WOODLAND, Wash. – Refuge Custom Painting owner Dave Standal loves racing of all types.

And he recently proved it.

On Thursday, Standal wrote a check to be title sponsor of both Woodland ERCU races this season.

Refuge Custom Painting is an automotive paint, restoration, and collision repair shop serving the Pacific Northwest. They have an extensive body of custom, restoration, and special project work.

Standal’s business came to ERCU’s attention when John Earnest began using Refuge Custom Painting to paint parts for the Model A he’s currently restoring, and a discussion about sponsorship ensued between the two men, and before we knew it, we had a sponsor for both events.

Refuge’s shop is located in Woodland, Wash., and is open Monday-Friday from 9 a.m.-6 p.m., and evenings and weekends by appointment.

You can find out more about Refuge, and see photos of their great work by visiting their website. Call Standal at 360-225-3747 for an estimate.

EL MONTE, Calif. — This year’s NAMBA Fast Electric Nationals are coming up as quickly as the Llumar Window Films heading for the start line.

The entire event runs from Tuesday, June 19-23 at Legg Lake in El Monte, Calif., which is located east of Los Angeles.

Tenth-scale unlimited hydros are currently scheduled to run on Friday, June 22 (modern) and Saturday, June 23 (vintage).

The NAMBA FE Nationals are presented by SoCal FE and Scottsdale Model Boaters. Power will be provided, but if you need to use a generator, you’re asked to bring a four-stroke “whisper” model (i.e. the Honda & Yamaha types).

Legg Lake is a NAMBA Official 1/6th mile Gas/Nitro course. However, it does not meet the radius measurements to be a legal FE course. Therefore, records are not allowed.

During open water, there is a $5 buoy damage fee. Open water will be all day Tuesday and after each race day. There will be no open water the morning of each race day. Slalom buoy balls that are highly visible and won’t damage boats will be used for course buoys.

Registration and Banquet fees have a deadline of May 19th. After May 19, there will be no refunds for dropped classes.

NAMBA membership is required, or you can sign up for single-event insurance on race day.

Drivers meeting is at 8:30 a.m. each day, with racing starting promptly at 9 a.m.

Ron Daum is already planning to attend, and since ERCU members are NAMBA members, we are all cordially invited to participate.

For more information, or to register for the event, email Contest Director David Newland by clicking here.

A complete schedule for the week is below, and more information (including a registration form) can be found by clicking here to download a pdf document with loads of detailed information.

Tuesday June 19, 2012:
Open Water

Wednesday June 20, 2012:
N-2 Mono
P Sport Hydro
P Hydro
P-Ltd Cat
Q Mono
T Hydro
N-1 Mono

Thursday June 21, 2012:
N-2 Offshore
P Ltd Offshore
P Offshore
Q Offshore
T Offshore

Friday June 22, 2012:
N-2 Sport Hydro
P Ltd Mono
P Ltd OPC
1/6th Crackerbox
P Mono
Q Hydro
T Sport Hydro
Jersey Skiff
1/10th Scale Modern

Saturday June 23, 2012:
N-2 Hydro
P Ltd Hydro
P Ltd Sport Hydro
1/10th Scale Vintage
T Mono
1/8th Scale
Q Sport Hydro

The new Elma racesite turned out to be an excellent addition to the Red Dot Championship Series presented by Peters & May. We look forward to returning to Elma for many years to come.

ELMA, Wash. – Just three races into the 2012 ERCU Red Dot Championship Series presented by Peters & May we’ve already seen two final heat sweeps.

Nelson Holmberg just did it.

Just one week after Gary Hansen swept the Apple Cup at Waughop Lake, Holmberg drove his 2010 Formula Boats and Ben Keller’s 1957 Hawaii Ka’i III to wins in the modern and vintage finals, respectively.

While weather predictions promised nice weather, reality provided drastically different, which might have contributed to keeping the boat count down, as just 16 boats – including most of the leaders in the points race – turned out chilly and wet.

