Congratulations guys! Yes, Jim
Slaughter was christened in the pond and
Terry Sr. was give the Super Bowl
Cooler Bath. The camaraderie and fun
continued through the weekend
celebrating these new champions.
Day four was closing day. Stevie
Vaccaro Jr. won the Kids 15 and under
Kids race beating also his very good and
much bigger brother Anthony. Bet that
was an interesting plane ride home!
Great Job Stevie! We really need to
make sure to include some type of Kids
classes at all the future FE Nationals.
The event concluded with all the awards
and a banquet, actually a Bar-B-Q picnic
right at the pond. After all the class
awards were presented, the special
awards were announced. Mr. Offshore,
the award for the most overall offshore
points was won by Mike Paganelli.
Congrats Mr. Pags.
For the first time in about eight years,
the Rum Runner Racing Team was un-
seated from their throne by the host
Wave Blaster's Racing Team who had
suffered a mere 12 point loss in 2010 in
Colorado. The Team winners were:
Terry Cowger Jr, Jason Sims, and Ken
Haines. The final award had to go
through three Florida style re-counts.
When the counting was checked and re-
checked the High Points winner was Al
Gore (lol). Actually, the High Points
actually ended in a tie with Jason Sims
sharing his first National High Points
title with our recently added Hall of
Famer Doug Twaits Jr. In the end they
were exactly tied, Doug also won six
classes as Jason won four of his own.
What a great display of driving both
of them put on. Congratulations to both
of them! As far as special thanks - well
there is not really enough space here for
all of that. Check out the new
WaveBlasters.org web site for all the
2011 FE Nationals pictures.
RCRacingEvents.com will soon have
the event action videos on line. Can't
wait till the 2012 FE Nats.
PROPWASH
October 2011
13
racers a perch approximately 15 feet
above, and only another 15 feet from the
ponds edge. This, as well as a shorter
than normal course made it one of the
most driver friendly courses ever raced
at a national event. The stand almost felt
like we were directly on top of the
boats!
Day one started as we still scrambled
for a CD. Terry Cowger Sr. learned in a
trial by fire and did a great job,
performing for his first time. Day one
was great competition, finishing with
Jeff Westbrook (Spec-Hydro) and Terry
Cowger Jr. (P-Mono) winning their first
National class championships. Later that
weekend they also were both thrown in
the pond to celebrate their efforts. Wow,
that was really fun and hilarious.
Day two had four-minute offshore
racing the whole day. Mike Buck (S&T)
and Anthony Vaccaro (N-1) won their
first National Class titles too. Somehow
we missed them on the lake tosses.
Maybe they were afraid of that gator in
the lake. Yep, we did have a gator in the
pond that the Fish and Game Depart-
ment removed one day prior to the pond
tosses! Funny how the non-Florida
racers got such a reaction to our pond
mascot!
On day three Mike Martin took over
as CD. It was really nice seeing Mike
back involved at a Nat's. He has been
missed. Jim Slaughter (1/10th Scale
Modern) and Terry Cowger Sr. (1/10th
Vintage) were two more first time Nat's
class champions. Six new first time
champions in the first three days. Wow!
If you want to do something to
remember Justin Hill, his family has
suggested that you make a donation to:
Phoenix Children’s Hospital Foundation
2929 East Camelback
Suite 122
Phoenix, Arizona 85016
Make certain to note on your donation,
“In memory of Justin L. Hill”.
Over the years, Justin was there to
help new boaters. He was there to help
you fix your boat so you would not miss
the next heat. He was there after the
racing to enjoy a few beers with friends.
The best times were not racing. The best
times were sitting with my friend,
having something cold to drink, and
sharing a laugh.
There was a smile, a laugh, and a
handshake that I will miss. His family
and friends know what we will all miss,
the heart of gold.
The 2011 FE Nationals
By Ken Haines
Wave Blasters of Florida
The 2011 NAMBA Electric
Nationals was hosted by Offshore
Electrics and Rum Runner Racing/
Hobbies. What a race we had, with 40
racers and over 200 boats gathered in
little Fort Pierce, Florida from June 1st
through the 5th on our 1/8th mile
course. We had racers attend from as far
away as New York, Pennsylvania, New
Jersey, Mississippi, and California. This
was a huge event for our five year old
club. We had tremendous help from
over a dozen members. The practice day
was fun, as we renewed some old
friendships and built some new ones.
The huge seven foot high by 40 foot
long by five foot wide drivers stand was
completed and test driven on for the first
time ever....what a view! It gave all the