Fancied an outrigger for a while but did not wish to spend a fortune on one, so purchased a Trident 19.5 inch ARTR from ToSbd.com, which cost $80 delivered.
It took six weeks to arrive, which was around the time they stated. The boat comes already built, requiring only the front sponsons & the rudder to be fitted to the pre-drilled holes.
The boat is made from laser cut parts, which I believe are balsa sandwiched between 2 ply veneers, & appears very well built. All the running gear is installed & of a reasonable quality.
Electrics are not supplied with the boat, I opted for a 2040 3200kv motor, 35 amp ESC, metal gear micro servo, an FRSky mini 2.4 ghz RX, & a 3S 2200mah lipo.
Fitting out was straightforward, if a little fiddly, the only issue was a lack of throw on the rudder. easily rectified by drilling another hole in the tiller closer to the rudder which gave around 30 degrees of throw in either direction.
For the first run I pitched my expectations quite low, knowing outriggers can be awkward to get running well. The boat simply flew right from the start, but showed tendency to pull to one side a little, which was trimmed out on the rudder. One concern was the lack of a turn fin on the boat, but this did not seem to effect its turning at all, easily turning in either direction ( I thought riggers only turned one way?) at full throttle.
The boat was still running fast at the 5 minute mark when I hit a large stick floating in the water & sheared the prop shaft. loosing the stub shaft & the prop.
The downside of ordering from China is the notorious customer service many of the companies there provide, but my email about spares was answered within 4 minutes. However the time taken to receive parts from China has made me look elsewhere for the parts & I have found a supplier who can help in the UK. Hopefully I should be back on the water for the weekend.
I bought this boat with two intentions, one to satisfy an urge to own a 'rigger' I have had for a few years now, & secondly, to run at some of the shows my club attends in order to give the public an insight into how fast it is possible to get a model boat running.
For the money, around £100 on the water, I think it is good value, all the components seem of a reasonable quality & above all it puts a smile on your face when you run it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyivQYUDM04
