ERCU Members:
Throughout the years ERCU has been fortunate to host multiple races at Twin Lakes each year. We have also been fortunate that in the past, other lake users including fishermen, swimmers, boaters and kayakers have cooperated by staying off the lake as we run our event. In 2024 we have been advised that while we will be issued a permit to use the lake, we cannot put any restrictions on people using the water. We can ask people to leave but we can't make them leave. Law enforcement cannot be asked to help us. NAMBA members must follow and abide by the NAMBA rules and the regulations on the back of your NAMBA card, which do not allow racing if anyone is in the water. The penalties for violations are severe, so you should review them. The big difference this year is that - if the person refuses to leave the north lake, there are two choices:
This decision was made in the best interest of our members and race participants. We are hoping that in the future that a solution can be found that addresses the requirement to restrict access to others during our events. Rick Evans ERCU Chair Hard to believe it's already almost February (wasn't Christmas just last week?), but that means its also nearly time for the annual Roger Newton Memorial RC Boat Show. This year's event is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum (5917 S 196th St., Kent, WA 98302). "Every year, this is a great opportunity to remember Roger and ponder everything he did for unlimited hydroplane racing throughout his life," said David Newton, Roger's son. "He wasn't just an RC racer. He was instrumental in the museum's founding and some of its early restorations, and he spent lots of time working on the racing circuit as well." The Museum will again sell a hot lunch to those who are interested during the event. Participants who show boats are asked to bring tables and chairs for their own set up and are encouraged to donate $25 to the museum as an entry fee. As of November 1, the 2023-24 ERCU year has begun.
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, 2024 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. Jim McKeon is the club's registrar/treasurer, and paper forms, with checks, should be mailed directly to him at his house. For Jim's home address (so we don't need to post it publicly), please email him by clicking here. Stay tuned for information about when ERCU Winter Meetings will be scheduled. ERCU celebrated 20 years of racing on Saturday, Nov. 4 at The Ram in Puyallup. Award winners and legendary unlimited hydroplane driver Chip Hanauer were the headliners. The 2023 ERCU Award Winners are:
2023 ERCU Season Top-10
2023 ERCU Season TRIPLE CROWN
Dennis Caines has reminded us about this several times.
And now it's upon us. The ERCU exhibition that Dennis Caines has arranged at Scott Lake, south of Tumwater, is coming up on Saturday, Oct. 14 and the club reminds members who might be able to attend it's a great opportunity to show the community leaders what we do, and how we might be a good fit for Scott Lake before or after the swimming season concludes in future seasons. Saturday's exhibition event will take the format of a test and tune, and is open to anyone who would like to run FE model boats. The details are as follows: WHO: ERCU members, and other FE model hydroplane racers, who would like an opportunity to test and tune while showing off to community and neighborhood leaders how model boat racing works at Scott Lake. WHAT: ERCU Exhibition (test & tune format) for FE model hydroplanes. Hot dogs and hamburger lunches will also be provided free to attendees. WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023, set up begins at 7:30 a.m. WHERE: Scottlake Private Community Park, 2500-2524 Scotlac Dr SW, Olympia, WA 98512. Click here for directions from your departure location. WHY: Opportunity to help community and neighborhood leaders understand our hobby and how it could work to put on an actual race at Scott Lake in future years. HOW: Just show up. No pre-registration. No fees. There will not be heat draws, but we do intend to run some random mock heats and use a starting clock at times in order to provide an accurate picture of what a race looks like. QUESTIONS: Contact Dennis Caines by phone or by text at 360.888.8738. This morning, we received the following message from Mitch Dillard, who along with Robbie Roberts and Rick Evans, is working to help Craig Bradshaw's sister Stacy through the process of care for Craig's shop and the boats left in it.