But the new Bowers Lake course in Elma turned out to be a truly great race site and the event was excellent, with great sportsmanship and camaraderie all day.

Clean, quality racing was the order of the day, as just seven DNF/DNS’s were recorded in vintage and five in modern. Four different boats won heats in both modern and vintage, as well.

When it came time for the modern final, all six boats in attendance answered the bell, with just one not finishing the final when Ron Daum piloted the Llumar Window Films through the left turn in second while pushing to catch the Formula Boats, only to hit a buoy and roll upside down.

The Formula led start to finish, capturing the win. Second place went to Craig Bradshaw’s 2010 Oh Boy! Oberto, followed by Ron Forister’s 1999 Miss Madison in third. Fourth place went to Nels Enquist’s 1972 Lincoln Thrift’s 7 ¼% Special and Jim Dotson with his 2010 Miss Peters & May finished fifth.

In the vintage final, all seven boats finished, making the challenge of winning the race even more daunting. But the Hawaii Ka’i was up to the task, and held off some of the fastest vintage boats in the club this year.

Second place went to Forister with the 1971 Miss Madison, followed by Bradshaw in third with the 1958 Coral Reef. Fourth place went to Enquist’s 1959 Maverick, with fifth going to Ryan Opfer driving Kerry Kjos’ 1960 Miss Thriftway, which was the trailer boat in the final after winning the connie. John Earnest piloted his 1962 Gale V to sixth place, while Robbie Roberts coaxed the trouble 1960 Miss Burien around the course for a seventh place finish.

The vintage connie was won by Opfer with the Thriftway, while Daum took second with the 1958 Wildroot Charlie. Two of the total DNFs for the day came in the vintage connie when Steve Dumanis’ 1969 Pride of Pay ‘n Pak Outrigger and Jim Latimer’s 1962 $ Bill were unable to finish.

Another ERCU first was recorded at the Atomic Cup as well, when three boats from the 2010 season were drawn into the same heat as the 2010 Formula Boats, 2010 Miss Peters & May and 2010 Oh Boy! Oberto all ran together in modern heat 2A. It was pretty fun to see.

ELMA, Wash. — ERCU’s Atomic Cup was run for the first three years of the club’s history at various places, but then discontinued.

In our decade celebration, the Atomic Cup is back, and unless it was in the Tri-Cities, it couldn’t be located in a better place.

Elma – the site of the last nuclear power plants to be built (or in this case, partially built) in the state of Washington – will be host to the ERCU Atomic Cup on Saturday, May 5.

The Satsop Business Park, as it’s called now, is the unfinished Satsop Nuclear Power Plant, a facility designed to house two 1250 megawatt pressurized water reactors. Construction of the Satsop Nuclear Power Plant began in 1977 and was halted in 1983 after a $961 million budget shortfall, leaving the plant 76 percent complete.

The trailer will arrive between 7:30 and 8 a.m., and setup will get started right away. A mandatory drivers meeting will be held at 10:45 a.m., with modern heat 1A to start shortly after the drivers meeting is complete.

This is a site where power is not available, so if you have a generator, be sure to bring it. If not, certainly someone will share power with you.

Vintage boats will be able to run open props.

Those who still need to have boats inspected are encouraged to arrive early and be ready to have inspections completed right away, out of fairness to our inspectors, who will also desire testing time in the morning.

The race format will be three flights of five-lap heats for modern and vintage boats. Depending on the turnout, first and second connies will be held for both classes. The winner of the second connies will advance to the first connies as a trailer boat, and the winner of the first connies will advance to the finals as a trailer boat.

Final heat winners will be the race champions.

The winners of the last Atomic Cup (2005 in Marysville) are David Gardner with his 1958 Thriftway Too (vintage) and Monte Steere, driving Rick Lentz’s 1973 Red Man Too (modern).

Gary Hansen won the Apple Cup, for the second time, with his 1974 Miss Cott's Beverage

LAKEWOOD, Wash. – When Gary Hansen wins a race, he normally does it the right way – by sweeping both finals.

