RTR racing

New boater was asking me who is holding RTR racing in IMPBA dist 4 or 14?

Wants to race his Elam with the .15 We saw it hit 30 mph so it should keep up with the pack.

He already is wanting to upgrade to a .18 Anyone have better speeds with a different pipe for that boat?

I know Evansville plans to have a rtr class in June, any other dates?

He really not excited about joining the IMPBA for just one run.

PHIL T

In NAMBA District 8 Sport .18 RTR Hydro has become the most popular class both in my club and at district races. It has been attracting both new and very experienced racers with challenges for both.

Lohring Miller

Phil,

I know you asked about races in Districts 4 and 14. The Greensboro, NC club in D12 just had a RTR hydro class in a race just completed. And our club, the Charleston Model Boaters (CMB), Charleston, SC, is having our annual invitational race on 6/7 October. We are having final discussions with the club members to add a RTR Hydro class to the race.

I know it is a fair distance to travel, but Steve Ball, Stu & John Barr, Brad Christy, and others have come to our races in the past. We have a new 25 acre deep water lake with over 2400 ft long straights that we will running our races at from now on. It is large enough to host time trials in the future if we are so inclined. All are welcome.

John

I am in D4 and I have been looking for a RTR class but there are very few if any, I wanted to race my thundercat 31 . But I really cant find a RTR class at all.

Paul

p.s If he put an .18 in there he could try racing with the sport 20's, I have seen the Miss Vegas running in sport 20. I'm not gonna say you will win but you will get experience going around the buoys.

Badgers run a "novice" class that you can run your 20 size RTR's in here in Kenosha. The down side to the novice class is that you can't run any other class if you are running the "novice" class but it does give a place to race.

I would hope that we pick up an RTR class as well, it is the best way to get more new people in the sport. Being a shop owner, I have sold several RTR's this year and they are now new members at our club and a couple are already looking to "move up" to another boat and class....

Bill

Phil, we are offering the RTR class at the Masters in Sept along with the A hydro class. We will see what shows, as we have heard alot of talk, but haven't seen any boats yet.

Bruce Jacobs said:

Phil, we are offering the RTR class at the Masters in Sept along with the A hydro class. We will see what shows, as we have heard alot of talk, but haven't seen any boats yet.

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Yea we will see how it goes at Evansville.

James where this guy is there are no other boaters with rtr, closest club 110mi so it going to hard for him unless he wants to travel to run rtr class. OF course he wants to go and win and dont want to be running last place. he will have to learn quick I guess.

He has the latest Elam .15 proboat It does run pretty well and has not given any trouble. We saw it get up to 30mph. will that give him a chance to place at at a rtr race??

Phil, not really but you know how racing goes, the fastest boat doesn't always win. The Vegas' are faster out of the box than the Bud/Elam/LLumar's but they are coming out with a Formula that will have a Dynamite .18 in it.

Phil aren't you guys pretty close distance to Champaign, IL get a hold of Russ or Grim and see what they have going.

bzubee said:

Phil aren't you guys pretty close distance to Champaign, IL get a hold of Russ or Grim and see what they have going.

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I dont have one of these RTR Im just asking for the newbe, he may go to Evansville to try a race.

He could also talk with Gary Preusse about offering it at their race or have him give Garret Randal a call and see what he can come up with. Al's would probably support a class like that it would sure help sales for that type of boat and get more RTR boaters into racing and helping at races.

bzubee said:

He could also talk with Gary Preusse about offering it at their race or have him give Garret Randal a call and see what he can come up with. Al's would probably support a class like that it would sure help sales for that type of boat and get more RTR boaters into racing and helping at races.

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Yea You would think that all the Chicago dist 4 clubs would be into the RTR class for the store bought .15and .18 hydros.

I had asked the club I am in about a RTR class and they didn't seam real interested. When I did talk with Tony L. of the badgers club about racing a "A" class he said if there are 3 boats we will have the class ( regardless of what is on the flier). So I am assuming that if there was 3 RTR's at there race they would have the class, they are some really nice guys and they really do try and help the newbies. I have gotten an open invitation from them to go run with them and practice just about every weekend (race schedules pending, there pond is a private pond and someone from there club would have to be there). I would talk with the badgers, Gary Preusse is a really great guy also I cant speak for him but I think he would be willing to help. I also cant wait for the Masters I have been trying to run my A hydro against some really nice B hydros and its not an easy thing..................... at this point just getting my boat to run a full race would be great lol. So running in a "A" hydro class would be the best, I know of myself and one other that says for sure that we will be there ready to race. Soooo Please if you got a "A" hydro bring it to the masters Please.

