Chairman's Chatter: Late February means April is almost here!

Jeez guys, it wasn't long ago when we were at the last race of the abbreviated 2020 season and Robbie Roberts said to me, "April will be here before we know it".

He was right. It's already late February and April is almost here.

Proof of that: As I write this Chairmans Chatter, there are just 38 days until the 2021 ERCU season-opening Champion Spark Plug Regatta at Fort Borst Park in Centralia.

With that, I'd like to offer a few reminders to each of you. Things that will need to get done before the season starts, so you'll guarantee yourselves of a smooth beginning to the year.

1. RENEW YOUR NAMBA MEMBERSHIP: If you haven't yet renewed your membership in NAMBA, please do so today. It's simple to do online, through the NAMBA Membership Portal. You can get there by clicking here.
2. RENEW YOUR ERCU MEMBERSHIP & BOAT REGISTRATIONS: If you haven't already done so, it's time to renew your registrations and your ERCU membership. This year, we've made it easier than ever, by adding an online registration form and PayPal. You can find both the registration form and a link to send ERCU your money via PayPal by clicking here (this form is on our website under the "Resources" tab, click on "Registration/Payment"). You may recall that ERCU did waive this year's registration fees for boats that were registered in the club during the 2020 season. If you do not have any new boats this year, you'll only need to pay the $25 annual membership fee. But please DO include the list of boats you're registering for 2021. This is how we keep our registrations up to date, especially as new members continue to join the club.
3. SEND IN BOAT BIOS: You've likely recognized that the club has a new website. We're working hard to make sure that all of the relevant content from the old site is preserved on this site. While most everything is moved over, we're still working on a few things. Part of that effort is making sure we have as many boat bios on the site as possible. If you would please take a few moments and look at the vintage, classic, and modern boat pages on the website to see if your boats are on the site we'd appreciate it. If there is a bio for your boat, please make sure it's correct and current by completing a bio form for us. If your boat isn't on the site, that's because we don't have a bio or photos from you, so please make sure we have those and we'll post your boat bios on the site.
4. BOAT INSPECTIONS: If you have a new boat this season, or one that's undergone significant change since it's last inspection, you'll need to have your scale and technical inspections done. Robbie Roberts returns this year as our club inspector. He'll be doing both scale and technical inspections. To make his job easier, please get your boats inspected as soon as possible so he's not slammed with inspections at the Champion Spark Plug Regatta. If you're in the Seattle area, and would like to meet up with Robbie to get your boat inspected, reach out to him and see if there's a time you can meet up. The boat inspection forms can be found here. Please print your own forms for each boat you'll have inspected and take them with you to your inspection.
5. KNOW THE COVID GUIDELINES: We're going to be able to go racing this season, thankfully. As such, we do have a set of Covid "Safe Start" guidelines in place for our events. With the whole state now in Phase Two of the Governor's current re-opening plan, outdoor motorsports events may have up to 200 people in attendance (counting spectators and participants). Physical distancing and masking is still required - even outside - at events, so we will enforce that. For a complete list of the guidelines we adopted in 2020, please click here.
6. NEW MOTOR RULE: Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with the only rule change of the 2020-21 offseason. The ERCU motor rule has been changed to allow all NAMBA P-Limited legal motors within specific dimensions as the legal motors in ERCU for all three classes. Find the updated rulebook by clicking here.
   

OK . . . I know that all came across kind of heavy, but it had to be said. I now return you to the fun of what y'all are doing this winter!

See you in Centralia!