We enjoyed good weather yet again, cloudy chilly start but it did warm up a bit later. Due to no entries in the 3.5 hydro class we had a forshortened race card,.This was cut again when someone managed to right off 2 boats on the same buoy, thus eliminating the 15 hydro class, there only being 2 boats entered.
The 7.5 offshore class enjoyed some good close racing and was one of the highlight races of the day. The open offshore class continues to be the dominant class with 9 entries. With so many boats & with the speed of these, driving needs to be improved. When racing it is imperative that lines are held. I would suggest that all take time to review the race rules both MPBA & IMBRA, as one refers to the other.
Let’s all hope that next year we all enjoy better reliability have our boats sorted properly & have fuller heats.
Again, it is thanks to the Elbridge guys for manning the catering side of things. Brilliant job yet again
The unadopted minutes from the AGM held on Sunday have been sent out in a separate email. Please have a read & if you have any queries or additions let me know.
That’s all for now, hope you all enjoyed the racing this year & looking forward to next year.
Regards to all.
Grahame

A final word

I wasn’t able to attend the second day, so thanks again to Grahame for the write up.

With 3 World Champions and a Silver Medalist in 3.5cc Hydro, this class provided the best racing of the day. Work pressures again means the following report is again courtesy Grahame Morgan

Podiums

The meeting was pretty well attended, which was great to see. Most classes managed to have at least 3 entries, which at least meant a chance of having a meaningful race. The one downside was the sport 60, just a single entrant. Another issue is people not turning up when booked in. This means more work to rearrange heats and can lead to people missing out on racing due to low numbers. We will always try to give everyone a chance to run, this is especially important as they may have traveled a long way.
If you book in for an event and subsequently find you cannot make it, please let us know. This can be done via the MPBA website or by email to Keith or myself.
Anyway we got the meeting off very early, which was great as weather was hot and sunny and helped those travelling get away at a reasonable time for journey home.
Weh ope you all enjoyed the day and had safe trips home. Thanks for your support. Thanks also to the Elmbridge guys who slaved away in the heat cooking a endless supply of food for both breakfast and lunch. Well done chaps much appreciated.
There is no event in August, this is planned so you can all enjoy a month off for the IMBRA World Championships, holidays or to get your boats properly sorted for reliability, which some suffer from more than others.
So the next meeting will be the charity event on September 17/18. This was run for the first time last year and proved very successful, raising more than £1,000 for Cancer Research charity. The format will be the same with multi racing on Saturday 17th and circuit on Sunday 18th. Camping onsite is available if needed and food will available both days. Please bring your own mugs for tea/coffee at reduced rate.
If you have any bits and pieces you would like to donate for sale or sell (with a donation to charity funds) please bring along.
Finally all boats must meet the MPBA noise limit requirements. This applies to multi boats as well. It would be good if someone in the multi section could highlight this to those racers.
One final point – There are updated circuit section rules. these will shortly be added to the MPBA website but here’s a heads up on them. Changes are paras 1.7 & 5.1.
Enjoy the good weather, stay safe and look forward to seeing you all in September.
Regards
Grahame

A final word

Elmbridge is under an hour’s travelling for me and it’s just nice day out by a lake. It’s the exception rather than the rule for more than 2 boats to finish any race these days. That’s really not what you expect for a National Competition.

As usual, the organisers would appreciate it if people booked in as soon as they know they are coming. I could not stay for the whole day on Sunday, so the following report is from Grahame Morgan.

Podiums

Having just held our annual Circuit Section Nationals I thought I would write a short report of the event.

Having had the Multi section Masters event on the Saturday 11th, the Circuit event was on the Sunday 12th. With good weather we were set for a good day of racing. Numbers were very much down this year. This resulted in there not being a 3.5 hydro race. The 15 hydro, 7.5 & 15 offshore classes only had 3 competitors each. Luckily the 35 offshore had a good entry of 10 racers. This is turning into a very popular class.

Racing got under way at at around 10.30am, which is early for us but bode well for an early finish. However, throughout the day we had delays, this was mainly down to low numbers, having to wait while boat issues were sorted to enable the maximum number to race. It’s always disappointing to see so few boats start a race but worse still that none finish. Then as the day went on attrition took it’s toll & numbers dropped again. Luckily the 35 offshore class put on a reasonable show. With some new competitors entering, this class is looking up. During the heats there were some fallers, I think more from water conditions than anything mechanical, as with 10 boats the water did get a bit choppy.

