The first ERCU Winter Meeting of the 2024-25 season is set for Wednesday, Dec. 11 at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom. The idea of Winter Meetings is to bring together members of the club for fellowship and keeping in touch during the offseason, while also conducting a quick board meeting. If you’re available to jump on Zoom and join in on the fun Wednesday evening, we’d love to have you. Click here to join the meeting. The Zoom link, meeting ID and password are below in case the link doesn't work for you. Meeting ID: 858 3322 3975 Passcode: 412354 Meeting Agenda [pdf] October 30 Meeting Minutes [pdf] It is the club’s intent to have an in-person Winter Meeting in January at the home of Dennis and Linda Caines in Tumwater, where we’ll also all chip in to clean up the trailer and to inventory what needs to stay in the trailer and what can be done away with going forward. Dennis has also offered to cook up some hot dogs for those who help out with the trailer after the meeting. A Saturday date for that meeting has not yet been decided. Once it is, we’ll be sure and send it out to everyone. We'll also participate in the annual Roger Newton Memorial RC Boat Show at the Hydroplane & Raceboat Museum in February. More information about that event coming soon, as well. Hope to see you on Wednesday night! We asked. You answered.
The Gold Cup survey we recently conducted is now closed, and it’s apparent that the majority of the ERCU membership would like to move our premier event back to a one-day event. Twenty three members participated in the survey that presented several options ranging from keeping the Gold Cup as is, to returning it to a single-day event and eliminating time trials. The large majority — 52.2 percent — favored the one-day event without time trials. The second option — keeping a two day event but making Saturday entirely optional — gained only half as much support (26.1 percent) and keeping the event as is saw just 17.4 percent support. One “other” vote was suggested, which was to make it a one day event, but keep time trials and eliminate the fourth flight of heats. So, starting with the 2025 ERCU Gold Cup, we’ll return to a single-day event. A rule change will be be completed during our annual rule change process to remove the time trials from the current Gold Cup rules. The ERCU Board of Directors truly appreciates the feedback that members share and the participation of so many of our members in these kinds of advisory opportunities. Thank you to all who participated. ERCU Treasurer/Registrar Jim McKeon has shared that registration and membership renewal season is now open and members are encouraged to begin getting things set for next season.
This means that it's time to begin registering your boats and renewing your membership in the club. You can do both with a fillable form that's been added to the website (and make payment for your fees online via PayPal), or by downloading a fillable PDF and mailing it, with a check or money order to get yourself set for the new year. As a reminder, current members have their current registrations "protected" until January 2, 2025 as a motivation to get renewals taken care of. After January 2 boat registrations that have not been renewed will be made available on a first-come-first-served basis for anyone to register. NAMBA Membership renewal time is open, too To insure that you keep your same NAMBA number, please renew your 2025 NAMBA membership. You can renew your 2025 NAMBA membership by clicking here to navigate to the NAMBA Membership Portal. Please verify your profile to insure that your membership card is mailed to the correct address. Follow the prompts and select your choice of payment method. Keep in mind that your insurance is in effect when running boats at sites with NAMBA site insurance. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the NAMBA office by telephone at 760-522-9138 or by e-mail at [email protected]. The question of whether the two-day format of the ERCU Gold Cup has been raised to the ERCU Board of Directors, and the board has decided it would like to receive feedback from the full membership. Below, you'll find an opportunity to participate in a quick one-question online poll to provide your feedback to the club. There's also an opportunity to provide comment if you'd like to. This poll is anonymous, and we will not know who's sharing their thoughts and opinions. None of them will be made public, either. All feedback provided will help the board know which direction to go with the Gold Cup format. Options include keeping the two-day format as it is; To keep it a two-day event with Saturday being an optional day of testing and time trials, for fun. The final option is to change back to a one day event and eliminate time trials. The option to eliminate time trials would require a change in the rule book as time trials are currently mandated by the club's rule book. For this reason, and for the ability to continue moving forward with reserving race sites for the 2025 racing schedule, we need to hear back from members as quickly as possible. This poll has been closed. Results are shared below. Thank you, in advance, for your participation to help advise the club's board. The board will take the members feedback into account as a decision is made as to the future of the ERCU Gold Cup. Keep the current two-day format as is
4 votes (17.4%) Keep two-day event, but make Saturday optional with no heat racing 6 votes (26.1%) Make it a one-day event and eliminate time trials 12 votes (52.2%) Other 1 vote (0.4%) – one day event, keep time trials, eliminate fourth flight of heats The ERCU board of directors tonight accepted David Newton's resignation to focus on a number of other priorities in his life. The board also voted unanimously to appoint Dennis Caines to the fill the vacancy left by Newton's resignation, and selected officers for the 2024-25 ERCU year.
