NAMBA INTERNATIONAL PROPWASH

Transcription

1 NAMBA INTERNATIONAL PROPWASH PRESIDENT Al Waters 162 Avenida Chapala San Marcos, CA (760) VICE PRESIDENT Tony Rhodes Embassy Avenue Long Beach, CA (310) EXECUTIVE SECRETARY Cathie Galbraith 1815 Halley Street San Diego, CA (619) Fax (619) Web Page: VOLUME 37, NUMBER 1 APRIL 2007 INSIDE THIS ISSUE Coverage Explained. Orlando Winter Nationals Racing History. Grand Prix Classic... NAMBA R/C Boater Is Stepping Up William s Hobby Room... On To Offshore News From District 20. News From Nine.. News From District 16. Safety Corner - Lipo Batteries. News From Seven District Eight Report... District One - Threesome For District Five News... Please Vote - It s Your Right... Marathon Motions Marathon Proposals - My Thoughts. Sport Hydro Random Ramblings. Odds and Ends.. NAMBA Nationals History.. NAMBA Officials and Chairmen President s Message By Al Waters NAMBA President It s 2007 and I always like to remind everyone that we have our two biggest events of the year coming up. First there is the NAMBA Fast Electric Nationals hosted by the Puget Sound Fast Electric Model Boat Club in District Eight. Jim Bickford is the Contest Director. This event will run from June 27 through July 1, 2007 and will be held at Tye Lake in Monroe, Washington. Shortly afterwards, we have the 2007 NAMBA Nitro/Gas Nationals hosted by District Nine in San Jose, California. This event will run from July 7 through July 14, It will be held adjacent to the Raging Waters theme park. Mike McKnight and Roger Hooks Jr. are your Contest Directors. More information can be found by going to the NAMBA web site or the District Eight and District Nine web sites. Last year at this time I reported a few changes with chairmen positions in NAMBA. This year I am really excited to announce not some changes in NAMBA, but some additions. The NAMBA Deep Vee/Offshore Chairman position is now filled. Volunteering is David Oliveira from the Miami Racing Association in District Three. David is one of the newer NAMBA members, however his enthusiasm for model boating more than makes up for his number of years in racing. We also have a new active district, District Five. Carlo Catalanotto has volunteered to be the appointed interim District Director through the remainder of As per NAMBA rules, there will be an election for a District Director in Carlo s district the end of this year, as well as in all other odd numbered districts. Carlo is the Commodore of the Voo Doo Model Boat Club in Louisiana. They are a registered club in NAMBA and have secured site insurance on their pond as well. I recently have been contacted by Scott Grissman, District Seven Director who is picking up a few new clubs in Texas. If you take a look at your NAMBA district map, you can see the future possibilities. This could be the makings of bridging the gap between the southern east and southern west coasts. Hey, who knows? We may see some NAMBA Nationals where they can be more centralized in the United States. District Five becoming active could not have happened without the help of many people. The District Three clubs have hosted many very successful NAMBA events. I would like to thank all of the members of District Three as they have set an example to follow which other model boaters would like to join. Continued on page 2

2 President s Message (Continued from page 1) When it comes down to it and how successful NAMBA will become or how much NAMBA will fail, it s all about the people. If we are having a good time, it can be contagious and others will also. We have leaders who organize, promote, host races, write newsletter articles, take photos, and design and run web sites to bring new people in to the hobby. But it only takes one person at a race that is not having a good time to single handedly bring it all down. If you are having a bad day at the races, swallow your pride just a bit and come back the next time. Don t let your having a bad day affect others. You may not see them at the next race because of it. Maybe that is why I now race nitro and gas in my district. I figure if I can t have a good time at one, I can go race the other. My problem is, I am having a good time with both. Now that s a problem I can handle. And it s all about the people. See you at the pond! Coverage Explained By Cathie Galbraith NAMBA Executive Secretary As we begin a new year of model boating, I thought it might be a good time to provide a reminder of just what our insurance coverage is all about. NAMBA membership provides you with liability and property damage coverage in the unfortunate event that your boat should be involved in an accident in which a spectator is injured or damage is done to someone else s property. This coverage is $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate. Of course, this does not cover damage done to another model boat in the normal course of running. This coverage is primary coverage, so you do not have to look first to your homeowner's policy for protection as is the case with some of the other boating organizations. In addition, it is individual insurance rather than site insurance, which protects you no matter where you are running, not just at pre-approved lakes and ponds, as with some of the other organizations. Of course, keep in mind that you are also expected to be complying with all local and state laws and restrictions. If you are running a boat on a lake on which you are trespassing you may not be covered. Several years ago the NAMBA Board of Directors authorized the addition of a $1,000,000 umbrella policy to add to the above mentioned coverages. In addition, NAMBA offers additional site coverage to protect the owner of the running site with the same $2,000,000 as is afforded the individual member. While this is not required for the individual insurance to be in effect, some cities and site owners require this additional coverage. Registered clubs may purchase this coverage at a cost of $45.00 per year. However, please keep in mind that NAMBA site insurance provides insurance for, and names as an additional insured, the site owner only when the accident involves a NAMBA member. We do not provide general liability coverage