Decrease in entries...

[Grimracer]

If the idea comes up time and time again there "might" be to many classes.. then the IMPBA SHOULD look and understand to see "IF" that might be the case.

No more no less...

We also keep saying "Add em all together, or, run an open class".. This is not going to fix a thing.. just mask the issue.

Grim

 

[ZZ RACING]

Guys just look back at all the racers we had a few years ago and now look who is missing. It's not the amount of classes it's the amount of racers not racing anymore. They got out for whatever reason but face it, we don't have the racers we had a few years ago.

 

[Grimracer]

Just food for thought.. more of an observation then anything.

The NAR (National Association of Rocketry) has this year obtained its largest amount of members, EVER.. in their history.. even back in the heydays of rocketry.



What is so interesting about that is that at “most” launches, local anyway, you don’t need to be a member of the NAR to fly.



Having said this to travel at most events you do.. The last two “traveling” events I went to were MASSAVE… HUGE output of money.



Almost EVERY rocket at the event was a kit or scratch built.. some VERY costly (put our boat costs to shame) and a gallon of fuel… lol.. about 250 bucks a second!





BTY.. my new rocket is about 1,200 bucks, build and paint, and around 100 per flight.. what the hell is wrong with me……lol



So.. we have people willing to travel, spend money and build.. what if anything are we the IMPBA missing?



Grim

 

[Ronald Van Wagnen]

Grimm,

What we "IMPBA" has is a strong degree of difficulty. Lots of build time, lots of test time, lots of travel time and then the darn thing goes lean in the first heat and the poor sap has to wait around for another few hours to see if he richened it up enough !

Don,

I have been district director for the second largest district in the country for more than a term. I have attended many a board meeting, so please save the if you don't like the way we do it , step up routine. It get's old fast. That is not the correct image to let the membership see...

Maybe flip the rose glasses off and look beyond the end of your nose. At least consider some of the input from the membership and discuss it with your comrades at the next DOD meeting. You never know.... something may just develop by being open minded.

Happy fireworks day ya all !

Inactive ron

 

[Ron Jefferson]

Don,

While reading your posts I have to ask myself. If someone were to step up to the board level with the intent to make change, would it even be welcomed? or would they be fired insults at like "you're a complainer, you just don't get it, or take off the rose colored glasses". Somehow I think not. Why would anyone set themselves up for such failure? I've sat on so many boards/re-engineering committees that I can't count that high. Problem is, some of the best ideas get shot down before they're even heard. And if you don't think that things will never be the way they once were, you're sadly mistaken. Even bell bottom pants came back in style.

 

[Grimracer]

Grimm,

What we "IMPBA" has is a strong degree of difficulty. Lots of build time, lots of test time, lots of travel time and then the darn thing goes lean in the first heat and the poor sap has to wait around for another few hours to see if he richened it up enough !

Don,

I have been district director for the second largest district in the country for more than a term. I have attended many a board meeting, so please save the if you don't like the way we do it , step up routine. It get's old fast. That is not the correct image to let the membership see..

Maybe flip the rose glasses off and look beyond the end of your nose. At least consider some of the input from the membership and discuss it with your comrades at the next DOD meeting. You never know.... something may just develop by being open minded.

Happy fireworks day ya all !

Inactive ron

Good point.. truth is we dont get em back if we do it wrong.. ONE CHANCE to get it right..(Smoking hole of money and time) I do however understand what you are saying..

I failed at my first try at an L2.. the motor chuffed A BUNCH and sent the timing off on the delay grain.. missed L2 and came home with a broken rocket..

One chance.. one flight.. FAIL.. never the less.. moving on...

The IMPBA / us should take this opportunity to listen and understand. Ask more people what they think might be going on.. not tell em what they should do. I bet at the end of the day we get a good idea as to what “might” be the issue or at least one to look into.

I personally DO feel turnouts are down (again not that this make better racing to me) but they are down.. Is this the issue? If so then we need to ask the members what they feel might help.. I happen to agree with the amount of classes we have causing some of the issue. I also feel upfront confusion is part of it too. In our READY GO society we are using terms like A, D and P to describe a RC boat class. It’s the question I get the most in my line of work.

Just open thinking………

Grimracer

Grim

 

[Don Ferrette]

Grimm,

What we "IMPBA" has is a strong degree of difficulty. Lots of build time, lots of test time, lots of travel time and then the darn thing goes lean in the first heat and the poor sap has to wait around for another few hours to see if he richened it up enough !

