Turbine scales

[keithbradley]

My new found understanding is that it isn't necessarily the "class" definitions but more the various power sources.

You can put 6s in a 34" boat and it's a legal Q boat.
You can put 4s in a 36" boat and it's also a legal Q boat.
You can put 37 volts nominal in a 20" boat and it's a T boat. You're legal but yer a moron.
You can put 3.7 volts in a 59.9" boat and it's a T boat. Again legal but yer a moron.

If this is confusing to any of you go back and read it again.

The key where the insurance company is concerned is the maximum power.

With nitro and gas it's the maximum displacement.

They don't care about our 65% sport transom rule or our 34" P limitation. This is why it may not be a grand idea to just say "follow class rules or else"

All they care about is the power output, size, and weight.

So maybe possibly perhaps we just need something that makes it clear to the average human that those power limitations aren't simply class structure but are in fact what is insured.

Terry,

The way I read the rules, there is no minimum hull length requirement for each class, but there is a minimum voltage listed, which means 3.7v in a 59" boat would NOT be a legal T cat. I know this is not the essence of your post, I didn't miss your point. I'm simply mentioning this for anyone who may read your post and try to apply it to competition. If you ran a Q-mono and ran the fastest laps with ANY mono, you wouldn't automatically get the Q, S, and T records, correct?

I understand that every little detail of each class may not be a concern in regards to insurance. However, if the OP is being asked to "Turn in his NAMBA card" if he wants to run his turbine boat (It was implied that he needs to do this regardless of where he runs it), shouldn't the same rule apply to anyone who runs a boat that does not fit into the other key parameters (power system, hull length, weight, etc.). There are members that run boats longer than 60", heavier than 25lbs., and equipped with higher voltages than 10s. They don't run them at NAMBA or IMPBA events, they do it on their own time. It's completely reasonable to consider them NOT covered while doing this, but do they have to turn in their NAMBA cards as well?

I'm really not trying to stir the pot here, but I see where some finger pointing, whining, complaining, making accusations, etc. will be inevitable at some point if this is not addressed. What happens when "Guy A" wins a race, sets a record, etc. and "Guy B" says "Hey! That guy runs 12s boats/boats over 60"/turbine boats. He is therefor not a legal NAMBA member and not eligible."?

[T.S.Davis]

ack! Brain Fart. Forgot there were minimum voltages.

[T.S.Davis]

Looked it up. There's a difference between organizations too. NAMBA has no minimum length where as IMPBA does.

4s in a 27" mono is legal P NAMBA boat
4s in a 27" mono has no place in IMPBA

Interesting that IMPBA allows a 2s rigger to be 60".

[keithbradley]

Looked it up. There's a difference between organizations too. NAMBA has no minimum length where as IMPBA does.

4s in a 27" mono is legal P NAMBA boat
4s in a 27" mono has no place in IMPBA

Interesting that IMPBA allows a 2s rigger to be 60".

Where did you see that? This is from the IMPBA electric section:

N Up to 27"
P Up to 34"
Q Up to 40"
S Up to 50"
T Up to 60"

The only minimums I see are regarding sport hydro. That doesn't make sense to me but I recall there being some special rules added to sport hydro at one point as a result of a specific case. It was discussed here before and I think you were a main contributor in knowing why the rules were that way, but I don't remember what the reasoning was. Does that ring a bell to you?

[Doby]

If I read my homeowners policy, it goes into GREAT detail as to what's covered and what's not...very little if any grey areas.

Might be time to update both organizations policies if required.

[Doug Smock]

Interesting that IMPBA allows a 2s rigger to be 60".

That is interesting, never made sense to me that hydros didn't have similar length restrictions. We'd have to ask Randall & Co. about that.

[T.S.Davis]

I was surprised too. Might harken back to the Reesor days. Maybe he was thinking of building one. Who knows.

[T.S.Davis]

Todd,
Now here we are discussing this issue on at least two forums because you did not like the answer.

Robert, I don't want to speak for Todd but I think his inquiry was more of a quest to see if/how we could get it done. At first. Frustration set in and it spiraled a bit. Pretty sure that was his intent though.

The other thread on IW was started by somebody else.

[Rookieboater]

2. HULL LENGTH MEASUREMENTS
a) Hulls in each class will not exceed the length given in the following table:
Class Maximum
M-2 27”
N-1 N/A
N-2 27”
P-Limited 34”
P 34”
Q 40”
S 60”
T 60”
b) See Rule A.4 in this section for measurement guidelines.

NAMBA has minimum lengths for hulls. Section 28 2.a Specialty classes may vary a bit.

Robert Holland

[T.S.Davis]

Um....so as was asked earlier, if someone puts 6s in a 30" boat is he not insured?

If that's so we screwed up on the length table.

[Chilli]

Man it's going to be a long winter..LOL

I doubt our insurance specifies all the boat classes in writing. If so, every time we had a class change we would have to redo the policy. It's a safe bet maximum voltages and sizes are but then again, I've never seen it.

I saw a reference in one of these threads (OSE or IW) asking why the AMA can insure turbines and the boating organizations have chosen (at this point) not to. It's probably due to the fact that the AMA has over 150,000 members. I have no idea what the current membership is in the IMPBA and NAMBA but I think it's safe to assume it's no where near these numbers. For those that want to get turbines into the IMPBA and Namba, fight the good fight and don't give up.

[Doug Smock]

NAMBA has minimum lengths for hulls.

I was interested in this but can't find a reference in the rule book.


Chili, As you probably guessed, NAMBA and the IMPBA combined wouldn't make a good boil on the AMA's butt.

I wonder how many of the AMA members running turbines would put one in a boat if they had a place to run it?

[T.S.Davis]

I wonder if AMA would be interested in turbine hydro...........PLANE. We just don't have purchasing power to get it done.

I can't find it either Doug. I found minimum volts but not lengths The way I read it you could put 4s in a T mono but not the 1s like I suggested. If you put 6s in a 34" mono for the fun of it you're screwed.

I think the answer to my question is that nobody knows absolutely for sure. Like Chilli, I doubt the insurance company knows a thing about our individual class structures. They just know about the max available power for each power source. Although, I suppose if there was an accident it would get dissected by some weeny lawyer. "You put 6s in a P sized boat?????"

Maybe Robert will stop back by.

[Chilli]

Although, I suppose if there was an accident it would get dissected by some weeny lawyer. "You put 6s in a P sized boat?????"

Maybe Robert will stop back by.

I would say you are absolutely correct..... and you can throw in many of the safety rules I see ignored at sanctioned events.

[Rookieboater]

I was interested in this but can't find a reference in the rule book.


Chili, As you probably guessed, NAMBA and the IMPBA combined wouldn't make a good boil on the AMA's butt.

I wonder how many of the AMA members running turbines would put one in a boat if they had a place to run it?

NAMBA does not have minimum lengths for a specific power size unless it is specifically listed in the Specialty Class Hull rules. I did not review those sections.

Robert Holland