The Apple Cup was no different.

Hansen brought his very fast 1956 Muvalong and 1974 Miss Cott’s Beverage to Waughop Lake expecting to be one of the faster competitors at the lake, and to no one’s surprise, he was.

He completed a perfect day with in the modern class the Cott’s, easily winning the final after the 2010 Formula Boats hit a hole at the apex of the left turn and ended its day upside down.

Craig Bradshaw provided some drama, though, pulling the 2010 Oh Boy! Oberto within striking distance by the end of the final. Hansen, however, was able to pull away and secure the win. ERCU newcomer Ron Forister finished third with his 1999 Miss Madison. Finishing in fourth place was Mike Schultz with the 1979 Miss Budweiser, followed by Nels Enquist with the 1972 Lincoln Thrift’s 7 ¼% Special in fifth and Ron Daum in the 2003 Llumar Window Films in sixth.

Due to boat count, there was no modern connie.

Gary Hansen won the Apple Cup vintage final with his 1956 Muvalong.

When it came time for the vintage final, three favorites – Hansen, Nelson Holmberg (in Ben Keller’s Hawaii Ka’i III), and Robbie Roberts with the 1960 Miss Burien – were lined up for a great start, with the Ka’i on the inside lane after the score up.

As the leaders approached the left turn, the Burien became one of many vintage victim’s of Mother Nature – who blew strong, steady winds that chopped up the water – blowing over at the end of the backstretch. When the boat landed and filled with water, it was in a precarious setting, at the entrance to the left turn and was barely visible so the heat was stopped.

Because it caused the stoppage, the Burien was not allowed to run in the restart and Enquist’s 1959 Maverick – the alternate to the final – was allowed to start as a trailer in the restart.

After the Ka’i jumped the scoreup in the restart then flipped in the front stretch, Hansen and his Muvalong had an advantage and fought off challenges from Jim Latimer’s 1963 $ Bill and Bradshaw’s 1958 Coral Reef to claim his second win of the day. Bradshaw was second, followed by Alex Daum driving Holmberg’s 1957 Miss Wahoo for the final. Fourth place went to Enquist. DNFs went to Holmberg, Latimer, and Forister (1971 Miss Madison).

Bradshaw won the vintage final with the Coral Reef, allowing him into the final as the trailer. Enquist was second – putting him in position to be the alternate in the final. Third in the vintage connie went to Steve Dumanis with the 1969 Pay ‘n Pak Outrigger. DNFs went to Schultz with the 1966 Miss Chrysler Crew, and Alex Daum with the 1957 Thriftway Too.

A very special thanks goes to Schultz, who reacted quickly providing a chase boat when the club’s equipment trailer was blocked in the storage cage. Special thanks also go to Ron Daum and Craig Bradshaw who brought the necessary equipment (buoys & weights, PA system, cords, etc.) to run the race.

Waughop Lake in Lakewood's Fort Steilacoom Park is finally home to ERCU's Apple Cup.

The third annual ERCU Apple Cup is up next, and it’ll finally be held at Waughop Lake in Lakewood, where Contest Director Ben Keller has always wanted it to be.

Only one problem: Ben can’t be there.

Work commitments mean the Contest Board will take over the day’s CD duties for Keller, who does wish he could be there – especially since the race is just a mile from his home – but nothing else really changes about the event.

The trailer will arrive between 7:30 and 8 a.m., and setup will get started right away. A mandatory drivers meeting will be held at 10:45 a.m., with modern heat 1A to start shortly after the drivers meeting is complete.

This is a site where power is not available, so if you have a generator, be sure to bring it. If not, certainly someone will share power with you.

Vintage boats will be able to run open props.

Those who still need to have boats inspected are encouraged to arrive early and be ready to have inspections completed right away, out of fairness to our inspectors, who will also desire testing time in the morning.

