Hey guys! I’m so happy with the way the 2021 ERCU racing season has started, and I hope each of you is too.

It’s been a great start.

We’ve had solid racing, only a couple of accidents, limited attrition, and best of all – truly great turnouts. It’s always fun when there are a lot of boats at the races, but it’s fun to have the kind of camaraderie and fellowship that we’ve had this season.

I’m proud that we’ve welcomed the 1/7 scale division into ERCU as well. While there was more attrition than any of us would have liked in their first ERCU event – the Diamond Cup in Longview – the racers who attended were a great addition to the club. So … many thanks to them. Welcome to the club!

This brings me to my first point of this Chair Chatter: Sportsmanship.

Not that we’ve got a serious problem with it, but I just want to remind everyone that even when our emotions can sometimes get the best of us, it’s very important to keep our cool and practice good sportsmanship. There’s a whole section on sportsmanship in the rulebook. While the rules do seem a little heavy on the punitive side, that’s not the way we as members really want the club to operate.

So, let’s suffice it to remind everyone what the first point in the sportsmanship section says:

“The goal of the club is to encourage cordial competition; however, every boat owner, driver or crew member shall be subject to disciplinary action for unsportsmanlike conduct in connection with the regatta from the time of arrival at the race site until two hours after the completion of the contest.”

Officiating
I also wanted to refresh the expectation of heat officials at our races. While we’re all volunteers, all human, and all doing the very best we can, we’re taking steps to help make sure that drivers know about their penalties within a lap. In fact, the club recently purchased six brand new, rechargeable, two-way radios for use between each turn judge and the chief referee. We’ll very briefly go over how to use them during driver’s meetings for a few races until we’re all comfortable with them.

There are just three officials needed to run each heat, as long as we all communicate well:

• Referee – The referee is responsible for assigning penalties and DQs or other infractions and communicating them to the drivers during the heat. All race officials are responsible for observing the heat(s) they agree to judge, to make sure the rules of racing and driving etiquette are observed and to notify the referee of observed infractions immediately. The referee is also responsible for calling the legality of the start during each heat.
• Right Turn Judge – Clearly, the right turn judge’s responsibility is watching for infractions and spun/dead boats in the right half of the course – particularly the turn – and alerting the referee of those. Additionally, this judge shall look toward the left turn at the start to call lane infractions during the run from the exit of the left turn to the start line.
• Left Turn Judge – Just as clearly, the left turn judge watches the left half of the course – particularly the turn – and alerting the referee of those.

A Drivers Representative, per the rulebook interpretations section (Appendix A, page 16), is not a required position, though it is recommended. If the Contest Director of a race chooses not to use a Drivers Rep, the Contest Director is the person who should be contacted with a question about a call.

The appendices in our club rulebook – particularly the interpretations, driving etiquette and precedents sections – are very helpful and clarifying. I highly recommend refreshing your knowledge of those pages.

Driving Etiquette
My final point in this Chair Chatter is – again – not meant to sound bossy or preachy, just a reminder.

Now that our fields are again growing and we’re having as many as five boats in a heat, a reminder about etiquette is probably fair game. It’s a reminder that each of us, when we overtake another boat, is responsible to do so safely and to avoid collisions.

As the rulebook says, “driver safety will be defined as the necessary techniques for running a race so that all boats may compete fairly with maximum assurance of finishing safely and without damage. Mastery and application of these techniques, even though the driver is separated from the boat, are the very essence of competitive skill (as in real racing) and will go far in increasing the pleasure and challenge of model racing competition. Driving a model boat should require the same care, precaution, and consideration for safety as is necessary in driving a life size boat, where lack of these factors could result in physical injury as well as boat damage.”

This essentially means the throttle works both ways. Being the fastest boat on the water, or the driver who is cool enough to keep the throttle pinned all the way around the course isn’t always the best – or safest – way to go. Please remember to use common sense and keep an eye out for dead boats, slow boats, or any other potential hazards on the racecourse.

