you're on the clock

[piper_chuck]

:angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: Biggest ***** !!!!! .... need judges, need judges, need judges .... on & on & on !!!!!

Every damm heat, no one wants to judge ( we require you judge a heat for EVERY one you run ) so heats wait on judges ... this is OUR DISTRICTS weak link to gettin er done timely :blink:

ODMBA had a creative solution for this, the first two finishers in a heat are REQUIRED to be turn judges for the next heat. If there's a reason they can't judge, it's their responsibility to find a replacement.

 

[John Palica]

I CD'd a race this past weekend. A NAMBA District 11 race. I will not wait for someone unless he has a legitamate excuse. Usually there will be a couple of minutes to get all of the transmitters turned off and the frequency pins back on the board. Also we give a back to back entry 5 minutes to get ready. When the retreive boat hits the beach and the water is suitable for the next class I start the count down. If all the boats are in the water I'll ask the drivers and pit crews if they want to go to the 30 second clock. With their approval we jump to 30 seconds. This format has never proven to be a problem and can save considerable time over the course of a days racing. Another factor I take into consideration is the driver that has to return home that evening. Many drive 3 to 4 hours to get to a race. I don't want a tired contestant traveling a long distance late at night. We can usually run 4 rounds, beginning about 10 AM, completing the last heat around 6PM at the latest. Usually earlier. That's with up to 70 boats.

 

[SayMikey]

I CD'd a race this past weekend. A NAMBA District 11 race. I will not wait for someone unless he has a legitamate excuse. Usually there will be a couple of minutes to get all of the transmitters turned off and the frequency pins back on the board. Also we give a back to back entry 5 minutes to get ready. When the retreive boat hits the beach and the water is suitable for the next class I start the count down. If all the boats are in the water I'll ask the drivers and pit crews if they want to go to the 30 second clock. With their approval we jump to 30 seconds. This format has never proven to be a problem and can save considerable time over the course of a days racing. Another factor I take into consideration is the driver that has to return home that evening. Many drive 3 to 4 hours to get to a race. I don't want a tired contestant traveling a long distance late at night. We can usually run 4 rounds, beginning about 10 AM, completing the last heat around 6PM at the latest. Usually earlier. That's with up to 70 boats.

Im with Don and Mike Hallam,cutting time is not the issue and wont help could cause safety issues. Just be in the pit and ready to go and have pit bosses ,retrieve boats and scedules for heats ready. We have been doing ok for years in most of these areas. Why would you hurry a guy racing a boat that cost over a grand into a stupid mistake that we all have made? My Vote leave it be.....Mike Schindler

 

[AWaddle322]

2) DO NOT WAIT FOR ROLLERS TO CLEAR. That is a big delay YOU HAVE 2.5 MINUTES for them to clear.they are normaly gone in that time frame.

If you use TWO retrieve boats at big races & they go out FAST & back easy you will not have problem #2. B)

As for not waiting for rollers to clear I'll disagree with that. The guy in the retrieve boat created that, if the host club doesn't runs the retrieval correctly they are creating this problem. There's no nice way to say this but in past years I've seen idiot retrieve boat drivers come back wide open with the bow 30+ degrees in the air creating rollers so big they swamped 1/2 or more of the next heat, even after the boats went in at the last second waiting for the whitecaps ...er I mean "rollers" to lay down. And the clock was getting started as soon as said retrieve boats hit the beach. h34r:

There was a race that I attended for several years and in about 2003 they started this practice of bringing the retrieve boat in wide open and putting you on the clock and no the pond did not settle enough to have real racing. Because of this practice I did not attend this race in 2004 and 2005. In 2005 some club members from the club asked why we had quite attending there race and we explained what we saw to them. They stated that if we would come back that they would gaurentee that this would not happen. We went back in 2006 and will be back for 2007 and then on, or until we see some similar pratice that distractact majorly form racing.

