Welcome to ERCU!
We’re glad you are interested in joining the world’s largest 1/10-scale unlimited hydroplane racing club. The club and its members are proud to be from the Pacific Northwest and our annual racing season makes up the ERCU racing season, including as many as 13 races in the Puget Sound and Portland/Vancouver regions between April and October.
This page is intended to give you information about ERCU that we hope you will find valuable, as well as provide you with the forms and applications you’ll need to get started as quickly as today!
The links below lead you to the steps you’ll need to take to become a member of the club.
- ERCU Membership Form & Boat Registration Form
- ERCU Intent to Build Form
- ERCU Boat Inspection Form
- ERCU Rules Test
- NAMBA Membership Application Form
- NAMBA Single Event Insurance Application Form
You can find all of these forms by clicking here.
Ready to get started? If your answer is yes, you must first join the club by completing the ERCU Membership Application and submitting it with the $25 membership fee to the club registrar his mailing address is on the form.
The other part of this form deals with boat registration. If you have no boat and intend to build, then you need to pick a boat from the ERCU Master Hull Roster. You’ll need to select a boat that is not already registered to another member and complete the Intent to Build Form submitting this with your Membership Application and Boat Registration Form with the additional boat registration fees of $5 (per boat) included with your membership application. Our website has more detailed information and links to other helpful and important information.
To go racing with us, you must also be a member of the North American Model Boat Association (NAMBA). This is done by filling out the NAMBA Membership Application Form and sending it in with the membership fee to the address indicated on the form.
So you want to go racing TODAY? No problem. If you will be driving someone else’s boat you do of course need to join the club and then fill out the NAMBA Single Event Insurance Application Form then submit that and the $10 fee to the person registering boats for the event you are attending. Next you will have to pass the written ERCU Rules Test with a score of 100 percent (This is a one-time thing) and then you will have to successfully complete the practical drivers test by completing a one minute mill with a legal score up and start followed by five penalty free laps demonstrating good control of your boat. You will need to have a current board member with you while you do this test, though the board member does not have to be your spotter. Having successfully done all this, you are ready to embark on your ERCU Rookie Season. As a rookie, you’ll need to start as a “trailer” boat in every heat until you reach 1,200 points. Once you reach that number of points, you’ll be allowed to start on the front line with the rest of the field.
In the above scenario, you will probably be making your full NAMBA Membership application at a later date but here is the good part: that $10 Single Event fee you just paid applies to your full membership!
If you already have a boat and all the equipment and the registration for that boat or boats is open, then you need only get your boat(s) inspected. Forget about that Intent to Build Form and complete the ERCU Boat Inspection Form and submit that to our friendly and helpful inspectors at the time of inspection. Enter your boat(s) and pay your entry fees and you’re “Off to the Races”.
Good Luck and Welcome Aboard!
