persuade me to get involved as well. The
biggest deterrent was the fact that we
had no local water to test or race on. So
in late 2010, Henry called me to tell me
that he had secured water at Ascarate
Lake again in El Paso. This peaked my
interest and I agreed to go to a few
meetings to reform the club. It was hard
for me to stay away from a hobby that I
had always loved. For years we had to
travel 360 plus miles round trip just to
test boats. Traveling to Carlsbad took its
toll on all of the Rio Grande Racer’s
members over time and I was excited to
have local water once again. So in early
2011, I was a NAMBA member again
and also club vice president.
Since that time, I have become the
contest director of the West Texas
Shootout for Autism Awareness. This
was a race that was conceptualized as a
small district event with the proceeds
donated to the Autism Society of El
Paso. One thing has remained the same,
the proceeds still benefit the Autism
Society. The race is now reaching
maximum capacity and we are actually
looking at making it a three day event in
2014.
Leading up to the 2014 West Texas
Shootout, I was contacted by Robert
Holland and asked to fill the Gas
Chairman position within NAMBA.
After speaking with Russ Stark and a
few other NAMBA members, I accepted
the position. I introduced myself over on
Jim’s RC Boat Dock and also took that
opportunity to bring to light a current
rule that might be overlooked.
With the emergence of popularity in
the 28.5 plus engines, it’s quite easy for
someone to overlook the fact that our
present rules state a twin engine boat
cannot exceed 53.00 combined cubic
centimeters in displacement. There was
much discussion and many attempts to
shoot the messenger. So, I would like to
use this article to quickly address a
couple key facts concerning this rule.
I didn’t make up this rule. The NAMBA
insurance carrier didn’t make up this
rule. NAMBA MEMBERS made up and
voted in this rule. Our insurance
coverage is based on our organization
governing our member’s actions by rules
put into place by our membership.
Rules can and are often changed.
PROPWASH
2
October 2013
They didn’t bring boats, tools boxes or fuel, only people. Alan Terry was recently in
Colorado so he called me up and we shared a dinner with him. We DID talk boats the
entire night but the point being is that we have a friendship because of NAMBA.
There are many stories like this that I hear about on a weekly basis. Friendships
that have been forged because of the existence of NAMBA. Father son relationships
that are strong because of NAMBA. Some of my best friends are because of NAMBA.
The next time someone asks me what NAMBA can do for them I will have a
different response. I hope you will also.
Introducing Jay Stone - NAMBA Gas Chairman
By Jay Stone
NAMBA Gas Chairman
Hello fellow NAMBA members.
I would like to take a minute to
introduce myself to those of you
who may not know me. I was born
and reared in the El Paso, Texas
area. My first radio control
experience was with cars and I
raced all over the Southwest until
my early teens. Bob Keeton kept
pushing my dad to get me started
with radio control boats and in late
1989, my father bought me my first
boat. I started off with a Prather
Spitfire and a K&B 3.5 outboard. I
was instantly hooked and had
several boats in just a matter of
months.
Back in the late 80’s – early 90’s, the Texas/New Mexico area raced under APBA
and in fact my first Nationals experience was the 1993 APBA Nationals in Carlsbad.
I continued racing up until 1997, when I stepped away for a couple years. I was
working full time and attending New Mexico State University. In 1998, my
grandfather passed away and I ended up becoming the sole caretaker of my
grandmother who had Alzheimer’s Disease. College and work life came to a halt and
my new responsibilities as a caretaker left me with little time for much of anything.
After a year or so in to being a caretaker, I quickly realized that I needed some sort of
outlet and way to get a break from time to time. With this in mind I got back into
model boating in 1999.
I later became the Contest Director of the 2003 NAMBA Nationals in Carlsbad,
New Mexico and then the NAMBA District 7 Director. I also worked with Al Waters
to try and get all districts to have their own domain names. I worked hard to have
NAMBA7.com up and running as the first NAMBA District with a dedicated domain
name. We also reformed a model boat club in the El Paso, Texas area and put on a
couple of district races each year in Carlsbad, New Mexico (due to our lack of water in
El Paso). After my grandmother passed away, I continued racing and participating in
model boats for a few more years.
In 2007, I stepped away from model boating to focus on sand drag racing and
actually became the 2007 Super Modified Points Champion at the El Paso Motorplex.
I continued racing sand drags for two more seasons all the while dabbling over in to
the crew chief duties. After selling my Bronco, I became crew chief of our team’s Top
Alcohol Dragster. During this time, I kept running into Henry Keller at the drag strip.
Henry has been long involved in the drag racing scene in our area. When I first got
into model boating I got to know Henry well as he was a very active model boater.
Sometime in 2010, Henry got started in model boating again and kept trying to