So back in the 70's my first build was a Sea Urchin, I recall it being smallest of the Keilcraft (?) range and so most affordable. Unfortunately that boat has been lost over the decades since, but I have thought about it from time to time... So I plan to build one again, and try to keep it roughly of the 60's / 70's era when it was designed.
I see SLEC are making the kit available, so that's where the hull will be sourced. I've also been looking into how to power it, and I like the idea of using a Taycol motor. To that end I managed to pick up a pair of Taycol Comets on a well know auction site for just over £20.00, they are boxed but have been used and need some restoration as neither are running at the moment. They are the ungeared versions.





I've done some initial reading up on the Taycol range, some references over past few years in Model Boats magazine, and the excellent resource for all things Taycol at http://taycol.tk/ ( [size=78%]http://taycol.tk/[/size][size=78%] )[/size]
The Comet uses a permanent magnet rather than being 'field wound' like most of the Taycol range so I think can be treated like a normal brushed motor, I'm sure the universe will make sure I regret my assumptions at a suitable point...
And in the spirit of winding back time. The RC unit will be my old 4ch Fleet (Fleet Control Systems) Unit which dates to the early 80's, it will have a Corona 2.4Ghz module added (on it's way from China as I type...) to bring it up to date. Also needed as the Taycols were I believe great at creating RF interference that should be handled better by 2.4Ghz systems. Out of courtesy to everyone else on the lake I'll be adding suppression as part of the Taycol renovation..!
I did start out with a 2 channel Waltron RC on 27Mhz back in the day, but again it's been lost to time, so the Fleet is the oldest I have.

This is going to be a slow burn build with a few hurdles on the way I think. I'd like to get at least one running Comet from the two units that I have, of course two would be better, depends if I need any donor parts. Then get the RC updated and working before starting on the boat build. That's current plan anyway.
Anyone who's worked on a Comet or can advise on refurbishing the Taycols in general, well input and advice would be gratefully received. Same with the Fleet update, I've heard it's a good unit to take the upgrade, but would be good to hear from anyone who's actually done it.
We shall see...
David.