Don,

I have been district director for the second largest district in the country for more than a term. I have attended many a board meeting, so please save the if you don't like the way we do it , step up routine. It get's old fast. That is not the correct image to let the membership see...

Maybe flip the rose glasses off and look beyond the end of your nose. At least consider some of the input from the membership and discuss it with your comrades at the next DOD meeting. You never know.... something may just develop by being open minded.

Happy fireworks day ya all !

Inactive ron

Coming from someone who hasn't been racing or active in the org for over a decade carries zip with me. You want to resort to childish name calling (now edited out) so be it, but YOU are part of the problem, YOU left the hobby and then have the stones to come in here and criticize what we do?? I'll be polite in my choice of language and just say you know where to put it. We DO listen to the membership contrary to what you imply, where do you think the new classes came from? I'll say it one more time, the solution starts with the members and what they choose to run. If the boat count problem is in one's area THAT is where the fix begins. Looking past the end of my nose, now THAT is comical coming from the likes of you. I have and always will put what the MAJORITY of the membership wants first rather than what I want regardless of if I agree with it or not.

 

[Randy Rapedius]

Don, I agree reducing classes may not be the answer. Maybe the burden is on th club or CD of the event to notify the entrants of low registration and that (?#) boats of (whatever class) can become one open class for that day. For me it's better than sitting at home on the Playstation. I don't feel we can gripe if we are offered any chance to participate.

DING! DING! DING! We have a winner folks! Classes got added because members ASKED for them (gee Randy that sure sounds like listening to the membership and acting accordingly) and there is nothing that says you have to offer all the classes, you offer what is running and popular in your given area. If a class has a low boat count then it's up to the people in that area to generate the interest. I stand behind everything I have posted and the answers start with everyone looking in the mirror and not looking for someone or something else to pin the blame or responsibility on.

Really Don? So, because a few showed interest in a new Gas Scale class, you decided to write up a huge set of rules and push it through for a vote? Or was it maybe ... just maybe because you had a few of these hulls already built and sitting in your trailer? Come on ... do you honestly think people are blind? You wanted the class so you pushed it through without thinking about the betterment of the hobby. Another class to water down the already watered down classes not to mention the safety hazards of having to retrieve a 25 lb hull full of water without someone getting injured or flipping the retrieve boat. Internal politics at it's best!

Okay ... you say to look in the mirror. I have tried to promote racing. IMPBA D1 is almost the largest district in IMPBA and is GROWING in numbers. YES GROWING. We in D1 have asked twice to have an IMPBA ''NATIONAL'' event and were shot down twice. Hmmmmmmm .... don't you think that promoting the hobby by having a National event would help? Maybe it would add more excitement and draw even more racers? Then again why allow us to have such an event? We are only a highly organized 12 year old club with 42 members in the fastest growing (and almost the largest) district in all of IMPBA.

Wake up guys. The mighty IMPBA is dying off slowly as more and more clubs/districts make the move to NAMBA. Who knows ... maybe that is a good thing. At least we will finally have ONE governing organization.

Rant over.

 

[Don Ferrette]

Randy you are spewing so much garbage! Internal politics?? I pushed it through?? I was asked to write the gas scale rules by one of the IMPBA members who was building one (and told me of others being built) because I've raced nitro scales for many years. Maybe you should go look at the vote count there smart guy. I do not own a gas boat at all so how did it benefit me?? Before you spout off making baseless accusations perhaps you should know what you are talking about.

 

[Tim Kish]

Alright lets get this back on track, most agree it seems that there is a problem and that this is everyone's problem (gas, nitro, electric) so how can it be solved?

A lot of bright people on here and I'm sure we could come up with a solution that most will agree on.

One thing that I would like to see would be a freeze on adding anything new or at the very least if a new class is to be introduced then an old class of the same discipline has to be removed.That at the very least would make people think before we throw another class out there.

 

[ZZ RACING]

Ok Randy maybe you should take a look at how the Gas Scale rules were passed. They were out there for a 1 year trial and then the MEMBERSHIP voted FOR the class. Nothing was jammed through. Since you think we have to many classes, what classes would you like to see go away. And by the way, membership numbers are up from last year. You are not doing your district any good by complaining with giving facts that are not correct. Would you like a NAMBA application?

