Rapier1 was running well on Saturday with an X45 prop. I up-propped it to an X55 on Sunday and it was running just as well - the change of prop made no difference that was noticeable.
A fellow user of the boating lake arrived on Sunday morning with a large collection of r/c model boats that he progressively worked his way through during the day and he was obviously enjoying himself, but he did no have too much in the way of "hand to eye" co-ordination so his various models were always likely to be taking an irregular path of travel that was not possible to predict.
I had managed to stay clear of his models (including some reasonably fast craft that seemed to have a homing device fitted to them at times) as Rapier1 is reasonably quick and has excellent steering so getting out of the way (although a little "hairy" at times) was safely achieved and I was still able to enjoy my boating.
However - the sight and sound of a Blackjack 29 hurting across the water remind me of just how fast these boats are - especially when apparently out of control and darting violently in a multitude of directions every few parts of a second, so I decided cowardice could be a good trait to display and started to return to shore by running close to the edge of the lake to present as small a target as possible and to stay away from as much open water as possible.
Sadly during this dash to safety Rapier1 hit a solid submerged object and few up into the air. I killed the throttle before the boat landed on the edge of the lake and walked around to retrieve it.
I could not see what the boat had hit and I don't normally run this close to the edge so it may be a well known obstacle - but it was a new one to me that ejected Rapier1 clean out of the water at some speed.
When I lifted the boat I could see that the rudder had been bent back into the bottom skin so I unplugged the LiPo and put it in the car so I could check it properly when I get home to see if the gears in the steering servo have been stripped, straighten or replace the rudder shaft, repair the bottom skin, and check to see if there is any other damage that was not apparent at the time.
My first impression was that Rapier1 is a tough old bird that although being well over 50 years old looks to have suffered only minor damage - and if this is the case, this old boat has shrugged-off a violent high speed crash that was brutal enough to throw the boat completely out of the water and live to play another day......hopefully next weekend!