PROPWASH
October 2011
15
That brings us up to the 2011 NAMBA Nationals, also in Los Angeles. The nitro
hydros had about 90 entries and the nitro monos had about 60 entries, down
considerably from 2004. Outboard tunnels had about 50 entries and sport hydros had
about 60 entries, of which about 25 were scale. Gas was now dominant with over 260
entries. Classic Thunderboat had the most entries of any Nationals class with about 35
boats. Not bad for a class that first ran in 2008. G-1 Mono, GX-1 Mono, G-1 Sport
Hydro and GX-1 Sport Hydro all followed closely with about 25 to 30 entries each.
The Gas Marathon had 10 teams entered, about as many G-1 Monos (20 boats) as
entered the 2004 Nationals. The Nitro Marathon had five teams entered, making
marathons an increasingly popular event. Thanks to gas entries, some old classes like
Open Offshore are staging a comeback as well. I believe I was the first to win Open
Offshore with a gas cat in the 1998 Nationals, and now only gas boats are entered in
the class.
In addition two electric classes were run. That was first tried in 2009 and both
years had about 20 electric entries. Not quite where the gas classes were in 1998, but
it’s a start. In a few years the electric classes can easily fit in as some of the older
classes die off. Over the years some once popular classes have lost popularity or never
caught on.
Quarter Scale Tunnel never became popular and the 11 cc tunnel classes died off as
engines became hard to find. A O/B Mono was never very popular, but A O/B Hydro
was run until 2011. Sport 40-1 also has died. Most of the classes mentioned were
dependant on K&B engines, so the demise of K&B brought about their end. However,
the G-2 and GX-2 gas classes have also not caught on despite the current availability
of some new, good, larger engines. Classic Crackerbox has also faded as fiberglass
boats take over that and the other gas classes. The boats running at the NAMBA
Nationals may change from year to year, but the greatest thing about the Nationals, the
people, stays the same.
The full results for the 2004 and 2011 Nationals with pictures of the 2011 winners
are at www.namba.com. As a bit of history, the results of the 1998 Nationals have
recently been added to the NAMBA web site as well.
The Australians (Bill Annabel) are still
around to this day
The Don (Osman) still brings in the
District Nine crew
Can you believe Alan and Brenda Terry are
grandparents? Allie Terry on the left and the
Levescy’s at the table in the background
Joe Monahan’s still winning in
tunnels. He won B OPC this year
Eric Bourlet and Mike Hughes
(Mike’s still smiling to this day)