2021 NAMBA Nats Race Program

and others many times. These trips included Camarillo, California, Tacoma, Washington, Greeley, Colorado and Carlsbad, New Mexico. If this racing didn’t seem challenging enough, Doug and Kevin joined Al Hobbs on 2 occasions in recent years to travel to Europe to race. They raced once in the Netherlands and once in France. For those of us involved in this fine hobby, we have been fortunate to travel extensively throughout Canada, the U.S. and Europe. We have met many boating enthusiasts and made lasting friendships. Now, 50 plus years later, we are still delighted to participate in the excitement of racing, and the enjoyment of spending time with friends with like interests. coast group with the next significant event not occurring until 1991. The Vancouver club teamed up with members of District 8 to put on a race at Harrison Hot Springs. This again is a resort accommodation on Harrison Lake. Located about an hour and a half east of Vancouver, the Alberta racers were happy to make the trip to race with some boaters from District 8. The last time I recall boaters from Alberta going to race in B.C. was at the Canadian Nationals hosted by the Vancouver Island Weed Eaters in 1995. This was held at a lake in Port Alberni on Vancouver Island. The year before, in 1994, Al Hobbs organized “Crazy Al’s” race in Kalispell Montana. It was a weekend with lots of racing, wonderful accommodation at the North Forty Resort, and a banquet on Saturday night. Racers came from Calgary and Edmonton, as well as friends of Al’s from various communities from outside of Montana. The people who probably travelled the furthest to race had to be Bill Gawley and John White from Winnipeg in 1999. They drove to a race the weekend before in Calgary, stuck around for the week and went down with the Alberta contingent to Kalispell the following weekend to race. “Crazy Al’s” races went on until 2003. For a decade we enjoyed the racing and the opportunity to get together with fellow boaters to have a fun weekend. Over the past years, with the cost of travel and other commitments, the number of people coming to the races has fallen off significantly. The Edmonton Model Boat Racing Association and the Calgary Model Boat Racing Association are the only remaining NAMBA registered clubs in District 16. This hasn’t however stopped the racing in the district with 3 or 4 sanctioned races in both Calgary and Edmonton from May to September. Although the numbers were down, the enthusiasm was anything but. Members like Allan Yuen, Greg Wannamaker, Doug Sick, Kevin Traboulay, Fons Runko, Keith Warham, Dan Lemay and myself made the trip to the NAMBA Nationals, some only once 2016 World Championships in Holland. Team USA in the middle with Steve Ball and Alan Hobbs, and Team Canada on the outside with Kevin Traboulay and Doug Sick. Still True Today… Excerpt from Stuart Russell’s welcome letter in 1982. Stuart was NAMBA President from 1980 to 1984 and inducted into the NAMBA Hall Of Fame in 1985. The lure of boats and the thrill of competition has brought many people face-to-face with other such motivated modelers, and once a year, we gather at one lake site and encourage the most enthusiastic of our ranks to join in the week-long fun and excitement of racing model boats. I think the key to our success as an international organization is "enthusiasm.” This enthusiasm erupts in all age groups and in all social-economic classes. Enthusiasm comes from sharing the gift which each of us uniquely possesses - our talent, if you will! The giving of our time to others is what makes NAMBA so important to all of us. I like to think that our membership is made up of fun-loving, average, sharing people who, together, make our boat club the very best it can be. Share your ideas with the people at the lake. You will be amazed at the enthusiasm that is generated in others and all the goodwill you can originate by letting others know what you are doing with model boats. So I hope you greet some new faces and renew old friendships this week - create some enthusiasm. and enjoy your hobby! 2021 NAMBA Nationals Page 61