ok this is just a little off track but along the same lines
and i know many people will ask this question of themselves
this is only for electric setups as i have no idea about nitro and gas engines and as there are no local lakes around with the council approval to do so i have been stuck with electrics.
How do i choose my racing hardware ????
well to be blunt there is no answer
but the following steps will help you on the way
you need to ask yourself
1 What is my budget???
2 what performance am i looking for
3 What type of boat do you have
Motors
Brushed are the cheaper version for a boat like mine you could get away with a graupner speed 600 race BB motor
brushless the possibilities are endless but are a lot more expensive a setup to organise
cheaper brands would be FEIGAO which are a decent motor around $70 USD
the more reliable but a lot more expensive brands would be NEU $200-$300 USD
ESC
i must say if you can spend as much money on a decent esc as if you have the wrong setup your boat can turn into a big fireball very quickly
the are many brands around but lookaround on the internet and find one but if you are running brushless try and get an esc that is computer programable as they are easier to use
BATTERIES
Ni CD - good,cheap starting point but they develop a memory and you can find yourself buying new ones very freequently and are very heavy
NiMH - no memory (supposedly) little bit more expensive than NiCD but a good all rounder
LiPo - extremly light but Can be very Expensive and most clubs have rules about charging Lipo batteries as they can rarely explode while charging (i have seen this happen and it is not a good sight)
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=z3o_2mwRPdwwatch the link to see what happens to a lipo if not charged properly
Hardware rudders and the rest of that junk
Depending on the type of boat you have wll depend on the type of hardware you can use
there are a few places around which will sell you a setup for a fast electric
http://www.drcwebservices.com/ffe/hardware.htm this is a good place to start
http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/ this is also a good shop wich sells everything you will need
if you guys need any more answers on this just post in here and i shall attemp to answer you
i will be posting my full hardware setup for my boat very shortly just as a reference