International Waters Interview of Mike Zaborowski (Grimracer)
Interview by Tom Moorehouse

Intlwaters) It has been a long time since I did an interview for intlwaters but I want to try to start up them again. Mike Zaborowski is a good friend of mine so he makes a good person for me to interview to start back up with. Mike has recently come off of doing real well at the 2002 IMPBA internats. He took his Villain tunnel hull to first place in heat racing, and his Ninja hydro to claim the US1 title! I have a ton of questions to ask but it is traditional to start international waters interviews with this question. Mike could you tell us a little about yourself and how you got started in r/c boats?

Mike Z.) I live in Eau Claire but was raised in a small town about 50 miles away. I have been married for 17 years to a very understanding woman (Sheila) and have a 14 year old daughter (Amber). I worked at the Hobby Master in Eau Claire, WI. for 10 years and since 1998 work as a Mechanical Engineering Technician for Realityworks.

I have been doing RC for a long time...RCHelecopters, RC cars, RC boats, RC planes, slot cars, model railroading, etc, etc.

In 1979 I bought a used Hotshot with a then somewhat new K+B outboard motor. The thing cost me $100.00 and a friend of my sister found the thing in southern Wisconsin. Anybody recognize the boat. Maybe the original builder is still active?

The first time I went to run the boat I broke the flex shaft. Heck it did not matter as it was obvious, this was the fastest model boat in the world and it was now mine. I remember that it had the name GROUCHY on the side and so from that point on, Grouchy it was. At the time I was doing a lot of control line flying and had a good handle on motor performance but I remember thinking, this thing is was a whole new ball game. The radio was a two stick Futaba that had a brown case. I ran the tar out of that little radio.

I have a picture of me and my new pride and joy. I was 17 years old but looking back at the picture it looks like I'm 13..LOL.. Just for grins we took a picture of me 23 years later with the same type of hull and a antique radio that I own. I took a break form model boats for about 8 years in the middle of this time but cam back because of my new found love (COMPETITION).. I drag raced a 1974 Z-28 for a few years but when I started racing RC stuff I found that I had a real knack for it and knew I had found my new addiction.

Intlwaters) Sounds like you had a lot of fun in your younger years, and look short hair! How long after you got your first boat did you start racing?

Mike Z) I had a good time as a kid. However school was not very good to me. I would spend hours as a kid designing and building things in my head. Before I could afford RC stuff I was a real nut for rubber power planes, control line planes, model rockets and trains. The short hair was my folks idea and to tell you the truth I did not care much for it.

I did not start racing RC boats until 1994. After I moved my family to Eau Claire I sold all my boat stuff and tried to get over the cost of having a kid. At the time we has little to no money and working retail did not pay that well so I stuck to just one or two things. RC planes and cars. Besides I did not know anybody in town and had no idea where I was going to run boats.

Intlwaters) How did you go from Grouchy to your current nickname "Grimracer"

Mike Z) Grouchy was the name of the boat, not me..Anyway the nickname came from my slot car racing days. In 1995 I was racing in St. Paul MN. with the gang. In slot racing the cars are always judged for best paint, this was my favorite part. I painted a car (see picture.Note: the X rated driver) with the likes of happy hooded skeleton guy ( I saw him in a model car magazine) and Geno the concours judge that day called it the "Grimracer paint job" and somehow the name stuck. The picture is the body that I won concours judging at the 1997 USRA Nationals. At the race the guys were real fast and after the 3rd heat I smoked a motor and went from 2nd to 7th and could not make up the lost ground. I finished 7th.

Intlwaters) Well I would think the gang would pick on me if I did not ask a bunch of tunnel questions. So here we go. I would first like to ask about the center airfoil section. I am trying to understand how this part effects how the boat rides. I think I remember you saying before something about how the shape controls where lift is achieved. How does this work?

Mike Z) I placed the lift of the center section slightly behind the center of gravity. All I was trying to do with this is the counter act the sponsons being pulled in by the water. The faster the boat goes the more things stay the same. Let's say for instance if the center section was capable of developing one pound of lift and the affect from the water produced one pound of drag. Now let's say the water at 50 mph produced 5 pounds of drag, we want our boat to produce 5 pounds of lift at the same time. Not a real god explanation but I hope it get's the point across.

Intlwaters) What is it about the Villain that makes it work so well with stock engines?

Mike Z) There are a few things that make the boat work well with a stock engine and the largest factor is the flat section on the bottom of the sponsons. Of course the center section that we mentioned in the other question along with an ultra lightweight hull makes the boat killer in the stock class.

Intlwaters) What does having an inset transom accomplish?

Mike Z) What this does for the Villain is basically allow you to run the boat with less weight up front. There is more to it than that but that is the largest reason for it.

Intlwaters) What is the reason for the unique building method of the sponsons? I believe you called it table off.

Mike Z) Yeah your right it is called table off construction. It seems like no matter how hard I try to level my work surface I just don't feel like I can trust it. Table off construction allows anybody to work on a flat surface easily. It is simply building the sponsons for the Villain S1 tunnel boat literally off the top of your work bench. The aluminum channel or angle that is used works extremely well in building a true straight sponson.

