FE at the 2009 gas/nitro nats

[raptor347]

Well, we ran two demo classes during the openning weekend of the 2009 NAMBA gas/nitro nats in Marysville, WA. I have to say it couldn't have gone better.

We ran P mono on saturday. Some good racing, some good crashes and some very fast boats. One cooked motor and one cooked ESC. Business as usual in P mono.

Final standings were:
1. Dave Newland (33" CalCraft)
2. Tyler Gerrard (33" Delta Force)
3. Scott Bickford (32" Storm)

Honorable mention goes to Greg Schweres for absolute brutal excessive power in his 33" CalCraft resulting in spectacular wipeouts.

Darin's Wildthing has been retired. 2+ seasons of serious torture have finally taken their toll on the wooden hull. At least it looks great hanging on the wall.

The one IC racer was heard to say "They're cool, but electrics just aren't fast enough for me" before the first heat of P mono. He was overheard to say "I stand corrected" after the the same heat.

If they were amazed by the P monos on saturday, they were stunned by the P spec hydros on sunday. We had 13 boats entered, so 2 full heats made for great racing and some carnage. These little beasts have turned out to be real performers, but the handling can be challenging if they aren't well tuned. The fast boats are running in the 60's without abusing the equipment.

The top 5 finishers:
1. Brian Buaas (I got lucky, Chris should have won) (Raptor P-spec rigger)
2. Chris Grim (Raptor P-spec rigger) **fast time 1:24.13
3. Dave Newland (home brew)
4. Lohring Miller (Raptor P-spec rigger)
5. Alfred Lanza (BBY)

The cool part is 3 of the top 5 are really nitro guys coming over to run FE. They said they had a blast doing it. To put the performance into perspective, Chris Grim's fast time was exactly 1 second faster than the A(.21) hydro fast time (1:25.13). The perfomance got peoples attention and they were impressed with the reliability, not a single failure of a motor or ESC in the spec class (only AC or Proboat ESCs allowed).

The other thing that couldn't have gone better was every FE heat went off without any delay, no mercy minutes. When the previous heat was finished we were all there ready to go, in fact our turn around time was quicker than the IC classes. One official actually commented that they were holding us up instead of the other way around.

Thanks to all the guys who came and put on a good show. It was another big step in breaking down the us vs. them mind set.

A funny side note, now I have nitro guys asking if a .21 will fit in the spec boat.

[crabstick]

Great report Brian, do you have any links to pics of the event?

Always good to get more boaters interested and informed on FE.

[Tunda]

Thats awsome to hear Brian..........................

[Fluid]

I am really pleased to hear that FE was well represented at the Nats. I was concerned at the lack of responses in a thread advertising FE participation at the IMPBA Nitro Nats on another site. You guys should all be proud.

"Aren't fast enough for me" - priceless!

BTW, how do non-Pacific Northwesterners get a spec rigger?





.

[Ub Hauled]

Congrats to all, not only for the races but also in chiseling away the huge wall there is between the two worlds...

A funny side note, now I have nitro guys asking if a .21 will fit in the spec boat.

LOL

[properchopper]

Great news I'll get an application for SoCal Fast Electrics ready for Chris ! lol

[yurkanip]

congrats guys....great to hear FE is tearing it up!

[Steven Vaccaro]

Thanks for the info Brian!!

[D. Newland]

FE represented themselves/ourselves very well at this event. It was noticed, too. The CD stand was very busy and labor intensive as they had a judge for each driver pulling a computerized trigger to count laps. Each heat required no less than 9 bodies up on the CD stand. FE racers were up there countless times judging the IC classes, and many of us were in the retrieval boats throughout the day helping out. We were also very appreciative of the IC guys CD'ing/Judging/pitting for us. Lots of good conversation. Heck, we all just want to race and it was evident to everyone there. The event organizers had a goal in mind when they decided to let FE run at this race, and that goal was met...and them some. Monday AM I got on the microphone to offer FE's sincere thanks for allowing us to run and my comments were met with applause.

A few other notables to tag on to Brian's report above. Tyler Gerrard (2nd in P mono) is a nitro/gas racer from Santa Barbara. He ran this boat at the 2 lap race last month (couldn't quite get past Darin's record), burned a phase after heat 2 with his 1521 1.5 D, then went to a 1521 1D (ouch!! 4S SAW motor) to finish the last 2 heats. He was able to tame that motor down enough to get 2 more finishes with it, too. Talk about an IC guy who isn't afraid of FE! He digs it.

NAMBA Dist 19 was well represented at this race and it's the second time many of them have attended a race where FE classes ran. We need more of this, NAMBA or IMPBA. If you have an opportunity to run your FE boats at an IC race, do it. You won't regret it and you will be doing a huge service to FE and model boating as a whole.

