The ERCU Board of Directors is scheduled to meet on Sunday, Oct. 31 at 10 a.m. on Zoom.

In addition to regular club business updates, the agenda includes completion of some old business, which includes finalizing our plans for the November 6 ERCU End of Season Celebration at the Hydroplane & Raceboat Museum, tracking down club-owned perpetual trophies, and an update on work that's being done by the club's new Competition Committee that will ultimately result in proposed rules changes for the 2022 season.

Under new business, the club board will take action to fill the vacancy on the board created by Robbie Roberts' resignation, and the board has spoken with several potential candidates to replace him. An appointment will be made to fill the final year of Robbie's current term.

The board will also discuss, under new business, ideas for possible changes to the Gold Cup format. A recommendation will be forwarded to the membership for consideration during a Winter Meeting prior to a vote of the club.

Officers reports will round out the remainder of the agenda.

As always, any members of ERCU are more than welcome to attend the meeting. Zoom meeting information is below.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8464189312?pwd=Qi9DZ3JqYlppRjFJbFNDcjMzaE1zUT09
Meeting ID: 846 418 9312
Passcode: ERCU2021
By phone: (253) 215-8782

With many thanks to all who voted in the recent ballot to decide whether to permanently add the 1/7-scale do ERCU’s FE racing lineup, the club is happy to report that the initiative has passed in a significant way.

By a vote of 21 ayes and 3 nays, the club has overwhelmingly approved the addition of the larger boats to the club. Voting, which opened on Thursday, Sept. 30, was vigorous and passionate. Members participated in a great way and the club is grateful for the participation. Voting has now closed.

”Obviously, I’m really excited,” said ERCU Chair Nelson Holmberg. “It’s great to have these two great racing divisions brought together under one big tent. ERCU, and model boat racing in general, will be better off for having this combined front for the two major scales of FE hydroplane racing.”

Effective, officially, on November 1, 2021 - the beginning of the new ERCU Racing Year under club rules - there will be a 1/7-scale division with both vintage and modern classes. During the offseason, the ERCU rulebook will have an appendix added to reflect and document the specific 1/7-scale rules (i.e. motors, ESCs, propellers, build dimensions, etc.).

Owners of 1/7-scale boats can begin registering their hulls and signing up for membership in ERCU effective immediately.

The club’s website is already in the process of being updated to feature the 1/7-scale racers and their boats.

ERCU’s Board of Directors would like to thank all of the 1/7-scale members who participated this season. Many thanks also go out to Craig Mullen and Ben Keller, who were the motivators and inspiration to get this done.

With work done by every one of the amazing statisticians the club has had over its 20 years of existence, we've been able to update the ERCU All-Time Race results document.

There are only about 5-6 entries in the entire 29 page document - mostly within the history of the Ted Jones Memorial (first connies at the ERCU Gold Cup, which count as a race win). If anyone has information to help fill in the "missing information" entries, please contact ERCU Chair Nelson Holmberg, or Statistician David Newton.

We are also missing season points for the inaugural 2003 ERCU season, and for the 2004 season as well.

With our 20th anniversary coming up starting November 1, we thought it would be cool to get as much of our historical and statistical information update as possible. Keep an eye out over the next year for loads more historical information about our club.

The updated All-time Race Results document can be found on the club website's history page.

The 2021 ERCU End of Season Celebration is set for an in-person event at the Hydroplane & Raceboat Museum on Saturday, Nov. 6.

Tickets are NOW AVAILABLE by clicking on the button at the top of this story.

We've changed the time to 5-8 p.m., so please make note of that.

Brian Perkins, former driver of the U-21 Go Fast Turn Left unlimited, as well as numerous inboard hydroplanes, will be our guest speaker. Perkins has not left the sport after his retirement from the U-21 cockpit, and participated with the U-11 J&D's team at Tri-Cities and San Diego in 2021.

Perkins is also an avid RC boater, and a Tollycraft motor yacht owner and aficionado. There's no doubt he'll have lots of great stories of his racing days to share with us. He may even ask for a few tips about RC racing.

We'll also hand out our season points championships and top 10s, as well as the season awards that were recently determined by the board.

Dinner will be catered by Caveman Catering. Admission of $30 per person covers costs for the night, including entry to the finest boat racing museum on the planet.

During its September 28 meeting, the ERCU Board of Directors voted unanimously to forward the following recommendation to the membership for a vote.

The board strongly recommends that the club add the 1/7 scale division into ERCU on a permanent basis.

The recommendation includes the following points, which were agreed to by the 1/7 scale members of the club, and by members of the now former Electric Scale Unlimiteds (ESU) club.

• ERCU shall create a permanent home for 1/7-scale hydroplanes (vintage and modern class; with the option to add classic when boat counts apply)
• ERCU will add a 1/7-scale rule addendum to the ERCU Rule Book. These include rules specific to 1/7-scale are limited to motors, propellers, batteries and ESCs.
• 1/7-scale will run under all ERCU racing rules, and is currently represented on the ERCU Competition Committee by Craig Mullen.
• Two separate Master Hull Rosters (one for 1/10 scale and one for 1/7 scale) will be kept by the registrar, in order to keep boat dimensions and registrations consistent to each division.
• All members (be they 1/10 or 1/7 scale) shall have all of the same membership rights, access and responsibilities.
• All members will join ERCU by paying the annual membership fees, completing the membership application and registering their boats (including registration fees) on the same fee schedule.
• Members who race 1/7 scale boats may run for board of directors positions
• Nomenclature
  • With approval of this recommendation, 1/10-scale and 1/7-scale are the two divisions of ERCU
  • “Modern”, “classic” and “vintage” are classes that are run within the two divisions, and definitions of modern, classic and vintage will be as listed in the ERCU rulebook for both 1/10 and 1/7 scale.

 
With this memo, the Board of Directors forwards this decision to the full membership for a vote approving the permanent adoption of 1/7 scale FE into ERCU’s membership.

Voting has now closed.

Going with the majority of members who responded in favor of an in-person End of Season Celebration, the ERCU Board of Directors has chosen to schedule an in-person event with plenty of physical space and proper Covid precautions.

The social and dinner event will be held on Saturday, Nov. 6 at the Hydroplane & Raceboat Museum. We'll cater a dinner and feature a guest speaker at the event, as well. The event is scheduled for 6-9 p.m.

Due to state and county Covid safety measures, the Museum has asked us to require masks, and possibly proof of vaccination or a negative Covid PCR test. Whatever the state and county measures are, ERCU will be responsible for making sure attendees adhere to the guidelines that are in place at the time of the event. Let's not put Museum staff and/or volunteers in a difficult position. They're going out of their way to help us make sure to have a fantastic End of Season Celebration, in person, together.

So mark your calendars for that date now! We'll announce more information including cost, agenda, guest speaker, etc. with periodic updates as the day draws nearer.