4/29/2006 - We seem to have a rather interesting problem in Scale at the moment. The rules state that your boat must be an APBA registered boat as listed in the Master Hull Roster. The problem lies in that APBA is no longer involved in Unlimited Hydroplane racing as of the end of the 2004 season. So if you plan to build a boat from the 2005 fleet to present you would technically be not able to run it as it is not an APBA registered hull. The new ABRA now governs the Unlimiteds and I have contacted Al Waters about this issue. I only brought it up to him as I had sold a number of sets of graphics for 2005 boats and some include the ABRA logo which reminded me of that rule. The fact is that the newer boats will still be included in the Master Hull Roster so if you want to build a newer boat you can still do it while the NAMBA Board revises the rules governing this matter.
9/1/2005 - Just a couple of tidbits as the season winds down. As we have only two races to go thoughts of winter projects start to creep in to our minds of new boats that we may want to build for next year. A reminder that it would benefit you greatly to make sure that your hull is measured and legal BEFORE you get to far into the project. I'm always willing to make time to take care of this for you if you need it.
The Muncey in San Diego is coming and entries need to get in to Al Waters before the deadline. One question that has come up is the availability of pit passes for the big boats. Al has informed me that due to restrictions by the race committee that race and pit passes will only be allowed for the DRIVER only for the Muncey. Meaning you can't get one for your pit man if you bring one. You must also fill out additional paperwork this year than Al will provide for you.
Some in this district know that I have recently started a sign and graphics business. Although I will be mainly focusing on doing fleet and commercial vehicle graphics....I will also do race trailer and scale graphics as well. I am currently building a library of Scale Unlimited Graphics and I will post what I have available with pricing soon. In the mean time, if you need something let me know and if I don't have it I can get it or create it. - Mike McKnight
4/28/2005 - Ok you fans of Nostalgia! Since I am the CD for the Model Mariners race in June I have a little leeway on the format of the race. Here's what I would like to do...if time permits on Saturday I would like to have a "Shovelnose Classic" fun race. I'm even gonna get my Pay N' Pak Lil' Buzzard together for this. If you have a shovelnose (or a rigger Glen) let me know if this is something you would like to do and I will try and work it into the schedule. - Mike
3/20/2005 - At this time the boats that have raced the first two races of the year have all been measured and certified. If you run into a situation as I did where you have to race another boat due to race damage, or you have another boat you wish to race other than the one that you have raced to date, it must be measured and certified BEFORE you race. If it has not been before the start of the first heat you intend you race you will not be allowed to run your boat. I will be available to measure and certify boats up to the start of the race on Saturdays. I can even take care of it during the race if you have a boat you plan to race at the next contest. Beginning at the Seaside race I will be earnestly checking for other items such as concealed pipes and complete drivers. A complete driver consists of a head, shoulders and arms. If you driver is not complete you will be allowed to run but you will only be eligible to receive 6th place points until it is fixed. If you need help locating a driver contact me and I may have a solution. I will be distributing all of the certification cards I have to date at the next race. Please keep these cards available with the boat at the race.
2/10/2005 - An issue regarding measurement of our boats has come up again and I have done quite a bit of research to attempt to correct the problem. The problem is this...there is a discrepancy between the way the NAMBA rules allow us to measure boats and the way the actual unlimiteds are measured. I've been aware of this problem for some time due to the fact that I have a hull that is one of many right on the middle of the problem. If I measure my Miss Madison/DeWalt hull to the transom the boat is slightly over 2" too short according the the NAMBA rule. However, if I measure to the end of the canoe extensions the boat is within the hull roster tolerances and inline with actual measurement scale to the real boat.
The NAMBA rules state that the overall length must be measured from the forward most point of the basic hull (tip of the sponson) to the rearward most point of the basic hull excluding appendages like canoe extensions and tiplets (the transom) and that it must be =/- 1" to the scale measurement of the real boat. Here's where the problem lies...the transom design has had a gradual change in design over the years approxomately the late 80's and early 90's. Today all of the current unlimited fleet has a deep inset to the transom. Now somewhere along the way from the early 90s to today the overall length measurement of the full size hulls by APBA changed from the transom to the top of the tiplets or canoe extensions. My sources with APBA, past and present and even Roger Newton said no one really knows when this change took place. The fact of the matter is that most of the newer boats seem to have been measured in this way.
