45-50 miles per hour with this setup
Authenticity is the rule when building and outfitting these race boats; whether vintage or modern class, each boat has a 1/10-scale driver dressed in a life vest and racing helmet with goggles or a face shield. The boats with an enclosed cockpit also have a visible driver seated behind the wheel. The steering wheels and dash boards are authentic, right down to dials resembling speedometers, tachometers, oil pressure and heat gauges. The boats also display the oil and spark plug manufacturer’s decals, just like the real boats. Many will carry the real driver’s name, such as, “Driver Bill Muncey.”
One of the features of ERCU you will notice that is different from the other model boat classes is that we run all races in the counterclockwise direction. This is the same direction that our full-size counterparts run. This only adds to the scale authenticity of the class.
The biggest differences between ERCU and that in RCU, the 1/8 scale boats run gas or “nitro” motors, and whether the boats are vintage (round-nose) or modern (pickle fork) they race together.
In ERCU, there are actually two classes of boats that make up our roster – vintage and modern. In the vintage class, the boats are the classic shovel nose hydros that competed mostly thru the late 1960’s. The idea of this is to keep boats of similar design together so that the older-style hulls would not have to compete against the modern picklefork designs. Anyone wishing to compete with a newer hull design would then be in the modern class which covers all picklefork designs.
Some of our members run both scale boats, and like the big club, ERCU has members who have worked on the crews of the unlimited class hydroplanes on the active circuit and with the Hydro Museum vintage circuit. These “big” boats are the determining factor by which we build and register our 1/10-scale models. The club maintains a “Master Hull Roster” much the same as its parent club. Members also join the North American Model Boat Association each year for national membership support and for insurance purposes.
With an active membership nearly six dozen hobbyists, ERCU has around 40 boats showing up for each racing event. The vintage division has been drawing over two dozen entries per race where the modern division gets 10-15 entries each outing. Three heats per division run with up to five sections pare the field down to the six or seven fastest – and oftentimes most consistent – boats for each final heat. Those final heats can be packed with top racing competition. The winner through the third and fourth positions generally walks away with first class trophies & plaques commemorating the hard-fought racing of the day.
The boats are controlled by a radio with two channels, one for the throttle and another for the rudder. A receiver, mounted in the boat, controls the servo which is connected by linkage rods to the rudder. The other control device carried in the boat and linked electronically to the motor is the “speed controller” which keeps the electric motor from over-revving. Besides the main battery pack that runs the motor, the boat carries another smaller battery pack that powers the rudder servo.
The Red Dot Corporation (Tukwila, Wash.), manufacturer of air conditioning units for motor homes is supporting the club. With this kind of financial help the club can purchase such items as a trailer to haul all of the necessary equipment to successfully stage a race. Included in the equipment is scaffolding for the drivers, a public address system to announce the races, and a computer to take care of all of the paperwork.
The club’s race schedule usually consists of 14 races each year, with 10 events in the Puget Sound region, one in Centralia, and a handful in the Portland/Vancouver area. The schedule typically runs from the middle of April to the beginning of October, and some ERCU races are even held in conjunction with local community celebrations such as Maple Valley Days (Maple Valley, Wash.) and the Portland Rose Festival.
Form |
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File Format
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| ERCU By-Laws | MS Word |
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| 2010 ERCU Rulebook | PDF |
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| ERCU Membership Registration & Waiver form | PDF |
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| ERCU Intent to Build form | PDF |
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| ERCU Inspection form | PDF |
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| ERCU Boat Bio Input form | MS Word fillable template |
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| 2008 ERCU Brochure | PDF |
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| 2010 ERCU Master Hull Roster/Registered Boats | PDF |
All Content Copyright ERCU 2010 Unless Otherwise Noted