for site owners for all possible hazards which can occur at their lake, but merely for those caused directly or indirectly by an insured NAMBA member. In addition, this coverage does not cover the site owner if an uninsured boater or a boater who has insurance through another organization causes an accident at the site. And yes, NAMBA's coverage is in effect any time you are running, not merely at sanctioned events. This includes practice running or unsanctioned club or fun events. Of course, coverage would probably not be valid if you are blatantly breaking one of the NAMBA safety regulations, such as operating a boat while swimmers are in the water, or consuming alcoholic beverages or illegal drugs while running a boat. In addition, NAMBA insurance does not cover you when you are participating in a sanctioned event of any other organization which has its own insurance coverage, whether primary or secondary. So make sure that you are confident that the coverage provided by the sanctioning organization is sufficient to protect you during that event, as you will not be able to rely on your NAMBA insurance if it is not. Also, please note that NAMBA insurance no longer covers you when you are flying R/C airplanes or driving R/C cars. This coverage had been provided a number of years ago but has not been part of our coverage for a number of years. We are a model boating organization and that is all that our insurance covers. Some membership cards may still refer to these activities on the back of the cards since we have to have 10,000 cards printed at a time, but again, participation in R/C cars and planes is no longer covered by our policies. NAMBA insurance also provides you with a $1,000,000 personal accident policy which covers injuries which you may incur while running your boat or while assisting someone else with their boat. In the past, this has covered such injuries as a cut hand, or torn ligaments suffered when a boater slipped on the mud in the launch area. This policy is secondary insurance. That means that if you have health insurance at work or 2 April 2007

3 through a family member, NAMBA insurance will expect your primary policy to pay first. Then, once your primary policy has paid what it covers, NAMBA s secondary policy goes into effect. This would cover such things as deductibles, amounts over the policy limits, etc. If you do not have health insurance of any kind, NAMBA s policy covers you the same as if it were a primary policy. There are of course deductibles on both of these coverages, $500 on the liability coverage, and $100 on the personal accident coverage. However, in the past, NAMBA has has been able to pick up the cost of these deductibles, and we assume we will continue to do so in the future as long as funds permit. As you can see, your NAMBA insurance provides you with the best protection available through any of the model boating organizations. Hopefully, you will never have to make use of this coverage, but if you do, you can be assured that you are covered. Continued availability of this exceptional coverage is of course to some degree up to you. Make sure that you are aware of all of the safety regulations, and use common sense in your running. Preventative medicine is always better than having to resort to a cure. By avoiding needless accidents, we can insure that the coverage will be available when really needed. Orlando Winter Nationals By Ellie Watts Orlando Culvert Dodgers, Inc. The 26 th Annual Orlando Winter Nationals, hosted by the Orlando Culvert Dodgers, Inc. and held January 25-28, 2007 is now in the history books. We had a total of 116 contestants from Florida, Puerto Rico, Virginia, New York, New Jersey, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Louisiana, Maryland, North Carolina, California, Texas, Washington, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Ontario Canada, and Quebec Canada. A total of 393 boats ran in 26 classes consisting of 15 nitro and 11 gas classes. This event would not have been possible without the generous support of our sponsors: Aeromarine Laminates, Zipp Manufacturing, Butch the Boatman Racing Engines, MRD Racing Engines, CC Racing Engines, Propworks, VooDoo Props, ModelGasBoats.com, Insane Boats, Rocket City Racing, Hughey Boats, Micro Fasteners, Venom Racing Products, TMOD Mufflers, Cooper Pipes, Top Secret Manufacturing, Boca Bearings, Mike Allen, Steve Adams, Steve Kauff/Kauff Signs, Peter Muller, Harvey Hill, and Atlantis Limousine. We would also like to thank our concessionaire, B&D Country Store & Deli of Titusville, FL. Not only did our sponsors provide us with financial support, some of them cooked for us, too. Carlo Catalanotto of CC Racing Engines prepared an authentic Louisiana crawfish boil on site for everyone on Wednesday night. In a blend of secret seasonings, Carlo boiled fresh crawfish, corn on the cob, spicy sausages, potatoes, and mushrooms in a huge pot. If you haven't been to one of Carlo's crawfish boils before, you don't know what you're missing! On Friday evening, Steve and John Adams prepared a grilled seafood buffet consisting of swordfish, shrimp, wahoo, potato salad, and garden salad. The fish was so fresh and everything was great. Steve and John cook frequently at our district races, and we are all really getting spoiled. We would also like to express our thanks to Carol Conner, Sergio Perez, James Traut, Ray Kindred, Butch Fields, Rick Etherton, and many others for their help during the event. We were honored to have a special guest, Roger Newton, attend our race this year. There was always a crowd of people around Roger as he shared his knowledge of scale boats and this great hobby. Roger was the winner of the Winter Nats Scale Concours award. We all look forward to seeing Roger and racing with him again soon. If you d like to see what you missed, log onto Mark LeVac attended the race and the Winter Nats is the featured article in Issue #19. Register on line for free to read the article and view the 1,000+ photos in the photo gallery. Viewing the photos he took will make you feel like you were there! In addition, results of the races and more pictures can be found in the photo gallery on our