40th Annual NAMBA Gas Nats will offer 2 FE Classes

[RaceMechaniX]

I would agree there is a bit of a conflict, but seeing as the races are on opposite coasts if does give several of us West Coast guys a chance to run FE. It was a great sucess at the 09' nationals and I believe in the spirit of promoting FE boats its a great idea to have several popular classes where we can get more guys interested.

I will certaintly be bringing a P-mono to the Nats to race.

Tyler

[properchopper]

"..............P-Limited Sport Hydro will run on Saturday, June 18th and P-Mono on June 19th.

To sign up, please visit NAMBANATS.com. I don't think the FE classes are on the schedule yet, but it will be shortly.

P-LSH will allow the 6 motors listed on the recent NAMBA proposal. If you have any questions, please let me know!

The FE classes are on the entry form as of now. Deadline for registering is May 18.

[ron1950]

who picked the two generous classes of fe to run? seems to be alot politics even in boat raceing

[ron1950]

and like darin said.....will there be a nats fe champ east coast and west coast? (ofcourse its only in two classes lol)

[properchopper]

I would agree there is a bit of a conflict, but seeing as the races are on opposite coasts if does give several of us West Coast guys a chance to run FE. It was a great sucess at the 09' nationals and I believe in the spirit of promoting FE boats its a great idea to have several popular classes where we can get more guys interested.

I will certaintly be bringing a P-mono to the Nats to race.

Tyler

But...But....Tyler, who'se going to pit for me? I better sharpen my driving skills

[D. Newland]

Always do!!


David,

I didn't personally ask Al or anything, but when I asked our District earlier this year if FE was going to be included, they told us they were told "No" by those in charge of such things.

It's not a big deal to me, really. I think FE SHOULD be included, you know that!

Should be intersting racing.

I hear ya.

Check out the NAMBA Gas Nat's thread on Jim's. I think it was Tyler that asked early on (Oct?) about FE being included and it was followed up with a post from Russ Stark supporting the idea. Nothing really got finalized until recently, but I don't recall there ever being a negative stance towards the idea of having FE represented at the Gas Nats.

[D. Newland]

who picked the two generous classes of fe to run? seems to be alot politics even in boat raceing

Really? If you're looking for one to thank (or blame), I'm your guy. Russ Stark and I talked at the last Dist 19 race and finalized this list. However, most of the work was done before we talked. Tyler got the ball rolling. FE being added to Dist 19 races this year helped, too. I gave the recommendation that LSH run rather than P-Sport, and gave P Mono an easy thumbs up.

LSH is the most popular FE class. P Mono is 3rd or 4th most popular. District 19 is hosting the Gas Nat's and the guys that run FE in this district can field these 2 classes the best.

So, I'm curious as to why you think it was a political decision.

As for Jeff wanting to sell boats. Yup. He does. He spent the time and the money to develop one of the best FE-purpose built boats we've ever seen. Right in our sweet spot, too. He likes us, but we all know he's a business man as well as a model boater. He even has more in store for FE.

Before Jeff's involvement, the FE L.A. seen for the past 5 years or so was scattered and rather dismal. Odd, right? I mean, L.A. How many million live there? And Legg Lake has a dedicated model boat pond, complete with concrete drivers stand and pit tables? I'm thankful for what he's done for Dist 19, and FE in general.

[Steven Vaccaro]

It does raise an intersting question, however... Are we crowning "National Champions" in FE at both events??

I hope not...

that was running around in my head also.

I guess the question is, with the gas nats hosting a couple electric classes, are they also considered the electric nats?

[T.C.]

If what I think your talking about is having two people holding the same title in these two class is correct then I am totally against it.
We either have a Fast Electric Nationals or we don't, I can see giving trophy's to the Calif. racers that win the class, but they should not imply they are the FE Nationals title for those classes.
In my mind the 2011 FE National is in Fla. period!
Alot of people down here are working very hard to pull this race off and the guys that win those classes will work even harder to win them, I think it diminishes the wins a little to have another race/person with the same title.
If you want to do that, you need to split the country down the middle and have east coast and west coast nats.
Don't blast me to bad guys, this is just my opinion .
T.C.

[Darin Jordan]

I'm thankful for what he's done for Dist 19, and FE in general.

Anyone who helps to promote FE is alright in my book, but let's not get carried away here... He's simply supplying a couple of quality products to the market, and having these two particular classes are a matter of marketing and convenience.

There are countless others who have LEAD the way in FE for many years now, that made what's happening down there even possible.

[Darin Jordan]

And just so we're clear... I think it's FINE that they are having FE classes at the Nitro/Gas Nats... they did that here, and it was fun and worked out great.

Just think that people need to be a little more honest about the reasons why they are having them there... Open communication, and all that.

[Darin Jordan]

But...But....Tyler, who'se going to pit for me? I better sharpen my driving skills

Tony... Maybe I'll drive down and Co-Drive for you...

I may not always be able to make it happen myself on the water, but I think I can coach pretty well... ("those who can't do, teach??" Gosh, I sure hope that's not the case! )

[Fluid]

Having combined-fuel events is becoming very common. All of the larger gas races here in Texas have nitro and FE classes included (if there are enough boaters to fill them). The gas guys have become very inclusive here, and that seems to be the trend across the US. Frankly I enjoy the mixed-fuel events a lot, although ear plugs may be needed.

To have FE classes at the nitro Nats is a fine idea. Personally I believe that for the good of the R/C boating hobby in general, having a single National event for all NAMBA racers makes a lot of sense. It does not have to be a 10 day event nor do there have to be 2000+ boats racing. District point races could determine the boaters who would be eligible for racing at the Nats, reducing the number of total boaters to a manageable level and making the Nats a more prestigeous event.

This idea goes against what we've usually done in the past and I expect push back, but this plan would promote even more club-level participation - and that's where it's REALLY at!

.

[properchopper]

Tony... Maybe I'll drive down and Co-Drive for you...

I may not always be able to make it happen myself on the water, but I think I can coach pretty well... ("those who can't do, teach??" Gosh, I sure hope that's not the case! )

Now that would be sweet ! If my memory serves me correctly, I had my best finishes at the '08 FE Nats when you were at my shoulder

[properchopper]

Fella's, I usually hold back my opinions on controversial issues since my FE pedigree is rather shallow compared to many others, but one thing that I can't agree with is the notion, as expressed in a few posts here, that including FE at this NAT's has a singular hidden agenda by IB to simply promote his stuff. In a purely literal way there may be some truth to this, BUT seriously consider the BOTTOM LINE here : FE, as a result, has finally gained considerable momentum here in D19, and may as well have done so elsewhere. There's a chicken and the egg analogy in here somewhere, but basically the more boats sold, the more FE grows, plain and simple. I say this as one who has been struggling for years to raise the level of participation in FE racing locally with absolutely mediocre results until IB stepped up to the plate and started cranking out raceworthy product. Also, as Mark stated, there's a growing number of gassers crossing over, at least partially, to FE. While this surprises me some, it's gratifying to welcome these guys into the fold - it only makes us stronger and allows us to benefit from their organizational skills race and otherwise.
As far as what classes where chosen to run, I can only say that that being as active locally as I am, my firsthand knowledge of who has what in their racing arsenal supports this choice of classes perfectly.
Finally, I'm somewhat confused as to why it even matters who get crowned what, and how whatever happens out West could "diminish" ( to quote exactly) the hard-earned title(s) at the FE Nat's in the East. Even if there is a conflict, which I doubt will happen anyway, it's just words. The FE Nat's are the Gold Standard and we all know that.

Tony