2012 NAMBA FE Nationals - Getting Excited about the Nats, Thread...

[D. Newland]

More data coming in.

Offshore highest lap totals for a heat:

N-2 Offshore David Newland 10 3/4 laps
P-Ltd Offshore Lenny Blake, Jim Osborne and Jason Sims 10 1/2 laps
P Offshore 11 1/2 laps David Newland/Jason Sims
Q Offshore 11 3/4 laps Mike Paganelli
T Offshore 12 1/4 laps Mike Paganelli

[FE Wannabe]

It was my first RC racing experience of any kind and I have to say I am hooked! Everyone was very friendly and willing to help a newbie racer like me, especially my So Cal FE racing brethren. Great racing, great food, great friends. It doesn't get much better.

And what can I say about Dave Newland, he is an amazing racer and at the same time keeping the whole Nats under control and running smoothly. We would not have had half the event we had with out him.

Lenny Blake was an awesome CD for the event, keeping the heats running like clockwork and keeping the racing fair and fun.

It was great being in the company of some of the best of the best racers in the US, if not the world. It is very impressive the commitment they have to be the best.

I can't wait to get racing again!

Brad

[R.J.S]

Darin,congrats on the N-2 Hydro win!Talk about thinking outside the box!Was that a Mystic?

[Steven Vaccaro]

Sponsor thank-you photos - Thanks to Pat McDonald

Delta Force Racing

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Aquacraft

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Dynogy Batteries { Mark F. ; performanceRCLipos.com}

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Insane Boats

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Group Photo

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I guess Offshore didnt get a picture?

[properchopper]

I guess Offshore didnt get a picture?

Steven, Here's the group you sponsored

NatsGroup1.jpg

More will be revealed when you open up the package that's on its way

[Steven Vaccaro]

Steven, Here's the group you sponsored

[ATTACH=CONFIG]79791[/ATTACH]

More will be revealed when you open up the package that's on its way

Ah, the good stuff. I like surprises!!

[D. Newland]

A few more tidbits.

There was a lot of anticipation of the new Aquacraft Revolt. Brian was able to run within 3 seconds of my best heat time, and I run a very well dialed Delta Force 26 that I feel I had done more homework about the P-Ltd mono race setup than anybody there. For only having the boat a few weeks, the Revolt was impressive.

Also, Darin took 3rd place in P-Ltd Mono with his Impulse 31. He made a slight change to the turnfin geometry and has the boat running very well.

It's great to have options. Both boats are viable boats for P-Ltd racing, which is fantastic news.

Thank you to the manufacturers for developing product that can literally be dropped into the most popular FE racing class!

[RaceMechaniX]

Some pics of the event in no particular order:

DSC_4771R.jpgDSC_4812R.jpgDSC_4831R.jpgDSC_4846.jpgDSC_4847.jpg

[RaceMechaniX]

Some pics of the event in no particular order:

DSC_4871R.jpgDSC_4887R.jpgDSC_4894R.jpgDSC_4922R.jpgDSC_4924R.jpg

[RaceMechaniX]

Image Uploader is overloaded apprantently, will add more later

[RaceMechaniX]

Some pics of the event in no particular order:

[properchopper]

Nice pictures T !

[PatrickM]

plate3mail.jpg

I guess Offshore didnt get a picture?

Here's the participant plate everyone in the group pic received.....

[Darin Jordan]

OK... after a total of 2587.5 miles driven, and a week of surviving on 4 hours sleep a night... I think I finally have things put away, and have processed my thoughts enough to provide a decent report.

First off... Many, MANY thanks to the organizers of the event. This is a LOT of work and provides very little reward aside from the satisfaction of job well done. David, Mark and Kim Grim, Tony Heller and the SoCal FE crew, Pat McDonald, Tracy Osborn, Lanno (the supurb recovery boat driver), Lenny, our CD, and EVERYONE else who pitched in. Thank you for providing this opportunity for the rest of us.


Racing... Well... what can I say... I'll try to focus on the positive, because, frankly, my racing prep was good, but my luck was terrible! Finishing % is a bit part of a 4 round event, and I failed to make that part happen in many of my classes. Felt I was very competive in many, but just couldn't seem to settle in for 4 complete rounds in most.

N2 Mono - I ran a Pro Boat Impulse 26 with a Neu 1509 1Y and a 440/3 prop. I didn't expect to be competitive, as this is essentially an offshore setup going up against some DIALED sprint setups. HOwever, I stayed clean, ran well, and finished all my heats. Not sure where I placed, but I had fun in this class. The boat actually takes power fairly well for what it is.

P-Hydro - Ran my Raptor with a Losi 2400KV Xcelorin motor on 4S1P. Had plenty of speed and power and was right in the mix... right up until, in one of the later rounds, a motor mounting screw stipped, allowing the motor to shift and tearing apart the driveline. Done for the day there.