club website, and All of the members of the Orlando Culvert Dodgers, Inc. would like to thank all of the contestants who attended and truly made it a great race. The racing was intense and there were no easy heats for anyone. Yet there was a spirit of fun and good sportsmanship that prevailed throughout the entire event. We look forward to seeing everyone back next year! Racing History By John Logan Unlimiteds Northwest PROPWASH Hi my friends. As my brother Jerry and I enter our 25th year in unlimited scale racing up in the northwest with our club Unlimiteds Northwest, I would like to pass on a few comments. This is the greatest hobby with many of my best friends being a part of it. It is funny how close we all are, but when we all get out on the race water it is true competition. When the race is over, and we have 12 a year, the competition is over. By the way, of the 12 races we had last year there were seven different winners. We have one event in conjunction with the big unlimited race in Tri Cities, and we Continued on page 4 April

4 Racing History (Continued from page 3) enjoy the big race from our VIP section on the Columbia River. That's when Al Waters and his friends arrive to meet all of us. It is the most anticipated weekend of the summer. A golf tournament is part of the weekend and of course the unlimited paddle boat races in the Clover Island pool, which is the hotel where most of us stay, is another highlight of the event. Check out our web site I will tell you that most of us grew up in greater Seattle with our major league sport, unlimited hydroplanes. That is why we race in this model sport. I would like to share a little story. Back in the old days of unlimiteds in Seattle, we only had black & white TV's. Two of a four brother family who race with us, Rick and Nick Arena, were taken down to the hydro pits by their father back in those days. As they walked into the pits to see the boats, Nick said "they re in color." The weather tried to disturb the proceedings, but except for a brief downpour Sunday morning, the rain held off. After some open water time, the racing began with Gas Cat, the largest class. The heats were hotly contested, but Lorenzo Martinez Stryker was the boat to beat. He was first in the final followed by Gary Crawford and Jessie Alvitre. Sport 40 II was next with a relatively low entry this year. Dennis Munroe led on points and took the start in the final only to be disqualified for hitting Roger Hooks Sr. s boat. Alfred Lanza won with Tommy Levescy second. Twin Hydro was also lightly attended. Dave Bestpitch won, demonstrating how to race a twin when only one engine works. The ready to run boats were all run in one heat around a one-half course. This made for exciting racing, especially at the start buoy turn. Boats slid, spun out, traded paint, and otherwise raced NASCAR style. When the spray cleared, Lorenzo Martinez was the winner, leaving red paint on many other boats. Thanks to Aquacraft and Jerry Dunlap for furnishing several of the boats, including the winner s. UNW members and guests gather in Tri-Cities for the annual picture session wearing their authentic unlimited hydroplane team jerseys Grand Prix Classic By Lohring Miller District Eight Director The fifth annual Gary Johnson Grand Prix Classic was once again the west coast season opener. This year Gas Cat and Ready to Run Sport Hydro classes were added to the A and B Mod Tunnel, Sport 40 II, Scale, and Twin Engine Hydro classes. The races are run on the Love plan, with the four heats serving as tune up and elimination races, while trophies go to the places in the final event. This gives both boats and drivers time to shake off the winter rust and get back into racing. As usual, Alfred and Jenny Lanza with help from Roger Hooks Jr., Lorenzo Martinez, and the other Model Mariners put on a very well organized event. The Gary Johnson Memorial Trophy for Scale Unlimited Hydroplane Holy leaping Leecraft s The tunnel boats were also hotly contested. Once again Leecraft tunnels dominated with Eric Osman taking A Mod Tunnel with an XTR-21. Ray Hilburn slid his HTB into second followed by Jeff Harteau s Leecraft. Rudy Formanek driving a Leecraft XT- 460 won B Mod, and Dave Osman took third with a similar boat. Jay Selby was second with a scale boat patterned after the full size Rinker Leecraft. Jay also brought a beautiful, one-quarter scale tunnel that was designed for a gas outboard. 4 April 2007

5 Scale is the premier class of the Grand Prix and this year the winner got the Gary Johnson Memorial Trophy presented by Gary s son Joel, a noted RC car driver. Osman Racing continued their winning ways with Dave Osman taking the trophy with his 1968 Bardahl. Ten year old Preston McKnight, son of District Nine Director Mike McKnight, was second in his first scale race and Jeff Alvey was third. Mike McKnight by the way, was fourth behind Jeff and his son. This was the first time both McKnights had raced together and I think Dad was the most worried. There was no concourse this year, but Henry Velasco s Squire Shop and Don Maher s Gail Force (Wait! I can t find it on the scale roster) were two of many exceptional paint jobs. The racing closed with the trophy presentation. As is traditional, Roger outdid himself again with the selection of Angel as the Grand Prix Classic Girl and trophy presenter. How she patiently put up with both the weather and all of us while still staying fresh and cheerful is a miracle of youth. Once again the Gary Johnson Grand Prix Classic was a huge success. District Nine Director Mike McKnight and son Preston both made the main event in the Scale final NAMBA R/C Boater Is Stepping Up By Team Toothpick Leslie Poodle Warren and her Team Toothpick partners are stepping up to limited hydroplane racing. Leslie s quest to race began over 18 months ago when she and her husband Shawn (aka The Big Dog) purchased a 1984 Kelson 2.5 liter stock hydroplane. Shawn worked on the boat with crew chief Bruce Snake Mooring and Chris Biscuit Fanaris for nearly a year just getting the boat to a point where they could start testing. The team talked another NAMBA member, Dave Solway into giving the boat its initial shake