So what do we do about the discrepancy? Well, I have consulted with various individuals on this. Including the National Scale Chairman and the District 9 Technical and Rules Advisor as well as numerous others around the country. The National Scale Chairman's response was that in District 19 where he is, they allow the minimum measurement to be taken from one of three places. I agree with two of them, which is the transom and the top of the extensions.
How do we solve this problem? Since most of the boat builders and even Roger Newton when he measures a real boat to do the plans are measuring newer boats this way so we have a problem. Based upon the information I have gathered and and on the advise of the afore mentioned individuals I am inclined to allow overall length to be measured to the transom AND/OR to the top of the extension on a case by case basis. For example, I already have documentation en route verifying the dimensions of several of the newer boats and how they were measured. If you plan to build a newer boat, meaning '04 boats and back say 10 years or so, contact me when you get the hull. I may have the info you need to make sure you are accurate and I will make the notations in my copy of the hull roster. A lot of boats will probably be legal measuring to either point. It's the most recent boats that have the really deep inset transom and that is where we have the issues right now.
I am not inclined to make someone lengthen a boat if they are too short to just to meet the NAMBA rule. Especially if the real boat has been measured to the extensions for the simple reason that the boat would not look right. Since our prime directive is to model the real boats as closely as possible I believe we need to do as they do.
At some point we may need to propose rule changes to accommodate this problem. Many district and clubs have done just that.
2/7/2005 - Just an observation but it looks as though this year for Scale Unlimiteds will be a good one as our fleet of boats in District 9 continues to grow. Jim Bird is jumping into the mix with a new 2000 York International. Ray Pellerino is bringing out a new '78 Squire Shop this year with his old boat now in the hands of Jeff Alvey and Bob Rendon will also be joining the fleet. Bill Peck has the Llumar out for repairs this year but he's bringing back the $ Bill and it's looking pretty fast.
Two things I want to toss out there to Scale Drivers and anyone interested in getting into Scale Unlimiteds. First, at some point during the season, possibly Saturday nights after the races or whenever, I'd like to do some workshops on Scale. Everything from reading the Scale Roster and measuring your boats correctly to building techniques to whatever subjects anyone wants to cover. I kind of borrowed the idea from a couple of people actually. One here in the district and also some friends in IMPBA back east that do this on a regular basis. They have different people do workshops on different subjects once every couple of months to try and help new and old boaters alike. I thought it was a pretty unique idea and if you are interested let me know and I'll start setting something up.
Second, I asked Gary if it would be ok to offer something a little different at a couple of races this year and that is a movie night. Roger Newton does it occasionally at the Raceboat Museum in Washington and I thought it would be fun to do it Saturday night or two during the summer. I have over 200 hours of video and actual races from 1955 to present. I have tentatively scheduled the first one Saturday night at the Model Mariners race with another to follow maybe after the Nationals. More to come on this.
2005 NAMBA Master Hull Rosters will be available in print bound in a folder for $5 or you can print one from the link on the D9 website.
1/28/2005 - A few boats have been measured for this upcoming season. One thing that I would like to see when you bring your boat to be measured is a picture of the boat you are trying to model. I have pics of most boats running in our district but I do not have a few. Please bring a pic of the boat you are representing as some boats changed setups and equipment quite a bit over the course of a season and didn't look the same at the end as they did at the beginning of the season. If you do not have a picture of your boat for some reason let me know and I will try to help you locate one. If I don't have it I'll use what resources I have to find one.
1/5/2005 - As the District Scale Chairman for this year I have been fielding a number of concerns from various racers since being appointed. I will try to address all of them but the one that has been voiced the most is the enforcement of the Scale Rules. Not much enforcement has taken place of late and I intend to change that.
The first enforcement issue that needs attention is that of measurement of boats. I will be measuring and documenting all scale boats that have the intention of running in District 9. You as a scale driver/owner have the responsibility of contacting me to get your boat documented and measured before the second district points race of 2005 if you plan to make every race and vie for the championship. If your boat has not been measured and documented by that race, you will not be allowed to race the boat until is has been documented. If you don't make the first couple of races, you will have one race to take care of getting it documented. If you plan on running more than one boat this year, as one boat one race another the next, you must get all other boats documented before racing.
