driver etiquette

[Grimracer]

Hum... lets see.. from my perspective.. (and what I have learned from both sides of the fence)

1- I have made some bad driving errors in the heat of battle. (if those happen it can be hard to swallow, apologize .. but after a few years ya get better at it)
2- I have been hit and the same deal.. some will never take ownership and make that apology.. (remember one).. it can take time and in some cases, its just the demeanor of that person.
3- Be kind, congratulate a win, congratulate a nice run or good or smart drive. Apologize when its your turn to do so.. If you have a new racers inspire them. Run HARD.. talk to them about the run, let them know this is there future too. Help others, take responsibility, BE KIND! After all Its a hobby!

Grim

 

[Bill Gibson]

Hum... lets see.. from my perspective.. (and what I have learned from both sides of the fence)

1- I have made some bad driving errors in the heat of battle. (if those happen it can be hard to swallow, apologize .. but after a few years ya get better at it)
2- I have been hit and the same deal.. some will never take ownership and make that apology.. (remember one).. it can take time and in some cases, its just the demeanor of that person.
3- Be kind, congratulate a win, congratulate a nice run or good or smart drive. Apologize when its your turn to do so.. If you have a new racers inspire them. Run HARD.. talk to them about the run, let them know this is there future too. Help others, take responsibility, BE KIND! After all Its a hobby!

Grim

Exactly.....! Well said!

 

[Jerry Betke]

The Thunder Boat that I am holding in the picture had hours of labor and cost associated with it. We had a sign hanging on the door of our boating trailer that read, "If you don't want it hit, don't put it in the water". Following my own advise, I could not bring myself to race the darn thing, so it sat on the shelve for a few years. I would display the boat at different events and received a lot of complements. A young fellow saw it and made me an offer I could not refuse. So I sold the boat last fall and the new owner is planning to race it. I am happy that the boat will actually do what it was intended for. In conclusion,this is my only boat in over fifty years of racing that has never been hit or destroyed for one reason or another. So I can only say to this post, "If you don't want it hit, don't put it in the water" JB

 

[john v]

i like what grim said

 

[OtisHelmke]

Afternoon everyone,

I've been reading all of this as I don't often comment but for a change I have something to say. I only get to race a couple or three times a year and so far not any this season. I mostly race at SOWEGA which is a nice place to run, plenty of room and nice people. A few years back I was running a heat in D tunnel. Late in the day there the sun starts to set in our faces and there is a huge section of reflected light on the back straight. We were running a five boat heat and while it was a competitive intense race I was easily the slowest boat running. Three of the others did not finish and all were called dead boats. Two of them were well out of the way but the third was floating right at turn 4. The problem was that as soon as my boat hit the reflected water I completely lost sight of it until it got past turn three. All I could think of was to count to two, hit full right and see where it came out. I actually made it through turn four but missed that dead boat by about a foot and everybody was watching. Unfortunately there were still about four laps to go and that dead boat was not staying put. I did the same thing every lap for the rest of the race and managed to finish unscathed. Had I hit that boat I would have apologized to the driver but would not even consider paying for the damage and feel that a fine or DQ would be ridiculous. None of that was even suggested. Racing is racing. When I race airplanes it is a certainty that more than a few will go home in a trash bag. That doesn't seem to be a problem with boats but racing is still racing and always will be.

Rick H.

 

[don donikowski]

Thoughts and history
Well...I too have hit a couple dead boats. Both times I attributed it to my error, apologized and offered to repair damages.
But once was when I was practicing as a newbie many years ago. I hit a dead hydro and fixed a sponson. The other one was Lenny Blake's boat in back straight. I misread depth of field. Ran over top of his mono during race. I apologized, offered to repair, was chewed out politely. Didn't fix it for him. He's one of our good guys. Dist. 19. We never considered any form of payment. Racing has its damages.
Bear in mind I raced both inboard and outboard including A Tunnel, B tunnel, A OB mono, A inb mono/v, B inb. mono, C inb mono, B inb hydro, X inb .hydro, several versions of each and at least 2 races a month...a flock of boats and races over about 10 years. Practice& testing 2-3 days a week.
A very important factor in avoidance is your pitman. He should be guiding you-"in, out" slow, fast tighter etc. I had a few of the best.
If you listen and realize he's your copilot...you won't hit many. My thanks to Jack Oxley-my team mate, Ron Russel and a few other Legg Lake peeps.
If possible, try to run with same pitman for each race. Train and understand each other's methods. Then help each other to drive better.
Good luck, and remember, if you can't see the boat, chop the throttle! better dead than crashed.
Don Donikowski-Dist. 19 old guy.