down run as Dave had driven outboards in the past. We made our way to the lake with about 15 of our closest friends. Dave took the boat out a couple of times but fuel issues put her on the trailer for the day. When we got home we realized the tank, which was not accessible, had a serious problem. So, a new tank was installed in the motor compartment and a few other items were repaired. We headed back out to the lake a couple weeks later with much better results. This time Poodle and Dave both took her around the lake and they were great runs. Not only for the boat and drivers, but for the team. That was the easy part. Now the team has been working at a fevered pitch since the first of October on the reconstruction and transformation of the S-136 My Joy 2.5 liter stock hydroplane, now equipped with a Ron Jones Jr. composite capsule. With the test day set for April 7 th, everyone is getting very excited and quite nervous. Poodle, who has been doing her part at the gym, hitting the books, and watching a lot of racing videos passed her required capsule training from APBA and is ready to be qualified as a driver. Poodle, a multiple time District Eight champion gives credit to racing model boats for her great handeye coordination and reflex s. The team still plans on running a good part of the District Eight schedule this year and into the future. So please join us in wishing Poodle success as she lives a dream! From Bruce Mooring, Shawn Warren, Chris Fanaris, Bob Warren, Dave Solway and Doug Hanson... In Poodle we believe! View the team s website for the fun and photos at It s all thumbs up for Leslie in her 2.5 liter hydroplane April

6 PROPWASH 6 April 2007

7 William's Hobby Room By William Overton Sky Hydro Unlimited Model Boat Club From time to time I would like to talk about scale boats. If you see me around the lake, you know I like to scratch build scale boats, and love to talk about models. Hence, my articles will be about scale models. Every one of my scale and sport boats are built from Roger Newton's plans. The plans get reduced to the size of the sport boat class I am building. My articles will not be based on what I like to build, but what you might like to build. My goal is to provide you with the help to scratch build a model boat. If you have any ideas, William Overton with a scratch built sport boat I would like to hear from you. You might have some good ideas or I might have an idea or two, so together, we can share the ideas with other modelers. Perhaps we can work together to build some nice sport boats or even better, a scale boat. I will be calling my articles William's Hobby Room because it is a hobby that I enjoy. I would like to pass anything I know along to you and anything you know along to other model boaters. So let me know if this is a good idea or not. Every now and then I will post some pictures that I've taken over the last 20 years of some of the unlimited races I have attended and the drivers and owners that I have met. I am a member of Sky Hydro Unlimited Model Boat Club with my good friends Bill Ruffin, Johnny Hightower and Leighton Henry. We just had our annual race where we gave out trophies and T-shirts to the scale boaters. Also for the picking was an assortment of fresh fruits for all racers. Strawberries, mangos, peaches, plums, watermelons were abundant. One thing you will always take from our race is a great time, because we always have fun at a Sky Hydro regatta! Oh yes, my address is WmHobbyRm@msn.com. Feel free to me any time. On To Offshore By David Oliveira NAMBA Deep Vee/Offshore Chairman R/C boats has become a whole new world to me. I started racing the Offshore power boats back in the 1980's with my family. I raced for two years and was part of teams for six years. The competition was huge and the expense was even greater. About a year ago, I decided to look into R/C boats when I stepped into Crown Hobbies. I found a new passion on a miniature scale, so I decided to join the Racing Association of Miami (R.A.M.). Although the boats are smaller, one thing remains the same for me: the passion that comes with racing a boat even if they are R/C boats. This passion encompasses more then just the actual racing. It encompasses friendships, competition, relaxation, and sometimes aggravation. But when you add all these ingredients together you get passion. This passion was so great that I became one of the Public Relations Officers for R.A.M. so that I can help the club with sponsorships for races. My involvement also led me to become a chairman for NAMBA. I plan to do my best in this position. For me, waking up before the sun rises to meet the guys for breakfast before running our boats has become a very good habit for me. I enjoy the team of members that have helped me with my boats. They also helped me when I had problems which I had no clue how to fix. Everyone is always willing to help each other and it makes the whole experience all the more rewarding. Another huge benefit is stress reduction. I am a Senior Account Manager for Tiger Direct and R/C racing has helped me handle all the stress I deal with on a day to day basis. I have also involved my family. I have plans for building a boat for my daughter and my girlfriend who recently became a member of R.A.M. and is now learning how to drive her new boat. Now back to Deep Vee/Offshore. I will be putting together some offshore courses to put up for a vote. I hope that in the years to come I can meet and race with as many NAMBA members as possible, and hope to learn as much as I can, as well as to help in any way I can. If you want to know more about the R.A.M. team kindly go to our website for more information. We can be found at We are always looking to increase our members and our friends. Come join the fun. The Propwash NAMBA International 1815 Halley Street San Diego, CA (619) Fax - (619) cathie.galbraith@namba.com Editors: Cathie Galbraith and Al Waters Newsletter Contributors Eric Bourlet Carlo Catalanotta Scott Grissman- John Logan Mike McKnight- Lohring Miller Tony Rhodes Dave Rychalsky Kelly Stout Team Toothpick Keith Warham Ellie Watts This newsletter is sent to all members free of charge as a part of their membership. All articles contained herein may be reproduced as long as proper credit is given as to author and publication source. April