[longballlumber]

If you have an opportunity to run your FE boats at an IC race, do it. You won't regret it and you will be doing a huge service to FE and model boating as a whole.

Great Comment David,

I just sent in all of my information to participate in the IMPBA Nationals Special Classes Events with my FE boats. I encourage others to participate if you can too!!!! I prefer boat racing instead of keyboard racing!!!!

Act FAST! I am sure that Mr. Lang will work with anyone interested, but can make the entry deadline!

All of the information can be found here.

http://www.performancemodelboatclub.com/

[Darin Jordan]

Some of us FE'ers are also thinking seriously about building some crossover boats... I know I'm considering a real G1 Mono, and maybe a Thunderboat or Rigger...

The thought even crossed my mind this morning to maybe build up a Spec rigger into an A-Hydro... Would be the perfect size...

[Chilli]

If you have an opportunity to run your FE boats at an IC race, do it. You won't regret it and you will be doing a huge service to FE and model boating as a whole.

Hell Yes!!! There is no FE racing in my area, but I still joined my local club. And as far as I know, I'm the only FE in IMPBA District 12. I worked my ass off when my club hosted a district race last month. Helping to set up the drivers stand, putting out buoys and fencing, 6 hours of retrieval boat duty. I donated use of my generator for the race weeknd. And when it came time to race, I made sure i had my "stuff" together. I raced the only class I could which was Novice/RTR Nitro and laped the entire field in the last heat. I was exhausted by the end of the weekend and gained allot of respect for the people that put on a race. IT'S ALLOT OF WORK!!!

In return, I met allot of great people and made a few new friends. I got allot of positive comments from people. But it was all about giving the club and district a good first impression of the FE community. So when we do get enough FE racers participating, I can ask the district to add a few FE classes to their district races.

[sailr]

Now to get NAMBA to expand the FE classes along the lines of what IMPBA has done. There are some problems, like no classes allowing 3S lipos. This eliminates a lot of ARTR, RTR boats out there that run well and could attract newbies. A few other quirks about boat lengths, etc. that make no sense either but IMPBA has a lot more opportunities for FE in my opinion.

FE represented themselves/ourselves very well at this event. It was noticed, too. The CD stand was very busy and labor intensive as they had a judge for each driver pulling a computerized trigger to count laps. Each heat required no less than 9 bodies up on the CD stand. FE racers were up there countless times judging the IC classes, and many of us were in the retrieval boats throughout the day helping out. We were also very appreciative of the IC guys CD'ing/Judging/pitting for us. Lots of good conversation. Heck, we all just want to race and it was evident to everyone there. The event organizers had a goal in mind when they decided to let FE run at this race, and that goal was met...and them some. Monday AM I got on the microphone to offer FE's sincere thanks for allowing us to run and my comments were met with applause.

A few other notables to tag on to Brian's report above. Tyler Gerrard (2nd in P mono) is a nitro/gas racer from Santa Barbara. He ran this boat at the 2 lap race last month (couldn't quite get past Darin's record), burned a phase after heat 2 with his 1521 1.5 D, then went to a 1521 1D (ouch!! 4S SAW motor) to finish the last 2 heats. He was able to tame that motor down enough to get 2 more finishes with it, too. Talk about an IC guy who isn't afraid of FE! He digs it.

NAMBA Dist 19 was well represented at this race and it's the second time many of them have attended a race where FE classes ran. We need more of this, NAMBA or IMPBA. If you have an opportunity to run your FE boats at an IC race, do it. You won't regret it and you will be doing a huge service to FE and model boating as a whole.

[HOTWATER]

Hell Yes!!! There is no FE racing in my area, but I still joined my local club. And as far as I know, I'm the only FE in IMPBA District 12. I worked my ass off when my club hosted a district race last month. Helping to set up the drivers stand, putting out buoys and fencing, 6 hours of retrieval boat duty. I donated use of my generator for the race weeknd. And when it came time to race, I made sure i had my "stuff" together. I raced the only class I could which was Novice/RTR Nitro and laped the entire field in the last heat. I was exhausted by the end of the weekend and gained allot of respect for the people that put on a race. IT'S ALLOT OF WORK!!!

In return, I met allot of great people and made a few new friends. I got allot of positive comments from people. But it was all about giving the club and district a good first impression of the FE community. So when we do get enough FE racers participating, I can ask the district to add a few FE classes to their district races.

Hey Mike!

You were just talking about this kind of thing with the Dist. 12!! You have great intuition!! I am still looking forward to the Sept. race!

Thank you for giving me the scoop on everything!

Great thread here Brian, Darin and the rest of you guys!!

-Kent