John Knight
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2003
- Messages
- 4,598
Guys,
For those that attended the Charleston Model Boaters 2008 World OB Tunnel Championships in Charleston, SC in late March 2008, we asked all to complete a survey of the race, date and format. After taking all of those survey comments, e mails and personal converstations into consideration, the CMB club had decided to make a change for 2009 for the betterment of the race. Those changes are:
DATES: May 1st, 2nd and 3rd, 2009.
FORMAT: Race starts on FRIDAY at 1200 noon with Round 1. Rounds 2 & 3 on Saturday. Round 4 on Sunday with the A/B mains and finals. This is now a 2 1/2 day race to ensure that we get in all 4 rounds.
BOAT LIMIT: Remains at 250 with fill-ins as needed.
OPEN WATER: All day Thursday and Friday from 8 until 11:30. Driver's meeting at 11:45 and racing starts at noon. Over 85% of the racers were in by Thursday afternoon for the 2008 race. So this should not impact greatly many racers.
Race flyer expected to be released in January 2009.
These changes have been made for several reasons, after much consideration and discussion, with racers and CMB club members. Reasons are:
1. There are many racers that come from the frozen north of MIN, WIS, MICH, OH, IND, ILL, MA, IA, NY, Canada, etc. Those racers often have to travel through very poor weather to race in late March. Some did not get there this past March due to the poor weather in their area. Moving the race back in the calendar will alleviate many of those challenges.
2. The same racers do not have the opportunity to test any of their boats due to hard water in their area. The racers in the warmer climates have a distinct advantage with test opportunities. The race will be more of a fair competition for all racers.
3. The weather front that came in threw us a major curve on Saturday afternoon and the race progress went to a crawl and resulted in round 4 being eliminated. Now with the race being a 2 1/2 day race, the pace will be more reasonable and will give us some cushion as well. The goal is to complete the race and activities by 2-3 pm on Sunday to allow for a reasonable departure time. The weather here in Charleston is much more pleasant and warmer in early May than in late March. Other than a thunderstorm possibility, the weather should be more suitable for a race of this caliper.
We are aware that moving the race into early May could potentially impact some district races in your area. We hope that some sliding of the race schedules can be made to allow racers to come without impacting their district race standings. That is why the announcement is being made now, early in the 2008 schedule.
Special note: A request has been made for an FE tunnel class for 2009. We tried that in 2007 and had to be cancelled due to lack of entries. So an early call for a response to see how many could attend and enter a FE tunnel in that class for the 2009 race. We have plenty of time, 6 months, to gauge the interest in that class before we release the race entry flyer. So let us know so we can reasonably prepare for it, if needed. As a reminder, the Open tunnel class is open to all entries, any type power and size. So a FE can run in that class and the Open class as well. Can use a different boat too.
One last item. The wooded area from the pit setup area down past buoys 4/5/6 will be thinned out for another 300-500' to be like the cleared area now. This will at least double the set up area for canopies & trailers. It will also substantially increase the vehicle parking area too. Additional PA speakers will be installed.
For those that attended the Charleston Model Boaters 2008 World OB Tunnel Championships in Charleston, SC in late March 2008, we asked all to complete a survey of the race, date and format. After taking all of those survey comments, e mails and personal converstations into consideration, the CMB club had decided to make a change for 2009 for the betterment of the race. Those changes are:
DATES: May 1st, 2nd and 3rd, 2009.
FORMAT: Race starts on FRIDAY at 1200 noon with Round 1. Rounds 2 & 3 on Saturday. Round 4 on Sunday with the A/B mains and finals. This is now a 2 1/2 day race to ensure that we get in all 4 rounds.
BOAT LIMIT: Remains at 250 with fill-ins as needed.
OPEN WATER: All day Thursday and Friday from 8 until 11:30. Driver's meeting at 11:45 and racing starts at noon. Over 85% of the racers were in by Thursday afternoon for the 2008 race. So this should not impact greatly many racers.
Race flyer expected to be released in January 2009.
These changes have been made for several reasons, after much consideration and discussion, with racers and CMB club members. Reasons are:
1. There are many racers that come from the frozen north of MIN, WIS, MICH, OH, IND, ILL, MA, IA, NY, Canada, etc. Those racers often have to travel through very poor weather to race in late March. Some did not get there this past March due to the poor weather in their area. Moving the race back in the calendar will alleviate many of those challenges.
2. The same racers do not have the opportunity to test any of their boats due to hard water in their area. The racers in the warmer climates have a distinct advantage with test opportunities. The race will be more of a fair competition for all racers.
3. The weather front that came in threw us a major curve on Saturday afternoon and the race progress went to a crawl and resulted in round 4 being eliminated. Now with the race being a 2 1/2 day race, the pace will be more reasonable and will give us some cushion as well. The goal is to complete the race and activities by 2-3 pm on Sunday to allow for a reasonable departure time. The weather here in Charleston is much more pleasant and warmer in early May than in late March. Other than a thunderstorm possibility, the weather should be more suitable for a race of this caliper.
We are aware that moving the race into early May could potentially impact some district races in your area. We hope that some sliding of the race schedules can be made to allow racers to come without impacting their district race standings. That is why the announcement is being made now, early in the 2008 schedule.
Special note: A request has been made for an FE tunnel class for 2009. We tried that in 2007 and had to be cancelled due to lack of entries. So an early call for a response to see how many could attend and enter a FE tunnel in that class for the 2009 race. We have plenty of time, 6 months, to gauge the interest in that class before we release the race entry flyer. So let us know so we can reasonably prepare for it, if needed. As a reminder, the Open tunnel class is open to all entries, any type power and size. So a FE can run in that class and the Open class as well. Can use a different boat too.
One last item. The wooded area from the pit setup area down past buoys 4/5/6 will be thinned out for another 300-500' to be like the cleared area now. This will at least double the set up area for canopies & trailers. It will also substantially increase the vehicle parking area too. Additional PA speakers will be installed.
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:lol: , and can you put up with all of us for the extra amount of time ?????????????? see ya in may !
