3.5cc

Originally there were 11 boats entered in the 3.5cc class but an early withdrawal, 1st race gremlins causing a DNS and 2 competitors only managing single figures meant there were effectively 7 starters. 4 of these managed over 50 laps with the top 2 being separated by just one lap. I do worry that when the nitro goes to 16% that the people who regularly fail to complete a full race in 3.5cc will struggle even more.
Best Lap – 17.125 – Phill Fields

All the 3.5cc Boats – Click and Scroll

3.5cc Podium

7.5cc

Just one competitor managed a full run in each round – Robert Daniel in round 1 and Dave Pillman in round 2, who had the lake to himself from lap 15 and racked up an unchallenged 64 laps to take an easy win. Not the greatest spectacle when there’s only one boat going round for 75% of the race. I thought I was at a circuit meeting for a minute!
Best Lap – 15.457 – Robert Daniel

All the 7.5cc boats – Click and scroll

7.5cc Podium

15cc

That’s more like it – 6 starters, all managing over 40 laps apiece with 1 lap separating 1st and 2nd. Dean Lords Dirkach set up with a high revving CMB on a small prop had just enough speed to hold off Terry Holmes Seljak Stealth.
Best Lap, and all 10 fastest – 14.202 – James Taylor

All the 15cc boats – Click and scroll

15cc Podium

27cc

Some good progress made on the noise front which Mick Szebeko acknowledged at the prize giving. Dave Marles was unpleasantly surprised to end up 4 laps adrift of Terry Holmes. We think this may have been down to some missed laps where the transponder float was very close to the racing line. No big trophy today unfortunately Dave. Drew Aykroyd broke an engine and will be getting the crank alignment checked.
Best lap – Andrew Aykroyd – 14.866

All the 27cc boats – Click and scroll

27cc Podium

A final word

This was only the first race of the season, but the same small group are finishing races with the majority having issues of one sort or another. We must look to prioritise reliability equally to speed.

3.5cc

A decent 11 boat entry allowed us to run a full heat which is always preferable due to attrition. However it seemed the rust had set in over the winter and unreliability and crashing as usual determined the outcome of the 3.5cc class.
Dave Hole was the only competitor to put in a full heat and easily took the overall win, 10 laps clear of 2nd place.
Disaster struck for Dean Lord near the end of the 2nd heat where a huge crash with Iain Pickersgill holed his Ikarus and it very quickly sank to the bottom of the lake. An attempt will be made to recover the boat using scuba divers, but at the moment the outlook is pessimistic.

Best Lap – 15.158 – Robert Daniel

All the 3.5cc Boats – Click and Scroll

3.5cc Podium

7.5cc

As with the 3.5, just one competitor – Geoff Parmenter managed to put in a full run which gave him the win over 2nd placed Robert Daniel. We saw a good battle between Geoff and Robert whose new Drakkon was going really well in it first outing. Unfortunately Robert seemed to take issue with top right buoy more than once which put him out of the running for the win.

All the 7.5cc boats – Click and scroll

7.5cc Podium

15cc

James Taylor dominated the 15cc class, finishing 12 laps clear of 2nd placed Nigel Smith. Nigel did actually do a full run but James consistently low laptimes averaging nearly 3 seconds a lap quicker than anyone else, made him untouchable.
There was a good battle between Nigel and Mark Wraight, but Mark uncharacteristically chose to back out of anything too risky and his Seljak Stealth will live to fight another day after fuel feed issues put paid to any chances of 2nd place.
Best Lap, and all 10 fastest – 13.559 – James Taylor

All the 15cc boats – Click and scroll

15cc Podium

27cc

Unfortunately both 27cc heats were abandoned due to excessive noise meter readings so there are no results. Dave Pillmans 27 looked exceptionally quick today, except when he hit bottom left and ended up in the bushes.

All the 27cc boats – Click and scroll

A final word

A very generous gesture by Dave Marles of Prestwich Models in providing cash prizes to the podium placers. Thanks Dave.

Obviously there is some work to do regarding noise, especially in the 27cc class. Prestwich Models will shortly be producing some accessories to help in this respect.

