Ackerman improvement plans

[bill34207]

Scott and I have exchanged a few emails back and forth this evening and decided it would really be better to have an open area here instead of being secretive about it.

We were talking about safety fencing so I'll let Scott pick it back up and fill in on what we disacussed so far.
This way everybody can see what's being talked about at the same time.

[tiqueman]

I picked up 100' of the orange safety net as well as the green metal poles that can be hammered into the ground. Bill suggested only having it up on race days, but my thought is after what happen Sunday which was a tnt day, it needs to go up everytime we are there. A little work each time can save us from a lot of grief that one time.

we need a few volunteers that will help and or take charge of setting it up. Chris and Bill deal with the resue boat, getting it rigged and in the water, I bring and set up the audio equipment, and its too much for the 3 of us to do it all, so please anyone willing to help set up and can be there at 8:45-9am to have plenty of time for to get it all done, let me know and lets start making it happen.

Also, we have had more discussion on bouys. Brian (kong) seems to have had success with his pool noodle bouys. theyre easy to see, stick up higher and id guess most of the time wont blow a boat over as our sty-foam balls will. Also being softer we will see less hull damage. Chris Bill and I are discussing times we can go out and start changing bouys. Itd be nice if we could find another aluminum boat or canoe and getr a couple crews out there doing it.

[RCKong]

My wife has some large pool noodles at work and I will pick some up this week.(30% off this weekend) I'm thinking green and yellow, they are the most visible and seem to color fade the least. It's really hard to drive any distance with my boat in the van. The exhaust fumes are extreme. Also on the fence we could put tubes in the ground for the poles so putting up the fence each time won't be so bad. Put 2 dog collar clips on each pole for the fencing and whaalaa...

[tiqueman]

I thought about that tube idea. We'd probably have to keep them almost ground level tho so the county mowers would clear them and they wouldnt have to weed eat around them.

Chris and I were thinking the orage would be the most visible? I do know tho that the orange does fade a bit. Im good w/ whatever as long as we get it done.
What about making the start finish and offshore bouy a different color than the others? Or at least the offshore as it may make it easier to explain the offshore course to the newcombers.

[RCKong]

What about making the start finish and offshore bouy a different color than the others?

That would be the way to go...

Also with setting the pins, If you had an anchor for the boat you could reset them without drifting around ?

[ron1950]

wow sounds good on the bouy's and fence.....as an offical bouy distroyer i love soft bouy's lol...how many of the club guys will be heading to the wave blasters next month?

[Electrifiedwake]

I can arrive at 8:30am to set up that fence on test n tune/race days. Just thinking of your idea of a different colored start finish bouy, how about one that is also larger then the turn markers? Is there an electronic laser system for lap counting being that we can't physically bury acable like on road rc. I use to run electric oval cars with transponders/lap counter with avg speed, lap times and this made racing
very competitive while also giving the driver good feedback. If you need any help setting up the new bouys sometime, I'm a 15 minute drive
away from Ackerman and free from work after 4pm.

[tiqueman]

Great Rob thanks. Weve talked about counting sytems but its far from the budget. Heck, even at the nats it was good ol fashion stop watches.
Have you been recieving the club emails?

[osprey21]

I like the idea of using tubing to make "sockets" for the poles, with as many rocks as there are in that area (heck it's hard to just get a tent peg down) it sure would save some time and effort once the tubes were in the ground. Scott, what is the width of the poles? I may have some PVC pipe we can use to make the holders.

As to the color(s) of the course markers, it doesn't really matter to me what color we use as long as they contrast well.

[RayR]

I will be there early to help setup. I also have an idea that will make setting the bouys accurately much easier.

[bill34207]

Judging by the amount of traffic and positive responses in here already looks like this was a good idea. Let's all try to keep this one on the topic of repairs and plans for Ackerman and continue to use our regular thread for general non related to improvements discussion though.
I'll make another +1 on the socket idea for the fence posts. It's starting to look like we may get rained out for plans to replace buoys this weekend though.

[RCKong]

i have the pool noodles we need. I got 3 yellow and 2 orange. You get 3 or 4 out of a stick, so we even have enough for replacements too.

[tiqueman]

Awesome!

[RCKong]

Also on the fence, we can use a steel pipe sharpened on a grinder to cut the holes for the tubes. If we make the tubes the right size, we can use orange re bar caps to mark and cover the tubes. We did this before at the RC track and it worked great.

[tiqueman]

I will call the county again tomorrw and speak w/ Mary about leaving things in the ground. Id think as long as they are really close to grade level so a mower can go over them they would be okay. We would certainly have to mark them with something like the orange rebar caps to not only help locate them but to help recognize as a potential trip hazzard. We have to remember, unlike a "RC track" people use this when we are not there. the last thing we need is someone to trip over one, roll down the bank and split thier head over our pole holders. I still think we keep it simple and bang the posts into the ground. Little tiny 3/16 china tent stakes and a bat are certainly going to be tough to get thru some places out there. One of these steel poles and a small sledge should not be a problem at all.