8 News from District 20 By Kelly Stout District 20 Director It has been a long cold winter here in Colorado. It seems like it was too cold to even do some bench racing up here in the Northern part of the state. But now we are out of the deep freeze (we hope) and spring is in the air. I actually saw a lake the other day that wasn t solid. To cap off the 2006 race season we had our annual Turkey Shoot followed by the 2006 awards banquet. Most of the boats have been in dry, or should I say cold, storage since then. Last year saw some good racing in District 20 with some new faces in the year end awards brackets. Brad Taylor went all out and topped the year end off with a win in the Two Boat and Overall High Points battles. Our 2006 Rookie of the Year was Mitch Habetz. The Holland clan and the Scarpino s attended Crazy Al s for the first time in September. It was great hearing all the stories that they brought back. Hopefully more of us can make it to Montana in November saw the beginning of one of the coldest winters in Colorado in the last 10 years, but that didn t stop the District 20 bunch from having the annual Turkey Shoot in November. We also had the Lil Turkey event for the young ones and they all received a little turkey. Well, maybe it was a chicken or something, but they all enjoyed the racing and being outside on one of the last nice days for a long time in Colorado looks to be another good race season. We will have our 2007 annual meeting April 7 th in Windsor, Colorado. Here are the 2006 year end points results: Here are the 2006 BIG TURKEYS Marvin Taylor, Robert Holland, Joe Scarpino, Joe Weilnau and Colton BuBa Holland. As a side note, this was Joe Weilnau s first ever model boat race. Class 1st 2nd 3rd A STOCK OPC Team Holland Cody Holland Chris Bopp A MOD OPC Brad Taylor Ed Radz Robert Holland A SUPER STOCK Marvin Taylor Chris Bopp Brad Taylor A MONO David Holland Robert Holland Brad Taylor A HYDRO Robert Holland Joe Scarpino Brad Taylor SPORT 21 Cody Stout Team Holland Cody Holland A CAT Team Holland Cody Stout Brad Taylor B STOCK OPC Marvin Taylor Chris Bopp Brad Taylor B MONO Marvin Taylor David Holland Robert Holland SPORT 40 II David Holland Marvin Taylor Robert Holland B CAT Brad Taylor Marvin Taylor Dave White C MONO Joe Scarpino Brad Taylor Marvin Taylor OPEN MONO John Petras Brad Taylor Marvin Taylor 2 BOAT HIGH POINTS Brad Taylor OVERALL HIGH POINTS Brad Taylor "Our 2006 Lil Turkey s were Grace Holland, Avery Holland, and Briana Bopp" 8 April 2007

9 News From Nine By Michael McNight District Nine Director Wow! I finally have a little time to sit down and write this article. I ve only been trying to get to it for several weeks now. As you can imagine, things are quite busy around our district as we prepare for everyone coming for the Nationals. Plus we are about three weeks away from our season opener points race as well. Oh yeah, did I say I was busy? Seems like it was only a couple of days ago we were at the Grand Prix Classic! On the subject of the Grand Prix, despite some inclement weather Alfred, Roger, and Jennie put on another good race in fine style. There was good racing, good food, and great camaraderie. Henry Velasco and Don Maher joined us from District 19. Lohring Miller and Jerry Dunlap plus Jerrys son and another man named Dennis made the trek down from District Eight. Thanks again to Jerry Dunlap for supplying a couple of us (Lorenzo and myself) with some speedy little RTR Miss Vegas boats! Lorenzo only saw me pass him twice but it was more like four times. The check is in the mail Jerry! I suspect we may see some RTR racing in District Nine in the very near future. Congratulations to Dave Osman for taking top honors in Scale, Rudy Formanek in B Mod..all the results can be seen at Oh yeah, my son is nudging me to remind me that he beat me in the main. I thought I was going to escape having to mention him but he s right over my shoulder watching me write this. Really though, I hope you ll indulge me in a Proud Dad moment. At 10 years old he stepped up and raced scale for the very first time and he made it to the Main Event! He took the conservative route and waited for me to roll trying to dive under the leader, then he just cruised around me and brought it back to the beach with a second place finish while I laid in turn two upside down. He forgets I m the mechanic on that boat. I may just give him the not-so-good prop next time! Seriously, he did a great job and Gary Crawford, my trusted pit-man took good care of him. Great job guys. Even though we are getting started with our district points racing soon, my mind is focused on the Nationals. Not so much because there is still work to be done, but more anticipation and eagerness for it to get here. I ve yet to attend a Nationals. The last few years there was always something like a family wedding or something that prevented me from getting there. In a way it reminds of me of days back in the late 80 s when my brother and I were involved in fullsized boat racing as racers, and helping run some big APBA races that used to happen here long ago. There are a lot of similarities to those days and it s kind of nice that this is taking me back a ways. Our Nationals Committee and the rest of the district look forward to putting on a good show for everyone attending. We look forward to seeing some old friends and making some new ones too. I m going to keep it short and sweet for now still lots of work to do. We ll see you in San Jose in July! News From District 16 By Keith Warham District 16 Director This time of year in District 16 most of the bodies of water are still frozen and have been since November. The good that comes with this is that it gives us a break from boating and time to repair and/or build new boats. There have been a few new Scale boats built over the winter and also some Sport 40s and monos, making for what could be an exciting year of racing. Those that have them completed are itching to try them out which should be in early April if old mother nature doesn t mess it up. Our District meeting was held March 3 in Red Deer with 15 members in attendance. Some issues that came to light were resolved, and the race dates for the district were set for the 2007 schedule. Full details of the meeting have been posted on our web site The district s first race of the year is scheduled for April in Calgary, so we are hoping that there will be at least two weeks of open water so the guys with new boats can get them tested. Mother nature will dictate that. Good luck to all racers in Have fun and keep it safe. April

