IMPBA D12 Points Race #1 April 29-May1 Hagerstown, MD

[carlcisneros]

yepper

looks like the Hagerstown race might be problematic as well from reports I have heard.

[don ferrette]

Just so there is no confusion this is what I posted on I/W-

As of April 6th the park rescinded allowing the use of the large end of the lake so yes it's back to the small end and the hill. Tim Clark has assured me they will be taking extra steps to insure good footing until the park makes permanent changes for them in July.

[Chilli]

Well, after allot of confusion I'm hoping the Baltimore Club has all the FE classes in order. The boat count is at 97 at the moment and the weather looks real nice for the weekend. We might actually have a Saturday with no rain. We have picked up a few new FE club members in the Capitol Club and at least one new member in the Baltimore club. I'm hoping at the very least they'll drop by to check out the race. Hope to see some new faces this weeknd!!

[Chilli]

Well District Race #1 is a wrap. We got off to a late start on Saturday but the weather was good and everyone got to knock all the cob webs off their boats and driving skill.

I got a chance to meet some new people this weekend. Larry from MD is a new member of the Baltimore Club and raced his UL1. He did a great job running the buoys for a first timer. William "WW29" got back into racing after a two year break running a few nitro boats. I had allot of fun getting to know William. He's got some FE projects in the works and we look forward to having him join us. Brian "wppracing" came down and dropped by to check out the racing. It was a pleasure meeting him. A second Brian who comes from my home town followed me up to Greenbrier to check out the action. He is a new member of the Capitol RC club and is awaiting his IMPBA membership card so he can join in on the fun.

As far as the FE participation, this race was held last fall and I believe the only FE's were Dick Loeb, me and my son. For this weekend, we added Larry running an FE RTR and John Crouch (a gas racer) running a Spec Tunnel for the first time. So in six months we went from three FE racers to five with two more that have projects in the works for later this year. We're making excellant progress!!!!

On to the racing. Dick Loeb heat raced the ML295 against some tough Nitro Mod B boats and came up with a second in B/P-spec tunnel. The ML295 ran great. Dick and Mike should be proud of the great boat they crafted together. Dick also took second in B/P-mono with his DF Cyberstorm. Dick's lovely wife Carol came out of novice this year and I believe took the podium in two nitro classes this weekend. My club VP Carl Cisneros who now frequents this board took first in B/P mono with a nitro boat. We hope to get some test time for his new FE boats so we can get them on the race course. (Tracy's got your plaque Carl). Larry the new Baltimore Club member took third in the RTR running the only FE in the class. William after a two year break made the podium with one of his nitro boats. He hasnt lost a step and I look foward to have him join our ranks. That leaves me and my son John. I had date with the wife Saturday night so we missed a whole round of heats yesterday afternoon. Dispite that John took third in B/P-spec hydro his first time out of novice class running my old JAE from last year. John did not fair as well in tunnel with a bunch of DNF's. Truth be told yesterday was the first time he ever ran a tunnel and my Woodstuff is a little touchy in the corners. I think he'll be fine after a little practice. As for me the Grand Poobah D12 FE director??? I didnt bring any wood home this weekend while only running in two classes. (the Ducer is hopefully getting repaired and I took the Spec set up out of VS1 and put it in the Insane FE30) My DF Sniper in Stock gas handled great but to make a long story short I ended up with three DNF's trying to pass the same boat in three different heats. I wont elaborate any further but dispite the final results, I do have alot more confidence in my driving. Last year I was afraid to mix it up at the start of a heat. This past weekend I was in the thick of the start running four wide going into turn one and holding my lane very well. I now have to learn how to stay out of trouble spots when running in tight quarters. Now comes the bonehead move of the weekend. I ran the Insane FE30 in B/P-Spec. Being a sport hydro, she wasnt the fastest boat out there, but she handled geat and ate up the chop. I ended up with two seconds and a DNF. Now the embarrassing part. I was leading the heat that I DNF'ed. My pit man didnt call out laps #'s to me and I apparantly lost count. I thought I won the heat but was a lap short when I pulled into the infield. So instead of finishing up with one first and two seconds, I ended up with two seconds and a DNF costing my a spot on the podium. Learn from my mistakes new racers. Talk to your pit man!!!

Thats it for now folks. Next race is in Greensboro NC hosted by the Piedmont Triad Prop Twisters the weekend of May 21st. I will be unable to attend that race due to family obligations. In June we have race #3 in Queenstown, MD hosted by the DELMARVA Model Boat Club the weekend of June 11, then two weeks later my club The Capitol RC Model boat Club will be hosting race #4 in Centreville, Virginia. I really hope some of you can participate in a district race or two outside your local area. We need to support each others clubs.

[HOTWATER]

Thank you for the nice post bro! Congrats to Carol Loeb (cookie lady) for making 2 podium appearances...way to go!!! Also congrats to Carl (1st B/P Mono), Dick Loeb (2 - 2nd places - the 295 is getting things done!!!) Chilli's son John 3rd in P-Hydro (way to go son!!) and William (ww29) for making the podium!!!

All good! Chilli, you will get some wins...hopefully you will get the Ducer back before Queenstown....Dick and I need another FE Mono to run with!!

Glad you all had a great weekend!!