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Without giving away any award winners, the ERCU Board of Directors shares many thanks to members of ERCU, we're proud to announce the nominees for the 2021 End of Season Awards, which will be handed out on Saturday, Nov. 6 at the Hydroplane & Raceboat Museum, during our End of Season Celebration.
And the nominees are (in alphabetical order): Rookie of the Year (1/10 scale modern): Mike Hughes, David Heilbrunn Rookie of the Year (1/7 scale modern): Nelson Holmberg, Craig Mullen, Denise Sjostrom Rookie of the Year (1/10 scale classic): Jay Fonville, David Heilbrunn, Paxton Reunanen Rookie of the Year (1/10 scale vintage): Jay Fonville, Paxton Reunanen Rookie of the Year (1/7 scale vintage): Terry Harmer, John Sjostrom Most Improved Driver (1/10 scale): Jay Fonville, David Heilbrunn, Chuck Murray, Paxton Reunanen Most Improved Driver (1/7 scale): Entire fleet, Denise Sjostrom Sportsmanship Award: Ron Daum, Rick Evans, Bill Mowatt Contest Director of the Year: Brad Lewis & David Newton (for Detroit Memorial), David Newton (Roger Newton Memorial, Nelson Holmberg (Diamond Cup & Stan Sayres Memorial), ERCU Board of Directors (Gold Cup) Sponsor of the Year: American SaniCan, Pentair, Roostertail Talk Contribution Awards: Joey Caines, Jerry Dunlap, Paul Dunlap, Rick Evans, Nelson Holmberg, Brad Lewis ERCU Hall of Fame: Ron Daum, Jerry Dunlap, John & Dianne Earnest, Rick Evans, Kerry Kjos, David Newton Congratulations to all of the nominees. Award winners will be announced at the End of Season Celebration November 6 and will be posted on this website and on social media shortly thereafter. The ERCU Board of Directors met last night to close the books on the 2021 ERCU racing season, and to crack the door open for 2022.
During the meeting, the board reviewed member feedback about the End of Season Celebration and chose the majority's desire, to have an in-person event. Discussion focused around having the event at a location large enough to provide space for physical distancing, while also providing for ambiance fitting for the event. The board selected the Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum in Kent and the date of Saturday, Nov. 6, from 6-9 p.m. The museum is available that night and the reservation was made. Find more information about this year's End of Season Celebration by clicking here. Under new business, the board agenda was prioritized for discussion of the permanent addition of the 1/7 scale division into ERCU and a recommendation from the board will be forthcoming to membership for a vote very soon. The End of Season Awards were chosen, too, from the nominations submitted by the membership. Nominations for the awards are posted here. Winners will be announced at the End of Season Celebration. The board also voted unanimously to keep the current ERCU fee structure for the 2022 season, and elected the 2021-22 Board Officers. Board officers for 2021-22 are
Perhaps the best news of the meeting was the financial report, provided by Daum. With the only expenses still needing to be paid being the costs of awards and the End of Season Celebration, the club finished the year with more than $3,500 in the bank. This is positive for not only the ending fund balance that we'll carry to begin the 2022 season, but also shows growth within the club and provided plenty of confidence and background for the board's decision to keep the fee structure as it is. While there will be one more board meeting in October, at a date/time yet to be determined, monthly ERCU Winter Meetings will begin again in November. Stay tuned for more information about that. The ERCU Board of Directors will meet via Zoom Tuesday, Sept. 28 at 7:30 p.m.
The agenda will include the board making a decision about the end of season awards presentation and celebration. Member input will be considered in the final decision. The board deeply appreciates all of the members who participated by sharing their thoughts about what this year's end of season celebration should look like. New business will include:
As always, the board meeting is open to anyone interested in attending. Click here for the Zoom link. The meeting ID is 846 418 9312 and the passcode is ERCU2021 Those without computers can also participate via telephone by calling (253) 215-8782 and using the same meeting ID and passcode to get into the meeting. The ERCU Bylaws say that the Board Chair shall poll members of the board at the end of the year to decide who our annual End of Season Award winners are. This year, the board has decided it would like input from the membership for the 2021 ERCU End of Season Awards.
As such, at the end of the season, we’ll be asking you to provide nominations in the following categories. From those nominations, the board will fulfill its duty to select award winners. The annual awards that we’re seeking your input on include:
Please click here to easily nominate fellow members (or yourself) for consideration of these annual ERCU End of Season Awards. You may enter as many names as you would like to enter. Nominations will be accepted until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 26, when we’ll close nominations and begin the selection process.  With the end of the 2021 ERCU racing season, the club's season champions have been crowned.
