Gas RC boats -
speed, power & economy!

The term 'gas rc boats' often causes some confusion because nitro rc boats (along with airplanes and cars) are also commonly referred to as 'gas powered' when in fact they're nitro-methane powered.

But a true gas powered radio control boat such as the sleek looking Aquacraft V24, shown below, actually uses standard 2-cycle gasoline and has the kind of 2-cycle engine that is found in the 'weed-eater' garden tools such as edgers, blowers and trimmers.
These engines are typically around the 25cc size which, as you can imagine, provide plenty of power to push a model boat through the water!
The V24 can be seen below:

Another example of a gas powered 'sport' boat is the Proton Extreme, shown below:

Advantages of gas power

Gas rc boats are probably more common than you might think and there are a few reasons why this is the case.

First and foremost, the running costs are a lot less for a gas boat than for a nitro model. Admittedly a gas rc boat hull will be more pricey to buy than a nitro one, but the engine will be much cheaper to buy and run, particularly if you're not too fussed about upgrading it as much as possible! And the engines are readily available too.

They're cheaper to run because a typical weed-eater gasoline engine (2 cycle) runs on a mixture of gasoline and oil which is a lot cheaper than nitro fuel specific to model nitro engines. You can fill up a 2-gallon fuel container for just a few bucks at the pump, but that same amount of nitro fuel from a hobby store is going to set you back considerably more!

Also, the engines used in gas boats are really pretty simple things and nearly always have a simple recoil pull-start mechanism which immediately does away with all the accessories that a nitro boat needs to get started, such as glow plug ignitor and charger, electric starter etc.
A 2 cycle gasoline engine modified for rc boat use can be seen below:

Reliability is also another factor to take into consideration; a larger gasoline engine revs lower than a small nitro motor so parts tend to last a bit longer, and if something does fall off then a replacement part is usually readily available from a decent motor spares / garden tool shop instead of having to order from a specialist hobby store, or the manufacturer.

Speed: gas v nitro

Nitro rc boats always seemed to have the edge over gas powered ones when it came to speed but it seems that gas boats are now getting their own back. This is because it's getting easier to tune up or upgrade a simple gas engine and also the boat hulls are being manufactured to a higher 'racing' standard and design.

Gas rc boats that once struggled to reach 30mph because of their weight and clumsiness are now being raced around large lakes at speeds of 40, 50 or 60mph, with the fully race-tuned and equipped models reaching 90mph or more! That's a lot for a smaller nitro powered model to try and keep up with!

Big is beautiful

Gas boats obviously need to be quite a bit larger than nitro models because of the physical size of the engine. A fairly average length is around the 4 feet mark and these size boats make up the bulk of gas powered boats, whether general sport boats or racers.

This size boat is always guaranteed to turn heads at the local lake, especially if you're racing around at full throttle! The noise, smell and smoke only adds to the realism and the sight is improved greatly if there's any degree of chop on the water so the boat is bouncing around nicely.
Big gas rc boats jumping completely out the water after hitting a small wave is indeed a thrilling site for the driver and onlookers alike!

The Aquacraft V24 gas rc boat is available from Red Rocket Hobby Shop.
The Proton Extreme is available exclusively from RC Discounts.

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