P-Sport - Ran my new Phil Thomas Stealth 30. Initially I has a 2100KV Losi Xcelorin motor in there and it felt a little slow. Handling was still questionable. HOnestly, and Brian will attest to this, we were ready to throw these boats under the nearest tractor trailer and be done with them when the week started. Handling was questionable and they wouldn't say on the water. HOWEVER, with a lot of testing and tuning, they've grown on us. We got them working very well and again, I felt I was competitive, albiet, likely not in the hunt for this particular class against the very well tuned and driven Whiplash contingent.

I switched motors after round 2 of the class to the 2400KV setup and spun a smaller prop. The handling was excellent and I had plenty of speed. I think I ended up upside down at least once, however. The highlight of this class for me, once we figured out how to make the boats work, was the heat that found me chasing down Stephen Williamson for the lead with his Insane 30. I worked my way up from mid-pack, and was running him down hard, but he drove like a champ for two laps and was able to hold off the charge! For a guy with only one eye, Stephen drove amazingly. Nicely done, my friend!

P-Ltd Cat - Not having the motor options that the AQ guys have, I decided to go a different direction. Using a Miss Geico, with a stock PB 1500KV motor, and the new 80A Dynamite/Pro Boat ESC, I swung a HUGE wheel and was in the hunt the entire 4 rounds. I didn't feel I gave anything up to the compeition, and was running out front more than once, but racing luck was not on my side. In more than one heat, the boat "tripped" in the hard right-hander down at the end of the back straight. I'd spend several laps running hard, then the boat would suddenly grab and roll over. After running the Mystic in N2 Hydro, I believe now this was mostly due to the huge prop I had to run to make the 1500KV motor give the speed needed to compete. In the third heat, I launched and the boat wouldn't steer... turns out the servo arm fell off. NICE! :rolleyes: That's about how things went for me all week.

N2-Offshore - I had a bit of a twist for this class. I've kept it under wraps, but I built a Pro Boat Mystic that I affectionately call the "29 Minus-Two". Turns out that if you remove the overhang from a Mystic/Miss Geico, and trip another 1/2" off the sponson tips, you end up with an N2 Legal Offshore Cat. I used Impulse 31 hardware, which put the rudder and prop back where it started. Only had to trim 1/4" off the stock driveshaft to make it all work.

I was originally going to power it with a Neu 1512 1.5D (3200KV) and spin a nice wheel (47-50mm prop), but after some testing, I decided to switch to a 1515 1.5D (2700KV) with a Hydra 240 and 2S2P 10,000 mAh Thunder Power packs. I had PLENTY of speed, but was again bit by the "tripping" issue. Pretty much the same place as with the Geico. Not fun. Those little DF 26's are REALLY dialed for this class. Tough to beat. It was fun doing something different, however, and the boat was put to use later in the week, which I discuss a bit later.

P-Ltd Offshore. I ran the Geico again, and was plagued with the same tripping issue. Theme developing here... HUGE Prop... hard right-hand corners... Not a good mixture.

P-Offshore - I attempted to run an Impulse 31 in this class. Was doing OK, but I needed to have locked down the boat a bit more to keep it upright when the conditions go south. Just too small of a boat to try to make handled the speeds and water conditions developed by a real P-Mono sized boat.

P-Ltd Mono - Ran a pretty much stock Impulse 31, with the exception of running the 1500KV Pro Boat motor, and the 80A ESC. The only change I made to the exterior of the boat was to fab up some new turn fins. YES, these will eventually work their way into the product line, or into the aftermarket. I've already talked to Steven about fabbing them, and they DO make a huge difference. The boat handled amazingly at these speeds and holding lane one was NOT an issue! I ran the boat good enough to place 3rd, which isn't too bad. Again, those little DF26's are tough to beat. I think the rivalry between the Revolts and the Impulses is solid, and I think that either boat, driven well and properly setup, can be a winner. It's GREAT to have options to get new people involved!

Thread word limit... to be continued...

[Darin Jordan]

The REST of the story...

P-Ltd OPC - Well... the Lynx performed WAY beyond my, and I think many others, expectations. It was on rails, handled great, was a rocket in the straights, and was just solid! After running away in the first heat, I went into the second heat feeling pretty good. First time all week that my right hand wasn't shaking like a total rookie on the drivers stand about 3-laps in! Brian and I had a tight battle going, but that little comment that I made to him while we were selecting out 3 classes for the team competition came back to haunt me! "Brian, I REALLY think I should pick OPC because I think I'm going to beat you in that class"... WHAT the HELL was I thinking saying THAT to him! Hahahah... He'll open that little silver box and it'll be all over! Well... he grabbed lane one at the start, and I patiently was running tight in lane two, waiting for my chance. He slid wide exiting 4 (well, they called it turn 2 at the NATs), and I grabbed lane one at the exit. He tightened up a little TOO much and drove across my bow, resulting in my ending up upside down. He DQ'd himself, which was very gentlemanly of him, and we hugged and laughed about it. There were two more heats to get some points.