Allen

 

[Dan_Cousin]

At the Northern Nats, we had 2 retrieve boats to cover each side of the pond like Don was saying. We also have a controlled radio impound tent where your radio is clipped and ready for you. Our heats are all preprinted so everyone knows when they're up. The retrieve boats return to shore slowly but as soon as they hit the shore, the next heat starts. We had no complaints about not being ready. We had about 140 heats and finished the 4th round about 3:30 Sunday afternoon. We also ran with a 2:30 clock.

There ya go, a perfect example of what I was getting at, thanks Mike!

Me too.

With 1:30 clocks, you would have finished round 4 at 1:30 instead of 3:30 and had time for round 5!

there is no one silver bullet fix but every little bit helps.

 

[Dan_Cousin]

:huh: Time is NOT the problem here ...

I just C.D.ed our clubs district race this past weekend, in NAMBA you have 2 min to get started and off the table, then 30 sec clock for the start. In every heat, unless there is a hold by one of the pit guys, or a boat is still on a table, the 30 sec start clock is started regardless of remaining 2 min clock time. THIS SPEED'S IT UP A BUNCH !!

:angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: Biggest ***** !!!!! .... need judges, need judges, need judges .... on & on & on !!!!!

Every damm heat, no one wants to judge ( we require you judge a heat for EVERY one you run ) so heats wait on judges ... this is OUR DISTRICTS weak link to gettin er done timely :blink:

Scott

This sounds good too. The only complaint I can see is that someone that is used to lining up with the clock before mill time is going to complain when the clock suddendly jumps to the 30 second countdown and they are off time.

what brought up this tpoic is that the last few races I've been to, after the "your on the clock!!" is announced, there are about 30-45 seconds of silence then engines start cranking up. Guys are just sitting there looking at the clock not wanting to get on the water too soon.

 

[Don Ferrette]

At the Northern Nats, we had 2 retrieve boats to cover each side of the pond like Don was saying. We also have a controlled radio impound tent where your radio is clipped and ready for you. Our heats are all preprinted so everyone knows when they're up. The retrieve boats return to shore slowly but as soon as they hit the shore, the next heat starts. We had no complaints about not being ready. We had about 140 heats and finished the 4th round about 3:30 Sunday afternoon. We also ran with a 2:30 clock.

There ya go, a perfect example of what I was getting at, thanks Mike!

With 1:30 clocks, you would have finished round 4 at 1:30 instead of 3:30 and had time for round 5!

Ok time to put the crack pipe away. With 140 heats in 4 rounds that's 35 heats per round, you'd be sending people home in the dark starting a 5th round @ 1:30 as you still have to factor in at least an hour at the end for trophy presentations & raffles. One heat takes 6-8 minutes with NO problems like dead boats & that's being generous, a more realistic number is 9 or 10. A dead boat or two will easily raise a heat completion time to 11 or 12 minutes minimum. If you can average 7-8 heats done per hour you are doing well. Start racing by 7:30-8:00am, run the retrieve boats efficiently & correctly & don't waste time waiting on people who aren't ready. And one more thing ..... stop screwing with the time clock. I go to races to have FUN, not for the $10 plaque to hang on the wall, already got boxes full of them. You press too hard & take the FUN FACTOR away & you'll see your boat count dwindle to the point you won't have to worry about saving time....... h34r:

 

[Stuart Barr]

The current amount of time (2:30) gives the new boater enough time to get into the water. I have seen those use all the pit time on many ocassions. Lessing the time is not a accommidation to our new members.

 

[jeff baham]

well, i see the pros and cons about the 2:30 clock time, AS FAR AS the turn judges, i personally think that should be club members job. but most member want to try and shine at there own pond. which is good . if he or she run more than three classes at a race, then, just run one class at the home pond. i run three class when i race so i'm willing to run one or none to help out and make traveling racers happy. plus i am a member of the SGRA club and we do have two retrieve boats that go out.

 

[Brad Christy]

Guys,

I was waiting for someone to mention something about the "new" boaters. If you take away even just 30 seconds from the start clock, you will instantly start losing new boaters. Nobody wants to go to even a local event, only to miss the clock two out of three times in the pits because they haven't had sufficient time in the hobby to get a pit routine down. This hobby is cost prohibitive enough, let's not make it experience prohibitive, too.