10 R.P.M. To Win or Just Go Fast, You'll Need R.P.M. "Roman Performance Marine" 40+ Years Experience in Building, Turning and Modifying 2 Cycle Engines 30+ Years of R.C. Boat Racing Past I.M.P.B.A. and N.A.M.B.A. Record Holder in Oval Racing, Time Trials Oval and Straight Past World Record Holder in A.M.A. Control Line Speed and Navy Carrier All of the above experience and knowledge gained goes into every engine I build R.P.M. Race Ready "ZENOAH 26" $ Ship Don't let the price fool you. An RPM ZENOAH is capable of winning anywhere. Your local pond or the Nationals. Introducing "Propellers by Chirs Hoffman" Complete Propeller Service, Sharpening, Balancing and Modifying All Props in Stock! Octura A.B.C. - PropShop Contact: Chris@dasboat@aol.com Tom Roman Wading River, N.Y. Safety Corner Lithium Polymer Batteries By Lohring Miller NAMBA Safety Chairman This column will be a departure from the usual format since the whole question of lithium polymer batteries (LiPo) involves performance as well as direct safety issues. As you know, all the electric proposals allowing this battery technology passed. It is a new, unexplored frontier for electric power. Much of the technical information below came from Joerg Mrkwitschka and his JAG s friends as well as members of the Puget Sound Fast Electric Boat Club. I heavily edited this input and added my own thoughts; so all the blame for any errors and miscommunication is mine. On the Internet there are stories of fires, explosions, reactions with water, and other dire examples of the destructive power of these batteries. Though I m sure there is some truth to these stories, the danger is overstated if they are used properly. After all, most of you carry one of these batteries in your cell phone and charge it in your home and car without a second thought. However, there have been some well-publicized fires in laptop computers using the similar lithium ion batteries (LiIon). I believe most of these problems can be traced to improper charging. It goes without saying that only chargers designed for LiPo batteries should be used. The normal charging process for LiIon and LiPo cells is a constant current then constant voltage charge. This means the battery is first charged at constant current, usually at one or two times the pack s ampere-hour rating, then once 4.2 volts are reached, a constant voltage is held. Holding a constant voltage results in low currents, so the last part of the charge can take a long time. This time can be sped up by pulsing the cells with higher voltages (like 4.3V), which keeps the current higher. I believe that this can result in idle cell voltage above 4.2V if not done properly. From what I understand, many commercial manufacturers who use LiIon or LiPo batteries try to speed the charging process up by putting more than 4.20 volts per cell to the batteries, like pulse charging at 4.30 volts or even 4.35 volts. There are indications that this may be the reason for the Dell and Apple laptop computer fires. The same Sony LiIon cells work fine in computers from other manufacturers. There is actually no reason why LiIon or LiPo cells should get significantly warm or even hot on charging unless they are charged at too high a current or too high 10 April 2007

11 a voltage. Anything above 4.20 volts reduces life span and thus usable capacity. Some manufacturers even specify 4.10 volts for LiIon, but I believe this is only done to extend battery life. Discharging the batteries below 2.5 volts per cell can also cause overheating and reduced cell life. Highend speed controllers or the discharge controllers described below should cut off well above this limit. In model use, where cells are connected in series and parallel, it is important that the above conditions are observed for each cell in the pack. This is where balancers and discharge control circuits are used. The idea of a balancer is that it measures the voltage of each cell in the pack during charging, matches them, and prevents the voltage from exceeding a safe limit. Balancers should be able to stop the charging process by either interrupting the power supply to the battery or by communicating with the charger via a data link. Balancers also can detect bad cells in the pack. When packs are used in parallel, they should still be charged in a way that each cell is observed individually, either in series on a charger/balancer for double cell count or by using two balancers. Discharge control circuits stop the discharge of a battery once a single cell in the pack drops below a specified voltage (usually 2.8V to 3.3V). There are systems available which supervise individual cells (they connect to the balancing connector) and are interconnected between receiver and motor speed controller. As mentioned above, many speed controllers sense total pack voltage and stop once voltage is below a certain limit. Problems arise with this system if one cell is below 2.5 volts while other cells maintain 3.5 volts. Because of this, a higher cut off voltage (at least 3.2 volts) should be used since the average pack voltage is sensed. This prevents badly over discharging the bad cell. LiPo batteries should not be charged unattended and should be enclosed in some type of safety container at least until the user is very familiar with his batteries and charging system. Chargers must use the correct cell count to avoid serious overcharging. Of course models can abuse batteries more seriously than cell phones. However, the tests required if the batteries are to be shipped are quite severe. The batteries can t burn or rupture after being subjected to conditions that are not likely even in model crashes. They include: