Hello, all you electric lot
Not of particular interest to me, but following a phone conversation with Pete Greenfield (editor/publisher of Water Craft), the following might cause a spark or two -
1) You may be aware of the 'Cordless Challenge' at the Beale Park Show this year, being a series of races for boats powered by (the electric motors of) cordless tools. It was won by a young man from Germany, married and resident in UK: his boat was probably several knots faster than any of the other boats which competed, and he won by a huge distance. He used a model aircraft, rather than outboard, propeller. The competition was covered on the UK HBBR Forum website. Jeremy, who contributes knowledgeably to this forum, had his entry ruined by a spectator who switched the motor on while the boat was on terra firma, apparently to see whether it was any good for ploughing. Shame his carefully designed craft couldn't compete. Both Jeremy and the competition winner (whose name I do not have to hand) are scheduled to have articles on the Challenge in one of the next few issues of Water Craft.
2) Pete Greenfield tells me that there is great interest in electric outboards in Finland, where the first thing that knowledgeable users do, having bought their electric outboard, is to fit a model aircraft propeller from the nearest model shop, in place of that supplied with the outboard.