While there were a couple of racers winning championships who have done so before, we had more first-time season champions than not in 2021. For example, Paul Dunlap, David Heilbrunn and John Sjostrom have never before won ERCU points championships. For Nelson Holmberg, he's won a couple of ERCU championships in the past, but never before in the 1/7 scale. And then there's David Newton. Well...we all know how he does when it comes to season titles. In 1/10 scale modern, Dunlap drove Rick Evans' 2015 Dalton Industries in all but one of the nine races it entered during the 2021 season. By scoring 12,350 of the boat's ERCU-best 13,950, Dunlap not only staked claim to the boat title, but also took home the drivers championship. Heilbrunn was second in 1/10 scale modern, driving his 2019 J&D's to a season total (in both boat and driver points) of 10,519 points. Ron Daum and his 2019 Grandview on the Lake finished third with 10,017 points. The first-ever 1/7 scale ERCU modern points championship was won by a long-time veteran of ERCU 1/10-scale, Holmberg - driving Gary Hansen's beautiful 1972 Notre Dame. The Notre Dame won the 1/7 scale championship in Electric Scale Unlimiteds in 2010. Holmberg won 1/10 scale titles in 2012, 2013 and 2014 before taking a few years off to race outboard hydroplanes. He also drove the 1/10 scale Hawaii Kai III to a boat championship in 2011. Second place in 1/7 scale modern went to Denise Sjostrom with her 1974 Miss U.S. and third was Craig Mullen with his 1975 Pay 'n Pak. The 1/10 scale classic championship came down to the Gold Cup before it was decided. Gerry Bordon led most of the season with his 1974 Miss U.S., with David Heilbrunn a little over a roostertail behind most of the year. When Bordon's Miss U.S. was damaged in the second heat at the Gold Cup, Heilbrunn had the opportunity to make up a deficit of approximately 800 points. Driving conservatively and finishing heats for the day, Heilbrunn and his 1984 Executone were able to claim the title by a difference of 570 points over second place finisher Chuck Murray with the 1983 Miss Houston. Yep, you read that right, Murray also overtook the leader during the Gold Cup, as Bordon's and the Miss U.S. finished third in classic season points, just 77 points behind the Miss Houston. When it came to 1/10-scale vintage, the season opened with a number of very competitive boats, but Newton and Kerry Kjos quickly dispatched the competition. Winning every race it competed in - one with Paxton Reunanen driving in place of Newton - the 1960 Miss Thriftway was the class of the field, taking the season points title with 13,400 points. Second in 1/10 scale vintage was rookie Jay Fonville and his 1964 Tahoe Miss. Third went to Bill Mowatt driving Rick Evans' 1968 Miss Bardahl. Rounding out the 2021 ERCU fleet, the 1960 Miss Thriftway - this one owned and driven by John Sjostrom - also won a points title. Sjostrom finished the year with 6,719 points and two race wins to claim the season points title. Second went to Terry Harmer in the 1986 Miss Bahia, which won two races - including the Gold Cup. Third was Mike McIntosh's 1976 Vagabond. It was truly a great season, and the club is proud to have seen the great turnouts this year as well as the amount of fun everyone seemed to truly have throughout the summer. We already can't wait for the 2022 season!  2021-22 ERCU Board of Directors Election results have been certified by ERCU Treasurer Ron Daum. The results are as follows, with the four incumbents being re-elected.
For 2021-22, the ERCU Board of Directors will be: Ron Daum, Jerry Dunlap, Rick Evans, Nelson Holmberg, Bill Mowatt, David Newton and Robbie Roberts. Those re-elected to the board for another term are Dunlap, Evans, Holmberg and Newton. Thank you to ALL six club members - David Heilbrunn and Craig Mullen are the others - who stood in the election, and to those who nominated members for the election, your care for the club is deeply appreciated. The new ERCU fiscal year begins on November 1, which is also the beginning of these new terms on the board. Congratulations to those who were re-elected.  LONG'S POND, WOODLAND CREEK PARK
6729 Pacific Ave SE, Lacey, WA 98503 The final race of the 2021 ERCU Pentair Championship Series is the ERCU Gold Cup, set for Saturday, September 11 at Long’s Pond in Lacey. Here is all you need to know to be prepared for the final event of the year: CONTEST DIRECTOR ERCU Board of Directors CONTEXT The Gold Cup has long been held in high regard. It’s been referred to as “boat racing’s Indy 500” – the granddaddy of them all. It’s no different in model boat racing. In ERCU, the Gold Cup is the most coveted of all trophies. Consistent with boat racing history and the tradition of the Gold Cup, the race is one of endurance and survival. Thus, the course will be longer than others during the 2021 season, and there will be four flights of heats rather than the regular three. Winner take all finals will determine the winners of our club’s Gold Cups for 2021. There will be five Gold Cups awarded at the end of the day: 1/10 scale modern; 1/7 scale modern; 1/10 scale classic; 1/10 scale vintage and 1/7 scale vintage. The club is doing its best to make sure the five actual cups are present at the event to be awarded in person. WHAT TO EXPECT
