December Winter Meeting Recap

ERCU continues the surge it started in 2020, even as winter begins to take grip in Washington State.

Eleven members participated in the December Winter Meeting, via Zoom on Wednesday, Dec. 11.

Before diving into the business of the board of directors, the agenda allowed time for all members to share updates on what’s happening in their shops this winter, and to offer up ideas, suggestions and wish lists for board consideration during the winter.

It was exciting to hear of all the projects happening in individual shops — Paxton Reunanen was even laying up a hull while listening in on the meeting — including three new 1/7 scale boats being laid up, one being built from wood, and one more in the planning phase. Numerous new 1/10 scale hulls are in the construction process as well.

Registrations for 2025 are coming in well, and Treasurer/Registrar Jim McKeon is pleased. McKeon has asked, however, that everyone — paid up already or not — please makes sure to complete the forms to include boat names, etc. of those that are being registered. It’s also important to complete the form because the club’s liability waiver is on the form and completing the form is your agreement to the waiver for the upcoming season.

There are two ways to complete the form: one is by filling out the online form (click here) on the club’s website that gets emailed directly to Jim. The other way is to print the form (which you can fill in by typing in the blanks, or just print and hand write (click here)) then mail it to Jim with your payment. Contact Jim directly for his mailing address, so we’re not sharing it publicly with the whole world.

Updates about the board’s priorities for the winter included progress on the overhaul of the rule book, with a goal of making it easier to navigate and eliminating redundancies and confusion as much as possible. The Competition Committee is getting ready for its annual meeting as well, so any rule change suggestions should be submitted prior to Tuesday, Dec. 17 at noon. Please click here to submit any rule change suggestions you might like to have considered by the committee.

The 2025 schedule is coming along, with races in Longview and at Scott Lake having been confirmed already. We’re also working to put together a couple of test & tune sessions, partnered up with Puget Sound Model Boat Club — one on Saturday, March 8 at Waughop Lake and another on Saturday, March 15 in Toledo. These haven’t yet been confirmed, so please stay tuned for more information as these get confirmed.

We’re also starting the 2024-25 year with a healthy ending fund balance in the bank thanks to responsible financial accountability during 2023-24.

The club also allowed for a variance on the 1/7 scale drive train rule upon the variance request by Ron Daum. Ron is going to build the Miss Wayne, which ran with dual Merlins in real life, so he’s requested to build his boat with dual drivelines as well. It will be an experimental year, beginning when the boat first hits the water, with review by inspectors and the club at the end of the first year.

We’re also working to identify sponsors for the 2024-25 season, so if you know of a business that might like a little extra promotion, let us know and we’ll help by providing the new boilerplate sponsorship proposal we’ve put together. Or we’ll simply reach out on your behalf to the potential sponsor.

The January Winter Meeting will be scheduled soon, but plan for it to be an in person meeting on a Saturday at Dennis Caines’ home in Tumwater. We’ll spend some time working on the trailer and inspecting/repairing equipment.