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4 of us packed our boats and fly spray and
went across the ditch to attend the 2008 World Oval Racing
Challenge. 59 Competitors and approximately 250
performance boats gathered at the Sydney International
Regatta Center for the event and from the
minute we arrived those of us that made the trip from
New Zealand felt honored to be amongst them. The event was
organized by the Model Boat Club of New South Wales.
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The Sydney International Regatta Center |
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Getting ourselves
to Australia had it's laugh's and annoyances. Tony and I arrived
after a delayed flight but with out hassle and I did a fine
job of navigating us on the 'scenic route' so we arrived in good
spirits. Peter also had no problems on his flight getting to
Sydney but Steve got more than his share of tension so below is
his report. After their separate flights Steve and Peter bundled
themselves, boats and suitcases into the train and set off for Penrith.
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Steve, Peter, Shane & David's Cabin and
our hire car in front ( the mini one )
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Peter Collier, Steve Trott & Tony Kockott |
The joys of travelling to Ozz ! written by
TUI ( Steve)
On the recent trip
across the ditch for the 2008 World Oval Challenge, I encountered
a series of challenges in trying to take my boats with me as
checked luggage. The story goes like this…
When I booked my flight
by phone ( Freedom Air ) I explained exactly what I was taking and
that there would be excess weight wise.( none of this info was
recorded on my ticket info unfortunately )When I tried to check in
they refused to accept the box the boats were in due to the
motors and residual fuel and lubricant, despite the fact that I
had flushed the tanks spotless and the boats were cleaner than my
dinner plates. I had to see the next manager in line who also
refused me despite the fact I had a letter from a head office
operations manager saying that the stuff was ok and to assist me,
so ask for the next person in line, they also said no and with
out checking with the author of the letter then my stuff was going
no where ! So, at about 4am I insisted that they ring the chap
from head office, get him out of bed and get this sorted.. they
did and got bit of a telling off by all accounts as all of a
sudden they couldn’t be more helpful !! Anyway, then I was told
while the box will get checked in that it still wont get past the
airport authority check done by a different organization… ....so I
asked for that person to come and check it all out, so here I am
with the contents of my box, boats in bits all over the floor of
the terminal with about 5 or 6 people gathered round, the rest
checking in must have thought I was a drug runner or some thing
!So, at the direction of the other chap, I had to remove and
individually wrap each fuel tank in paper towels and then airport
plastic bags about the size of a single mattress !! Finally, after squeezing it all back into
the box I was good to go, this process had taken 3 hours, I had to
check in, run thru customs and duty free and straight on the
plane, no coffee,no brekky !!At the Sydney end I was questioned
again about the boats, due to Didimo… again I was about to have to
empty the box but then another guy checking stuff had the brains
to ask if the boats had been run in the North or South Islands,
when told North only there was no issue and I was finally on my
way to try and find Peter ( who I am sure will tell you the story
about the fun train trip ! )Funny thing is, on the way home there
was no problem at all, never got questioned at all, just goes to
show it’s the people you deal with and not necessarily the process
or rules !! Anyway, the key points
are,
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Check with
your airline when booking about the gear you want to
take and advise of any potential excess baggage, get it
in writing that its ok. ( From a high up manager )
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Use the NZMAA
inspection and sign off declaration that will be
available in future.
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Take out and
separate wrap fuel tanks and put them in your check on
clothes bag, its easier to open than a big box full of
stuff !
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Be aware of
giving the right answer about where the boat has run, ie
salt water or North Island only !!
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Consider
freighting your stuff in advance, seems as though the
ability to check on our sort of stuff will get harder
and harder till they just wont any more.
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Plan and
check rules and regs well in advance, you just might get
a grumpy check in person who likes to use their limited
authority and bugger things up for you !!
Having said
all that, it was one of the best trips I have made in a
while and cant wait to go again !!
TUI
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THE VENUE |
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Drivers stand enables judges and drivers to
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Drivers stand on wheels
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The venue was pretty
impressive with grand stand, fully equipped canteen and dozens of
already erected tents. There were storms when we arrived and when
we left but the weather during the week was perfect. The NSW club
have a drivers stand which they have built on wheels so they can
move it where necessary. The Drivers stand and carpeted Jetty made
for definite world class regatta.
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Kiosk serving delicious breakfasts & lunches |
The first two days were set aside
for practice, which came in handy for Tony who had just finished
his riggers the night before we left and has never run one before.
Peter still had a new engine and was pleased to be able to run and
test his boats. Steve's boats were going well but after a journey
and chance of climate the boats need to be tuned and checked.
