Minimising water build-up in engine bay

 
During a race by one means or another water collects in the engine bay, if this is not got rid of then eventually there will be enough water to splash up into the carburettor and possibly stop the engine and also upset the handling of the boat.
Two methods are mainly used to drain off any excess water.

1. A large bore (5 or 6mm) tube can be fitted from the rear bulkhead, through the radio box to exit at the transom. This allows any water to just drain out the back of the boat whilst racing. A disadvantage of this method is that if you stop out on the course water comes back up the tube and into the boat, this makes the boat heavy to recover and the engine will always have to be cleared of water before it can be restarted. A self baler, ie, a one way valve can be fitted but they tend not to work all that well.

2. A better method is as shown below, a hole is cut out in the right-hand side deck just infront of the rear bulkhead, any water collecting in the boat is flicked out as the boat makes the four left-hand turns of an M course. The advantage of this idea is that if the boat stops out on the course, the cutout is above the water level and you have a good chance of recovering your boat with very little water inside, this is especially useful when testing a troublesome engine.

 

Cutout on right-hand side of boat

 

 

 

 

 

Special tip :- A piece of netting ( childs fishing net ) glued across the inside of the cutout will stop you losing any small parts that may have come loose during a race.