Sedgemoor MBC Fast Electric test/race day - 24th February 2008

Report by Russ Chilcott

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This was originally planned as a simple test session for anyone wanting to dust the cobwebs off their old boats or test out their new designs ready for the 2008 SWAMBC fast electric series, which was still a couple of months away.
We were very lucky when we arrived at the Apex Park, Burnham-on-Sea to have just a light south west breeze and it was also fairly mild for late Feb. But we were all totally gob-smacked when I counted 52 boats booked into race on the day! (Later I found it had increased to 54 as there were a few late entries!) As it turned out, it was looking like a full blown SWAMBC Championship race meeting!
We were also testing out the new (for us) lap counting system, as we had decided to adopt the same system used by all the other FE racing districts. After a quick skippers briefing, racing got underway at 10.40am.

R2R

The days racing started as usual with the R2R class. No new entries at this event from last year, but it was good to see quite a few experienced R2R Racers had "retired" to move to other classes - and about time too for some! Though not particularly fast, these boats do still produce some good racing. This is our most heavily restricted (entry level) class, "ready to run" and therefore designed to limit development and keep them all on a fairly level playing field. At the end of the day the top 3 places were separated by just 12 seconds! In 1st place was young Michael Hickman, who looks set to continue the Hickman FE racing dynasty! (Dad and Granddad also race in the FE series) 2nd place, just 2 seconds behind finished the host Club Secretary Ian Gibson, closely followed by another Sedgemoor member Mark Sutton.

Formula 2

For me this was the most improved class from last year. The quickest boats were driven by Mark Shipman, James and Aran Bond, all racing ECO Jokers with self-righting chambers. These were very fast and amazingly stable around the buoys, even later in the day as the wind increased and the water got slightly choppy. The others in a field of 9 entries were by no means slow, but the Torbay Club trio were the only ones to score 21 or more laps in at least one of the races. They have been busy building/test during the winter few months - and it showed!

Mark finished top of the three (22 laps/1 sec) just 17 secs ahead of James with Aran a lap down in 3rd place. Yate & Sodbury members Bill and Keith Hickman plus "The Stig" (aka Allan Shillitto) were all racing their brand new designed "Rocket" boats. Not quite as stable on the turns, but they did at times have the pure speed to give the Torbay lads a run for their money. With a bit more development, they will hopefully close the gap and we'll see some fast and furious racing between these two clubs during the SWAMBC FE series this year.

Formula 3

15 boats once again made this the most popular class at a meeting (even a test session!) Like Formula 4 this class remains unchanged from the 2007 spec. with strict limits on the motor/cells, so I can't honestly say they were any faster than last year. But that made no difference to the exciting and very close racing! Chris Locke dusted off his old F3 boat, which he usually only races in the local club series. He set the early pace with a score of 16/16. This was equalled by Roger Clark on the exact same score. In race 2 they couldn't be separated again as Chris did 16/14 and Roger did the exact same lap/finishing time - amazing! It was just a great shame they were racing in different heats! Roger, however, was honest enough to disqualify himself as he was racing on "illegal cells" (ie: 3700 instead max. 3300). The night before this meeting, his racing 3300 pack had shorted out and was totally knackered. Roger's exclusion moved me into 2nd place (15/1). Having just moved up from the R2R class, Gordon Tiley had a great day, finishing just 3 sec behind me (15/4)! Another new entry in this class, but much younger, was Alex James (his 14th birthday was the following day) who raced extremely well, finishing just 4 seconds behind Gordon (15/8) in 3rd place. A good days racing in F3 was slightly damped when Mike Coopers boat was hit (by a fellow Yeovil club member - shall remain nameless!) just after the race had finished! Mike's boat sunk immediately. Minutes later the hatch floated to the surface - the boat, however, remains somewhere in the Apex Lake in 10+ feet of very cold water!

Formula 4

Of the 9 entries, more than half of the field were on the pace at some point during the day. Dale Thompson and Adrian Hingston who have just formed the Stithans MBC had made the very long journey all the up from Cornwall. They both had new F4 boats, not sure of makes, but both were Mono hulled, out-riggers. Roger had a brand new own designed Hydro and I was racing my old faithful Hydro Lifter. Mike was racing a Nimrod boat, once owned/raced by Colin Carpenter who had won the F4 series with it in 2005 and 2006! Rob Parsons (sorry Rob didn't see what you were racing!) was also very quick and looking to get into on of the top places. As it was, I did just enough to take top spot (21/11), Dale finished 2nd (20/6) a mere 2 secs ahead of his mate Adrian (20/8). I wonder what they talked about on the long journey home! Roger finished 3rd (20/18) and Rob 4th (20/26). So 2nd to 4th places were separated by just 20 seconds, - or the same score as the penalty time for 2 missed buoys!