Paul

p.s. In both the races I have been to this season they have run the Miss Vegas with the sport 20 class, and both races they placed. But there was only 1 Vegas at each race.

gooycheese said:

I had asked the club I am in about a RTR class and they didn't seam real interested. When I did talk with Tony L. of the badgers club about racing a "A" class he said if there are 3 boats we will have the class ( regardless of what is on the flier). So I am assuming that if there was 3 RTR's at there race they would have the class, they are some really nice guys and they really do try and help the newbies. I have gotten an open invitation from them to go run with them and practice just about every weekend (race schedules pending, there pond is a private pond and someone from there club would have to be there). I would talk with the badgers, Gary Preusse is a really great guy also I cant speak for him but I think he would be willing to help. I also cant wait for the Masters I have been trying to run my A hydro against some really nice B hydros and its not an easy thing..................... at this point just getting my boat to run a full race would be great lol. So running in a "A" hydro class would be the best, I know of myself and one other that says for sure that we will be there ready to race. Soooo Please if you got a "A" hydro bring it to the masters Please.

Paul

p.s. In both the races I have been to this season they have run the Miss Vegas with the sport 20 class, and both races they placed. But there was only 1 Vegas at each race.

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Paul, if we have 3 RTR for June 10Th race at Quadcity Roostertails in Milan, we will run that class.

We have 2 guys runnin them now in our club, so looks like one more may do it!

Thats cool Mark, I didn't see it on the flier thats why I didn't mention it. So the roosters are like the badgers if there is enough for the class then you will let them run, that sounds great to me.

Paul

Umm the question would be are they running basic stock boats with prop and turn fin upgrades or are they running modded boats?

Just wanted to put a little more information out regarding the Badger RC Club races here in Kenosha.

After discussing the RTR class with Mike C the club President, he did confirm that if there are 3 or more boats we WILL offer the RTR class to any and all drivers that show up and wish to run. IMPBA membership required of course

The limitiations in this class will be:

Absolutely NO modifications to the engine, drive system, hull or exhaust. It must run as it came out of the package.

Radio and Propeller changes are LEGAL.

I know that we have 2 or 3 new members with RTR's that will probably be out there so this should ensure that we have plenty of RTR drivers to race at the Badger races....

Bill

rcpilotbill said:

Just wanted to put a little more information out regarding the Badger RC Club races here in Kenosha.
After discussing the RTR class with Mike C the club President, he did confirm that if there are 3 or more boats we WILL offer the RTR class to any and all drivers that show up and wish to run. IMPBA membership required of course

The limitiations in this class will be:

Absolutely NO modifications to the engine, drive system, hull or exhaust. It must run as it came out of the package.

Radio and Propeller changes are LEGAL.

I know that we have 2 or 3 new members with RTR's that will probably be out there so this should ensure that we have plenty of RTR drivers to race at the Badger races....

Bill

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OK good luck finding three guys that dont tinker with there boats You going to tell a newbe that he cant run if he shows up with something a bit different? I can see same engine and hull no mods as out of the box.

P THOMAS said:

rcpilotbill said:

Just wanted to put a little more information out regarding the Badger RC Club races here in Kenosha.
After discussing the RTR class with Mike C the club President, he did confirm that if there are 3 or more boats we WILL offer the RTR class to any and all drivers that show up and wish to run. IMPBA membership required of course

The limitiations in this class will be:

Absolutely NO modifications to the engine, drive system, hull or exhaust. It must run as it came out of the package.

Radio and Propeller changes are LEGAL.

I know that we have 2 or 3 new members with RTR's that will probably be out there so this should ensure that we have plenty of RTR drivers to race at the Badger races....

Bill

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OK good luck finding three guys that dont tinker with there boats You going to tell a newbe that he cant run if he shows up with something a bit different? I can see same engine and hull no mods as out of the box.

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This is exactly why the discussion rules in the December Roostertail allowed for limited changes for the stock class. For example, stock exhaust couplers often don't work so well, so they can be changed. Based on additional feedback, we added some additional changes for the D12 RTR class. An example is to allow replacing the radio box, since they've been shown to leak.

Much of this was thought through in online discussions last fall and was reflected in the article. Work is currently going on to finish up those rules and make them more formal, but there's also a need to let this class run for a while to learn what works best before casting anything in concrete...

