Assuming that a brushed motor is being used, any ESC capable of handling both 24 or more volts and the current that the motor will use will work. Electronize is a name that springs to mind.

Using a 12 volt motor of similar power output would open your choices a lot. For the same power, obviously, it would draw more current.

Would 2X12v work? Yes, but you might be more restricted on where they can be placed in the boat.

You have a lot of choice over motors – brushed or brushless – geared or not – different voltages, and different battery technology – SLA, NiMH or Lipo….

I shall leave such advice to the techno specialists who know a lot more about this than I do.

One point springs to mind. This is a big boat, and will be hard to handle out of the water – hard to pick up and stow in a car. You will probably need a box or some sort of carrying device.

I assume that you are going to need a lot of ballast to get the waterline right, and one good way to break things off a model boat is to try to man-handle it out of a car and into the water when it's rather too heavy for you. So it might be better to launch the lighter hull and then put the weight in while it is in the water. You can design the SLA compartment so that this is easy – or you can use a lighter battery technology, and add water ballast once it is launched. Plastic containers of water – or, even easier, a self-flooding built-in container – will give you the weight when you need it, but neatly remove the weight once it is no longer wanted….