Your 2024-25 Board of Directors is:
We also reviewed a number of priorities for the offseason, and approved the draft schedule for the 2025 season, so that the process of making reservations with the parks can begin. We'll also be scheduling ERCU Winter Meetings in November, December, January, February and March. Stay tuned for more information. The first meeting of the 2024-25 ERCU Board of Directors is scheduled for Wednesday Oct. 30 at 6 p.m. The meeting will be conducted on Zoom and is open to all members.
On the agenda will be the acknowledgement of David Newton’s resignation from the board, and an appointment to replace him. The full new board will then appoint officers to each position for the 2024-25 term. A review of the proposed 2025 racing schedule, review of 2024-25 offseason priorities, scheduling winter meetings, and finishing up some old business will also be on the agenda for the meeting. The Zoom link for the meeting is: https://rentonschools.zoom.us/j/89636435222?pwd=AOUGeKJBHpkGnltI9vpLV4MxndACdM.1 Photos courtesy of Dennis Caines and Nelson Holmberg Nearly 30 people turned out at the ERCU End of Season Celebration at The Ram Restaurant & Brewery in Puyallup on Sunday, Oct. 27 to share in the recognition of a great season, great performances and some individual awards.
U-11 Miss Mercury's Coffee driver Jamie Nilsen was our guest speaker and provided fun insight into his racing career and how he made it to the top level of boat racing, which he'd always coveted -- even more than playing professional baseball. Those in attendance reflected on some of the season’s highlights. From a handful of unforgettable photo finishes to the weather challenges we overcame at a couple of others, this season was full of thrills and surprises. "Everyone contributed to making this one of the most exciting years yet," said Nelson Holmberg, interim chair of the board of directors, in his introductory comments. "Whether you walked away with a win or not, everyone had something to be proud of this season." With many thanks to Craig Mullen who worked hard over the span of at least 18 months, to not only collect all of our Gold Cup trophies and have them updated with winners, but also created two new Gold Cups for the classic classes, we had six Gold Cups to give away at the event. Gold Cup winners in 2024 included Mitch Dillard (1/10 modern, 1/10 classic and 1/10 vintage), Mike McIntosh (1/7 modern), Mullen (1/7 classic) and Paxton Reunanen (1/7 vintage). The ERCU Driver of the Year Award was also presented, as the coveted propeller from Bucket List Racing was handed off from 2023 winner David Newton to Reunanen, the 2024 winner. Season champion boats and drivers were also recognized and handed the beautiful perpetual trophies that Rick Evans had made for the club a year ago. The 2024 winners of the ERCU Pentair Championship Series are:
Finally, the 2024 ERCU Triple Crown winners were recognized, and they are:
With all of the season awards presented, the event moved on to presentation of awards to the individual awards for 2024. "I want to say a special thanks for all the members who took the time to share their nominations for these awards," Holmberg said. "The club’s bylaws say that the board should decide the award winners itself, but opening nominations to the entire membership assures that deserving members are at least recognized, even if they aren’t the award winner. So thank you to those who nominated, and congratulations to the nominees. This is a true recognition from our peers." Rookie of the Year
Most Improved Driver
Sportsmanship Award
Contest Director of the Year
Sponsor of the Year
Bill Mowatt Outstanding Contribution Award
ERCU Hall of Fame The final award presented is a big one for the club. The ERCU Hall of Fame has a long list of big names in the sport, of people who’ve lived and died for ERCU, and people who have accomplished strong success on the water, as well. Again, this is an honor that could have gone to as many as three or four individuals this year, but the club’s precedent has been to award induction to just one person per year.
"Thank you once again to everyone who played a part in making this season such a success, and here’s to even more exciting races next year." The annual ERCU End of Season Celebration has been confirmed for Sunday, Oct. 27 from 1-4 p.m. at The Ram Restaurant & Brewery in Puyallup (103 35th Ave. SE, Puyallup, WA 98374). Jamie Nilsen, driver of the U-11 Miss Mercury's Coffee unlimited hydroplane will be our special guest and speaker. Jamie began racing at the age of 12, and while racing has always been a passionate endeavor of his, Jamie prides himself on demonstrating a strong emphasis on teamwork, sportsmanship, and family values. In outboard hydroplane racing, Jamie has set 12 world speed records (currently still holds 6), won 15 national high point championships, won three national championship races and inducted into the APBA Hall of Champions twice. Moving into Inboard Hydroplane racing, Jamie was the 2013 5-liter national champion, won the 2016 San Diego Bayfair Grand Prix race, was the 2017 & 2018 Grand Prix eastern division champion and the 2018 Grand Prix North American Champion. He got his first ride in an unlimited hydroplane in Seattle in 2010 driving Billy Schumacher’s U-37 “Miss Peters & May”, with Scott Raney as crew chief. In 2013, he qualified as an unlimited driver aboard the U-21 Go Fast Turn Left Racing entry and in 2014 posted his first heat victory in Madison. Nilsen is also a member of the Central Washington University Hall of Fame and holds the highest career batting average in school history (.399). He batted .365 as a freshman, .372 as a sophomore, .391 as a junior, and a school-record .468 as a senior. Over his career, Nilsen posted 61 doubles, 13 triples, 29 home runs and 183 RBI. A two-time GNAC Player of the Year and four-time All-GNAC first-team selection, Nilsen was also named a first-team NCAA Division II All-American in 2008 and earned honorable mention All-American honors in 2006. He signed professionally and played one year in the Kansas City Royals’ minor league system. As is our regular program, we'll also announce and present all of the 2024 ERCU awards at the banquet and celebrate the end of the club's 21st season. Be sure and make plans to attend the End of Season Celebration to find out who the winners are, and to help celebrate their successes. While many already knew the results of the 2024 ERCU Championship Series standings, confirmation came today when Statistician David Newton finished and posted the club's final season points totals.