By the time of the prize giving it was quite late on & some who had long journeys home had departed, we still have your trophies.

I hope you all had a good day & got home safely, Thanks to all who turned up & to those who helped out during the day to enable racing to go ahead.

Thanks also to the members of the host club, Elmbridge for supporting the event & catering for the masses, much appreciated.

One last thing, the section on your behalf spent £495 on trophies (everything has gone up in price) for this event. Entry fees did not come anywhere near covering the cost even before we had paid Elmbridge for use of lake. A vote was taken at the prize giving where it was agreed that this sort of money, given the low turnout was too much. So for next time there will be some prizes that will be of the consumable type, drinkable & edible.

Well that’s it, hope you can all make the next meeting which is on the 10th July.
Grahame

A final word

As Graham said, a little less attrition would improve the racing.

Statics

Static shots of most of the competitors boats

Podiums

Podium Pics

3.5 Hydro

Dave Marles takes the win with a maximum in round 1 and 2 starts. Not a good day for Keith and Martin with no finishes. Dave leads the 2022 Drivers Championship on 450

7.5 Hydro

Long time absentee Steve Clements has kept his form, finishes every round and just pips Martin Fields’ 2 maximums and a start. Del Owen takes 3rd with a consistent 3 finishes. No so good for Tony Jarvis today with just one start in the final round. Derek still leads the Championship by 475 points as Steve missed round 1

15 Hydro

Derek Owen took a comfortable win with 2 maximums. Tony Jarvis managed just one start and Dave Marles didn’t get off the bank due to engine troubles. Del leads the 15h Championship

3.5 Offshore

It was great to see MPBA Chairmain Mick Fields out and about again. Mick drives his offshore like a multi – buoy to buoy so there’s no chance of overtaking him on the inside. Mick took a comfortable win with a total of 69 laps. Another long-time-no-see competitor, Thomas took 2nd place with 44. Dean had suffered all day with water ingress and could only manage 3 laps in the final round. Mick jumps to the top of the O3.5 Championship.

7.5 Offshore

Les and Mick enjoyed a good battle in the 7.5O class. Les emerges victorious by 9 laps. Les sits atop the O7.5 Championship with maximum points from 2 races.

15 Offshore

Mick B beats Mark Rice by just 4 laps but Mark still leads the O15 Championship by a slim 3 point margin from Les

35 Offshore

Dave Marles won this class after battling through some demolition derby style heats. Here’s a couple of crash sequences from the many. Jonathan Wilkins showed everyone how to drive with his electric powered boat and giant cells. James Taylor still leads the O35 Championship by 9 points despite todays engine troubles.

Sport 60

Adrian Marshall just pipped Les Wall for the win scoring 1,100 to Les’ 1,000. The Sport 60 Championship will likely be contested by these 2 with nothing really separating them in terms of speed.

A final word

A great day out, lovely weather, some spectacular crashes captured, some new faces and the return of some old ones. Looking forward to the 2 day Masters / Nationals on the 11/12 June.

Commentary

The rust had really set in over the winter and the day was littered with a series of crashes, with one unfortunately causing a huge amount of damage:

All the competitors

A final word

It’s always good to be at Elmbridge as it’s not far from home for me and the great weather meant a nice Sunday by the lake. On the other hand, this is national competition and the standard of driving at certain times was truly shocking. Some blame must also lie with the mechanics for failing to warn of dead boats.

As a committee, we have made the decision that it would be prudent not to hold a circuit section AGM again this year given the current Covid situation. In lieu this post should keep everyone up to date with the going on’s of the section this year and proposals for 2022.

Events

We were able to hold three meetings this year, the first was in August. The weather was kind to us and there was quite a good turn out under the circumstances. It was great to see everyone again after such a long time, getting out again, meeting up and enjoying their hobby.
The second event held in September was a combined Multi / Circuit regatta, normally held in June. It was a full weekend event with racing on Saturday and Sunday, and is always a popular event. Again, the weather was good to us and there was some great racing. The Elmbridge Club put on a brilliant show with the food once again, lovely breakfast rolls & superb burgers for lunch.

