2013 NAMBA SAW Time-Trial - November 8th, 9th & 10th at Legg Lake!

[BILL OXIDEAN]

Fluid, I'm really sorry for what happened to your boat. Yours too Darin for that matter.
Fluid, I was fixated on the boat as well. I was fascinated at how it was running so smooth and stable, and watched it stuff into the jungle.

I was a fan of that whole project, look forward to seeing the sequal. Great seeing you down there as well as Everyone else.

[BILL OXIDEAN]

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Here's a "Glam shot" of you Mr.Fluid and that beauty "THE LA WOMAN" !!

[properchopper]

Wow ! I'm still playing catch-up to the chores left behind and have many vid's to sort through & upload. Soon ! Those who have attended these events know with knowingness the afterglow coming from renewing and solidifying friendships and the tightening of the bonds that keep SAW devotees hooked on this insanity. Just to hang out and rub elbows with the likes of Jay, Brian, Darin and Wilmer and meet guys like Manuel and Marco (who both came from Europe) is a remarkable gift and graduate-level learning experience. Mark and Kim Grim with Tyler's able assistance kept the flow (and culinary delights) moving seamlessly - much praise to them. The SoCal FE guys, notably Mark F, Boyd, and Brian N. well represented the home turf. Cameo appearances from the SoCal FE bunch included Tim(Tlandauer) who for two days pitted for me, Stephen(Chiefy_44)Jan(UBHauled), TheShaunessy, Naveed, Brad and a nice visit from the HansenDam Violators up north - Adam(blownover) and friend.(probably forgot somebody/sorry).

I picked up the P-Ltd Cat record which was open (and one mph slower than the retired P-Ltd Offshore record I last set). I bumped my P-Ltd Mono record by @ 1mph. Both records with one of Brians "magic props". I was somewhat hampered by having to use year-old packs as my battery budget was pre-empted two days before the race when my car went poof and needed a $763 repair or I'd be walking to the race.

I'll have vids up once I sort & upload.

Some random pix

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[properchopper]

more pix

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[Darin Jordan]

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That is a fantastic pic, Tony! I love it!!

[properchopper]

My Favorite !

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[Doug Smock]

Well done fellas!!!
Congratulations!!

[D. Newland]

I kept searching for the gas/nitro records on the other boards...you mean to tell me the records were 100% FE? Man, that's fantastic. Impressive, too. Look at how well the T180 controllers are doing.

Thanks for your contributions, guys, and sorry about the lost equipment. I know it's expected...but it still sucks. The sacrifices you make and the time you take to attain these kinds of speeds is remarkable!

[Chilli]

I read something about some 109+ mph passes in a gas rigger at Legg. Don't know if it was a record though.

Awesome numbers guys. Congrats to everyone for their efforts. Condolences to those that broke and burnt stuff up. Most SAW video's show the good runs. They don't show the numerous failed attempts and the hours of work that goes into these boats before and during an event. It ain't as easy as it looks folks. But even those that don't meet their goals come away from these events more knowledgeable and determined. In the end, everyone is a winner!

[RaceMechaniX]

Thanks for the results Tyler, and the amount of time put into running the program.

You could have added the fact your Sunday after the race dinner tasted better than mine by 0.2mph ��

Thanks Brian, didn't want to rub it in considering it cost me a lot more lost hardware than you this time.

TG

[RaceMechaniX]

Well I am finally back to some sense of normal again after another SAW event at Legg lake.

We had excellent weather all three days with good water at least several hours per day in the morning and late afternoon. The wind picked up a little in the middle of the day as usual, but this did not stop the T catamaran guys from running. Kim's lunchtime extravaganza was excellent and it was great to meet some new drivers as well as some returning racers.

It was definitely a Cat showdown with Boyd, Brian Neal, Marko from Berlin and Manuel from Austria showing up with armadas of twin powered cat's.

My performance was a bit lack luster and fell short of my expectations. Finally after several years and five iterations of the FE SAW rigger I was confident I had a set-up to approach and surpass the elusive 140mph mark set by Joerg almost 10 years ago. I built two new boats, one for Q and the other for T both with similar power systems, albeit set for the appropriate battery voltage.

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On Friday morning I set-up the Q hydro with a reasonable prop and fresh Dinogy 6S 5Ah battery and started to make a pass. As I hit the ~100mph mark the rudder broke sending the boat in a violent spin and tumble that totaled the boat. The battery mass caused major structural damaged as it ejected from the tub as well as breaking one of the new sponsons Brian was nice enough to build for me. Luckily the motor and ESC as well as the rest of the tub floated and I was able to salvage most of the parts. The impact was so severe it bent the 3/16" aluminum motor mount, bent the strut, stub shaft and fractured the tub at every bulkhead. This was not a good start to the weekend. Here is a pic of the Q hydro before it crashed.