A disgraceful incident happened yesterday where Vlad Getov had his toolbox stolen from the parking area. He lost a lot of tools and spares: Comment

Introduction

This report has been compiled in order to proactively respond to the current noise problems we now all face when running R/C Multi boats

This report highlights the work which has been carried out by Peterborough Model Powerboat Club (PMPBC). This can also assist other clubs who run multi boats of all classes to combat any noise problems they may have.

1. Historic usage of Osier Lake, Peterborough
2. Testing methodology
3. Remedial works carried out
4. Post remedial work readings
5. General comments
6. Conclusions
7. Photographs

Historic usage of Osier Lake, Peterborough

PMPBC have historically operated radio-controlled multi boats both in Nene Park and subsequently at Osier Lake since August 1980
These readings were taken several years ago and at that time there was not deemed to be a problem, Since then, modern boats are now much faster, with high output glow and now petrol engines being used, and the general use of Carbon Fibre in the manufacture of the boat hulls. All of these factors contribute to the higher noise now being generated by multi boats.
To this end PMPBC took it upon themselves to carry out noise tests to determine the current noise levels

Testing methodology.

A calibrated tripod mounted noise test meter was installed at 1250mm above the water level and at a distance of 10 Metres from the path the test boats will take in accordance with MPBA recommendations, Multiple noise readings were taken using the Slow setting, db(A) and with the test boats at 90 deg to the noise meter.
The initial test results were disappointing and are as follows:
3.5cc- Typically in the region of 84-884B(A)
7.5cc- Typically in the region of 83-894B(A)
Some boats were slightly quieter, and some were noisier with the above readings being typical. It was also found that the loudest tuned pipes were the CMB and Nova Rossi pipes manufactured from Aluminium with PMB steel pipe being the quietest

Remedial works carried out

3.5cc
Numerous Carbon fibre bracing ribs installed between the hull and the top deck. See photo 1
Numerous Carbon Fibre bracing ribs installed to the underside of the tank cover, See photo 2
Additional mounting screws installed to secure the tank cover. See photo 3
Softer 45 Shore rubber bobbins installed onto the gearbox
Lengths of thick wall rubber tube installed into the gap between the tops of the tank/s and the top deck will reduce the vibration and hence noise.
PMB steel pipe installed
7.5cc
Numerous Carbon fibre bracing ribs installed between the hull and the top deck.
Additional mounting screws installed to secure the tank cover,
Softer 45 Shore rubber bobbins installed onto the gearbox,
Hull fully foamed using 2 pack expanding marine quality foam.
PMB steel pipe installed
15cc
Numerous Carbon fibre bracing ribs installed between the hull,
and the top deck. Additional mounting screws installed to secure the tank cover.

Softer 45 Shore rubber bobbins installed onto the gearbox,
Hull fully foamed using 2 pack expanding marine quality
PMB steel pipe installed

Post remedial work noise readings

3.5cc – Typically in the region of 78-824B(A)
7.5cc ~ Typically in the region of 80-8 14B(A)

General comments

As can be seen from the above readings the noise levels can be reduced down to an acceptable level with some fairly minor modifications being made to the boats.

General

Hard Male / Female rubbers and Female / Female gearbox rubber bobbins were found to transmit a lot of vibration and hence noise into the hull,
Soft (Shore 45) Male / Male gearbox rubber bobbins transmitted considerably less vibration and hence noise into the hull
PMB steel pipe found to be quieter than CMB and Nova Rossi by 1-dB(A).
The 3.5cc boats were of different design and construction, ranging from gel-coat Carbon Fibre to full Carbon Fibre,
There was no noticeable difference in the noise readings between coupling and solid shaft boats
There was a 2-44B(A) increase in the noise level when running, without an engine cover

Conclusions

installing multiple Carbon fibre bracing ribs between the bottom of the hull and the top deck will reduce the vibration and hence noise from the tank cover.
1. CF bracing on the tank cover
2. Install soft (Shore 45) rubber bobbins which will transmit less vibration and hence noise into the boat. Install additional securing screws to the tank cover to reduce vibration.
3. Fit an engine cover.
4. Fit a PMB steel pipe
Installing lengths of thick wall rubber tube into the gap between the tops of the tank’s and the top deck will reduce the vibration and hence nose into the top of the hull and tank cover.
To get the ultimate in noise reduction, fully foam the inside of the boat