 

[Hydro Junkie]

Thoughts and history
Well...I too have hit a couple dead boats. Both times I attributed it to my error, apologized and offered to repair damages.
But once was when I was practicing as a newbie many years ago. I hit a dead hydro and fixed a sponson. The other one was Lenny Blake's boat in back straight. I misread depth of field. Ran over top of his mono during race. I apologized, offered to repair, was chewed out politely. Didn't fix it for him. He's one of our good guys. Dist. 19. We never considered any form of payment. Racing has its damages.
Bear in mind I raced both inboard and outboard including A Tunnel, B tunnel, A OB mono, A inb mono/v, B inb. mono, C inb mono, B inb hydro, X inb .hydro, several versions of each and at least 2 races a month...a flock of boats and races over about 10 years. Practice& testing 2-3 days a week.
A very important factor in avoidance is your pitman. He should be guiding you-"in, out" slow, fast tighter etc. I had a few of the best.
If you listen and realize he's your copilot...you won't hit many. My thanks to Jack Oxley-my team mate, Ron Russel and a few other Legg Lake peeps.
If possible, try to run with same pitman for each race. Train and understand each other's methods. Then help each other to drive better.
Good luck, and remember, if you can't see the boat, chop the throttle! better dead than crashed.
Don Donikowski-Dist. 19 old guy.

Thank You, Don
I mentioned the importance of pitmen in my first post(post 5) on the first page. Nice to see someone else bring up that subject again as (s)he is the best way to not hit a dead boat.

 

[don donikowski]

Thank You, Don
I mentioned the importance of pitmen in my first post(post 5) on the first page. Nice to see someone else bring up that subject again as (s)he is the best way to not hit a dead boat.

Greetz, You're welcome.
I didn't read all posts on the subject but the pitman subject and the cut the throttle make sense. Glad a few of us see it that way.
Some comments seem to be unhappy about the dead boats. Just part of what we do. No one wants their boat to die out during a run.
Regards,
Don

 

[Hydro Junkie]

I know how it goes, not having a boat that is running great. Hell, I got chewed out by someone that saw a video of my boat starting last and finishing last in a consolation heat several years ago. At that particular race, the boat had handlng issues, wouldn't turn at over half throttle so I didn't try to race with the faster boats, just went for the points by finishing heats. I saw the season as a marathon and not a sprint and that's the way I approached my heats after seeing the issue my boat had. The one that chewed me out felt that I should have gone for winning every heat and, if the boat got wrecked, so be it. Funny part of the whole deal is the race was north of Seattle and the guy that chewed me out lives and races in the San Francisco area.

 

[properchopper]

I would certainly agree that a responsible pit man is essential. Beyond that as I was just getting into the oval racing scene and learning the ropes I would , when possible, have Tyler G. pit for me. Standing at my shoulder I often felt that he was the driver, I was just holding the controller and following his instructions. Then there was one unforgettable race where I was awarded the coveted 2 for 1 Carnage Special Award when I loaned my personal P-Sport FE30 to Jeff M. for a heat and he flipped it dead on the far back straight. Along I came with my other FE30 and nailed it at full chat while my pit man's [not Tyler] focus was enjoying a romantic stroll on a Bermuda beach in a parallel universe. Took out two of my own boats in a single heat. Good times...

 

[Grimracer]

Looks like we are moving on to Callers..

Here is my take

I have spent years working towards "any caller" works for me.. Weather they have called for me in the past or not.. (its nice to have somebody I know.. BUT.. my program works with anybody)

Here is the deal if you call for me... you will hear me say....

1 Count my laps.
2 Tell me where the dead boats are EVERY LAP.
3 Dont "put me on the clock" and what EVER YOU DO.. PLEASE DONT tell me ware to drive (let me make those good and bad decisions..LOL. I dont want messy background noise and I dont want to hear your interpretation of a "lane width". (not trying to sound mean here... ) but.. I do sound like an ass hole.. LOL.. not meant to be that way!


Having said all of this, there are a few guys I trust with that info BUT.. I feel I have to be ready for ANYBODY to call for me.. (truth is it makes it EASY and nice to not worry about a caller). Its also fun to train a new caller this way.. take the pressure off them.


Grim

 

[Tom Foley]

What is the best oil to use in a Zenoah 26 cc engine and how many ounces per gallon .

 

[Hydro Junkie]

Looks like we are moving on to Callers..

