Meeting Minutes 12-7-03

Chairman Jim Lilly opened the meeting at 2:00 with 17 members in attendance. The minutes of the November 2 meeting were approved, with discussion on course sizes to be continued.

The winter meeting dates were confirmed. The scheduled meetings will be held at the Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum in Kent on the first Sunday of each month except February. The dates will be January 4, February 8, March 7 and April 4. The February meeting was rescheduled to avoid conflict with the RC show in Puyallup, scheduled for January 31-February 1.

Roger updated the progress on race sites selection. Sites under consideration are Coulon in Renton, Puyallup, Shady Lake, Bellevue Pond, Lake Wilderness, Centralia, Lake Pleasant in Bothell, Lake Waughop in Lakewood, Spanaway, Monroe Pond, with Marysville and Green Lake as possible sites. A ten-race schedule will be prepared for the 2004 season.

The E-R/CU Board met on November 23. It was determined that the positions of Registrar and Treasurer will be combined into a single position, to simplify record-keeping and have a single point of contact for these functions. Dave Lilly will fill this office for 2004. A new position responsible for "Scale Appearance" has been established. This officer will work in conjunction with the Technical Inspector. Jim Clark will hold this position for the 2004 season. The board also confirmed the use of the "Astroflight 25" — 5 turn motor for the Modern Class that was approved by the members in attendance at the November 2 meeting.

The vote for board members for 2004 was tabled until the January meeting. Those nominated to date are Roger Newton and Ron Daum for Race Coordinator, Dave Lilly for Registrar and David Newton for Statistician. Other nominations can be made prior to the January meeting via email or phone call to Rick Lentz.

Ron Daum submitted the NAMBA electric course definition for discussion to establish a standard for E-R/CU sites. It was determined to use 2004 races to test prior to establishing a formal course size. The club will provide more straightaway buoys and 5 buoys for each turn. The optimum course setup takes three people and two boats at the site, and setup should be done early — a target would be to have the course ready by 10 am on race days. It was moved and seconded to have Monte build ten new buoys and have the club provide $100 for materials. The motion passed.

A discussion on scale appearance of the boats was held. Howard presented a checklist used by R/C Unlimited as a recommendation for assuring conformance to club requirements for appearance. This checklist modified for E-R/CU will be used for the 2004 season. All boats will be inspected prior to their first race. The rules specify what items are required on the boat, and the general rule of ". . resembling the original boat in appearance as closely as possible" will be determined by the Scale Appearance officer. The purpose of the inspection is to provide assistance in maintaining the standards of the club and will not be used to prevent any boat from competing for other than blatant disregard of the rules. It is strongly recommended that a photo of the real boat be available at the time of the inspection. Inspectors will review each boat sitting in the water using a six-foot standoff as the basis for review. Inspections can be done at any time and do not have to be done at a race site. If there are questions on appearance, there are many members that can help with pictures and/or personal knowledge.

The members discussed the topic of insurance for club members. It was determined by those present to require every person to have insurance coverage as a requirement to drive in a race, effective for the 2004 season. The recommended insurance will be through APBA, available to members at $50 ($55 after January 31) for the year or $10 per event.
Application forms are available in the APBA website at www.apba-racing.com.

As mentioned above, the club will be hosting a booth at the RC Fair in Puyallup on January 31 — February 1. Howard and Roger will be coordinating the setup. The club would like to have multiple boats available for display, with an information card made up if possible telling some history of the boat. The booth will have video presentation and club information. Volunteers will be needed to man the booth, so notify Howard or Roger if you can be available.

The treasurer reported that the account stands at $695.07 after paying for the banquet and t-shirts and adding the receipts from the auction held at the banquet.
Jim Clark will submit an order for speed controllers from rchydros.com. Anyone interested in purchasing one should contact Jim.

The website has been receiving a steady number of hits each day, averaging over 200 hits per day. Jim Lilly would appreciate input and articles from members to keep the site current and interesting. He will be doing a one-hour video of the 2003 season plus a ten-minute version to use at the RC Fair and a two-minute version to use for presenting to potential sponsors and/or race sites, along with a booklet and club information.

John Williams is building scale motors, and is working on stock allison, merlin and turbo-charged allison versions. Let him know if you are interested in one of these motors.

Jim Lilly is making cockpit parts. Jeff Campbell is making hardware pieces. David Gardner’s mother can make life jackets. Contact them if you would like more information.

Rule clarification: If a driver pilots two boats at a regatta, the second boat will automatically be placed in the heat immediately following the draw of the first boat.
Guidelines for the Contest Director were discussed. He is to secure approval from the club to host a race and secure the use of the site. He will be responsible for setting the course, providing the trophies and overseeing the entire day’s activities. He will assure that a referee and two turn judges are in place for each heat prior to the one-minute gun.

News and Rumors from the 17 members in attendance indicated that 19 Vintage boats and 6 Modern boats are anticipated for the coming season.

The next meeting will be held at the Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum at 2:00 pm on Sunday, January 4, 2004.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:55.