Prestwich Models

3.5cc

If you can’t beat’em, join’em. Phill Fields sold his International podium-placing Falcon II and rocked up with a brand new Prestwich Ikarus 3 with a CMB Beta Evo. This was enough to edge out Robert Daniel by 2 laps to take the overall win. The new Ikarus looked very stable and Phill had it well trimmed and we will see if he can give Zack Humphries a run for his money when they next meet in competition. The CMB is probably acknowledged as the most powerful of the 3.5cc engines, notwithstanding its less than stellar reliability.
Best Lap and all 10 fastest – 16.499 – Phill Fields

A special mention must go to new junior Jackson Aykroyd who beat 2 seniors in his first ever race and drove exceptionally well with excellent lines between the buoys. Equally important was his apparent lack of nerves.

All the 3.5cc Boats – Click and Scroll

3.5cc Podium

7.5cc

Well you can’t get much closer than that! The 7.5cc class was decided by a difference of just over 4 seconds! Robert Daniel just edges out Martin Fields. It was good to see all the work Martin has put in on the Jekyll finally bearing fruit.
Unbelievably, the gap between 3rd and 4th was only 6 seconds, Mick Fields just edging out Andrew Aykroyd for the last podium place. Mick was running his International Podium placing Jekyll 1.
New racer Edvards Kazibrodskis has a good turn of speed with his 8-Ball but suffered reliability issues today.
Dave Pillman tried to reduce his laptime by missing bouys
Best Lap – 15.102 – Andrew Aykroyd

Nigel Smith demonstrated the benefits of :
preventative maintenance

All the 7.5cc boats – Click and scroll

7.5cc Podium

15cc

Phill Fields debuted his Prestwich T8, just released on the Prestwich Website. Phill’s last Tornado had earned him a lot of International success including This Win in Putten. One slightly unusual thing on Phills boat was the adoption of external control linkages for the trim tabs – Something you see more often at Internationals.
Well what can you say? I don’t think I’ve seen a more perfect race debut – The T8 was flying and perfectly trimmed and easily took the win, the overall fastest lap and the highest laps of the day. The only mishap was an unfortunate non-fault crash with another competitor who only scored a single lap and then had it taken away with a penalty. It is frustrating when there is such a gulf in driving standards which is then exacerbated by the small courses in the UK.

Dave Marles put up a good showing and there was a decent battle with Phill for a few laps. Terry Holmes rounded off the podium.
Best Lap – 13.848 – Phill Fields

All the 15cc boats – Click and scroll

15cc Podium

27cc

The costs involved in running a 15cc boat have meant a steady increase in 27cc competitors. There are reports that engine manufacturers are at work designing smaller capacity petrol motors. We will see how this pans out despite Nitro restrictions still being inconsistent across Europe.
So this is the one I was waiting for as there were 2 new ultra-competitive entrants to the 27cc class in Dave Pillman and Andrew Aykroyd. Their battles in 7.5cc have been Legendary lol. Unfortunately though, Mr Pillman scuppered any chance of a repeat battle by breaking his ignition before the event had even started!
So one boat down, we were hoping for the best and luckily got it. An epic battle between James Taylor and Andrew Aykroyd resulted in James edging it by a single lap. Andrew had run the whole race on this broken prop after dad John accidentally caught it on the stand at the start (We’ve all done that!). Andrew also bogged and lost at least a lap with a few minutes to go so those 2 incidents almost certainly cost him the win . Looking forward to more of this in the coming months.
Dave Marles new T8 was flying, setting many fastest laps – Read his race story HERE
Mick Pain has a new turn of speed with his Seljak Stealth and could be fighting for wins, albeit if he can add a bit of aggression.
Best Lap – 15.102 – Dave Marles

All the 27cc boats – Click and scroll

27cc Podium

A final word

I’d like to thank everyone on the Multi Committee, the Peterborough Club Members and the individual competitors who made the event a success. Special thanks to MPBA General Secretary Linda Buonaiuto for her tireless work with the lapcounting. Sorry for making your life harder with my setup cockups on the laptop! Also to MPBA Chairman Mick Fields and Circuit Rep Mick Buonaiuto for stepping in as announcer / judge.