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Tony, Steve & Peter |
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Steve,
Peter , Tony and a number of other boaters getting stuck into
practicing |
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The first couple of days
was also a chance to catch up with old with old friends. Tony & I
were delighted to see Alan Hobbs who we know from the World's in
Europe. Steve was
pleased to see Justin & Greg Hill from the USA who he had raced
with at the World's held on the Gold Coast in 1993. Steve came 5th
in 90 Hydro's then and this time he got a 2nd. ......and it was
good to see all the Ozzie's who came to
the Thunder Down Under here in NZ last year. |
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Graham Mason doing some preparation |
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It was good to see Alan Hobbs again |
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Steve & Dee who we
all know from Thunder Down Under |
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First Night Steve
Tomvald
organised a get together
for those of us that had already arrived |
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Steve Tomvald opened the event with
the drivers meeting at 8.30 on the Tuesday morning.
Race procedure is
completely different to New Zealand's. There is a count down but
after the siren has gone off there is still another 20 seconds
count down. This confused us Kiwi's as Tony, Steve & Peter would
have paced themselves to be at the start when the siren went off.
This took quite a bit of getting used to. Scoring is as
follows: Each boat starts with 300 points. 1 Point is deducted for
every second it takes to complete a heat. 50 points penalty for
touching a buoy.
Points are as follows |
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- 1st 400 points
- 2nd 300 points
- 3rd 225 points
- 4th 169 points
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- 5th 127 points
- 6th 96 points
- Did Not Finish 25 points
- Did Not Start 0
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Drivers Meeting |
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Pit Tents |
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THE KIWI TEAM ( Small as we were, we had A
BLOODY GOOD TIME) |
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Steve Trott with his 2 riggers
- C Hydro - Bruizer - SGX Eagle with CMB 90 EVOII
- B Hydro - Lil' Bruizer - SGX Eagle with CMB 45 RS
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Peter Collier took 3 riggers
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C Hydro - Green Mist - Kiwi III with OS 91
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B Hydro - Own Design Hull & OS 46 URN
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A Hydro - John Bellworthy's design with CMB 21
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Tony with his 2 new riggers
- B Hydro - Taipan Hydro & CMB 45RS
- A Hydro - Taipan Hydro & CMB 21 VALVOLA
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Racing classes are based on hull type, method of power, and engine
or battery capacity.
Hull types are Mono Hulls (Vee hulls), Tunnel Hulls (Catamarans),
and Hydroplanes.
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Class A up to 3.5cc
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Class B 3.5cc to 7.5cc
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Class C 7.51cc to 11cc
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Class X 11cc to 30cc
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Open Petrol 16cc
to 25cc Petrol & 35cc
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Steve Tomvald had 3 boats to race in the week
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Open Petrol Cat - Atitude- Inscane Hull -
Modified Engine
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Mono - Black Widow - Seaducer - CC Engine
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Petrol Rigger - Forsaken - Paul Osmond Taipan
- Modified Engine
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Adam Tomvald with his mom, Dee
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Adam Tomvald with Ugly Fish |
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James Kessing
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A Outboard Tunnel - HTB 290 - MAC21
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A Mono - Seaducer - MAC21
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B Outboard Tunnel - HTB 360 - K&B
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Tony Jones
- X Mono - Seaducer hull - CMB 91 RS
- EB Elec. - Seaducer hull - Neu Motor
- EB Hydro Elec - Neu Motor
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Frank Jones
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A Mono - Seaducer - MAC 21
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B Mono - Seaducer - MAC 45
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X Mono - Seaducer - Zeanoah 231
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Brett Ward with Bloody Hell
- X Hydro - SGX - CMB 101
- C Hydro - SGX - CMB 67
- B Mono - Seaducer - MAC 45
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We all knew Tony & Frank Jones from the Thunder
Down Under and their collection of boats look good and are a force
to be reckoned with. |
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 The team from the USA consisted
of Alan Hobbs, Lohring Miller, Justin & Greg Hill |
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Greg Hill from Phoenix Arizonian USA
Multi - Hull is his own design - K90
Twin Engine |
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Alan Hobbs travels around the world and say's
the Hydro are the easiest to transport. He brought 3 hydro's with
him having to leave the petrol ones behind
- A Hydro - Eagle - MAC 21
- B Hydro - Eagle - K45
- C Hydro - Eagle - K67
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Alan Hobbs from the USA with the Kiwi Team |
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Justin Hill from Phoenix Arizonian USA
All his hull are scratch built to his own design
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B Hydro K45
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C Hydro K67
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X Multi 2 x K90
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 Lohring Miller
- Petrol Mono - Lazer 45 - Zenoah
- B Hydro - Roadrunner - K45
- EA Elec.Mono - Super Vee 27
- EB Elec. Mono - 33 Dark Horse