Vibration at 8 g and 200 Hz Shock at 150 g Short circuit and forced discharge Impact from a 4-pound weight dropped from over 2 feet Overcharge at twice the maximum charge current. Modelers have done informal, but controlled, destructive tests on these batteries as well. One carefully cut a half charged cell open resulting in heat and smoke, but no fire. He then put the cell in a bucket of fresh water. Nothing happened. Another charged a 2s 4800 pack to 9.8 volts where the battery began to swell. Remember from above that 8.4 volts would be the normal maximum. He then discharged the pack at 40 amps (8C). The battery continued to swell and get hotter. After a few minutes the plastic wrapping on the pack caught fire. It was exciting to see, but the fire was extinguished by stepping on the pack. There was no exotic metal fire. If there is obvious damage, a bad smell, or any sign of leakage, the cells need to be disposed of. The recommended way to dispose of a LiPo battery is to discharge it to 0 volts, cut the plastic envelope, and soak the battery in salt water for 3 days. It can then be thrown in the trash safely. The other side of LiPo safety is the greatly increased power available. For the first time electrics can have both the power and endurance of internal combustion models. To understand this it is necessary to review some high school physics. Electrical power is measured in watts. One horsepower is 746 watts. Watts in DC circuits can be calculated by volts times amps. Volts in the equation are related directly to the number of cells, but the usable current is not as obvious. The theoretical peak burst current of a power supply equals 1/2 the rated voltage divided by the internal resistance. This is what you can use for the three to five seconds needed in a SAW run, but chemical batteries may not be able to deliver electrons at that rate. LiPos are rated at 3.7 volts per cell and some have internal resistances.003 ohms per cell or lower. For pre-warmed Polyquest, Thunderpower, or similar 20C 5000mAh cells the three to five second limit is known to be over 300 amps (60C). The power now available at 300 amps for an electric SAW racer with 10 LiPo cells is watts or almost 15 horsepower at 100% conversion efficiency. With over 85 percent efficiency from brushless motors and controllers you have over 12 horsepower. Two packs in parallel would double this to 25 horsepower. I doubt that any nitro engines even come close to this power level. For comparison, our 35cc CMB developed a little less than 12 horsepower in a bigger and heavier package. If you use the pack at moderate currents for heat or enduro racing, then you can totally empty it, though it would be better to partially empty the pack leaving percent of the capacity remaining to increase battery life. This can be done easily by setting a 3.2V - 3.3V discharge cutoff limit. In this case the average current equals available capacity divided by runtime. For LiPo's this current is represented by "the continuous C rate", which is now 20 to 25 times the battery capacity (and soon will be 30C). This means a three-minute total discharge time at 20C. Since this already causes reduced battery life (down to 10 percent compared to a 1C discharge rate), you may want to run the cells at only 15C, which means 4 1/2 minute minimum run time using the full capacity. So for 3 to 4 minute run times 5000mAh LiPo cells can safely provide 75 to100 amps continuous current. However, a one mile heat race seldom takes more than two minutes of full power even with the required (for gas and nitro) 30 second mill time. The standard electric race may only need one minute of full power. In this case the maximum current a battery can supply depends on its maximum temperature. For this intermediate time the battery can supply more than the continuous Continued on page 12 April

12 Safety Corner Lithium Polymer Batteries (Continued from page 11) rated current before the pack temperature rises to a dangerous level. The above mentioned 5000mAh 20C cells can provide about 150 amps (30C) sustained current for about 60 seconds, which about empties them by half or less. Two cells in parallel (as allowed by current rules) means 300 amps are safe from the battery point of view for this 60-second run time. percent efficiency is: N-2 2 ½ horsepower with 2S2P packs, similar to a 6cc nitro motor P 5 horsepower with 4S2P packs, similar to an 11cc nitro motor or standard 26cc gas motor Q 7 ½ horsepower with 6S2P packs, similar to a 1 cubic inch nitro motor or highly tuned 26cc gas motor S 10 horsepower with 8S2P packs T 12 ½ horsepower with 10S2P packs, more than a highly tuned 36cc gas motor The above comparisons are not completely accurate since electric motors have a fairly constant power over their operating rpm range where internal combustion engines have a nearly constant torque. This means electrics have much higher torque at lower rpm and will accelerate better. Because they can turn higher rpm, they also should be able to run more efficient props at high speed. Electric power plants running from LiPo batteries will also weigh the same or less than similar nitro engines with tuned pipes and full fuel tanks. Though 300-amp motor and controller technology is not yet fully available, it s close and because demand is there, it won t take long to develop. At the moment motors and controllers are the limiting factors, expensive fuses. When high power motors and speed controls become available, batteries and their temperature will be limiting again, causing safety problems. High current motors and controllers will be expensive as well. With one to two minute run times the high currents possible will result in people constantly destroying some component of the power train. One possible way to limit currents is to standardize on a one-mile total distance for a heat race and not allow any battery charging during the standard four heats. This would result in a total race distance of six miles and a race time of around six minutes. Average currents would then be limited to 100 amps (10C) with 10,000 mah batteries that were completely drained. For normal club racing the current would be less than that to give