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Boating from the shoreline
LAURA ARCHAZKI-PACTER / Staff
Rogers Underwood and Emanus Lanesiquot cruise their RC boats at Vineyards Community Park.
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Reaching speeds up to 55 mph, Rogers Underwood and Emanus Lanesiquot enjoy racing their speed boats on the pond at Vineyards Park. The miniature crafts are remote controlled, but look and cruise like the real thing.
In an enterprising move, Underwood has turned the hobby into a full-time job, building and testing the boats for Aviation Microjet Technology, based in Cincinnati, Ohio.
“My dad has been into it for 40 years,” Underwood explains, as he zips his yellow 65-inch deep-hulled boat around the pond’s fountain.
Underwood has mastered the hobby of racing RC boats for 10 years. He builds and tests each model from a kit sent from Aviation Microjet.
“You have to have an ear for it,” he says, as he listens to the sound of the boat’s engine. “It’s a two stroke engine, with a mixed gas-to-oil ratio of 100-to-1. As a factory representative, I get to have all the fun.”
Underwood keeps a fishing pole with a tennis ball attached to the end of the line nearby to retrieve the boats in case they run out of gas or putter out in the middle of testing.
LAURA ARCHAZKI-PACTER / Staff
Underwood displays one of the RC boats he tested for Aviation Microjet Technology, based in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Lanesiquot also enjoys the sport and agreed that you have to have an ear for it, not only for boats, but remote cars and planes, too.
They use their boats at Vineyards Park, as well as on the drainage pond at Santa Barbara and Green Boulevard.
Lanesiquot enjoys remote cars as well, even rigging his car with a camera to catch the action, as well as the response of his neighbors.
“It’s a 2.4 gigahertz wireless camera and I have a TV installed inside my car. It’s cool to see the looks on people’s faces because they can’t see who’s operating the car,” he says.
The two are on a quest for another location to test their technology. Underwood drives as far as West Palm Beach and Homosassa Springs to test the high-speed remote controlled vehicles that range in price up to $500 for seasoned hobbyists.
District 1 Commissioner Donna Fiala is also interested in remote controlled sports. She hopes to add more space for RC enthusiasts, with a park dedicated to RC boats, planes, and cars.
“We had a property identified, but the state wouldn’t give it up,” she explains of her efforts. “The park would be for daytime use only. I won’t give up until I’ve got it.”
She admits her quest may be slowed by recent budget constraints.
“If someone had 20 acres of mitigation land, they could give it to the county instead of the state,” she says. “If the land is next to a preserve because these things make noise, it would reduce the chance of complaints, too.”
Lanesiquot is excited about the possibility.
“It would be a place for dads to spend time with their kids,” he says. “All kids would be fascinated by this hobby. It’s a great way for families to spend time together.”
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