Sorry guys, I dont want to rehash something that has obviously beene discussed to some extreme level, but I am now very confused.... The question was what clubs are offering a RTR class. You are looking for clubs that are willing to run an RTR class. When we step up and say that we are going to run an RTR class if we have enough boats and that we even have a couple of new members that will probably be running the class, however, the boat has to really be an RTR. You then say good luck finding 3 boaters that dont tinker with their boats.

Maybe my unmodified statement was misunderstood. Color, Paint, Stickers are not modifications. Making sure your radio box does not leak is not a modification. Changing an exhaust coupler to a type that does not break is not a modification. Changing the engine, pipe, header, pipe and or header length, port matching, internal engine mods are modifications. altering the RTR design of the hull is a modification.

I think we have enough "stock" classes that have spent the new boaters out of the hobby. I think that if we allow the changes in an RTR class then we are defeating the intended purpose and are really just kidding ourselves in to believing that we are trying to change anything.

Your question was, Would a boater be turned away? If the boat was obviously performance enhanced and modified? Wouldn't you turn them away from that class? The problem is if you dont and you allow them to run, the next guy says hey I have to do xxxx to keep up and it just gets out of hand from there AND the people with the TRUE RTR doesnt come back if they have no chance of being competative with their STOCK boat.

These are all things that we have already been through in the RC car side of the hobby. As a shop and track owner, I can certainly tell you that after a couple of years of trying this stock, mod and rtr thing..... the funnest racing that we have on the track is also the class that is restricted to stock and unmodified chassis with restrictions on any upgrades that are allowed. It is also the closest and most competative class of racing that we have with the highest weekly car count.

At any rate, whether I have mispoken, or have been too outspoken and offended someone, the Badger RC Club will be hosting an RTR class at all of our races so come on out and run

with us.

Bill

rcpilotbill said:

Sorry guys, I dont want to rehash something that has obviously beene discussed to some extreme level, but I am now very confused.... The question was what clubs are offering a RTR class. You are looking for clubs that are willing to run an RTR class. When we step up and say that we are going to run an RTR class if we have enough boats and that we even have a couple of new members that will probably be running the class, however, the boat has to really be an RTR. You then say good luck finding 3 boaters that dont tinker with their boats.
Maybe my unmodified statement was misunderstood. Color, Paint, Stickers are not modifications. Making sure your radio box does not leak is not a modification. Changing an exhaust coupler to a type that does not break is not a modification. Changing the engine, pipe, header, pipe and or header length, port matching, internal engine mods are modifications. altering the RTR design of the hull is a modification.

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Bill, I agree, but some people take things very literally. One person will read "no exhaust modifications" to mean absolutely none, including coupler, while others will assume that things like the coupler can be changed. Where would you put props in your list? If a person has gone from the original plastic prop to a metal one is that stock or modification? My reason for asking is you will find lots of people who have changed the prop. Spelling these things out ahead of time goes a long way toward avoiding arguments and bad feelings at the pond. I'm not trying to be argumentative, just pointing out the value of having a written standard for what is and isn't stock.

I think we have enough "stock" classes that have spent the new boaters out of the hobby. I think that if we allow the changes in an RTR class then we are defeating the intended purpose and are really just kidding ourselves in to believing that we are trying to change anything.

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Very true. However, something else to consider is there are already lots of people out there who have tweaked their RTR boats in some way. If they show an interest in racing, do you turn them away because they've modded their boats, or do you find a way to help them fit in? There's a balancing act between running a stock class to encourage the people who buy one of these boats from the hobby shop and show up at the pond, and supporting a fairly natural desire to start looking for more speed at some point.

Your question was, Would a boater be turned away? If the boat was obviously performance enhanced and modified? Wouldn't you turn them away from that class? The problem is if you dont and you allow them to run, the next guy says hey I have to do xxxx to keep up and it just gets out of hand from there AND the people with the TRUE RTR doesnt come back if they have no chance of being competative with their STOCK boat.

These are all things that we have already been through in the RC car side of the hobby. As a shop and track owner, I can certainly tell you that after a couple of years of trying this stock, mod and rtr thing..... the funnest racing that we have on the track is also the class that is restricted to stock and unmodified chassis with restrictions on any upgrades that are allowed. It is also the closest and most competative class of racing that we have with the highest weekly car count.

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This is an interesting perspective. What kind of verification is used to confirm the cars stay stock? Does it work on the honor system or is there some kind of inspection? Have people tried to sneak in upgrades? What happened when they did?

At any rate, whether I have mispoken, or have been too outspoken and offended someone, the Badger RC Club will be hosting an RTR class at all of our races so come on out and run with us.

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That's great news. We had an RTR class with 5 boats at our district race and they are welcome at our club races.