MPBA 2021 Multi Masters Circuit Nationals

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The traditional joint Multi and Circuit event took place at Elmbridge Model Boat Club at the weekend. With 2 course changes from M to Oval and back again and reconfiguring the lap counting system, there was a lot to get through over the 2 days.

We began with a minutes silence to remember Chas Tedder and John Whitaker, both taken far too soon and huge contributors to their clubs and the hobby in general. RIP Chas and John.

34 Multi entries was remarkably only 3 down on the 2019 entry, 2 due to unforeseen illness and one who booked in and just didn’t show up or tell anyone they weren’t coming. It is especially frustrating when that happens as it takes people to run these events and allocated jobs are not filled. You know who you are, but don’t lose sleep over it as we had a great event despite your no-show.
Once again, our thanks go to the guys at Elmbridge for hosting this event, and all the volunteers who worked tirelessly facilitating the running of the meeting and those who provided a constant supply of food and drinks throughout the weekend.


Multi
Detailed Results | Drivers Championship
3.5cc
To run a single 12 boat heat, you need 29 people available – The competitors and their mechanics, 3 judges and 2 doing the lapcounting. We were desperately trying to run as one race, but this didn’t seem possible without knowing exactly who would be available on Day 1. So, we split the 1st round into 2 heats. Predictably, with the usual attrition, this produced unremarkable racing. At the end of Day 1, Julian led from Dave Hole and Grahame Morgan.
Having endured this on Day 1, and with good spectator attendance, we decided there were enough bodies to run a single heat on Day 2. This was a great decision, resulting in one of the best races I’ve seen for ages. There were some individual stoppages, but for the most part we had 9 boats on the water throughout the race.
Current World and European 3.5 Champion Zack Humphries suffered a disastrous start, stopping at the first buoy and losing several laps whilst his boat was recovered by the rescue team. This proved decisive in the final result which saw the top 3 all within one lap. Jackson Aykroyd was putting on another astonishing display in his 1st season and was desperately unlucky to stop a few times after being swamped by wash. Make him an engine cover dad!
3.5cc fastest laps Round 1 | Round 2

All the 3.5cc boats [Click to enlarge, then scroll to see all]



1st Julian Waumsley, 2nd Dave Hole, 3rd Zack Humphries


7.5cc
Having set a decent score in round 1 where nobody else did a full race, Andrew Aykroyd was in pole position for day 2. However, a very strong drive by Geoff Parmenter saw him clock up an outstanding 66 laps – Only 2 less than Zacks 15cc score. Geoff takes the win from Andrew with MPBA Chairman Mick Fields 3rd.
7.5cc fastest laps
Round 1 | Round 2

All the 7.5cc boats [Click to enlarge, then scroll to see all]



1st Geoff Parmenter, 2nd Andrew Aykroyd, 3rd Mick Fields


15cc
The 15cc class saw the lowest number of entrants. The economics of 15cc are clearly being felt with a very noticeable shift towards the 27cc class.
A few incidents where pit men may have been guilty of watching the race and not what was in front of their driver, made life more exciting than necessary for the rescue crew.
A fairly comfortable win for Zack Humphries peppered with a few scares courtesy of Vlads malfunctioning rudder servo!
15cc fastest laps: Round 1 | Round 2

All the 15cc boats [Click to enlarge, then scroll to see all]



1st Zack Humphries, 2nd Terry Holmes, 3rd Mike Holliday


27cc
With nobody doing a full race in round 1, the winner was almost certainly coming from round 2 – Only Mike Broad and Terry Holmes managed to keep going for the whole race in the end. Mike takes the win by 2 laps from Terry.
27cc fastest laps: Round 1 | Round 2

All the 27cc boats [Click to enlarge, then scroll to see all]



1st Mike Broad, 2nd Terry Holmes, 3rd James Taylor


Top Junior – Jackson


Chas Tedder


John Whitaker


Circuit
Detailed Results | Drivers Championship
3.5cc Hydro
Good to finally see a 3.5 Hydro run as there were not enough entrants to run this class at the last Circuit race. Hopefully we’ll see some more competitors in the future as racers will want to get in some practice before iMBRA 2022.

All the 3.5cc Hydros [Click to enlarge, then scroll to see all]



1st Keith Burgess, 2nd Martin Fields, 3rd Dave Marles


7.5cc Hydro
A new competitor entered the fray in the shape of Andrew Aykroyd having bought Gary Wraights old 7.5 (Winning) hydro off Derek Owen. Not a bad debut with only one mishap where it was difficult to see Martins stopped boat. Luckily the only damage was to sever the water pickup tube.

All the 7.5cc Hydros [Click to enlarge, then scroll to see all]



1st Martin Fields, 2nd Derek Owen, 3rd= Andrew Aykroyd and Keith Burgess



Open Hydro
Just 2 runners – Derek with a 15cc and Dave Marles with a 27cc. Could have done with Tony, Phill and Armen to liven things up.

All the Open Hydros [Click to enlarge, then scroll to see all]



1st Derek Owen, 2nd Dave Marles



3.5cc Mono
With the Folksons now in Slovenia and no Lewis, Thomas or Dave Clay, this was a straight fight between Luke and Mick Fields. There was only ever going to be one winner of that! (Sorry Mick)

All the 3.5cc Monos [Click to enlarge, then scroll to see all]



1st Luke, 2nd Mick Fields



7.5cc Mono
Julian had fixed the problems he was having at last month’s event and took a fairly comfortable win with 3 strong rounds out of 4.

All the 7.5cc Monos [Click to enlarge, then scroll to see all]



1st Julian Waumsley, 2nd Les Wall, 3rd Mick Bonny



15cc Mono
Robert Daniel made the long drive worthwhile with the 15cc win.

All the 15cc Monos [Click to enlarge, then scroll to see all]



1st Robert Daniel, 2nd Les Wall, 3rd Mick Bonny



35cc Mono
We were hoping for a bit more drama in this class. A few absentees from the usual suspects. No Werner, Roger or Dave Pillman. Fun fact – The 7.5, 15 and 35 Offshore winners all finished with 89 laps!

All the 35cc Monos [Click to enlarge, then scroll to see all]



1st James Taylor, 2nd Steve Whenham, 3rd Paul Day



Sport 60
Just Adrian and Les in this class.

1st Adrian Marshall, 2nd Les Wall



Top Junior – Luke

A final word
Another great joint event. Numbers not yet back to pre-Covid levels but nonetheless a decent turnout and some great racing.
It’s a lot of extra organisational work changing the course around halfway through the day, but it’s worth doing. The joint event means competitors / spectators from both disciplines are in attendance and this can only be a good thing for the social scene and the club economics. One problem that was mentioned to me is that apart from Hydro where points are awarded, the size of the course can have a significant impact, especially in 20 or 30 minute endurance races. If the course is a different size on each day, then a smaller course would (obviously) allow racers to clock up more laps. Something to think about…

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One comment

  • Jackson

    An amazing event, something for everyone:Rc car track and a boating and fishing lake. The crew over at EMBC are fantastic at why they do to keep us up and running over the weekend . Can’t fault the service and equipment they provide us to run the races over the weekend.

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