My Rivercat sank :(

[78MaicoRider]

Sorry I just noticed the typo in my signature on the size of my Silver Fox boat. Corrected! Don't want to mislead anyone. It's 32" overall. 29" running surface from tip of the bow to transom. It has 3" transom overhang. Very similar to Apparition or River Cat. At first I thought it was an Apparition hull. Anyway it has a black deck and an orange bottom. So it's called the Halloween boat

[dmitry100]

Oh ok... thought it was the 36" one. But anyway, what you could maybe try doing is buying some extensions for your batteries and just run them far enough to your charger and balancing board-- that way you don't have to take them out all the time.

[78MaicoRider]

My Silver Fox is 32" overall, 29" long sponsons. No added CF or FG. Replaced the stk motor mount. The deck is flexy but tough. Seams stay together. I think the flex that has saved it from breaking. It's been run into a brick wall at the pond doing about 20-25 mph. Just needed to repair about 1 inch of the nose on one side and 1/2 inch of the other. I was running the largest fightercat outrunner 2000kv on 5S with a prather 215. It was pretty fast but with all that outrunner mass and the narrow hull, torque rolls were common. I pulled the outrunner and replaced it with a leo 4082 1800 kv and will see how it goes. Overall it's a good boat for the money. Main problem is vertical clearance getting batts in and out of the sponsons.

[dmitry100]

78MaicoRider: How are the Silver Fox hulls? You have the 37" version right? Are they any good? They seem rather cheap last I saw them... Did you add CF or FG inlay in the hull and hatch?

Also, if you want a cheap tape ($8 bucks for 35+ yards) that will never rip off no matter what... use this. It's reinforced and has the stickiest adhesive I've seen... it sticks even after being exposed to water and I'm able to reuse the strips I use for the hatch for like 2-3 runs at times:
http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/de...1992&ppt=C0404

10+ crashes/backflips/rolls @ 100mph and it has yet to come off.

There are 2 versions though. One is much weaker and tears easily. Bought one by accident once... not great. But the ones that come in 35 yards are the good heavy duty tapes.

[dmitry100]

Don't forget along side your drive stuffing tubes and in the rear rudder area! Oh, and the void area in the middle of the hatch...

[trigger]

I will forever call pool noodles "poodle noodles" Very funny - But true, they are cheap insurance.

[kfxguy]

I almost lost one last weekend. Was running a fast pass hit a ripple and torque rolled. Most the time it does this it lands upright. (that wows the spectators) This time, inverted. So in the kayak I go to retrieve it. I grab the boat and flip it over. Yell out to GF to grab controller and drive it back. Well she is busy with the dog. Just then the back half of the boat drops below the water and its headed toward the bottom. I grab it again just in time or it would have been gone. Seems that the tape had come loose because I ran out of what I normally use and just used what was close. Two things here. 1 wrong tape used. 2. Not enough flotation. Number 2 is going to be harder to correct. There is not much room in the Silver Fox hull. The boat is close to sinking when it's dry inside. Must use good tape applied properly every time.

You can't add any two part foam? What about pool noodle cut and stuffed in the transom area. Poodle noodle on top of the batteries. In front and rear of the batteries. Lighten it where it will float better.

I started using more foam. I put as much as I can fit.

[78MaicoRider]

I almost lost one last weekend. Was running a fast pass hit a ripple and torque rolled. Most the time it does this it lands upright. (that wows the spectators) This time, inverted. So in the kayak I go to retrieve it. I grab the boat and flip it over. Yell out to GF to grab controller and drive it back. Well she is busy with the dog. Just then the back half of the boat drops below the water and its headed toward the bottom. I grab it again just in time or it would have been gone. Seems that the tape had come loose because I ran out of what I normally use and just used what was close. Two things here. 1 wrong tape used. 2. Not enough flotation. Number 2 is going to be harder to correct. There is not much room in the Silver Fox hull. The boat is close to sinking when it's dry inside. Must use good tape applied properly every time.

[readyfireaim]

For the 1st time in 4 years I lost a plane the same weekend. It's a crappy feeling. Like you, it seems to have been swallowed up by the earth.

It didn't have a $450 motor, but it did have a gropro black and a couple hundred dollars worth of various electronics.

[darryl whitman]

hi Trav , sorry to here your pain, plz don't give up , us new guys here need boaters like you to
help Newbies like me , hang in there ,

[Brewbud]

Bummed to hear about this. I remember reading about your build and quest for speed.

Too bad I am not near you. I have an underwater metal detector that could have helped in low visibility, especially if it is a silty bottom. FYI for future mishaps - When hiring a diver make sure they know decent search and recovery techniques. There are several good methods for a lake. For your situation a dive float with a heavy weight or screw anchor at the point you think you lost the boat would work well. Then attach a line to the down line from the float a few feet off the bottom. This line will be your horizontal search line. Swim circles around the down line, letting out 3-5 feet of search line at each revolution (depending on visibility). Doing this you will cover 100% of the bottom in an area twice the length of your line.

Would be a great exercise for a search and recovery dive specialty class. I used to set up fake search and recovery operations for my advanced classes. I know it is probably too late for anything good to be recovered. You could maybe learn something about where/why it cracked up though.

[dmitry100]

Perhaps you should try posting this situation on some diver forum ... maybe there will be some diver dudes in your area that would do it (for free) just because they like the challenge, etc....

[kfxguy]

kfxguy: So the hiring the diver idea wouldn't be really worth it now or what?

Not really I don't think.

[montymike]

Like anything lost ;u will still be on the lookout for it!

[dmitry100]

kfxguy: So the hiring the diver idea wouldn't be really worth it now or what?