The RC car world is buzzing with machines that run on 8S so why should the marine world be left out! ProBoat is once stepped up to deliver a wild boat that is sure to scream across the water with it’s 8S capable electronics system. Meet the new ProBoat Blackjack 42″ 8S Brushless Catamaran RTR! We were able to get our hands on this newly released boat and it didn’t even make it to the workshop before it was out of the box for inspection.
Let’s get right into it with a few initial impressions, followed by a photo gallery below. So the boat is obviously big! It’s 42″ long stance is certainly eye-catching not to mention necessary to keep the boat stable with so much power shoved into it. The hull is made of a polycarbonate plastic which has some boat enthusiasts questioning the material, but it is impact resistant and feels sturdy especially with the internal composite plastic skeleton that conforms to the lines of the hull and adhered extremely well. There are even braces to help firm up the deck. The canopy is secured with four thumbscrews and foam around the opening helps seal up the boat’s vitals. The lines on the hull all look good, the seam is well joined and the graphics package is spot on. We do have a gripe about the finishing of the boat, but you’ll need to wait for our video review to hear it. Subscribe here: http://bit.ly/SubToRCD
Inside the boat, you’ll be drawn right to the massive 1350Kv motor that pumps out over 5-horsepower! It has a water cooling jacket and gets power from a 160A water-cooled Spektrum speed control fitted with two IC5 plugs. A large-scale servo controls the steering and the receiver is tucked away in its own radio body. Velcro strap secures the packs to the inner skeleton, foam is stuffed in the bow for those just in case moments and the motor mounts and servo mounts look stout. We like the small details like clips retain the tubing, clips for the wires and the cover over the collet and flex shaft end that catches flying grease spitting out of the stuffing tube.
The running hardware looks great too. Knife edged rudder and strut, break-away screw for the rudder, dual pick-up in the rudder although only one port is utilized for the main cooling. All well machined and everything secured with the appropriate hardware.
To control the boat, ProBoat includes the Spektrum DX3 that when used with the SMART electronics and batteries will display the battery life right on the radio with an LED light meter. My friends IS awesome. It’s pretty cool for cars, but so welcomed on a boat so you can be better prepared to bring the boat to shore when the batteries run low.
There’s more stuff to talk about of course, but that will have to wait for our ProBoat Blackjack 42 8S Brushless Catamaran review. For now, enjoy the ton of photos we took of this mighty machine!
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