Intlwaters) How hard would you say it is to build a Villain kit compared to other tunnel hull kits?

Mike Z) I am a little bit bias here and I don't know if I am the right guy to answer the question however after years of building model boat kits I have to say that this is most likely the easiest to build tunnel boat wood kit that has ever been produced. We've have had allot of Villain S1 customers comment about how easy it is to build. As you can imagine this was very important to our company.

Intlwaters) I see you put a couple small wings on the front of your Villains. What does this do for them?

Mike Z) If you are referring to the winglet on the left front sponson this is to help control the air as the boat begins cornering. However if you are referring to the two little wings mounted on the cowl these just add a little down force at high speed.

Intlwaters) I have been seeing a lot of discussion of "Stumble Blocks" on the outboard forum. What do these do for the Villain?

Mike Z) The stumble blocks help the boat from the apex of the corner to the beginning of the straightaway. As it is tunnel boats scrub off a bit of speed at this point and the front of the boat is biting pretty hard in this area of the corner. The stumble blocks just keep the front of the boat from biting too hard.

Intlwaters) A lesser known fact with the Villain kit is that it comes with a CD with extra material on it. What's on the CD Mike?

Mike Z) The CD has all the same information as the instruction manual. However the CD allows the PC friendly people a closer "color" look at the pictures. Also I thought that with today's home PC becoming a standard model boating tool that it was time someone offered one in a kit.

Intlwaters) Lets talk about the new Power Surge Pro Prop Gauge. Could you explain basically how it works?

Mike Z) Yea the Pro Prop Gauge. This thing is cool that's for sure. The guy that builds them for us is the same guy that built the prototype a few years ago for CMD. We have a mill and a lathe but I'm no machinist that's for sure. So the next best thing is having skilled people that do know what the heck they are doing build the tool. The tool is not hard to use but it is a little hard to explain how to use. I'm not skirting your question but we will be posting the use of the tool on our web site soon. Along with this we will be providing a manual with the tool in the future also. Having used one I can not live with out one.

Intlwaters) At last years 2002 IMPBA internats not only did you do well in B tunnel but you also took US1 in B Hydro! My favorite class! Of course since then it was only logical that you should make this boat available to everyone. Could you tell us a little about the boat and maybe share a prototype photo or two?

Mike Z) Well as you might or might not know we built and sold 11 Ninja's before our US-1 title. The boat has been around for 4 years now and we have been testing sponsons, tubs, and hardware for most of those years. After winning a few Dist. titles we knew we were close to having a great boat. I really had no intentions of building and selling any more of them. That is until after the Internats in 2002 the questions started to fly. When are you going to make more, can I get one, how much. I have a hard time saying no. Besides if it is boats and boat parts we do in the model shop then boats and boat parts we will make.

Intlwaters) I know you posted a poll question on the forum to decide the name. The "Ninja Sprint" seems to be the general favorite. Is this going to be the name?

Mike Z) Yea your right. I could not decide so I thought I would ask the guys on I waters. It looks like Ninja Sprint is it, and i like it allot, thanks.

Intlwaters) What can you tell us about the Ninja Sprint? You posted in the forum a while back that the boat was sort of a tribute to Gary Preusse's Hawk. Looking at the "teaser" photo you posted in the forum it looks quite different now. What things are different or similar to a Hawk?

Mike Z) The New Ninja Sprint uses the same type of sponson mounting as the hawk but that is about it. I really like the way the sponson tubes mount in the hawk and have had little problem in the past with this setup. The tub is different as is the sponsons and the addition of a cowl. The Ninja Sprint comes with our 7075-T6 U-no-bend-em turn fin and fuel cell. Looking back at my rebirth in to hydroplanes the hawk and Gary Preusse's design of the hawk has been a great inspiration to my design.

Intlwaters) Can you give the iwaters gang any insight as to what other new products to expect this year?

Mike Z) We have began to work with Vision Tec engines in MN, for now that is all I can say. Keep in mind that you WILL be surprised. Also we have plans of a new 21 tunnel and it will be made to work with HP motors. We have the drawings done and we are beginning to build the proto for testing this summer. There is also some other hardware in the works.

Intlwaters) Well Mike I think the gang would like to see this interview completed before I loose my internet connection. So I am going to cut it off after this question if it is ok with you. But it is traditional to ask a specific question last in intlwaters interviews..... have you been thinking of your answer??? Also If you just were going nuts to add/say something now is your last chance!

Peer into your crystal ball and predict where this hobby/sport is going. What is going to be the next big thing? What technology should we be on the lookout for?

Mike Z) I expect that we will see more old and new modelers in the hobby in the years to come. I also feel that we will see less quick and easy in model boating in the future. I also think that we will see people trying to take a step back and get back to the roots of the hobby. On that same note as far as racing goes I would not be surprised if we saw a vintage class of some type running in one or more of the national bodies in the future.

Thanks for the interview and good wishes to the Intlwaters gang.

Intlwaters) Thanks for your time Mike!