Next the 7.5cc race. Heat One, Group One. Due to Robert Daniel’s and Andrew Aykroyd’s crash the transponder lines were broken. We paused the race as we have always done. As usual the screen does not retain the laps or timings when paused so we have no way of recording these. When we restarted the race, instead of starting from the paused point, the lap counters suddenly became aware that the program had restarted the race from the beginning so had no choice but to stop the race. Mick Szebeko and Keith Burgess both tried to retrieve the original information but this proved impossible so we had to re run the race after the second group. In the afternoon, the computer then ran the groups in the changed order which unfortunately we didn’t pick up until after the race started.

Then we have the 15cc race with Mark Wraight’s transponder not working consistently in both heats and Mike Holliday’s not working in the second heat. With 11 boats all coming round at the start of a race this is always difficult to manage but this was made far worse because the lap counters were hardly able to see the boats passing due to people walking in front of the caravan and standing at the corner of the pits. Perhaps we can assign a duty to all those people who want to pick up rubbish to stand by the corner of the caravan and stop people getting in our way.

It has been said in the past that we will not count boats whose transponder is not working but we have always felt that this can be a bit harsh at club/national level especially if people have new transponders and are not sure if they are going to work.

In addition to all this we were not able to print the results of the races, that was why we had to hand write the results to put in the window. This was because when we went to print the first set of results of the 3.5cc class the computer asked for permission to ‘change a programme’. We remembered that when we did this last year the computer subsequently stopped working during a race. We didn’t want to risk this again so decided it was best to hand write the results. Not easy when we had no break during the whole day.

3.5cc
Dave Pillman dropped out of the 3.5cc class after a string of disasters during testing, starting Friday with water in his fuel, culminating in a Super Saturday leaving his transmitter at home followed by getting water in the radio and breaking a 3.5 engine. It couldn’t get any worse could it? Just wait till the 7.5cc class!. The other non starter was Mark Wraight who had sold his Falcon 1 to Armen Boldy
The first 3.5cc heat in round 1 produced some exciting racing with Dave Clay, Keith Burgess and Andrew Aykroyd all vying for the win. Dave Clay was flying and took the win from Keith after Andrew rolled out with minutes to go. The 2nd heat was much lower scoring with considerable attrition. All the juniors did well, with Thomas scoring higher than several ‘Big Names’. Come on Steve, build him a faster boat!
In round 2, Phill Fields made up for an uncharacteristic error in the first round by putting in a clean run, securing 3rd place, on the same lap but just 4 seconds behind Keith Burgess in overall 2nd. Dave Clay takes the overall win plus fastest 3.5cc lap of the day, a lap up on 2nd and 3rd. Dave is definitely going for the title this year and says he has built an even faster Ikarus.

3.5cc Podium

7.5cc
14 entrants in the 7.5cc class meant we had to split this into 2 heats which is quite rare. In the end, this became slightly farcical as the amount of attrition meant that the 2nd round heats were contested by just a few boats. Additionally, unplanned stoppages may have distorted the scores slightly.
Geoff Parmenter now has a #dptuned CMB 45 and he put it to good use with an unassailable 70 laps in Round 1. Robert Daniel may feel a little hard done by, as he was affected by the stoppage in Round 2, suffering a problematic restart and surely would have bettered his 2nd place 68 laps after grabbing a clean sweep of all 10 of the fastest laps in Round 2.
Martin Fields took 9 out of 10 of the fastest laps in Round 1 with his self-designed Jekyll. This boat is now starting to show it’s potential and Martin said he was convinced it was the right way forward for him.
The highlight of the 7.5cc racing was this spectacular crash sequence involving Andrew Aykroyd and Robert Daniel:

7.5cc Podium

15cc
With 11 boats in one race in the 15cc class, we were expecting fireworks and while there were a couple of minor crashes, it was nowhere near the carnage we had been expecting. For the most part, the drivers kept their cool.
The 2nd round produced a really exciting race between James Taylor, Mikey Hillstead and Mark Wraight. Mikey had his Potenza flying and was driving super aggressively. Unfortunately, that aggression probably cost him the win in the end as he missed 2 or 3 buoys with the resultant loss of laps relegating him to 3rd place.
Mike Holliday must have felt like crying when his brand new Seljak was involved in a first buoy incident, but fortunately the damage was light and Mike eventually put in a respectable 44 laps.
With the top 3 all with 2 laps, James Taylor took the win from Mark Wraight and Mikey