Two drivers repeated as champs, and just two boats repeated atop the season standings. First-time drivers champion Dennis Caines took the 1/7 scale vintage season crown. Paxton Reunanen was the big winner in the season points standings, taking drivers championships in 1/10 scale modern, 1/10 scale classic and 1/10 scale vintage. Craig Mullen was the season champion in 1/7 scale modern/classic. Boat championships in 1/10 scale for the 2024 season went to Reunanen's 2019 Graham Trucking American Dream (modern) and his 1983 KISW Miss Rock (classic), and Jerry Dunlap's 1964 Miss Exide. Season titles for 1/7 scale boats went to Denise Sjostrom's 1974 Miss U.S. and to the 1982 Island Security Systems that was owned by Mike McIntosh most of the season, and at the end of the season by Chuck Murray/Paxton Reunanen. The final 2024 season standings have been posted on the club website and can be found by clicking here. Twice on Saturday, Sept. 28 at Vance Creek Park in Elma, Gentleman Jim Latimer was heard saying, "the more things change, the more they stay the same."
He was absolutely right. It may not be much of a surprise that roostertails of the final heats had settled, David Newton and Paxton Reunanen had won two Atomic Cups each. A day that started with the pond fogged in and led to a beautiful sunny day with mild temperatures and just light breezes, led to some terrific racing in four classes. 1/7-scale modern/classic was not run for points due to having just two boats in the class. That said, David Heilbrunn and Craig Mullen did run the boats they brought as an exhibition. But back to the real racing. Newton had his hands full in 1/10-scale modern where Nelson Holmberg (2024 Flav-R-Pac), Mick Shutt (2024 Bucket List Racing) and Heilbrunn (2015 Dalton Industries) were all fast and capable of winning heats. But it was Newton who piloted the 2003 Miss Budweiser (T-6) to the race victory in the class. Holmberg's Flav-R-Pac was runner-up in it's second race out of the box, while Shutt piloted Nellie's Bucket List to third in the final. Heilbrunn's Dalton suffered steering distress that was unrepairable in the pits and scratched out of competition after the first heat. Flav-R-Pac won two heats and took second twice. Bucket List was third three times and second once. Newton also claimed the 1/7-scale vintage Atomic Cup crown with his 1957 Hawaii Kai III, which also took home the best of scale sticker for the race. Second in 1/7-scale vintage went to Dennis Caines and his 1968 Eagle Electric. Reunanen's 1982 Island Security Systems didn't finish the final, but had a good day with a couple of top-two finishes in heat racing. Reunanen claimed the 1/10-scale classic final in instant classic fashion. His 1983 Miss Rock KISW was clearly the fastest classic boat of the day, winning all four heats. But in the final, the Tom Markos-owned 1976 Atlas Van Lines made a race out of the last lap and nearly caught Paxton and the Rock coming out of the last turn. Second place did go to the Atlas (with Holmberg driving) while third was Mike Walcker in the 1973 Red Man Too. Fourth place went to Jim Hagan driving Jerry Dunlap's 1985 Coors Light, while Shutt's 1978 Miss Circus Circus was unable to finish the final. In 1/10-scale vintage, Reunanen again was the man. He finished a perfect day with the 1970 Burien Lady by winning the final heat. Second went to Latimer, driving the 1960 Miss Everett, while his other boat -- the 1958 Miss Moses Lake (with backup driver Walcker) took the final spot on the podium. Fourth place went to Robbie Roberts with the 1971 Hallmark Homes. Fifth was John Earnest in the 1962 Gale V. True to their tradition, contest directors Markos and Holmberg provided those racers in attendance with another hot dog lunch including all of the fixings. |
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