my son really wants a ready to run boat ,particularly wants a gas cat ,what is the best one and fastest delivery time,ive looked at the blackjack 55 from horizon hobbies is it any good or could you guys recomend anything better ,many thanks in advance !

The RTR cat segment is very limited. If a Deepvee would do, Warehouse Hobbies are a good source for entry level boats at a great price. If you are willing to pay more, you can get some great RTR's (cat, mono, hydro, whatever) from companies like Insane Boats, CC Racing, Herzog Racing, Seaducer, etc...but they are not in the same price range as the WHH boats or the Blackjack. Then again, they are not the same kind of boats either! All depends what you are expecting as far as performance, and what you are willing to pay. RTRace boats from companies I listed above will be in the $2000 range. WHH RTRun boats are in the $1000 range.

Chris The Blackjack 55 Is a good boat for the money and also a good handling boat for starting out - easy to set up you can't go wrong with a big cat - Good luck and have fun

I have not tried the black jack 55 but i have tried the shockwave 55, and that is a great boat right out of the box. good handling and realy fast, a little to fast for waves, i made a real long flight when i tested it, it just took of and got airborne

guys many many thanks for your replies he really wants a ready to run cat and must admit im in the lower budget range ,im a real keen gas boater and in the past have built quiet a few but now dont have the time an d all my old boats have problems ,so he wants a fresh boat ready to go! not wait for dad to fix up his old stuff !!!!!!!!!!!!!!he doent want a mono its got to be a cat and wants to run in a chop etc ,where is the best place to buy the black jack 55 or are there any used ones out there ?
thanks again guys for your time in replying

Horrizon Hobby.com - Their customer service is the best

There's a used one for sale on RC universe. I just bought one a couple of weeks ago. Great boat, but the clutch is really weak. Handles the chop very well

It's not a bad boat but needs to be looked over before running. The biggest problem so far seems to be with the clutch. Bonzi' does have a good replacement for it. I'd also check flex cable alignment as that's been a big issue on all Pro Boat boats.
While you're under the hood check out all of the other nuts and bolts for tightness.
It is a big boat and has a high CG so it's not going to turn well at wide-open throttle without making wide turns.
I'd also replace thr bottoms bolts on the rudder brackets with nylon bolts in case the rudders hit anything so they will break away instead of breaking. Crack the top ones just loose enough so that they can swing upwards.
There are some Chinese RTR Cat's but I don't know how the quality is on them. From what little I've seen on those, the carb seems to be a problem but an easy fix by putting a Walbro on it.

Put longer rudders , sand the bottom edges of the boats sharp , remove exhaust manifold and sand the faces flat and reinstall with slightly shorter screws but leave the gaskets off . This makes the blackjack 55 turn flat out sharp coners and stops the boat getting dirty inside . The boat is built a little thin and a front bulkhead fitted and glued in makes the boat more riggid .

The plus about this boat is the great looks .

big thanks guys sounds like a good boat for his first one,seems to be a bit pricey though ,the one for sale on rc universe seems to be the same price as a new one ! any one got a used one they want to sell