An extra event was also held, this was a charity event in memory of those boaters who sadly passed away this year. The format differed slightly having multi racing on Saturday and Circuit racing on Sunday. Again, food was provided by the Elmbridge Club throughout the weekend. Two great days of racing where had by all and best of all we managed to raise £1010.00 from entries, food, camping and voluntary donations. A big thanks to all that helped and supported to make this such a great event. The raised funds have been sent to the Cancer Research charity. Acknowledgement Letter

A big thanks to Kath Clements for preparing our accounts again. Section accounts.
To all those who are currently holding annual trophies, we know who you are, these were last awarded at the AGM in 2019. I would like to remind you to get them engraved, polished and return at the first meeting next year, without fail!

Proposed races for 2022:

• 10th April
• 8th May
• 12th June
• 10th July
• 18th September

Rules

With the increasing size and speed of the boats competing in the Open Offshore Class we are introducing further safety requirements to race next year. These are being introduced to minimise the risk of an accident, injury or worse should they leave the water! We, as a section, have a great safety record and it is better to proactive rather than reactive. The first requirement is easy, and is built into most modern radio equipment, it is the use of a failsafe unit to kill the engine. Secondary to this, a system is also required to cut the ignition if the receiver loses a signal from the transmitter or there is a power failure to the receiver. There are several proprietary systems on the market such as the unit from Prestwich Models or Killer RC from as little as £10.00

If anyone has any matters arising from this mail or suggestions on the section, please mail me to discuss.

Lastly if anyone is interested in taking on any committee positions, again please mail me indicating your interest, please!!!

Regards
Grahame.

Not quite the turnout we got for the Nationals, 21 boats in total but a surprise full house in 3.5 Hydro as the racers took the opportunity for a final test before the iMBRA World Championships. Some good racing on a beautiful sunny day again at Elmbridge. No podium photos yet as I had to leave early and am waiting for someone to send them.

3.5cc Hydro – Keith Burgess took the win with Dave Pillman 2nd after a couple of disqualifications. This cements Keiths position at the top of the table with only himself and Dave having scored any points this season.

7.5cc Hydro – New Championship Leader Derek Owen took the win and leapfrogged Armen Boldy in his absence, Steve Clements and Chas Tedder took 2nd and 3rd respectively

15cc Hydro – No 15cc Hydro this week

3.5cc Offshore – Junior Luke took the win, beating MPBA Chairman Mick Fields who seemed to be well down on his usual speed. Thomas took 3rd and the Championship lead.

7.5cc Offshore – Adrian Marshall takes the win, with the same laps as Chas Tedder, but a mere 2 seconds in front! Very unusual in this class. Julian Waumsley took 3rd, with Mick Buonaiuto 4th

15cc Offshore – 1st Mick Buonaiuto, 2nd Mark Rice, 3rd Les Wall. Mick narrows the gap in the table to leader Les.

35cc Offshore – Werner Bester takes the win and the 2018 Championship as he is now 48 points clear with only 40 available in the last race. Steve Whenham takes 2nd and Mark Wraight 3rd

Sport 60 – 1st Chas Tedder, 2nd Les Wall, 3rd Thomas, 4th Adrian. Les extends his lead at the top of the table and it’s all down to the final race in September.

Not quite the turnout we got for Round 1, but we still had 20 competitors and 30 boats which made for some good racing. And the sun came out in the afternoon.

7.5cc Hydro – No 3.5 hydro this week. Championship Leader Derek Owen needed to fight off Armen Boldy, Steve Clements and Chas Tedder for the points. Armen took the overall win with a maximum 1600 points with Derek in 2nd and Steve 3rd. This puts Armen top of the table after 2 rounds, 875 points clear of Derek.

15cc Hydro – With Championship Leader Dave Marles absent, there was a chance for Armen Boldy and Phill Fields to make up some ground (Or water?) on the leader. Armen’s 15cc Rooster was very fast but he couldn’t beat 2016 iMBRA 15cc Hydro World Champion Phill Fields today. Armen ended the day with a broken CMB 91, which according to CMB distributor Ian Folkson was a result of using the wrong oil. All the multi guys use Elkalub for their racing engines. Armen is now facing an expensive rebuild, although a small consolation is that he now tops the table, 500 points clear of Phill.

