2015 Az WW XI February 20th-22nd

[Quietlee]

Siberia? Might be warmer there. 6 below this morning with windchills at -25. Might get to 11 above tomorrow, but by the time it does I should be nearing Phoenix.
Playing with boats on "soft" water will be a bonus. I'm more excited to not having to look out the window and see bent icicles.
bent ice.jpg

[rayzerdesigns]

its almost time..

[rayzerdesigns]

1 day!!!

[madmikepags]

on my way to the airport!!!

[D. Newland]

Simonson arrived from Minnesota. No kidding, a 93 degree differential between Minneapolis and Phoenix. He's already sunburned.

[D. Newland]

Pags already gets the PITA award! Fortunately, he'll make up for it with his credit card and a steak house on Friday night.

[T.S.Davis]

Go back to the Italian grotto in Scottsdale. Nice people and stellar food.

It's only going to be -14 tonight here. Ugh.

[Doug Smock]

Good luck this weekend fellas!!

D.

[T.S.Davis]

Dave, try not to bleed on anyone this year.

[rayzerdesigns]

Go back to the Italian grotto in Scottsdale. Nice people and stellar food.

It's only going to be -14 tonight here. Ugh.

ur gonna miss out terry

[rayzerdesigns]

Pags has arrived

[D. Newland]

If you were going to pick 3 days this winter to come to Az from just about any other region, this was the weekend to do it. High 70's to low 80's all 3 days, and just enough overcast to knock down the sun/glare. Hardly a breeze all 3 days. We ended up with 24 racers throwing boats in the water, with another 3-4 local guys there for support. Unfortunately, health issues with family kept Dick Roberts and Gary Rose from attending this year. I hope all is well back home, guys. We even had a conflicting Nitro event happen in L.A. over the weekend that held back a racer or two as well. I say this as we used to struggle to get in the high teens for attendance, and there were just a few small variables that kept us from dang near hitting 30 this year.

Sean and Terry Cordova, Joe Scarpino, Dave Santisteven (a name easier to type than pronounce! sorry for the butchering, D), and Robert Holland made it out from Colorado, Lee Simonson from Minnesota, Bob Zola and Tom Castellani from Michigan, and Mike and Ava Paganelli from New York.

Lenny Blake handled the CD duties all 3 days this year, which was very helpful as we typically had to scramble on Friday. Also, his wife LeAnne, with help from Tracy Osborne and Natalie Holland handled the BBQ Saturday and Sunday. As always, Pat handled the sign ups, heat sheets and scoring.

We held Open Water on Friday until 1:00, then punched out 3 rounds of P Offshore, P-Ltd Hydro, P-Sport Hydro and P-Ltd Mono. A few of us local guys, who have been racing all winter, held home-field advantage, so to speak. But, with this group of racers, it didn't last very long...

P-Ltd Hydro: Pags' little Buaas rigger is just a thing of beauty on the water. Unfortunately, he was plagued with a hiccup or two due to that boat being at the bottom of a lake for 6 months a while back.

P-Ltd Mono: Hat's off to Ray Presnall for doing very well with a brand new Cyberstorm build, and also to Ava Paganelli for doing what she does best. Tuning out her Dad and driving the boat as she knows how to do!

For the weekend, we run 3 rounds each day of the same classes. LSH, P Mono, P-Ltd Offshore, OPC, Vintage and Modern 1/10th Scale, P-Ltd Cat and a late addition of Q-Sport Hydro.

LSH: Hats off to Ray, again, for having a fresh build sweep the field with the best running Phil Thomas I've seen. He and I were tied with 5 heat wins going into the final heat, where we were finally scheduled in the same heat. He got the start on me and never looked back. But, it was his 4th round that really showed what Ray can do with that boat. He found himself with a penalty lap, and had to chase down the field if he wanted the heat win. With a dead boat in lane 2-3 on turn 1, he threaded it 4 times to make up time on Osborne, who was in the lead, but taking it safely around the dead boat. Ray nailed the lane each time and drag raced Osborne to the line and nosed him out.

P-Ltd Offshore continues to impress with how much concentration it takes to run clean laps. Though local racer Pete Wijatyk to the class win, Ava showed her stuff by pulling a solid 2nd place.

OPC showed a lot of promise, but most really struggled in getting finishes. We were mostly running 6 boat heats. Fortunately, all of us got our act together for the final heat, having a true OPC shoot out with all boats in contention, and finishing! It left us not wanting it to end...Pete Wijatyk had the consistency for the class win.

The Vintage and Modern classes were down a few contestants, but that didn't keep those that were running from having a sporty time! Ted McKay cleaned up both classes.

P-Ltd Cat, hands down, had the best boats and the best competition. Every heat, too. We had a good mix of Mean Machines and RTR's, with the best running RTR going to Chuck Murray and his Lucas Oil Cat. He has that so dialed that it's really a point-and-shoot boat. However, the best in class goes to Pags, with a perfect 6 heat win for the class win, running some schmuck's loaner boat to boot!

P Mono had some good running boats. Pags found the mud bottom in 1 heat, with a dramatic reverse pop-out-of-the-water report during heat 4. Unfortunately it stayed on it's lid. Congratulations to Kerry Winkle for 6 consistent finishes for a second place overall.

Q Sport Hydro drew 6 entrants. With the size of our pond and knowing that a few of us had new builds we wanted to shake out, we decided to just run 3 and 3 heats until 1 boat dropped out. Well, all the boats were running right up until the 6th heat, even with Pags blowing out his transom in heat 5. The final heat had a spectacular crash involving Zola and...either Cordova or Scarpino. I'll nail that down, but there is a photo of it, about 4 milliseconds after impact. Congratulations to Pags for having a SWEET running Q Sport boat, which is also the National Champ boat as well. What a sight to see that thing fly around the course.

We'll have a more detailed report of the finishing order as we gather the data.

The FE contingent of the Scottsdale Model Boaters continues to grow and get stronger. Pat and I are "Passing the Torch" to Alan Grossman and the other members of the club from here on out. After the Colorado Nationals this summer, I'm stepping down from the hobby.

Pat, Pete Boyle and I started this race tradition back in 2005 with a complete understanding that our event would focus on those things racers enjoy in an event. Good vibes. We succeeded each and every year and greatly appreciate all of you that have supported our event. All told, we've had racers from Washington, Oregon, Colorado, California, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, New York, and even France feel what we have at our events.

The WW tradition will continue..

[D. Newland]

double

[rayzerdesigns]

Thx for the hype david..I was shaking like a leaf after that heat race..then nervous as heck having to race you for the win..This seriously was a great weekend..those that have a chance to make it out..don't hesitate..looking forward to Michigan cup in june..and of course nats in august

[T.S.Davis]

Colorado Nationals this summer, I'm stepping down from the hobby.

Thought we wouldn't notice this didn't ya? This is not a happy piece of data for me to consume.