15cc Podium

27cc
James Taylor smashed the competition to dominate the 27cc class. Who can stop James’ relentless march towards an 11th title? With Ian Folkson and Dave Marles not running, could Paul Adams, Terry Holmes or Steve Baxter take the fight to James? Not today. James cruised to victory with a 14 lap winning margin.
Paul Adams took 2nd place with Terry Holmes in 3rd

The highlight of the 27cc racing was this spectacular crash between Mick Pain (Pink and Blue) and Paul Adams

27cc Podium

3.5cc – With 2017 3.5cc Champion Mark Wraight electing to sit the event out to save wear and tear on his boat for 2018, and the usual pre-race #banter on Facebook producing a damp squib between the main protagonists, Dave Clay took the win from Dave Hole and Martin Hillstead. Thomas grabbed top junior spot having beaten the lap scores of many seniors.
[Click images to enlarge]

Martin Hillstead shows consistent form by grabbing 3rd spot with his Mini Potenza

A Specsavers moment for Dave Pillman with this shameful attack on junior Miha

7.5cc – Dave Pillman redeems himself with a maiden win for his new Pegasus Evo. We were there for a pre-season test session of this boat. While it was clearly fast, there were some serious ride issues. Kudos to Dave for sorting these problems out before the first race. Steve Clements takes 2nd place and 2017 7.5cc Drivers Champion Mick Szebeko claims 3rd spot. Andrew Aykroyds first race since re-entering the 7.5cc class went reasonably well and he can expect to be on the podium this year when he gets a full run in.
[Click images to enlarge]

A good first outing for Andrew Aykroyds ex-Waumsley Pegasus 2

Another Specsavers moment as Dave Pillman and Mick Szebeko clash

15cc – Let’s get the results first – Phill Fields takes the win with the best T7 in the country. He surely must be considered a strong contender for the iMBRA World Championships in France this year. Sam Lincoln takes 2nd ending a string of bad luck towards the end of 2017. 2017 Drivers Champion Terry Holmes takes 3rd spot.
That’s done with the triumphs, now onto the tragedy.
We were all waiting to see the first outing of Mark Wraight’s new Seljak design boat. Mark had spent countless hours patiently building his new boat to a very high standard. See the Full step-by-step build. So we were surprised (Some say not surprised) to see Mark driving ultra-aggressively first time out with an boat that still required some trimming to be fully race-ready. Unsurprisingly, this resulted in a collision or two, the last one causing significant damage to his brand new boat. Oops.
[Click images to enlarge]

A not-so-good first outing for Mark Wraights new 15cc boat

What can we say? A Leopard can’t change it’s spots

27cc – Faultless runs by winner Mick Pain, with Terry Holmes taking 2nd and 2017 Drivers Champion James Taylor 3rd. Not the best day out for James or Ian Folkson who are normally vying for the win in this class.
[Click images to enlarge]

Terry and Mick Pain battle it out

Terry and Mike Lawson fight for position

You can now book in for the first round of the 2018 NDC at Peterborough on 25th March:

3.5cc – 2017 champion Mark Wraight

In the 3.5cc class, 2017 iMBRA European Champion Zack Humphries is untouchable, but the NDC is not his priority – He has eyes on bigger prizes at international level. 2017 3.5 NDC winner Mark Wraight is both fast and reliable, but he is also in the world championships team which may open the door for others if he doesn’t attend all the races. Alongside Mark, we would consider Dave Hole, Geoff Parmenter and Andrew Aykroyd in with a shout and we haven’t yet seen the best of Ian Folksons Ikarus. We’d probably make Dave the favourite but Andrew can win it if he goes to most of the meetings. Battle for the King of Speed will probably be fought out between Dave Marles and Dave Pillman, but we suspect neither of them will do enough events to win the title and those last few km/h of speed usually come at the expense of occasional reliability issues. Keith Burgess also has great speed but has been thwarted by reliability in recent seasons.

