retro/nostalgic to see and hear canister
muffled (and slow!) boats on the water. I
wasn't the only one thinking this as Ron
Manucci approached me later in the day
with his thoughts about using this class
to draw in new drivers. Just a few
thoughts for your consideration, but
what if the district sponsored three
youths. One from each club? There must
be three used stock boats out there that
the district could purchase inexpensively
enough as well as three older radios
perfectly serviceable that could be
donated from the membership. We could
even pay their NAMBA dues. The catch
would be that they have to be able to
attend three races. One at each race
site. Each club could assist them with set
up and practice time to develop their
skills. Selecting the three drivers will
require some thought. We could do press
releases and have interested parties sign
up. Do it by interviews or even by
lottery. Just throwing the idea out there
to see if there is any interest or other
ideas.
Let's see what is out there among the
membership. Another avenue for
reaching out that I had not thought about
was Facebook. Anyone familiar with
this is welcome to contact me and get
this started. As far as I know, there is no
cost to this.
District 16 Report
By Rob Duckering
NAMBA District Director
The 2014 NAMBA Nationals was
attended by Rob Duckering, Kevin
Traboulay, Doug Sick, Allan Yuen, Fons
Runco, Brian Toombs, Dan Lemay, Brad
Nicholls and Greg Wannamaker. Talk
about fun! This had to be our best
showing yet to date as we had some very
good racing and even managed to win a
few classes with Rob taking first in C
Hydro and Kevin winning Sport 40. We
even won the overall team championship
for the first time ever. Greg won the 1/8
Scale Unlimited Concourse event with
his 1993 Frosted Flakes. Since it was
Kevin’s first national championship, he
received the baptism in the lake. It is not
all about winning though. Seeing old
friends and making new friends is a lot
of fun. The atmosphere at the entire
event was much like that of a big family
PROPWASH
16
October 2014
Open Mono and Open Hydro can be
sporadic at times, but both ran at
Sanford. We welcomed back Bill
Longley and our neighbor from the
North, Terry Munn. We also welcomed
Alex Brown, who ran in Stock Gas. Yes,
I said Stock Gas! There was only one
other boat, so we ran it as a demo class
(more on that later). We easily got all
four rounds in, but the retrieve boat
seemed to go out after dead boats a little
more than at races one and two and I
think more buoys than usual took a
beating this time. I only mention it
because these things have become
almost unusual in the district of late. A
testament to the driving ability of the
district membership. Compliments and
thanks to the Wakemakers R/C Boat
Racing Club for hosting the race.
Flotsam and Jetsam
I, as well as other fellow racers in the
district are concerned with the slow
erosion of membership and attendance at
races. We are an "old" district in the
sense that most of the group have been
together for many, many years with a
smaller "transient" (I am not using that
term in a negative way) group that is just
that, transient. I see two issues with this.
Retaining long term racers and bringing
in new blood. In some ways, I think
retaining current racers is the hardest as I
am not sure what we can offer to the
long term racer.
We have quality venues, officiating is
pretty much on par if not superior to
other places I have been to, and we are
certainly not destroying boats on a
regular basis. The level of driving skill
has been excellent, both among long
term and transient drivers. Maybe after
fifteen to twenty years, it is difficult
maintain interest levels and I am not sure
you can counter that. We all need a
break from time to time. New blood is an
entirely different story. This is a
complex issue because it is not like we
are in the public eye for the most
part. By definition, our racing sites are
somewhat secluded (Sanford not
withstanding), so we generally do not
draw crowds and possible future boaters.
Not to mention that the needs/wants of
today's youth are not what they once
were.
Which brings me to the Stock Gas
class that ran at Sanford. It was quite
News at 11
(Continued from page 15)
Miscellaneous
If you placed first, second, or third in
the 2013 points, I will have your plaques
at the September Mansfield race. You
should have been given them long a go,
but if not, that is totally on me so a big
mea culpa from me.
Some potential good news. I have
been talking to a programs director at
the Sturbridge Village Inn on Cedar
Lake in Maine, which is a little west of
Worcester. She found us on the web and
has done some research viewing R/C
boat races on You Tube. I spoke to her
just the other day and they want us there
as an event. She seemed very accom-
modating to our needs even closing their
private beach for us. I will be making a
trip down there and hope to run a boat
or two as a test. I will post when I go
and hopefully someone will be able to
join me and venture with an opinion.
Sanford
Weather was looking good, weddings
and other activities may be over, so I am
expecting a HUGE crowd. Well, I am
optimistic if nothing else. This race is
being hosted by the Wakemakers R/C
Boat Racing Club and I will be calling
the races for the day.
Usual rules apply with the db meter
in attendance although that has not been
a problem in quite a while. Racing to
start at 10:00 AM with appropriate open
water before hand. HOPE TO SEE
YOU ALL THERE!!!
More News at 11
By Rags Grenier
NAMBA District 11 Director
Hey, I tried to come up with
something clever to rhyme with Sanford
for the heading, but it eluded me. What
can I say? Anyway, race number three
was a perfect continuation of the first
two and I have to say that so far, racing
conditions have been perfect this year.
Great weather and smooth water. We
had the best turnout this year yet with 42
registered boats. B Hydro has struggled
a little bit to get re-started as a class, but
was well represented this day with four
strong entries as was A MOD OPC.