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So I pulled all the electronics out and soaked then in WD40 while I prepared the T hydro. Since my new set of slippery sponsons were toast, I used a one of the several pairs I built up from foam core and birch ply. The T system had the advantage of 7k RPM more over the Q system. My goal was to find the right prop on the Q boat and then put that prop on the T hydro and go for it. Well I ended up having to start small with the T hydro and move up. The T hydro showed real promise and initially we were clocking speeds around 120mph. The motor and ESC were not breaking a sweat at all so the next step was bumping up the prop size. Here is when the problems started. With the higher RPM of the T power system I was loosing blades during the acceleration and once a single blade broke the imbalance snapped off the stub shaft right at the strut. I was prepared with 8 additional wire drives with bonded stub shafts, but run after run ended with the prop breaking and snapping or bending the stub shaft. Some shaft failures were strong enough to completely blow out the strut. It was replaced twice over the course of the weekend.

Eventually I ran out of wire drives and had prepared two flex shafts are back-ups. The first flex cable caused a very rare unforeseen failure. With the wire drives the freeplay was set-up to a minimum so the drive dog transferred the thrust to the strut directly, however with the flex cable I had to leave a generous 1/4" gap to allow wind up. On the first pass with the flex cable under acceleration the prop broke and the sudden and near instantaneous removal of torque and thrust caused the flex cable to unwind and literally shotgun the motor with axial force. The force was great enough to split the motor axially from the front end bell to the can. Needless to say this caused some motor damage and I was done with the T hydro. My frustration was knowing the T hydro easily had the potential to go beyond 140mph if a driveline and prop would have stayed in one piece. I made several passes at 133, 134 and a personal best of 135mph. Next time we'll be ready with stainless or CrCo props cable of handing the high RPM and forces.

It was great seeing everyone and meeting Manuel Wenny and Marko from Austria and Germany respectively. They were in attendance with Brian Neal who showed up with a fleet of HPR cats. Here is a pic of Brian and his fleet. The HPR he is holding was the one he set the T catamaran record with.

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Here are some other pics of the competitors and their boats:

Brian Buaas and his P Hydro Raptor. Brian had built a beautiful sister boat to this one that was claimed by the lake.

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Darin Jordan and his M2 hydro. A sweet running one cell rigger which he managed to coax a 71mph pass out of.

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[RaceMechaniX]

Here is Mr. ProperChopper Tony Heller showing off his P-Ltd entries. Many thanks to Tony for all his efforts to prep for the event and help out. A great FE ambassador.

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Mr. Manuel Wenny who had been building boats all week prior to the event here showing his very capable Q catamaran. Manuel would have won the award for most flat spins. He make a dozen 100mph passes with this boat and crashed at least as many times with no damage to the hull or hardware with the exception of several bent rudders and props.

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Mr. Dinogy Mark Ferreira with his DF39 T mono. Mark had driveline issues that sidelined him from making good passes.

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The Marlboro Man Boyd Marshall and his Q Catamaran I believe. Boyd had a fleet of Marlboro themed cats from N2 up to T with a cat for each class.

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Marko from Berlin showing off his AMG HPR T catamaran. This boat was brand new when it arrived state side and over the course of the weekend he consistently improved upon his speeds up to 120mph I believe.

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[RaceMechaniX]

Hollywood Bill Oxidean showing off his N1 or M2 mono. Bill pushes the limits on the smaller N1 and M2 boats.

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Tim Smith from MaxAmps came out for the first time and ran a M2 or N1 mono through the lights.

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A view of the pits on Sunday afternoon as witching hour approaches. Marko is up on the bench driving his HPR.

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Brian Neal with his record setting T catamaran.

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Thanks to the Grims and all who contributed to making this a great event. A lot of work goes into preparing for these events and it capped off with bench racing when we all have dinner on Sunday night and brag about how we are going to do better next year and the side bets start. No matter how many boats were lost, props were bent or batteries that were ejected you cannot replace the camaraderie that this groups of racers have.

See you guys in the new year with new boats and much stronger props.

TG

[Darin Jordan]

Darin Jordan and his M2 hydro. A sweet running one cell rigger which he managed to coax a 71mph pass out of.

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Thanks for the pics, Tyler... Slight correction... it was a high 72mph pass, backed up with a low 71... just a tick or so off the record, I believe..., with several 70 and 71's thrown in throughout the afternoon...

You are absolutely right about the Sunday dinner conversation, however... Alreading prepping to try to achieve the higher sights I've set for the next round!! Can't WAIT!

[properchopper]

For those waiting for videos, I just sorted out what I had. I chose 38 that are view-worthy from many that didn't get going. They're divided by complete runs and those ending in airborne ballet. It will take days to upload all 38, so hang tight.

I just had to see this right away : Manuel demonstrating his rare and highly elegant European "Whirling Dervish" Horizontal Dismount :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QI9iR8d3Wyo