There's a few companies that make 1/8-scale boats but keep in mind that by the you're done you have have $1,600.00 or more wrapped up in a competitive one.
RC Boat Company seems to have some good ones. There's also RC Marine Designs (Phil Thomas) and Mike at
http://mlboatworksrc.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=38&zenid=ca4e751beba43067ec8bd9a808d4f770 who sells framing kits. Besides the obvious things like an engine, exhaust, radio gear and hardware there's the little things that also run the finished cost up. A decal set can run up to $120.00 or so (seriously!). There's also the Sport 20 and Sport 40 classes where the prices aren't too bad but still not cheap. They don't require the high amount of detail that the 1/8-scale boats require.
Consider if you race in 1/8-scale that the boat has to be registered in your district. Let's just say for kicks that you want a Miss Budweiser paint scheme. There were quite a few over the years but still they only want to see one particular one on the water. If someone in your district already has one then you're kinda outta luck, they're anal that way.
I'll go back and hit the Exceed boat again. They're poor copies of the ProBoat Miss Bud's and theirs wasn't that good in the first place. They have cheap weedeater engines with a water jacket adapted. Like I said earlier, they're really slow. Handling is poor because of where the engines are placed as they're tail-heavy, basically a flat-bottomed boat with sponsons.
I've got an idea that you've never driven any kind of hydroplane before. If not there are launching and driving techniques that you must know. You can simply drop them in the water and hit the throttle otherwise you're not going anywhere. They require an underhand toss to help get them going. Once they're rolling you must keep them up to speed, not full-throttle but enough to keep them up on plane.