Please take a look at the message below if you're interested in any of these projects to take into your own shop and finish up for the 2024 season. From Mitch: Hello everyone, as most of you probably know, Craig Bradshaw of West Coast Custom Boats recently passed away. I've been trying to help his daughter Stacy with matters surrounding his shop and the things he had in it when he died. I've created a photo gallery on the CT Flickr site and listed some of the boats we found there for sale. They are in various stages of completion and are certainly priced to sell quickly. Some are even painted and have some hardware installed. I've put details on the photos along with the sale prices. Please take a look at the gallery, post the gallery link to your local club sites and social media pages, and let folks know there are some deals to be found, especially if they are looking for a project to finish. There's even a gas scale hull for sale and some smaller scale project boats and a couple of SV27 hulls if you're interested. Since Craig's death, we've discovered very few records were kept, so we've done our best to resolve any issues with boat owners who have come forward to claim boats that he had been working on for them and could verify they had paid for. The boats in this gallery are not spoken for. However, if you recognize something and can provide proof of ownership or payment, you should let me know right away so I can inform Stacy that verification is coming. Craig generally received payment after he completed boat projects and was ready to deliver them to customers. You can contact Stacy to discuss payment arrangements and she'll let me know which boats have been sold. After viewing the gallery, you can contact me with any additional questions about the boats themselves. Thanks for taking a look! Note: You can view the album as a slideshow by selecting the slideshow icon at the top right of the gallery. There are other viewing options there too, but I find that one the most helpful. 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 2023 ERCU End of Season Awards.
As such, at the end of the season, are 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, Oct. 8 when we’ll close nominations and the board will then make selections from those nominated. Gentleman Jim Latimer couldn't have scripted the final race of the 2023 ERCU Pentair Championship Series any better. He won. For the first time ever. After a two hour fog delay on Saturday morning, Latimer debuted his 1981 Spirit of the Air Force boat, that had undergone extensive changes from its former life as the U-33. And out of the box, the boat ran great. Latimer scored a class-leading 1,325 points and won the 1/10 scale classic final heat at the Atomic Cup. That classic final was one of the most-contested races of the day in Elma, with Paxton Reunanen taking second with the 1983 Miss Rock KISW and Jerry Dunlap taking third in the 1982 Boat. Tom Markos' 1976 Atlas Van Lines did not finish. But it wasn't the only first first for the day. Bill Mowatt also - finally - won the 1/10 scale vintage final heat with his 1968 Miss Bardahl. On the same day that the hydroplane racing community celebrated the life of Billy Schumacher at the Hydroplane & Raceboat Museum. Mowatt and Reunanen had a great race going in a two-boat shootout after scratches depleted the class to just a deuce. When Reunanen's 1963 Coe-Z-Miss barrel rolled on the second lap, Mowatt just had to finish five laps and was able to do so. Another exciting win went to David Heilbrunn and his 2021 Goodman Real Estate in the 1/7 scale modern class. Heilbrunn drove the only clean race in the final and won after Craig Mullen in the 1980 Pay 'n Pak and Nelson Holmberg in the 2021 Graham Trucking both endured buoy infractions. Mullen in the Pak finished second, followed by the Graham Trucking. It was the final race for the 2021 Goodman Real Estate, as Heilbrunn is nearing completion on a brand new 1/7 scale 2023 Goodman Real Estate boat. Mullen won the 1/7 scale classic crown without running the final. By virtue of being the only boat still able to run in its class, race officials decided to award the win to Mullen - who drove Denise Sjostrom's 1974 Miss U.S. at the Atomic Cup. Later, Mullen also picked up the race win for 1/7 scale vintage - on the water this time - driving John Sjostrom's 1960 Miss Thriftway. Second place went to Dennis Caines in the 1968 Eagle Electric. Third went to Bob Van den Akker's 1962 $ Bill. The only other class of the day was 1/10 scale modern which was won by Reunanen's 2019 Graham Trucking American Dream. Second went to David Newton in his 2003 Miss Budweiser and third went to Holmberg's 2023 Bucket List Racing. Fourth place went to Heilbrunn's 2021 Goodman Real Estate and Briana Burdsall's 1988 Sutphen Spirit was unable to finish. All reviews about the new Elma race site were very positive and many people indicated that they want to race there again in future years. The 2023 ERCU End of Season Celebration has been confirmed for Saturday, Nov. 4 at 1 p.m. at The Ram in Puyallup. Our special guest will be Chip Hanauer, arguably the best unlimited hydroplane driver in the history of the sport! The event is set for a lunch this year - trying something new - and members will have the opportunity to order directly off the menu. The Puyallup location of the Ram also has a private room, which has been reserved for us courtesy of Jerry Dunlap and Bill Mowatt. End of Season awards will be handed out during the event, and we’ll have the opportunity to hear some racing stories and perspectives about today’s unlimited hydroplane racing world. More information will be coming soon, so please stay tuned. The 12th and final race of the 2023 ERCU Pentair Championship Series is the Atomic Cup. This race is set for Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023, at Vance Creek Park in Elma. Here is all you need to know to be prepared for final event of the year.