3.5cc Offshore – With Miha leading the Championship and juniors occupying 3 out of the top 5 places, we were hoping for another junior victory until MPBA Chairman Mick Fields came along to spoil their party. Micks 3.5cc boat is fast and reliable and using his experience from Multi, he takes an incredibly tight line round the buoys, which is just a bit too much for the juniors to compete with. Thomas and Miha still managed 2nd and 3rd respectively and Miha retains his Championship lead albeit by a slender margin of 56 points.

7.5cc Offshore – Julian Waumsley is on a roll with back to back wins in 3.5cc Multi at Brentwood and 7.5cc Offshore today. Adrian Marshall took 2nd, with Mick Buonaiuto 3rd. Julian tops the table with 2,194 points, 569 points clear of 2nd placed Adrian.

15cc Offshore – Mick Buonaiuto came out of the traps fighting with some impressive driving of his Delta Force / CMB combo. Despite a mishap in one heat where he managed to start his engine rotating backwards and missed the start, he did enough to secure the win. 1st Mick Buonaiuto, 2nd Les Wall. Mick jumps to 2nd in the table, 475 points behind leader Les.

35cc Offshore – Thrills and spills in this class. Mark Wraight arrived with a new Kraken/Tiger King. The first 2 heats were a bit of a disaster for Mark. With a burned-out servo and the running gear dismantling itself, he was lucky to not end up in the bank. Bearing in mind that this was an untested boat, Mark then proceeded to do 2 full runs and get himself on the podium. A great achievement for first time out. Mark also provided us with the picture of the day with this spectacular effort:

Werner wisely kept himself out of trouble to take the win and put himself top of the Championship, leapfrogging Neil Ward who failed to make the podium today. 1st Werner Bester, 2nd Jonathan Wilkins, 3rd Mark Wraight.

Sport 60 – Thomas’ Silak is quick, but he had reliability issues today and Les Wall had a comfortable victory. 1st Les Wall, Thomas took 2nd place making it a double-podium on the day. Lewis avoided taking any of the Elmbridge Turf home with him today and grabbed 3rd place. Les leads the Championship by 13 points from Thomas.

We saw a really impressive turnout at Elmbridge for round 1 of the 2018 MPBA Circuit National Drivers Championship, including 5 junior entries. This was the first race booked in with the new MPBA designed forms, making the race organisers job a lot easier and the response was very positive. We also had enough entries to run a separate 3.5cc Offshore race numbering more than the 7.5cc for the first time.

7.5cc Hydro – Derek Owen took the win with Armen Boldy 2nd and Chas Tedder 3rd. Chas had a Specsavers moment in the final heat, hitting the transponder line float at full bore! Martin Fields brought along a new 3.5cc Hydro but could not get it going right. We’re sure he’ll have it perfect at the next race.
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15cc / Gas Hydro – Dave Marles takes the win with his 27cc rigger powered by a Tiger King motor. Dave was flying, literally. In the final heat, the boat took off at the end of the pit straight and seemed to spend an eternity in the air before eventually hitting the left bank. Miraculously, there was no damage. Unfortunately we didn’t have the camera out for this as it had started raining. Armen Boldy took 2nd with his 15cc StingR hydro, setting the fastest lap of the day at 11.254 seconds. Phill Fields took 3rd.
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3.5cc Offshore – A brilliant one-two by Team Folkson, with Miha beating his World Champion dad Ian. Ably pitted by Andrew Buonaiuto, Miha nailed the starts and took the win. This duo is looking strong in the juniors for the 2018 iMBRA World Championships in August. Luke grabbed 3rd spot in his first race! Top showing from all the juniors today. The futures looking bright!
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7.5cc Offshore – A great first outing for Dave Marles’ new 7.5 Kraken 42, a scaled-down version of his 15cc/Gas boat. Mick Fields took 2nd with his tight driving and Julian Waumsley 3rd
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15cc Offshore – Les Wall takes the win. Nice to see Steve Whenham back racing again.
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35cc Offshore – Neil Ward takes the win
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Sport 60 – Adrian Marshall from Les Wall and Thomas Clements
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