reasonable battery life. Race strategy would become very important with this rule and small differences in batteries should even out. Until now, battery technology has been the current limiting factor for heat racing. The present rules allow currents well above desirable levels. As experience is gained with LiPo batteries, a better rule structure can be developed. For now, NAMBA is at the front of racing LiPo technology. Please be careful out there. News from Seven By Scott Grissman District Seven Director Greetings to all from District Seven. The 2007 racing season is finally here. Our opening race was held by one of our newest clubs out of San Antonio, TX. They go by the name of South Texas Racing Team. In the past they were an IMPBA club only. But we were able to get them to carry both associations as of now thanks to the hard work of Bob Hartsock and Glen Quarles. Their race was held in Llano, Texas on February on the Llano River. It was a very nice race site. The only problem was Saturday's winds were in the 50 mph range. So racing was postponed until Sunday. Wow! What a work out by the CD, race helpers, and racers to get all those heats in on Sunday. Sunday turned out to be a perfect race day. One great thing about the event was that we had 15 IMPBA members show up. They did not like the clock or course cutting until they got used to it and then we only heard positive remarks about it. Being able to keep your eyes on the boat during the whole start is a good deal. We had a nice turn out with some classes having up to 16 boats. G1 Mono, G1 Cat, and Sport hydro had some great racing with lots of excitement. The rest of our district race schedule is as follows: Race #2 will be held April in Andrews, Texas, hosted by the Odessa R/C Association. Race #3 will be held June in Amarillo, Texas. Race #4 will be held July in Lubbock, Texas. Race #5 will arrive on August It will be hosted by The Odessa R/C Association, again in Andrews, Texas. Race #6 will be held September 15-16, hosted by the Lubbock R/C Power Boat Association. The final race of the season will be held October in Carlsbad, New Mexico and will be hosted by Albuquerque group. Our Amarillo club is trying to promote the G26 stock unlimited hydro class. This seems like a fun upcoming class that hopefully can get a foot hold in District Seven. I have been in contact with some District 19 members about this class, and have compiled some facts and info if anyone in District Seven is interested. One new idea that we have instituted in District Seven is giving out photo trophies for district races. It can save a club some money over plaques or trophies, and if a class does not end up having enough boats you are not out any money. After the final race, 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners get their picture taken with their boat and the CD hands out the pictures at the following race. 12 April 2007

13 Trophies collect dust and take up space. These pictures can be stapled on your garage or shop wall. That is about it for now. Good luck to everyone in your travels, and races for the 2007 season. Remember to try and bring a child or friend to the lake to promote our hobby. The Llano, Texas drivers stand where the CD and judges have a great view of the course A beautiful back drop of the Llano River outside of San Antonio, Texas where the South Texas Race Team hosted the first race of the season District Eight Report By Lohring Miller District Eight Director The 2007 District Eight meeting was held at the new Hydroplane and Race Boat Museum. In addition to the excellent collection of past unlimited hydroplanes, the nitro and electric scale modelers had an impressive collection of scale models on display. The Puget Sound Fast Electric Model Boat Club joined the nitro clubs, Puget Sound Model Boat Club, Northwest Roostertails, and Emerald RC Boats, for the meeting. Gene Gager represented the UNW scale racers. The usual business matters were discussed and decided, and several rule proposals for the new season were voted on. The first, a proposal to award fourth place points to a boat taken out of a race by another boat that was disqualified, was passed. A set of rules creating a new.18 ready to run sport hydro class was also passed. It is hoped that this class will become the ideal entry-level class where beginners can race with experienced boaters on a more level playing field. Early season results from the Gary Johnson Grand Prix as well as the Emerald RC Boat Club s first race showed great promise. At the ERCB club race a new boater won with a very stock Miss Vegas. At both races it was one of the larger classes. National competitions were also on the agenda since District Eight is hosting the Fast Electric Nationals this year and will be hosting the NAMBA Nitro and Gas Nationals in Jim Bickford reports that site details have been worked out, sponsors are mostly in place, and that many local electric racers have already entered the Electric Nationals. This year s event promises to be significant because lithium polymer batteries will be allowed for the first time. Experience at the first Puget Sound Fast Electric Model Boat Club event indicates that the only problems racers will have are greatly increased power and run times. Ken Mallit reported that the Twin Lakes ponds have a new manager and that he is very interested in bringing outside events to the community. The NAMBA Nationals would be very welcome and he believes that our needs for exclusive use of the ponds can be met. The area north of Seattle is growing rapidly and should have suitable hotels and other facilities. Greg Roth reported on the new Northwest Model Expo. The demise of the Hobby Group seemed to doom this annual event, but a group of local modelers lead by John Fogelstrom is reviving it. Though the announcement came a little late for serious District Eight participation this year, we will have a booth with District Eight information. We will do our best next year to support this Northwest institution. The Electric Nationals, the growing Northwest Scale Championships, as well as all the clubs season points races promise to make the coming race season one of the best ever. April