Monday, April 30, 2007

Slung-shot


dead slingshot
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker.
This racing lark is harder than it looks. As it was the last Sunday in the Month the time had come for Slingshot racing. About eight of us turned up at the waters edge with our boats and proceeded to run 4 heats with each of us running in 2 of them.

Needless to say my racing jinx struck again. My boat managed two laps before crawling back home.

First thoughts turned toward water in the speed control. The symptom is a running motor even with the boat switched off. I had the added excitement of smoke and a strong smell of burning when I opened the hatch. In a plastic hull this is not A Good Thing.

Normally letting the inside of the boat dry out cures the fault (guess how I know this) but not this time. It seems that if I want to race I need a new boat. I know the old one could be fixed with a new motor and controller but Malc has managed to get a very good deal on new models so it’s time to take everything I have learned from this one and use it on another.

Is it too much to hope that I could complete a couple of heats without a breakdown ?

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