Welcome to Expresscraft Boats

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GAS DEEP VEE RC DRIVER JULY 2005 165 164 RC DRIVER

Text by David Baker and Bob Hastings

Photos by Walter Sidas

he big gas engine rumbling beneath those sleek hull lines; the tuned exhaust

echoing its telltale “brap brappita brap” from the stern. There’s just no beating a

big vee-hull for sheer RC excitement. While Expresscraft’s latest entry, the VX

Rocket, was created with the sport enthusiast in mind, it actually outperforms anything

we’ve had in-house up to this point. Strong words? Not after you’ve seen this thing go,

and especially not after you’ve driven it. The adrenaline starts flowing the minute you first

pull the trigger and doesn’t stop until long after you pull the boat from the water. The VX

Rocket beckons you to push it further, faster and harder; and with hearts pounding and

hands shaking we eagerly complied! Stay close; you’re about to meet the boat that shattered

everything we’ve collectively come to know about RC boating.

Expresscraft is a full-line boat manufacturer offering nearly two dozen hull designs in

many styles. Their ready-to-run gas-powered sport hulls start out at $699, and they have

the capabilities to deliver you a full-on race machine according to your passions and wallet.

The VX Rocket is their latest design, squarely aimed at the enthusiast with an eye on

performance.

T FAST FACTS

MANUFACTURER: Expresscraft

VEHICLE: VX Rocket

CLASS: Gas Deep Vee

DRIVER: Intermediate to advanced RC

enthusiast

SPEED (AS TESTED): 44.8 mph

PRICE (AS TESTED): $2,200

?

BOAT SETUP—Our VX Rocket showed up ready to go, so we had no actual setup to deal with

ourselves other than mixing the fuel, filling the tank and installing batteries for the electronics. The

four trim tabs across the stern were preset for us in a fairly neutral position. However, if necessary,

we were able to adjust the center two tabs to fine tune the way the hull rides on the water. The two

outside tabs are adjusted to control issues such as chine walking. Chine walking is the tendency of

the boat to rock back and forth from side to side at higher speeds. Definitely something you want to

avoid.

ACCELERATION—When we pegged the throttle from a stand-still, the boat seemed to skip

acceleration and jumped straight to top speed. From zero to frightening in a heartbeat. A little

more self-control with the throttle finger and we had the boat accelerating at a more manageable

speed. Acceleration was as smooth as could be, even after we churned up the surface with a few

mind-blowing passes.

STEERING—Talk about responsive! A lesson learned quickly with a boat this big, fast and

heavy is that smooth steering input is a must. Yanking too hard on the wheel caused the boat to

spin out and our heart rates to soar. The boat, though it did take on a little water from the dance,

quickly composed itself and was able to launch in the opposite direction. Learning how the VX

liked to be handled was a relatively quick lesson, and soon we were fighting each other for the

controller.

FUN FACTOR—Coming up with expressions or words that adequately describe the VX Rocket’s

“Fun Factor” is not an easy task. As stated earlier, this is unlike any other RC boating experience to

date. Fun? Oh, it’s so much more than that. I can’t tell you how many times we recapped the entire

VX Rocket run over the next couple of days. Even as I write this my heart rate is elevated.

166 RC DRIVER

SCALE: Big, no, wait… BIG

LENGTH: 51.25 in. (1302mm)

BEAM: 12.875 in. (327mm)

HULL: Fiberglass construction

DECK: Fiberglass construction

DRIVE: Flex drive

STEERING: Stainless steel inline rudder

ELECTRONICS: Airtronics MX-3 radio

with Hitec 755BB servos

ENGINE: Zenoah 231PUM

INCLUDED

ACCESSORIES:

There’s no real offthe-

shelf VX Rocket; Expresscraft will

hook you up according to your budget,

time and desires. They can handle full

custom paint and graphics and different

engine options and are great at helping

you make the right choices for their

boats based on your needs.

GOT TO GET: Fuel and 2-stroke oil

DRIVING IMPRESSIONS

HELPFUL

HINTS

EXPRESSCRAFT VX ROCKET

?

TECH SPECS

HULL/DECK—The VX Rocket features a two-piece fiberglass hull with

a removable hatch for engine and radio access. Expresscraft offers

their own in-house painting expertise, or you can have your boat delivered

in gleaming white so that you can add your own design.

STEERING—For a sport boat, the inline rudder design is the way to

go. The polished stainless hardware provides equally effective right

and left turns, and the trim tabs allow plenty of adjustment for water

conditions. ENGINE AND ELECTRONICS—Expresscraft will configure

the hull according to your tastes. Our test boat featured a watercooled

Zenoah 231 engine equipped with a B.H. Hanson tuned pipe.