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Paul Osmond, shown with his impressive collection of boats
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A Hydro - Taipan - CMB 21 Valvola
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C Hydro - Taipan - CMB 67
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HPM Phantom - CMB 101 (left )
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Seaducer - CMB 45RS
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EB Elec - Taipan Neu
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Andrew Biddlecombe, the secretary of
the MBCNSW and Pit person Rebecca Mason. His boats have incredible
spray work |
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- A Mono - Witchcraft - OPS
- Sport 40 - Dumas Atlas Van lines - OPS
- X Tunnel - Sprintcat - CMB 101
- Open Petrol Hydro - Taipan - Zenoah
- Open Petrol Sports - Whiplash - Zenoah
- X Mono - Blazer - Zenoah
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David Kingston is the President of the
Pine Rivers Model Powerboat
Club in Brisbane, his electric boats go like rockets
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A Mono - Seaducer - MAC21
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A Outboard Tunnel - Villian - K&B
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EA Elec. Mono - Seaducer - Neu Motor
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LS Hydro - Limited Sport Hydro - GRP700
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EB Hydro Sport 21 - Neu
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EB Mono - Seaducer - Neu
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In the Kiwi camp a lot of ingenuity was
taking place |
Peter with his make-shift watercooling system to loosen his
OS91 |
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Setting the 'cooling system' up |
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Peter using a beer can to repair one of his boats ( or truth be
known - John Bellworthy's rigger ) |
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The cabin where all the action took place |
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Tony Jones & Dave Kingston |
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Shane Deacon |
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David Kingston who shared accommodation with Steve & Peter is a
serious electric fan. He gave me a lot of information about
Electric racing in Australia. Abbreviated, these are the classes
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EA 1 Battery of 12 Nickel cells up to 14.4V
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EB 1
Battery of 13 -18 Nickel cells or a 5-6 Lithium 'series
cells' Max 22.2V
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EC 1 Battery of 19 -32 Nickel cells or a 7-10 Lithium
'series cells' Max 39V
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Steve Winks
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A Hydro - MAC 21
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B Hydro MAC45
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A Mono - Seducer - MAC 21
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B Mono - Seducer - MAC 45
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C Mono - Seducer - CMB 91
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Justin Antoni ( Grub )
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A Mono - Seducer - CMB 21
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B Mono - Seducer - MAC 45
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X Mono - Seducer - CMB 91
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X Hydro - Cajun Bullet - Twin CMB 91
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1/8 Scale - MAC 67
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B Hydro - Scratch built - MAC45
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Petrol Mono - Shitter Box - Zenoah
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Andrew Gilchrist
- EB Hydro - H&M - N53
- EB Hydro - H&M - X53
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Ian Inverarity
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Ian Baas
- Grand Prix Hydro - Xcell - OPS45
- Pickle Fork Hydro - 23cc Zenoah
- Petrol Cat - Insane - 26cc Zenoah
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Shane Deacon
- EA Mono - Toysport - Neu
- EB Hydro - Phil Thomas Sport - Hacker
- EB Mono - Delta Force - Neu
- LSH - H&M - GRP 700
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Craig Murphy
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Dave's fan to keep the batteries & boat cool |
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Gino Rateni
- A Outboard Tunnel - Lynx - OS
- B Outboard Tunnel - Nemesis - K&B
- 1/8 Scale - Winston Eagle - CMB 67
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Peter, Tony & Steve setting up the boats for
the race |
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Steve in action |
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Tony launching Peter's Hydro |
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Ashley, Tony & Steve in the drivers stand |
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Drivers concentrating on the stand |
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The pit area |
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Lara Mason
- Open Petrol Mono - Aeroshark - 23cc
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Al Ansell, the secretary of AMPBA
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1/8 Scale - Miss Budweiser
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X Hydro - Alum Tube - CMB 101
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C Hydro - Taipan - cmb 67
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Jenni Ansell with her 'Inscanely Seduced'
Madam Lash - Whiplash - 23cc |
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Glen Watkins
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X Hydro - Taipan - Twin CMB 91 RS
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Petrol Hydro - Insane - 23cc
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Petrol Mono - Insane - 26cc
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1/8 Scale - Miss Budweiser 1983
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Craig Harris
- Petrol Mono - Insane - 23cc
- Petrol Mono - Insane - 26cc
- Sports Hydro - 23cc
- Open Sports Hydro - 26cc
- Open Cat J&G Conversion
- B Outboard - K&B
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Peter Antoni
Petrol Mono - 23cc |
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