 

[Danny King]

I'm not sure about everything going on in here but it seems deeper then the amount of classes.

It would be wrong for a BOD to limit classes. Unless the majority of the membership voted on it. And having a sanctioning body put out specific national or international rules is crazy. It should be left up to the specific club as to what classes to run. And it is up to us to fix this not the BOD. It is their responsibility to uphold our vote and bi laws.

The problem we have in Florida is it is namba district 3. Which has stout rules for putting on a race and if a high points race you have to offer certain classes. We would be much better off dropping the high points part along with the criteria for holding one. This would free up the clubs to host the formats they want without watering down the district series even more. We had to send the district approximately $375 for district fees. when at least 1/2 the field only attend 2 or 3 of the 9 races.

I AM ALL FOR LESS CLASSes and more rounds. But not having the sanctioning bodies governing it, it should be left to the club.

 

[Tim Kish]

Danny I understand what your saying about leaving it up to the club but I think if we do that it's to late, we will just have another boat built that doesn't have a class to race in or they will be pushed into the open class and that just leads to unhappy people that probably won't be around long.

 

[Ron Jefferson]

Would you like a NAMBA application? With the IMPBA President inviting people to switch organizations it might be time to lock this topic! Sad really...

 

[ZZ RACING]

Would you like a NAMBA application? With the IMPBA President inviting people to switch organizations it might be time to lock this topic! Sad really...

Randy has complained about all kinds of things offering up no solutions. So what classes would you like to get rid of. I'm listening!!

 

[Randy Rapedius]

Don. I was sure I saw a few of those monster gas scale boats in your trailer at Hobart a few years ago. Correct?

Mr. Rupley. How could the IMPBA BOD even entertain adding another class when it was so very clear that ''too many classes'' was an issue? In that one year trial period how many races actually had the Gas Scale class? One? Maybe 2? You say IMPBA numbers are up? Last year it was approx. 970 if I recall correctly. Are the IMPBA numbers more than that?. Is it up to the 1637 membership that NAMBA recorded last year? You ask what classes to cut? That would be a difficult decision to make but it will eventually have to be done or as others have already said, the hosting club will have to choose what not to offer. I can see these ''OPEN'' cases becoming the future. For now it is my opinion that NO more classes should be added. If numbers are the same or even up then why is racing participation so low? There IS a problem and this needs to be addressed. Free IMPBA membership for the first year might get people to join and hopefully get hooked. Might work? Now Mr. Prez ... I noticed you never made comment of why D1 was denied twice to hold a national event to help promote racing and the hobby as a whole. No need for a NAMBA application. I already have a 2015 in front of me. Great way for a President to respond. (shaking my head). Comments such as that are exactly why so many clubs have jumped the sinking IMPBA ship.

Maybe if we all bury our heads in the sand all the problems will go away.

 

[ZZ RACING]

Ok guys here is the deal. The BOD does what you, the membership wants. Everything goes through the membership. It is not our decision. It is YOURS, the membership. I can't make guys come to the races. It is up to the clubs to draw racers to their race. Sure there are a few races that sell out quickly year after year. Why do you suppose that is? Is it the venue? The CDing? Maybe both?

Complaining on the forums does nothing but bring out the worst. This is my last post on this.

 

[Randy Rapedius]

Ok guys here is the deal. The BOD does what you, the membership wants. Everything goes through the membership. It is not our decision. It is YOURS, the membership. I can't make guys come to the races. It is up to the clubs to draw racers to their race. Sure there are a few races that sell out quickly year after year. Why do you suppose that is? Is it the venue? The CDing? Maybe both?

Complaining on the forums does nothing but bring out the worst. This is my last post on this.

Mr Rupley. I find this comment difficult to digest. 186 D1 members wanted to hold a National event and we were shot down by the BOD for no real reason. Please let me know how THIS was promoting the hobby? Here we are in D1 trying to get more racers out and to promote the hobby just to be told NO!

 

[jack dyer]

I wonder how many clubs offer schedule club racing so new members can learn how to race with other boats on the water. As you know big difference between running by yourself and racing against 6 or 7 other boats.

 

[Ron Jefferson]

Oops, apparently there's some history here I knew nothing about. This thread just went down another road. I'm outa here.

RJ