Inside the optional aluminum radio box is a pair of Hitec 755 1/4 scale

servos and an Airtronics MX-3 radio system. DRIVETRAIN—Our

test boat was equipped with Bonzi’s centrifugal clutch system. The

only way to go for a sport boat like this. It’s nice to let the boat idle

in the water and then jam on the power; it also makes bringing it

into the dock easier because you can coast it in gently. The VX has

a flex shaft leading out to Expresscraft’s stainless hardware. Our

Prather 275 propeller sharpened by Competition Marine Designs

was ideally matched to the engine and delivered a great balance of

thrust and top speed.

INFO CENTER

AUTHOR’S OPINIONS

AND RATINGS

■ HULL/DECK—The VX hull and deck

are a rather impressive fiberglass works

of art. The sleek lines fit well and clearly define the reason

the boat was named “Rocket.” Expresscraft’s custom

paint job screams quality and was obviously applied

by a true craftsman. The way the VX Rocket carves

through, or rather over, the water is impressive.

RATING – 10

■ STEERING—Once I learned a bit of self-control the

steering was very responsive, thanks to the extremely

cool stainless steel running gear. Adjusting the exponential

and EPA on the radio will help to take the edge

off the steering for improved control.

RATING – 9

■ DRIVETRAIN— Our VX is outfitted with a clutch

system that performed flawlessly. Cavitation was never

an issue. The flex shaft and stainless steel hardware

combine to produce a top quality driveline for maximum

performance and efficiency.

RATING – 10

■ ENGINE AND ELECTRONICS— The Zenoah 231

PUM ran with the reliability that you want when you are

sending a boat this valuable out into the middle of a

huge body of water, especially if you haven’t considered

a recovery method. When we took it out for our test run,

it fired up on the second pull and purred, or screamed,

until we shut it down at the end of the run. The electronics

that showed up with our boat were adequate. When I

am ready to park a VX at my dock, however, I’ll use a

high-end system for the most reliable setup.

RATING – 9

■ DURABILITY— The running hardware is grade A in

style and performance. The fiberglass hull, though very

strong itself, is not impervious to run-ins with large

rocks that may be protruding from the water near the

shoreline. Great care needs to be taken to avoid contact

with said rocks unless you enjoy working with fiberglass

cloth and epoxy resin.

RATING – 8

■ EASE OF USE— This is not a vessel for the feint of

heart…or the beginning RC boater. But as far as what it

takes to get the boat up and running, I’d say it requires

nothing too complicated. Expresscraft does all the

setup for you, unless instructed otherwise.

RATING – 8

CONCLUSION

The VX Rocket is not for Grandpa’s farm pond. And

“relaxing” is not a term I would use when describing

a day on the water with this floating missile. If you

want to relax, get a sailboat. If you are an adrenaline

junkie, go for the VX. There is no doubt that

Expresscraft builds boats with unmatched quality in

every aspect, from the high-end hardware to the

fiberglass finish. If you’re an RC boater and you are

wondering if there is more to it after having mastered

the controls of your electric or nitro craft, let

me say this: the Expresscraft VX Rocket is more…so

much more!

For more information, please see our source guide on

pg. 177.

168 RC DRIVER

? Incredible performance

? 20+ minutes runtime

? Ease of operation

? Need more time off to play with boat

WHAT COULD BE IMPROVED

WHAT WE LIKED

EXPRESSCRAFT VX ROCKET

ITEMS USED

Aeromarine Laminates

Antenna mast—$5.00

Cowl locks—7004 $13.95

Outlets—2014 $2.90

Airtronics MX-3 radio—90511 $110

B.H. Hanson Tuned pipe—$150

Bonzi Sports Clutch—BZ4002 $159.95

Engine mount—BZ2014 $64.95

Competition Marine Design Prop

sharpening

Expresscraft Sport Drive—$85.95

Hitec 755 servos—33755J $35

Prather Products Water pump—9330 $29.95

275 propeller—S-275 $19.95

www.aeromarinerc.com

(302) 628-3944

Airtronics, www.airtronics.net

(714) 978-1895

B.H. Hanson, www.bhhanson.com

(702) 436-4422

Bonzi Sports, www.bonzisports.com

(317) 844-4695

www.cmdracing.com, (386) 208-1036

Expresscraft, www.expresscraft.com

(321) 636-1808

Hitec, www.hitecrcd.com

(858) 748-6948

www.pratherproducts.com

(310) 835-4764

Zenoah, www.zenoah.net

Our test boat features a water-cooled

231 Zenoah engine outfitted with a B.

H. Hanson tuned exhaust. The aluminum

case beneath the pipe at the

rear of the compartment is Expresscraft’s

upgraded aluminum radio box.

The stainless hardware on the boat is beautifully

polished; the large inline rudder provides excellent

maneuverability in both directions at low and

high speeds. Our VX has 3 water pickups for

cooling the exhaust, engine head and pipe.