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Minutes of January 4, 2004 Meeting

Chairman Jim Lilly opened the meeting at 2:25 with 16 members in attendance. The minutes of the December 7 meeting were approved as submitted.

Roger provided a race site update. Events have been confirmed for Centralia (date TBD), Marysville on April 25, Lake Wilderness on June 11 or 12, and Puyallup (date TBD). Contacts have been made with Shady Lake (Rocky Peterson’s location), Coulon Park, Spanaway, and Bellevue Pond, with responses pending. Roger is finalizing the schedule dates for 2004, with the next update scheduled for the February meeting. Race Contest Directors were set for the following races:

Gold Cup Jim Clark / ERCU Board, sponsored by RC Hydros
Presidents Cup Jim Clark, sponsored by RC Hydros
Seafair Trophy Ron Hornung
Bernie Little Memorial Mike and Jeff Campbell
Diamond Cup Rick Lentz
Brewers Cup Jim and Dave Lilly
Sayres Memorial Trophy Monte Steere
Harmsworth Trophy Roger Newton

Roger prepared a list of Contest Director Responsibilities, to be added to the updated 2004 Rulebook. Revisions to the rules will be submitted prior to the February meeting for review and finalization at that meeting.

There may be several non-points events set around the proposed formal 10-race schedule.

Effective January 1, the Board positions of Treasurer and Registrar were merged into one position. This position will be held by Dave Lilly. A new position of Scale Inspector has been added to the Board, and will be held by Jim Clark for the 2004 season.

Voting by the members present resulted in Board officer selection for 2004-5. Those voted in were Roger Newton as Race Coordinator, Dave Lilly as Treasurer and David Newton as Statistician.

Jim Lilly has prepared a media package consisting of a brochure and a 3-minute video. This will be used to approach potential race sites and sponsors. Contact Jim if you would like to get copies.

Monte and John Williams will prepare a total of 20 buoys for the season. A large buoy will be set at the entrances to the turns. Five buoys will be set for each turn and three will be set on the straight-aways. A second buoy will be set at the start/finish line. Test sessions at Shady Lake in the near future will be used to determine the recommended course size and layout.

The application for club insurance with APBA has been submitted. Membership needs to be secured by each person planning to drive in a 2004 regatta. There is a $5.00 discount for membership applications submitted prior to January 31. Contact Roger if there are questions.

Howard Price and Jim Clark are preparing the Appearance and Scale Checklist that will be used for the 2004 season. This checklist will be posted on the web page when ready. Members are encouraged to have their boats checked prior to the first race. Contact Howard or Jim for additional information.

Two rule clarifications were passed. The Power and Drive Train – Vintage Class section will be modified to prohibit any type of gearbox, and the requirement for straight shaft with minimum diameter of 1/8” will be clarified.

Roger and Howard have secured an 8’x10’ booth at the Puyallup RC show scheduled for Saturday January 31 – Sunday February 1. Mike Gossler of Pacific Graphics will prepare a banner. Roger would like to have several boats available for display, along with a VCR with tapes of the season running. A sign-up sheet was circulated to have members present at the booth in 4-hour shifts on Saturday and Sunday. Members are encouraged to enter their boats in the show – contact Roger for more information.

Jim Clark reported that the AstroFlight motor order has arrived, and the speed controller order has been shipped. If you have ordered one of these items, contact Jim. He will check on the availability of future orders of AstroFlight items. Due to the rapid growth of the club, there will be a need for additional motors, with a possibility of club members sharing existing motors with new members. Jim will also check on case lot orders of batteries from www.offshoreelectrics.com. They currently have a price of $3.99 each for orders of 54 GP3300 cells. (Latest information is a price of $3.89 per cell in packs of 192, plus $30 shipping per pack.)

Jim Clark, outgoing Treasurer, reported a balance of $508.07 in the club account. This was turned over to new Treasurer Dave Lilly. New accounts will be established in the next few weeks, with payments for membership and boat registration accepted at that time. Boat registration reservations can be made at any time prior to payment by contacting Dave Lilly.

Jim Lilly requested input for the 2004 club t-shirt design and color. The shirt will be a solid color with one-color graphics. Several ideas included “light and bright”, wait for a season sponsor, and modify the logo to include both Vintage and Modern boats. If you have any ideas, contact Jim.

Jim also requested that members fill out the boat description template that was sent out to the Yahoo group. This information will be used to update the Boat Section on the web site. Jim also asked for ideas on the website, and for members to submit articles for inclusion. The club sincerely appreciates the work Jim does keeping the site up to date, interesting and current.

Points of interest:

Galaxy Hobby Shop in Lynnwood will add the E-R/CU link to their web site.

John Williams is preparing vacuum-formed scale motors available to members. Included so far is a highly detailed stock allison and a turbo-charged allison version, with a rolls-merlin coming soon. Contact John if you are interested in ordering one or some of these. He would like to stop taking new orders by the end of January, so if you are interested contact him by phone at 2425-255-7032. (He does not have email.)

Jeff Campbell can prepare a complete hardware kit for new boats. He also has targeted January 31 as a deadline for new orders so contact him if you are interested.

It was suggested to prepare an E-R/CU display at the Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum, as many interested people are visiting the museum.

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned after Show and Tell at 4:45.