SOS - SOS - SOS - SOS
By Lohring Miller
NAMBA Safety Chairman
Editors Note: Around this time of the
year, Lohring Miller’s safety column
customarily is called Summer Safety
Corner. As you can see, I did not have
enough room above to fit all of those
words in the space provided. So I
thought that I would improvise with SOS.
That could mean “save our ships”
(boats), “save our surance” depending
on where you are from and how you
speak, or “save our skin”. I may not
have been very funny in grabbing your
attention. But I got your attention.
NAMBA President Robert Holland,
earlier in this Propwash talks about the
injuries that have been sustained over
the past two years which is more than in
the last ten years. There are not any
more boats running now than there were
ten years a go. The accidents reported
are not being caused by the boats being
bigger and faster. Think about what
caused the accident and how you and the
person beside you could do things
differently to avoid that accident. Now
on to Lohring’s safety column.
We are past the peak of the racing
season with most of the big races behind
us. Model boating is a very safe hobby,
but it’s no time to get careless. We tend
to forget how dangerous spinning
propellers are. Especially the large
diameter ones on gas boats. In the past I
have seen fingers seriously cut when
they touched a spinning prop. A few
stitches and they got better. However,
there have been much more serious cuts
from gas boat propellers. Both involved
contact between legs or feet and the
prop. Cuts on the inside of the thigh have
the potential to be fatal from severe
bleeding since a major artery is close to
the surface in that are. A similar
dangerous area would be the inside of
the forearm. Fortunately, neither of these
accidents were that bad, but the cuts
were very deep and one involved
tendons in the foot.
Warning: You may not want to view
the next page if you have a weak
stomach
PROPWASH
22
October 2015
District 20 - Site of the 2015 NAMBA FE Nationals
By Karl Loveless
District 20 Director
I hope all of your summers have been filled
with boating adventures and the best of times with
great friends. This season in District 20, we have
had great racing, hosted a NAMBA National event
and of course had many laughs with the best of
friends that will never be forgotten.
I have been pleased to see the growth that our
district has experienced this year. Picking up both
new racers and two new clubs. We have also seen
a shift in boat types being raced this season. The
FE powered boats are being built weekly and
qualified minimum entry classes are being created from race to race which has been
incredible to follow.
Attending National events has been a part of our year this season as well. David
Santistevan was the only member from District 20 to attend this years NAMBA
Nationals for Nitro and Gas and the NAMBA FE Nationals. Of course he made us
proud by winning a second place in A OPC Tunnel and third place in B Hydro. Way
to go David.
We also had the honor of hosting the 2015 NAMBA FE Nationals in Greeley,
Colorado in late August which was another great opportunity to expand our efforts to
bring quality racing to our district. I want to thank Co-Contest Directors Joe Scarpino
and Chris Bopp and the entire gang of District 20 members that attended the race and
putting in the long hours that it took to make this event special. The reviews and feed
back have been very good and everyone seemed to enjoy the time spent in
Colorado. The field of boats and drivers from all around the country truly helped make
the racing TOP notch. The locals Brad Taylor, David Santistevan, Joe Scarpino, Joe
and Lyle Weilnau, Robert Holland, Sean Cordova, and Todd Ullman all took home
National Championships. Well done guys. It was very cool to see first time winners
like Joe Scarpino take the customary dive in to the water.
Countless hours were put into the CalCraft Q mono built for our grand prize raffle
which was won by Bill Whitlock of Mount Vernon, Washington. A very special thank
you must go to Joe Scarpino from JRS Innovations, Lenny and LeAnn Blake from
Rum Racing Products and OSE (Offshore Electrics) for making the raffle prize
happen.
I want to thank all the racers who attended. The District 20 members who helped
run the event and of course ALL of our sponsors who were vital in ensuring we could
make this event happen. Concentric/David Santistevan, Loveless Racing, Hobby
Town USA, Chuck Connolly, Decker Dunkers, Robert Holland, ToySport, NAMBA
District 11, Weilnau Racing, Giant Power, and NAMBA District 19. Again, thank you
very much!
I can't believe just how quickly this season has come and gone with six of our
seven district races completed. I look forward to our finals in Greeley, Colorado in the
middle of September and our second annual awards banquet in Black Hawk, Colorado
in early November. Happy Boating!
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