Hydro 1

These boats have always been the most difficult to set up correctly and are sometimes limited by the tight SWAMBC racing venues. That might be why this class still struggles to get more than a handful of entries. At this meeting we had 4. One of which was the National FE Hydro 1 Champion Chris Osman, racing his own design "green machine" model. But on this day no one could catch Bill Hickman with his brand new boat, as he scored a massive 23 laps in the 5 minute race (the Mono 1 boats race for 1 minute longer). Chris O was 2nd on (22/9) ahead of Chris L in 3rd (21/21). Hopefully a few more that I've heard about "under development" will see the water soon.

Mono 1

Mono 1 seems to be really gaining in support recently, last year we had about 5/6 per meeting, but here at a "test day" in February we had 11 boats wanting to race! Like the F2, these showed a huge improvement not just in the pure speed, but also many were handling their brushless power so much better than last season. This meant that most were able to take the best racing line around the oval course. With 2 heats races of 5 and 6 boats, who were also sharing the lake with quite a few duck, swans, Canada Geese etc, it was often action packed from start to finish!

1st pace went to Roger Clark who raced well to keep clear of trouble and clocked 24 laps and 13 seconds in race 2, no one else could quite match that. Dale made it a worthwhile trip by finishing 2nd (23/0) with Mark Sutton in 3rd spot (23/9).

In summary…

What a very good day it was. It just about held off raining, but a stronger breeze in the afternoon made it a little cooler, especially noticeable when you were lap counting - funny how you just don't feel the cold when your out there racing! It was hard to tell this meeting from a full SWAMBC FE championship round, but I suppose if you put a group of FE Racers and their boats near a lake, the racing bug soon takes hold - test day or not!

At the end of the day a small selection of Easter Eggs were handed out to the top 3 placed drivers, boats packed away and we were heading off home by 5pm. Everyone is now looking forward to the start of the "proper" meetings and those long hot summer months!

A special thanks to the guys for helping set things up and putting away - Malcolm, Chris O, Chris L, Graham and Ian.

Roll on round 1 of the 2008 series at Exeter on 20th April - I can't wait!

Russ

Results

R2R

(Ready to Run complete boat, original or SWAMBC listed motor, 6 cell 3300 max, 5 mins, clockwise triangle course)

		Race 1		Race 2		Race 3		Score				Total
Boat No	Name	Laps	time	Laps	time	laps	time	laps	time	Discard		Laps	Time	place
6	Michael Hickman	17	6	2	DNF	17	29	36	35	2	0	34	35	1
9	Ian Gibson	17	16	DSQ	0	17	21	34	37	0	0	34	37	2
10	Mark Sutton	1	DNF	17	19	17	28	35	47	1	0	34	47	3
8	Mark Tiley	15	22	15	37	14	5	44	64	14	5	30	59	4
15	Roger Fuge	13	40	11	24	14	24	38	88	11	24	27	64	5
7	Monty Chappell	7	22	13	30	DNS	0	20	52	0	0	20	52	6

Formula 2

(Mono hull, brush/brushless, 7 cell unlimited amp, 6 mins, anti-clockwise M course)

		Race 1		Race 2		Score				Total
Boat No	Name	Laps	time	laps	time	laps	time	Discard		Laps	Time	place
1	Mark Shipman	22	1	22	9	44	10	22	9	22	1	1
3	James Bond	3	DNF	22	18	25	18	3	0	22	18	2
6	Aran Bond	21	7	21	16	42	23	21	16	21	7	3
13	Graham Fright	17	2	20	14	37	16	17	2	20	14	4
5	Alan Shipman	19	5	RTD	0	19	5	0	0	19	5	5
2	Will Hickman	19	12	17	3	36	15	17	3	19	12	6
12	The Stig!	DNS	0	15	DNF	15	0	0	0	15	0	7
4	Keith Hickman	6	DNF	RTD	0	6	0	0	0	6	0	8
9	Rob Parsons	DNS	0	5	9	5	9	0	0	5	9	9