The race format will be three flights of five-lap heats for modern and vintage boats. Depending on the turnout, first and second connies will be held for both classes. The winner of the second connies will advance to the first connies as a trailer boat, and the winner of the first connies will advance to the finals as a trailer boat.

Final heat winners will be the race champions.

As is tradition for the Apple Cup, the vintage boats in attendance that ran in 1960 will run in a re-creation of the 1960 Apple Cup, which was run in Chelan. The winner of this re-creation will take home an Applebees gift card, sponsored by Choral Enterprises.

Mike Campbell swept last year’s race and is the defending champion, driving his own 1986 Boat and Keller’s 1957 Hawaii Ka’i III to the modern and vintage championships, respectively in 2011 at Bellevue Downtown Park.

CENTRALIA, Wash. – Gerry Bordon wasn’t about to let a second-straight victory at the Champion Spark Plug Regatta get away from him.

Good thing his boat is so danged fast.

Champion Spark Plug provided banners, decals and prizes for our race. Children in the audience loved getting stickers and the "big kids" who were racing loved all of the prizes and banners. (Jim Dotson photo)

Bordon ran away from the field with his 1970 Parco’s O-Ring Miss in the vintage final of the 2012 season-opening Champion Spark Plug Regatta at Fort Borst Park.

Nelson Holmberg won the modern final with his 2010 Formula Boats after a check of the rule book changed the actual order of finish.

Bordon’s special win – which was a repeat of his first career victory, last year’s Champion Spark Plug Regatta – was sealed when he was able to keep the 1969 Pride of Pay ‘n Pak Outrigger of Steve Dumanis behind him, and after blowovers took out some of the other contenders in the vintage final.

On the first lap, Robbie Roberts watched his 1960 Miss Burien blow over in the right turn, ending his – until that point – perfect day. A couple of laps later, the surging Hawaii Ka’i III, driven by Holmberg, did a 360 flip, landing right side up, but taking on water on the landing. Ron Daum’s 1958 Wildroot Charlie, which was unable to start as the trailer.

The Ka’i was pushing to catch the Parco’s when it flipped, but lost a position to the Outrigger before getting back on plane and underway. Holmberg ultimately finished third. Nels Enquist’s 1959 Maverick and Dave Reiser’s 1982 Miss Island Security Systems also were unable to finish the vintage final.

Daum was the only survivor of the vintage final, piloting the Wildroot Charlie to a connie victory. Shehan’s 1970 Miss U.S. was unable to start the connie, as was John Earnest’s Gale V, which was knocked out of the race as the result of a collision in the mill with Mike Schultz’s Miss Chrysler Crew. The Chrysler Crew was DQ’d from the connie, leaving the Wildroot Charlie to run just three laps alone to “make it official”.

In the modern final, all seven boats finished, but after the heat was over there was some confusion about something that happened in the mill, and the question was called about whether a penalty should have been called.

With less than 20 seconds before the start, Bill Smiley, driving his 1977 Charlie’s Girl, had lane one and cut the course at the last second, entering the infield before the entrance to the right turn. The problem happened when he exited the infield between the fourth turn buoy and the exit pin.

A review of the rule book proved that the rule for the milling period specifically says boats must re-enter the backstretch between the exit of the right turn and the entrance of the left turn when cutting the course during the mill. Smiley ran an extra lap just in case, and passed three boats on that lap, finishing fourth in the official standings.

The review of the rules advanced Holmberg’s Formula Boats to first place in the final, Daum’s 2003 Llumar Window Films to second and Craig Bradshaw’s 2010 Oh Boy! Oberto to third. Fifth place went to Nels Enquist’s 1972 Lincoln Thrift’s 7 ¼% Special, followed by Mike Schultz’s 1979 Miss Budweiser and Reiser’s 1982 Executone, which was the trailer boat.

Reiser won the modern connie by being the only driver to complete five laps. Mick Shutt’s normally consistent 1976 Miss Vernor’s, Jesse Shehan’s 2008 Beacon Plumbing, which was troubled much of the day, did not finish. Jim Dotson’s 2010 Peters & May, which fought steering bugs all day, was unable to start.