Well... I was coming up for a PERFECT start in Heat three... 3... 2.... 1.... BEEP! I squeeze the throttle and ZINNNNGGGG..... the flex cable brakes 10 feet from the start/finish line... My heart sunk! Again, the kind of luck I had all week.

I regrouped for round 4, and so did the officials. They combined the remaining OPC racers into a single heat of 6. We battled through turn one, I came out in front, and ran away from the pack. I think that 2nd place was about 1/3rd or 1/2 lap down. This boat is amazing.

Kudos to my girl, Kylie... She was my co-driver of choice all week, takes care of all her own equipment (battery charging, setup, etc), and is an amazing girl. She finished all 4 heats and placed well enough to take 1st! Nicely done, Sweetheart!

I did pull out the Lynx on Sunday for the 2-Lap TT and established a new P-Ltd OPC 2-Lap record of 30.xxx with the same heat racing setup. Brian pulled out his magic silver box and I was able to lower the record to 28.9xx. Pretty solid. There is at least another second there with this same setup, but it's a little tough to get it to transition from the turn to the straight with this prop. Needs a little more setup time and some better water to make it happen. Looking forward to trying again!

P-Mono - IM31... too much power... upside down a lot. I tried, but knew I was bringing a Knife to a gun fight here. All of this is great data for the next round of development, however... ;^)


N2-Hydro - I had a small rigger all setup for this class. There were 5 people entered, and I figured that finishing would be key, so when I was unpacking stuff on Saturday morning, I got the idea to run my Mystic 29 Minus-Two with a killer Neu setup in it. Tyler loaned me a 1515 0.5Y and I ran a 440/3 prop. Boat ran like a ROCKET for the 1st heat... Was able to actually run with Haines down the straights and could hold lane one at full throttle without any issue. Ken ended up flipping, and I took the 1st heat win. For rounds 2 and 3, I detuned the prop a bit and settled for a solid 2nd in those heats. This setup didn't show ANY signs of tripping in the turns, and would hold lane one pretty well. With the slower prop, I had a battle with Tommy Levessy, who was running one of BBY's riggers, but was able to hold him off for a few laps, afterwhich he ended up upside down or stalled or something.

For the final heat, Ken and Jason threw Jason's N2 Hydro back toghether and were going to try to shut me out for 2nd place. If Ken won, I needed second to win overall. If Ken DNFd or didn't win, all I needed was a 3rd or better. Really playing the odds here! I propped back up, and did what I had done all day at the start... take off EARLY in the mill, set in lane one, and nail the start. Well... I did just that, but slid really wide through the 1st turn. could have been called I think, and I felt bad about it, but I think everyone got through. Jason ended up upside down somewhere on the course, and Ken was running away for the win. However, I was clearly in 2nd, with no pressure, so I settled in and cruised for 2nd place and the overall! Unfortunately, Tommy's rigger stalled exiting 4 and ended up sinking. NOt sure if they ever got it back.

I did learn that this hull works JUST FINE with a high-RPM, small prop setup! I had no tripping problems at all with this setup, and will keep that in mind in the future!


P-Ltd Hydro - Was running my Raptor and in the 1st round, decided to lay off a bit and see how the heat settled out. I wasn't 100% confident in my boat after having to rebuild the driveline and put on a new prop after the P-Hydro rounds earlier in the week, so sticking it into the fold with guys like Douggie, Brian, Ken, Jason, etc.... didn't make a lot of sense. After the 1st lap, however, I found myself in 4th and the boat was running REALLY well, so I throttled on. Kylie was co-driving and correctly called the dead/slow boat exiting 4, which was Tommy Levessy driving one of BBY's Winston Eagles... Not sure what he did, but I swung WAY wide, and suddenly the Eagle went shooting across in front of me, I believe partially airborne, and I sawed it in half! Tore off my right sponson and essentialy ended my day with that boat. I would like to appologize for the rather loud curse-word I uttered as it happened! Tommy appologized afterwards and it's all good. Stuff happens, and it seemed like it was my week for it!

P-Ltd Sport Hydro - Had the Stealth Dialed. Got a 3rd, then a 1st, then a close 2nd racing against Tyler... Was in the hunt. For reasons still unknown, three of us apparently didn't hear, or weren't called, or ????, the final heat and my boat sat in my pits, taped up and ready to go, while the heat ran without us. It is what it is...


Overall, it was a great, frustrating, tiring, exhillerating, and FUN week! Let's do it again!

Best part of the whole deal was hanging out with my friends, old and new... Brian, John, Tyler, Mark, Mike Pags, Ken, Jason, Tony, Stephen, Douggy, Dave,... the list goes on and on! This is the best part of these trips for me, and I look forward to doing it again!

Thanks again to all those who worked so hard to make this happen.

I have some pics that I'll try to post tomorrow.

Until next time!