Here is my take

I have spent years working towards "any caller" works for me.. Weather they have called for me in the past or not.. (its nice to have somebody I know.. BUT.. my program works with anybody)

Here is the deal if you call for me... you will hear me say....

1 Count my laps.
2 Tell me where the dead boats are EVERY LAP.
3 Dont "put me on the clock" and what EVER YOU DO.. PLEASE DONT tell me ware to drive (let me make those good and bad decisions..LOL. I dont want messy background noise and I dont want to hear your interpretation of a "lane width". (not trying to sound mean here... ) but.. I do sound like an ass hole.. LOL.. not meant to be that way!


Having said all of this, there are a few guys I trust with that info BUT.. I feel I have to be ready for ANYBODY to call for me.. (truth is it makes it EASY and nice to not worry about a caller). Its also fun to train a new caller this way.. take the pressure off them.


Grim

How do you figure that #3 makes you sound bad? That is, more or less, what I would ask is laps and where the dead boats are. Now, with that said, if you were to say to me "dead boat in roughly lane 2 midway down the back stretch, you should probably go wide", I would probably go wide. If I don't follow your recommendation and go inside and you get on me about it, I probably wouldn't ask you to spot for me again because, as you said, I'M DRIVING. Not quite sure what you mean by "put me on the clock" since that can mean different things to different people

 

[Mike Hughes]

I have race with Eric Bourlet and Mark Anderson for years now. We have a very good udnerstanding of how to call the race for each other. They include 1 and 2 the same as Mike Z. We do tell each other where to run. We have the same understanding as each other. So a boat dies in the left turn appex lane 4to 5. We call "Put it in lane 1-3". If there is time,more description can go in. Like the location of the dead boat. **** happens fast sometimes. It is a trust thing. I wont call them into something that I know they wont be able to do. When racing the twin, it seems like a lot of stuff happens too quick. Eric had a tough time of keeping track of it all sometimes. I told him, just keep calling me on the dead boats. I build a race course in my minds eye with all the crap laying about and have no problem driving thru it all at those speeds while using them to make some passes as well. Nothing like those heats to get my blood flowing. I do ask when pitting for someone new what they like to hear. If nothing specific comes up. I call them like it was Eric or Mark. Maybe not some much on where to drive. Just what lanes are open.
Mike

 

[Ray Sametz]

On a side note for the newbies, focus on where you want to go, never on the dead boat. You'll hit it for sure. It's a hand----eye thing.

 

[Bill Gibson]

On a side note for the newbies, focus on where you want to go, never on the dead boat. You'll hit it for sure. It's a hand----eye thing.

This is a VERY, VERY, GOOD POINT!

 

[john v]

that would make a difference between a good pit guy and a great one, i to have my favorate pit guys. your pit guy will tell you something before you think of it and you just say wow, he saved me on that one. like i said before i like to pick a well seasoned pit guy for a new racer, the pit guy keeps him out of trouble

 

[Mark Anderson]

As Mike stated, he, Eric and I share a lot of info. A few others have told me it was too much to process. Others want to know data that we don't share. It is very important to understand what the driver wants. Besides dead boats I am looking for good water conditions that will give my driver the best chance to win. We have a trust that if told to put the boat in lane two we do it. If a dead boat is outside I quite often will not tell them about it after the first time. We simply don't run out there. As we cross the finish line, I remind them of every dead boat again. If something is hard to see I stay with the driver until the boat is shut off. Otherwise I head down to the launch area.

 

[Grimracer]

Being a good pit man.. is not the same as being the driver expecting info.. As a pit man...

Talk to the driver about what they expect before heat, dead boat, lap, position.. etc.. (what ever they want)
if they are new.. provide them "extra" simple info.. like.. slow down if the water is messy or the lanes are plugged! Let them know the course is clear if it is...

If they are old buddy's of yours that you have raced for ever with they all know what to expect..

I am with Mark... I will not walk down to get the boat UNTIL the driver has his head around the situation.

Grim

 

[Carl Van Houten]

I have never run over another boat at our practice pond or at a race but it may happen to me the next time I go to the pond. I hope not but if it does you won't see me running around cursing someone in the pit area. Actually I think that CD's should call out people who act like this.

There are some people that are going to act a fool when they are involved in a crash and to hear them tell it the crash was always the other guys fault. We have all seen this kind of racer and they never seem to change. Nobody should ever expect another driver to pay for their boat from a crash. If you can't afford to loose your model keep it in the trailer. Also you will learn a lot about someone by how they treat others when they crash.