Champion Spark Plugs’ unexpected and more than welcome support was fantastic. Children who came to watch the racing were all given Champion logo decals, Champion banners were all over the place, and prizes provided by Champion were given out to the day’s winners.

Bordon and Holmberg were given neon Champion logo clocks as race winners. Daum won a blind drawing for the metal shop cabinet with the historic Champion logos across the front of it, and a number of the drivers took home Champion banners and large decals for their shop.

We’re certainly appreciative of Champion’s support, and look forward to a long relationship with them.

We’re also appreciative of our friends from Rose City Model Yacht Club who allowed us to use their chase boat for the day, eliminating the need for us to pull the ERCU trailer to Centralia when all we needed out of it was the buoys, printer and the PA system, which were brought down by various ERCU members.

Everyone who participated in the race helped with officiating, set up and breakdown, too, and that’s very much appreciated.

The club also welcomed a new member in Dotson, who passed his driving test and the rules test. Despite the steering troubles he fought all day with his 2010 Miss Peters & May, he had a great time and is already looking forward to the next race (Apple Cup at Waughop Lake, April 28).

Aren’t we all?

ERCU’s Contest Board has accepted a generous offer to add a second race in Woodland, Wash., to the 2012 schedule.

In late March, the club was approached by the Woodland Planters Days organizing committee with a formal invitation to put on a race that would be an official event of the oldest community festival in the state.

The club’s Contest Board accepted the invitation and the Planters Days board recently ratified the decision by a formal vote that ERCU would be an official part of the Planters Days festival.

We will be racing on Saturday, June 16, which is the same day as the Planters Days parade through downtown Woodland – just yards from the ERCU race course, and the potential for the biggest crowd to ever watch an ERCU event is large. Planters Days events take place in downtown all day long, including a car show, military vehicles show, carnival, frog jumping contest, and more.

The Planters Days committee already has all of the event permitting taken care of, and we’ll be under their umbrella for our race. ERCU will not be responsible for any fees or additional insurance or permitting requirements.

That said, we have not yet settled upon a name for this added race, so we’re seeking member input for the naming of this event. Sticking with the traditional naming convention of the club, naming our events after real hydroplane races, we’ve suggested a few names in the poll below to let the membership decide what this race will be called. We’ll keep this poll open until April 30, when we’ll declare and post the official name of this new event.

West Coast Custom Boats and Champion Spark Plugs have become the newest sponsors of ERCU.

Champion Spark Plugs is excited that ERCU runs a season-opener that models the big boats season openers that used to happen annually at Miami.

Believe it or not, they found us through Facebook and reached out to our club on their own. You can find them online by clicking here. Thank you Champion Spark Plugs!

We’re also thankful for West Coast Custom Boats, which also became a new sponsor. West Coast Custom boats has a number of molds for 1/10-scale unlimited hydroplanes and build a number of different boats. Find them online by clicking here. Thank you Craig!

Over the winter, the ERCU membership approved a new starting clock and trailer start procedure.

Trailer boats will now start five seconds behind the rest of the field – not the exit buoy of the left turn – no matter what size the course is. By doing this, the club should experience a consistent way to start races for trailer boats, and will make the distance back from the front-line starters the same for every course.

The new starting clocks have been set up to countdown the same way our old clocks did, but at the end of the countdown is a two-second explosion (i.e. a cannon blast). The clock then counts down “three, two, one” and another cannon blast.

Both the start of the heat, and the trailer start are legal at the beginning of the cannon blast sound.

Since then, the new three-minute and one-minute clocks have been developed. In order to make sure the entire membership has the opportunity to hear the new clocks, we’re posting them here on the website.

The one-minute clock will also be played during the drivers meetings at the first few races, so we assure the opportunity for everyone to hear the clock before experiencing a mill with the new starting clock.

To listen to the new clocks, click on the appropriate one you want to hear below.

One minute clock

3 Minute Clock