Remember: We must finish heats to earn points.

The Seafair Cup is coming up next, and I for one, am pumped. Repairs on my boats after the brutal experience of the Diamond Cup for Cougar Racing Team are almost done and I’ll be ready to rock and roll in Lacey.

I hope to see you all at the races!

Nellie

Tomorrow is race day y'all!

I'm so excited for the 2021 ERCU Racing Season to get underway. Jerry and Paul Dunlap have a great day planned for us at the Champion Spark Plug Regatta tomorrow, back at it's regular home - Fort Borst Park in Centralia.

Several of us will be there early with Steven Taylor delivering the club trailer right around 7 a.m., Dunny, Paul and I arriving around the same time. The goal is to have the race course set by as close to 8 a.m. as possible, and we'll get the pits and the official barge set up early too.

Knocking on wood while I type this: It looks  like the weather will actually be decent this year, too! Overcast skies and a high of 61 degrees are in the forecast - and have been for a few days now.

I wanted to share just a few thoughts as we all pack up our rigs for tomorrow's big day:

PRE-REGISTRATION: While it's not required, it seems to have been pretty popular so far. Thanks to those who have chosen to pre-register and pre-pay for the entry fees. Online pre-registration for the Champion Spark Plug Regatta has already accounted for 26 1/10 scale boats! It is pretty easy to imagine that there could be 30 or more 1/10 scale boats at tomorrow's race! If you'd like to pre-register, click here to do so. Again, it's not required, but it should save you time on Saturday morning, and it helps the club be prepared as well.

THREE MINUTE CLOCK: Just a quick reminder that we will again be using a three minute clock for all racing this season. Because we're anticipating big turnouts during the 2021 season, and we're thrilled to add the 1/7 scale starting at the Diamond Cup in Longview, race days will get much longer than they've been in the last few years. For this reason, once the three-minute clock starts, it will not be stopped for any reason other than health and safety. As usual, we will be sensitive to back-to-back heats, boat retrievals, etc., but please do your best to be ready for your heat so we can keep the day moving along.

HEAT DRAWS: Starting tomorrow, we'll begin again posting printed copies of the heat draws and/or use a big screen monitor so you can stop by the scoring tent to check out how the day is going. This posting will be at the official barge (scoring tent) to make it easy for everyone to have the updates. It's been suggested that we try to figure out how to push the heat draws out to members phones as well. That's something we definitely aspire to do, but may not be ready to do at tomorrow's race.

INSPECTIONS: If you have a new boat, or one that's undergone significant change during the winter that has not been inspected yet, please be sure to arrive early enough that you can have your boat(s) inspected prior to the drivers meeting. Inspections are primarily done by the club inspector - Robbie Roberts - but can be done by any board member if Robbie is unavailable or too busy. Boats are only required to be inspected if they are new to the club, new construction, or have had significant repairs and/or modifications since the last time it ran in the club.

NAMBA MEMBERSHIP: In order to race, you must be a member of NAMBA, which means if you haven't yet renewed (or obtained) your NAMBA membership for 2021, today's the last chance to do so. If you do it today, please print out the confirmation page and/or email you receive from NAMBA proving you've paid for your membership and bring it to registration at the race. There is also the option to purchase a single event insurance from NAMBA, but you can only utilize that once a year. Click here to take care of NAMBA membership online.

COVID PRECAUTIONS: We say it a lot, and we know all of you are cautious and smart about it, but please do pay attention to the club's Covid Guidelines. We will be watched at our events, not only by the jurisdictions that allow us to use their parks, but also by the public, so let's be smart and careful about the club's guidelines. It would be awful to lose a race site because we weren't following our own guidelines. Even worse if someone in our club got Covid. Yuck!

I think that's it from me today. I'm looking forward to being with you all again, and getting the boats wet. Let's have a great race day and may the best driver win!