Location Vance Creek Pond #2 Boat Launch Wenzel Slough Road Elma, WA 98541 Contest Director Nelson Holmberg Context The Columbia River towns of Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland first climbed on the unlimited bandwagon in 1966 with the first annual Tri-Cities Atomic Cup. There had been talk of inviting the unlimiteds there as early as 1958. But 1966 was when it finally happened. Bill Brow was the winner that first year, driving Bernie Little's Miss Budweiser. The race remained named the Atomic Cup until 1976 when it was renamed the Columbia Cup. In 2006, when the race lost its title sponsorship from Budweiser, the event was run as the Atomic Cup once again, but with the arrival of Lamb Weston as title sponsor in 2007, it returned to being the Columbia Cup. ERCU last raced in Elma in 2012 and 2013. Ron Forister swept both finals in 2013 with his 1999 Miss Madison and 1971 Miss Madison, respectively. What to Expect (All times approximate, and subject to change)
Pre-Registration Pre-Registration for the Atomic Cup is now open. To find the pre-registration form, navigate your web browser to https://www.ercu-hydros.com/atomic-cup.html, where you will find the pre-registration link in a gray box near the top of the page. Pre-registration will close at 11:00 p.m., Friday, Sept. 29. After that deadline, please register in person on site before 8:30 a.m. You can also find pre-registration by going to www.ercu-hydros.com, then selecting “Schedule” from the main menu, and “Atomic Cup” from the schedule itself. Drivers Meeting The drivers meeting is mandatory for ALL divisions and all classes and will begin at the scorer’s table within five minutes of the closing of the testing period. Drivers who do not attend the drivers meeting will be scratched from the first heat regardless of whether they are pre-registered and pre-paid. Drivers arriving after the drivers meeting will not be added to the event until the draw for the second flight of heats. Race Officials Contest Director: Nelson Holmberg Chief Referee Modern: Bob Van den Akker Chief Referee Classic: David Heilbrunn Chief Referee Vintage: TBA Drivers Representatives: Paxton Reunanen & Craig Mullen Turn Judges: First and second place finishers will judge the next heat Atomic Cup Defending Champions 1/10 Scale Modern: Ron Forister, 1999 Miss Madison 1/10 Scale Vintage: Ron Forister, 1971 Miss Madison Race Format
Flight Schedule
Post-Race Cleanup and Awards Presentation Club equipment cleanup and re-packing the trailer will take priority once each day’s racing is complete. Once the trailer is re-packed, awards will be presented. Awards will be given to the first, second and third place finishers. All members have a responsibility to help with set up and breakdown of club equipment. As a courtesy to your fellow racers, please stick around for the awards presentation whether you’ve won one or not. Weather Forecast The long range forecast for September 30 in Elma is 66 degrees and showers with a 58 percent chance of rain with 7 mph winds out of the southwest. Stay tuned for updated forecasts as they become more clear prior to race weekend. Restrooms Restrooms are available in the park and are expected to be open. Electricity There is no 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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