Hi all, The Comet is one of the few Taycol motors with a permanent magnet so ESC's are OK. The Star (4 1/2 - 6 volts) was another but this had a built in mechanical speed control, which adjusted the position of the brushes (and pressure) on the commutator.
There were also geared versions of the Comet.
Vintage has posted the voltage range but the motor is not powerful enough to run the boat shown. The 4 1/2 volts to 6 volts motor designation would originally have utilised the 4 1/2 volt flash lamp battery or 2 x 3 volt cycle headlamp dry batteries.
When I was in my teens I built a Feltra torpedo boat all balsa and 24 inches loa. I used a Star motor with 2 x 4 1/2 volt dry batteries in series (9volts) and the boat planed, a rare sight in those days but the batteries lasted only 5 minutes or so! Maybe just as well for the motor.
Expect power only to be 5 or 6 watts and at a low efficiency. This is equivalent to a 385 on low volts. When in use this boat did nothing but pootle along at a slow walking pace.
Either the boat needs a new more powerful motor or the motor needs a much smaller boat!
Nice to see a Comet though, there are not many around now and also great to see some old models being restored and brought back into use.
regards Roy