o New in box EZ Up canopy provided by Bill Mowatt o Fairing parts from the 2021 Graham Trucking (2021 Gold Cup damage) o Parts (with photos) from the Gold Cup winning 2013 Spirit of Qatar (driven by Kip Brown) o Various gift cards provided by Roostertail Talk o New in box Turnigy DLux 10A Linear BEC provided by Terry Harmer o Hobbywing Program Card provided by Terry Harmer o Slo-Mo-Shun, Miss Thriftway, Atlas Van Lines & Miss Bardahl thumbdrives from Hydroplane & Raceboat Museum o Please note you must be present to win your raffle prize. PRE-REGISTRATION Pre-Registration for the ERCU Gold Cup is now open. To find the pre-registration form, navigate your web browser to https://www.ercu-hydros.com/ercu-gold-cup.html, where you will find the pre-registration link in a blue box just underneath the race site map. You may also pre-pay your entry fees online by following the PayPal directions at the bottom of the page. You can also find pre-registration by going to www.ercu-hydros.com, then selecting “Schedule” from the main menu, and “ERCU Gold Cup” from the schedule itself. SCHEDULE It is our intent to have the course open by 7:30 a.m., so that testing can commence once boats are registered for the event. There will be no new driver tests conducted on Saturday. The water will be open for testing until approximately 8:00 a.m. (we will provide a minimum of 30 minutes for testing), followed by at least an hour of time trials. A mandatory driver’s meeting will start immediately following time trials. Drivers that do not attend the meeting will not be allowed to participate in the first round of heats. 1/10-scale modern heat 1A will begin no less than five minutes after the conclusion of the drivers meeting. STARTING CLOCK A 1-minute 30-second clock will start as soon as all drivers are in the driving area and will not be stopped for any reason other than health or safety. Please plan ahead for your upcoming heats and be ready when the chase boat comes back. When all drivers are at the driving area and boats launched/ready to launch drivers the 1:30 clock will be started. DRIVERS MEETING The Drivers Meeting is mandatory for ALL divisions and all classes and will begin immediately upon the closing of time trials at the scoring table. Drivers who are late to the drivers meeting, or do not attend, will NOT be drawn into the first heat – regardless of whether they are pre-registered and pre-paid. First heat will begin no later than five minutes after the conclusion of the Drivers Meeting. Nelson Holmberg will serve as Drivers Rep and Bill Mowatt will serve as Pit Boss. ROOKIE/GUEST DRIVERS ERCU always welcomes new members to the club and visiting racers from other clubs. Due to time constraints, and a shortened testing session, there will be no rookie driver testing available at the ERCU Gold Cup. 2021 RULES Please review the rulebook as is posted on the ERCU website, available under the Resources tab (or by clicking here). Be sure to read the “Gold Cup Rules” section, too, on page 14. The Contest Director/Chief Referee will make every effort to be sure that officiating is consistent with the rules as published on the website, and that every effort is made to assure consistency in officiating. NEW BOATS As noted above, it is possible that there will be new boats in the pits that need to be inspected. We ask that you print out the 2021 Hull Inspection Form, found on the Resources tab of the club website (www.ercu-hydros.com), and complete the member information at the top of page one prior to arriving at the race site. Please also remember to bring a photo of the real boat (a photo on your phone or tablet is acceptable) that your boat models. ERCU GOLD CUP DEFENDING CHAMPIONS
RACE FORMAT
o 1/10 scale classic – directed by Nelson Holmberg o 1/10 & 1/7 scale vintage – directed by Jerry Dunlap o 1/8-scale heats (1/8 scale will not be scored; and there are no entry fees or registration necessary for 1/8 scale)
POST RACE CLEANUP AND AWARDS PRESENTATION Following the conclusion of the final heat of the day, awards will be presented. Awards will be given to the podium (first, second and third place). After the awards are presented, please remember to stick around to help cleanup and re-pack the club trailer. Any final raffle prizes will be presented at this time. Remember you must be present to claim your raffle prize. WEATHER FORECAST As of this writing, the weather is expected to be partly sunny and 72 degrees in Lacey. COVID NOTICE Effective June 30, 2021, ERCU has adopted a policy that those who are fully vaccinated may participate without face coverings and physical distancing. Those who are not fully vaccinated are asked to continue use of facial coverings, in accordance with state and local requirements. RESTROOMS There are two public restroom facilities on site in Woodland Creek Park and they are expected to be open. ELECTRICITY There is limited access to electricity in the pits. It would be wise to bring a generator or other power source to charge your batteries if you need to charge during the day. |
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