7.5cc – 2017 champion Mick Szebeko

The 7.5 should be interesting this season as we have another top racer in Andrew Aykroyd joining the class. Gary Wraight will be looking to return to the podium with his 8 Ball after extensive modifications. Gary will be determined to make 2018 a success after scuppering his chances of the 2017 title by attempting major changes mid-season only for it to backfire spectacularly. Everyone is looking forward to the first glimpse of 2014 World Champion Martin Fields new self-designed 7.5. Martin will be hoping the new boat is as good or better than his superb Pegasus Evo that he sold after the GB International win. Martin will no doubt putting most effort into the internationals so he’s not really a UK title contender. In no particular order, we would say that Mick Szebeko, Gary Wraight and Andrew Aykroyd are the front runners. Julian and Ross Waumsley are also strong in 7.5 and Julian’s average of 26 points per race would have been enough to take the title last year had he competed in every event. Ross may be looking for some wins to make up for the disappointment of missing the eliminators having contracted a serious infection in 2017 which almost cost him his leg.Dave Pillmans new Pegasus Evo may give everyone a fright (Video), but will he do enough races?

15cc – 2017 champion Terry Holmes

The best 15cc boat in the UK is Phill Fields Tornado T7, but like other top racers he will be considering potential damage in a world championship year so Mark Wraight will be looking to put right the disappointment of missing out on an 8th title in 2017. Facebook users will have seen the progress of his all-new Seljak design 15cc boat. We will shortly bring you a build masterclass of this boat. However, we hear he may have to contend with James Taylor who is rumoured to be returning to the 15cc class with a new Tornado T7. James is arguably (With Zack) the best driver in the UK, so Mark will have his hands full if James gets his boat built. James/Mark 2017 champion Terry Holmes will also be a strong contender as he only had one DNF all season last year on his way to the title. 2015/2016 champion Sam Lincoln would normally be considered one of the favourites, but is almost certainly focused on the world championships. We would also back Mikey Hillstead if he can keep the consistency he showed in the latter part of 2017.

27cc – 2017 champion James Taylor

27cc is a straight fight between Ian Folkson and James Taylor in our eyes. Or CMB vs Tiger King! James average 35 points per race in last years championship was simply phenomenal and if he carries that form into 2018 he will be unstoppable. The other contenders would be Steve Baxter and Mick Pain who is ultra reliable, but not on the pace of Ian, James and Steve. All 4 are qualified for the world championships, so this may let in Terry Holmes.

3.5cc – With 2017 3.5cc Champion Mark Wraight electing to sit the event out to save wear and tear on his boat for 2018, Andrew Aykroyd took the win with an impressive 93 laps from Dave Hole and Robert Daniel. Andrew finally seemed to have solved this seasons reliability issues by fitting a new float and catch tank and his Ikarus 2.3 did not miss a beat. Andrew also took 3rd highest laps of the day. [Click images to enlarge]

7.5cc – Following his incredible performance at the GB Team Eliminators, race sponsor Dave Marles takes the win and highest laps of the day adjusted fro the handicap from Robert Daniel and Steve Clements. Dave elected to give half the cash prize to his pit-man Dean Lord and half to the 3rd highest lap scorer. Mick Szebeko finishes off the podium in 4th, but takes the 7.5cc drivers title with consistent finishes throught the season [Click images to enlarge]

15cc – Disaster for double-chasing Mark Wraight who just needed a start to take the title. He broke the engine in his borrowed sons boat in practice, allowing Terry Holmes to sweep to victory and snatch the title in a 4 boat 15cc race. Terry was as pleased as punch to take his first title and Mark was kicking himself over what could have been a record-equalling title haul. Dave Marles and Paul Adams took 2nd and 3rd respectively. [Click images to enlarge]

27cc – James Taylor in a super performance – Race Winner. 27cc Drivers Title. Since giving up the 15cc class to concentrate on 27cc, James has been unstoppable and cruises to victory with an incredible 105 laps, leapfrogging Mick Pain to snatch the 2017 27cc drivers title. James now holds the GB record of 8 National Drivers Titles in all classes. Ian Folkson takes 2nd a Steve Baxter 3rd.[Click images to enlarge]

3.5cc Junior – Thomas takes the win today and Miha wins the Junior Drivers Title. It’s been neck and neck all year with these 2 young racers and we expect they’ll be beating the seniors very soon![Click images to enlarge]