Formula 3

(Mono hull, 540 motor 19T stock, fixed timing, 6 cell max 3300, 5 mins, anti-clockwise M course)|

		Race 1		Race 2		Race 3		Score				Total
Boat No	Name	Laps	time	laps	time	laps	time	Discard		Laps	Time	place
19	Chris Locke	16	16	16	14	32	30	16	16	16	14	1
1	Russ Chilcott	15	1	14	1	29	2	14	1	15	1	2
6	Gordon Tiley	14	DNF	15	4	29	4	14	0	15	4	3
7	Alex James	1	DNF	15	8	16	8	1	0	15	8	4
3	Rob Parsons	14	DNF	14	3	28	3	14	3	14	0	5
12	Graham Fright	14	15	14	16	28	31	14	16	14	15	6*
14	Dale Thompson	13	3	14	15	27	18	13	3	14	15	7*
13	Mike Cooper	13	5	11	DNF	24	5	11	0	13	5	8
5	Tony Pearce	12	9	13	7	25	16	12	9	13	7	9
8	Bob Bryant	12	2	13	12	25	14	12	2	13	12	10
16	Adrian Hingston	13	19	9	5	22	24	9	5	13	19	11
11	George Bowkett	1	DNF	12	21	13	21	1	0	12	21	12
4	Mark Sutton	4	10	11	11	15	21	4	10	11	11	13
20	Adam Hicks	DNS	0	3	DNF	3	0	0	0	3	0	14
18	Roger Clark	16	16	16	14	**

* place decided by higher discard score ** Used 3700 cells for test runs - F3 is limited to 3300

Formula 4

(Any hull, 700 type motor, 12 cell max 3800, 5 mins 15 sec + 10sec mill start, clockwise oval course)|

		Race 1		Race 2		Race 3		Score				Total
Boat No	Name	Laps	time	laps	time	laps	time	Discard		Laps	Time	place
1	Russ Chilcott	14	DNF	21	11	35	11	14	0	21	11	1
6	Dale Thompson	20	6	19	6	39	12	19	6	20	6	2
9	Adrian Hingson	13	DNF	20	8	33	8	13	0	20	8	3
5	Roger Clark	20	18	19	30	39	48	19	30	20	18	4
7	Rob Parsons	20	26	14	11	34	37	14	11	20	26	5
16	Mike Cooper	17	9	19	20	36	29	17	9	19	20	6
4	Chris Locke	17	9	18	22	35	31	17	9	18	22	7
14	Alex James	17	17	6	DNF	23	17	6	0	17	17	8
10	Gordon Tiley	1	DNF	15	20	16	20	1	0	15	20	9

Hydro 1

(Hydro/multi hull only, brushless only, 7 cell unlimited amps, 5 mins + 10sec mill start, clockwise oval course)

		Race 1		Race 2		Race 3		Score				Total
Boat No	Name	Laps	time	laps	time	laps	time	Discard		Laps	Time	place
6	Bill Hickman	21	DNF	23	DNF	44	0	21	0	23	0	1
2	Chris Osman	12	2	22	9	34	11	12	2	22	9	2
1	Chris Locke	21	21	20	6	41	27	20	6	21	21	3
3	Malcolm Franks	12	DNF	3	DNF	15	0	3	0	12	0	4

Mono 1

(Mono hull only, brushless only, 7 cell unlimited amps, 6 mins + 10sec mill start, clockwise oval course)

		Race 1		Race 2		Race 3		Score				Total
Boat No	Name	Laps	time	laps	time	laps	time	Discard		Laps	Time	place
5	Roger Clark	21	DNF	24	13	45	13	21	0	24	13	1
7	Dale Thompson	20	23	23	DNF	43	23	20	23	23	0	2
2	Mark Shipman	21	4	23	9	44	13	21	4	23	9	3
1	Chris Osman	23	23	23	16	46	39	23	23	23	16	4
4	Aran Bond	16	DNF	22	DNF	38	0	16	0	22	0	5
3	James Bond	17	20	6	DNF	23	20	6	0	17	20	6
9	Kieth Hickman	11	DNF	DNS	0	11	0	0	0	11	0	7
8	Alan Shipman	11	10	RTD	0	11	10	0	0	11	10	8
12	Chris Locke	2	DNF	9	20	11	20	2	0	9	20	9
11	George Bowkett	DNS	0	5	DNF	5	0	0	0	5	0	10
6	Adrian Hingston	DSQ	0	4	DNF	4	0	0	0	4	0	11