One other thing to add to this:

I helped Allen Waddle in the pits at this weekends Masters in Cinci in 60 and 80 hydro and the Unlimited class. Allen is not what I would call a new boater (not by a long shot). In nearly every heat, he would begin his routine, getting his boat started within 15-30 seconds of the start of the clock. By the time I got his boat to the water's edge, I got the go-ahead from the pit boss to launch Allen's boat and I got up behind Allen on the driver's stand, we were looking at about 1:10 left on the clock. This was with NO HITCHES. There was one heat when he had a bit of difficulty getting his boat started, but got it running on the stand before the 30 second mark. I got his boat launched and got up behind him just in time to see the start of the race. He had NO TIME to pace his laps and stage his start.

If you ask me, 2:30 is just about the perfect clock time. Having the heats ready to go and starting them in a timely manner is the only answer to speeding up the heats. Starting the clock when there are rollers from the retrieve boat will only cause more dead boats, and thus slow things down further. If you pace things appropriately, you can afford to give a racer a minute or two to tie up a loose end or two, get his freq. clip, etc........

Thanks. Brad.

Titan Racing Components

BlackJack Hydros

 

[Scott Norris]

Can I get an AMEN! I Ggree Totally!

 

[Joe Warren]

Can I get an AMEN! I Ggree Totally!

There are only 6 Guys complaining anyways....

 

[jeff baham]

joe, i'm not complaining just suggesting, a new boater will read the rule, and adjust to them, (just an example) if you tell a new boater he only have 1:30 to start his boat and onthe water, he' going to that just like the rest of us.

don' what's a crack pipe.

 

[piper_chuck]

joe, i'm not complaining just suggesting, a new boater will read the rule, and adjust to them, (just an example) if you tell a new boater he only have 1:30 to start his boat and onthe water, he' going to that just like the rest of us.

Or he's going to get so frustrated at trying, but failing, to deal with the firedrill and quit after too many times where he can't get the boat started and ends up watching everyone else race. Considering the percentages of DNS/DNF I've seen at races, it seems we should be looking for ways to make it easier to start and finish rather than harder.

 

[dave roach]

I have been in this hobby for 20 years and anything less than 2:30 seconds can be a problem.In some heats running 6or7 boats getting all started and walking each one down for a launch and weigthing on the pit boss you are going to use 1:30 seconds of the clock to get all the boats in.

My .002 cents

Dave Roach

 

[153stars]

I race many races where I have back to back classes. I come to the pits with 2 boats and have the next boat on the start table as soon as the previous race is over. If my first boat is in the retrieve boat, I don't worry to much about it. It doesn't have to go to my pit Right That Minute. Set it aside. It's not going to catch on fire if it sits there for 5 minutes. Some people can't seem to get the boat preparation thing down and it slows things up for everyone. This is the biggest delay that I have seen at most races. Don't ask if everybody is ready, just start the clock!

My 2 cents.

yea but it sure can get expensive if the pic up boat does not cut off the switch with stripped servos.

Allen

After retrieving 80 boats a day easy alot of switches can't be found it would nice if they were. We were talking about it a club meeting tonight .The IN THE GET READY PHRASE would clear alot of confusion "are you counting this round "? And if you wait for alot of straglers they just keep stragling.Frequincy clips !!!!! what the F@#$ if you lost 10 points for every min . waited on clip nobody would forget. I also think the rounds order on a card would help its not too often a whole round gets scratched

I have been in this hobby for 20 years and anything less than 2:30 seconds can be a problem.In some heats running 6or7 boats getting all started and walking each one down for a launch and weigthing on the pit boss you are going to use 1:30 seconds of the clock to get all the boats in.

My .002 cents

Dave Roach

Saftey should be our top priorty.

 

[Roger Hooks Jr.]

William is right. I helped CD a race this past weekend and if the CD is paying attention you can really move things along by asking the drivers if they are ready for the :30. There were time when I went to the :30 as early as one minute. I also missed a heat just because the darn boat didn't want to fire using up all the 2:30 and I think two laps of the race.