The second issue with regards to enforcement is that of "intent of the class" or "gentleman's agreements". The only intent that is in the rules is what is stated in the NAMBA Scale Rules, and that is the intent to model the full sized original boats as best we can. That includes the way they ran and various set-ups. For example, if you have a boat with wings and for whatever reason you do not run with a horizontal wing, you will be allowed to run a maximum of two races within the season, however you must be able to provide proof that the original boat ran that way intentionally. Just a photo of the boat running without a wing is not sufficient because it cannot be determined that it was in a race or official qualifier or just a testing run. It needs to have run in a race or official qualifier that way. The reason behind this is that a number of the original boats like the Circus , Winston Eagle, Exide, Tide, Executone, Budweiser and Smokin' Joes intentionally ran races with no wing. I have video proof of quite a few boats that did this as an intentional set-up technique. I even have Crew chief Jim Lucero on video explaining their set-up choice on the Winston at one race.
Now I have heard in the past of a "gentleman's agreement" regarding boat damage and the time frame in which it needs to be fixed. It has been used predominantly with regards to damaged wings. My stance on this issue is that is not an issue since no such wording in the rules exists. How do I plan to handle it? Well, it is a discretionary issue. Meaning that the damage to the boat will determine the amount of time you will be allowed to run without making full repairs. I will defer back to the "intent" issue once again on this part. Example: if you have a winged boat and you blow it over and damage the wings so badly that they cannot be repaired at the race. According to the rules, parts that fall off the boat that are not damaged due to collision you will get no higher than 6th place points for that heat. How long do you have to repair the wings? The way the big boats ran they had verticals on the boat usually the same race. In our case that isn't possible a lot of the time, but the boat must have at the very least the verticals in place by the next race whether they are painted or not. All wings must be in place by the second subsequent race following the damage painted or not. All of the big winged boats at some point or another ran with unpainted wings so I will allow it for a short period of time. However, they must be repainted within a reasonable period of time. If you have other damage to the boat, it needs to be repaired painted or not, by the next race unless the damage is so catastrophic that the boat is unsafe or not able to run.
Drivers have also been an issue I've heard lately. The rules state you must have a driver, a complete driver. Meaning it must have a head with a helmet, shoulders and arms. It does not say anything about a steering wheel but the boat looks pretty silly without one. If your driver is damaged or you lose it during a race it amounts to 6th place points for that heat. It needs to be replaced by the next race. If it is still missing or if it still has pieces missing like a head or arms, you will get no higher than 6th place points for the day and each race thereafter until it is fixed.
Concealment of engines and pipes has been brought up as well. This has also been a concern of mine for a while. The rules state they must be concealed to the "best of your ability". However that part has been abused somewhat. If you have run with a pipe under the deck in the past and you change pipes and that pipe will not fit so you cut the cowl and it now sticks out of the back of the cowl, that is not acceptable and will not be allowed. You will need to change your pipe or find some other resolution to the problem. If you have an exposed pipe in place of a short turbine exhaust tube, that will not be allowed. You must make an attempt to cover the pipe with some sort of turbine tube. If the tuned pipe sticks out well beyond the end of the tube you may be asked to run your pipe under the deck if space allows. If you have previously run with the pipe concealed and decide not conceal it for one race, you will not be allowed to run and it must be put back on before the boat can run in competition.
I have been asked about challenges as well. If you wish to challenge an aspect of another boat, that challenge will only be allowed to what can be covered in the rules. Mainly with regards to running surfaces, measurements and such. If you are challenging accuracy of paint and graphics and such, those are issues that should only be decided by Concours judges. Also, challenges to scale boat and driver should only be made my another scale driver. However, anyone can make a challenge. If you are the person making the challenge you must provide either photo or hardcopy documentation to make your case. The driver/owner being challenged must then provide the same type of evidence to support their side of the case. Should the driver/owner being challenged lose, the issue with the boat must be fixed before the boat can race again. Should the challenger lose, he/she will forfeit a challenge fee and the same issue cannot be challenged again without additional evidence.
I may sound like a bit of a purist after all this, that may be true, but the rules were made by others and I intend to live up to and enforce what is in black and white and to maintain the spirit of the class. I also intend to try and grow the class and am willing to help anyone that asks for help with documentation, pictures and anything that I have the ability to do. If I need to I will point people in the direction of someone that can help with an issue if I am not able to. I have sizable amount of resources available, all you need to do it ask. I'm here to be a resource as well as enforce rules. I hope we have a great year of racing in 2005.
- Mike McKnight