I’m pleased to report that the fireboat finally got it’s bottom wet at the St. Albans model exhibition last weekend.
Sadly it was only in the very small temporary pond that the club set up for the ‘have a go’ boats during the ‘free sailing’ session at the end of the second day, nevertheless it was a good ‘tank test’ for the motor and systems.
The boat gets up onto a plane immediately and crossed the water into the hands of a ‘catcher’ on the opposite corner in seconds and when held static under full throttle it’s quite a job to counter the thrust.
She sits nicely on the waterline but needs a small amount of ballast to correct a very small list to port, and I also need to extend the rudder servo limits to reduce the turning circle a bit.

It’s a shame that there was no one to hand to take some action pictures and video so I only have a few static shots that I took.

The St. Albans model show was itself a phenomenal success with public attendances breaking all records over last year and was well supported by numerous other clubs and societies.
The glorious weather on both days also helped too!

If you attended the show I hope you had as much fun as I did 😁

It was also great to chat with other modellers who inspected my boat in the clubs display room at the show, many of whom have also made this model or have one under construction, it's was a pleasure meeting you all.
Robbob.