1^st Annual World’s All Electrics Straightaway Record Event

Another N.A.M.B.A. event

Sponsored by Fuller’s Fast Electrics

Story by: Donnie Wollard, Dick Crowe, Don Wollard Picture page 1  -   Picture page 2

A challenge was issued several years ago on the Rum Runner Bulletin Board. Who would be the first Fast Electric racer to reach 80 M.P.H. on a straight-line course? Was this possible or just conversation?

This 3 day event began on November 9^th, 2001 at Lake Legg, California USA. 20 of the world’s fastest racers assembled to try there hand and luck at the record book. The fastest guys from NAMBA, IMPBA and Europe arrived for a shot at the largest bragging rights ever, the highly sought after Rum Runner Cup. The Cup was to be awarded to the first racer who exceeds the previously thought impossible, 80 M.P.H. average speed on a certified course, at a designated event.

Electrics have long been considered the ‘toy boats’ of the radio control boat hobby. Generally considered to be slow battery powered cousins of the more powerful nitro/gas boats the question now became were the technology, motors and boats available that could withstand such a challenge?

When it was all said and done, 18 new World Records were established. The Rum Runner Cup was awarded to Dick Crowe who smashed the 80 M.P.H. barrier with a top one-way speed of 89.28 M.P.H.

The finally tally of (Official) Speeds and Record Holders are;

- Day One. November 9^th, 2001

The Hype, Anticipation and Chest Thumping were now over. This was the day when ‘the rubber meets the road’.

What would happen today? Early on, the day was overcast and breezy. Lake Legg had a slight chop, which was running directly down the course. The local club(s), The Southern California Skimmers and Team Three Amigo’s arrived early to prepare for the day. Tents, tables and generators were set-up before 8:00am as the racers began to arrive. By 9:00am the timing lights were set and certified. It was time to rock!

The racers charged batteries and tightened their props as the running order was established. Dick Crowe was first on the registration list and anxiously headed for the water’s edge. ‘Mr. Crowe’ chooses his brand new 18-cell Rum Runner rigger (Hydro) for his first run. The lake was choppy and the wind seemed to be increasing. Was this a good day for a speed record attempt? Dick blasted down the course in the windward direction and achieved a one-way speed of almost 74 M.P.H. On the return pass, down wind, the boat got squirrelly and went tumbling. The first casualty of the day was official. This high-speed crash blew out the right sponson and ended this boats chances at a record.

As the next few hours passed the carnage of wrecked boats mounted. Shortly after Mr. Crowe’s run, his fellow Rum Runner Team mate Larry ‘The Mad Alaskan’ Larson flipped his P-hydro. Also a Rum Runner rigger. The water pressure literally cracked Larry’s boat in half and ejected his cells & $500 custom made speed controller into the dark water. Soon thereafter, Dennis Whitt and Arne Hold both sunk beautiful custom SAW boats. Floridian Chris Harris lost control of his brand new custom build Arrow-Head rigger and met the shore-line with a speed in excess of 65 M.P.H. Ouch!!!

Ray Fuller launched the Miss Washington II early in the second round. Once on-step, Ray blasted through the timing light in what appeared to have been the fastest one pass of the day. Another casualty of the rough water and into the far shoreline.

Dick Crowe; “There were many impressive performances on this day. The Team from Germany had some very fast boats that may see records if the water calms down. Patrick McDonald who drove all the way from Arizona and fielded an absolutely beautiful custom carbon ‘Lightz’ rigger he built. Pat took 4 cells to a new level with a 43 MPH one-way pass. Greg ‘The Mono Master” Schweers showed the rest of us a thing-or-two with his beautiful Bandit El Lobo in Q-Mono. His fastest one-way speed rivaled the Hydro’s at 65 M.P.H. Greg  pinned down a new record at 51 M.P.H”.

-Day One Results.

This day was capped off by a wonderful dinner, which Ray Fuller (Fullers Fast Electrics) and Chris Fine (Fine Design) generously provided to the racers. It wasn’t ‘Whiskey and Fast Horses’ this year but Iced Tea and Cheese Sticks. Nonetheless, a great opportunity to learn the speed secrets of the world’s fastest electric boaters in a social setting that was marvelous.

After dinner, Motel 6 turned into an all night workshop. Boat repairs, rigging and changes madly went on until the wee hours. Would all this hard work pay off?

-Day Two. November 10^th, 2001.

Early morning came with a thick fog and cooler temperatures. NO WIND! Would this turn of luck hold out? Most racer’s arrived at the lake before 8:00am. The water was slick calm and looked very fast. High hopes with escalating excitement was noticeable as the generators fired up and cells charged. The racers prepared for battle as they installed the world’s finest cells, motors and controllers in their craft.

Donnie Wollard. “ Early in the day, we watched Brian Vega and Dick Crowe fry a pair of brand new Schultz 102wo controllers. Actually, these controllers looked more like they had been torched. Now, there was a bigger problem. There were only 4 of these new Schultz controllers in the USA and two are now history. Yesterday, when Larry Larson crashed his P-Hydro was lost one of the only two Schultz 157WO controllers in existence. The last one was in Don Wollard’s box with Ray Fuller and Larry Larson being the owners of the remaining two 102WO’s. Things were not looking good. It was time for the Rum Runner/Fuller team to huddle.

A strategy was cooked up; adjustments were made to the teams fleet and back out onto the water. Dick Crowe was first to hit the water with the new plan. Dick’s first pass was absolutely unbelievable. He smoked the water with a one-way speed of 89.28 M.P.H. A loud cheer went out as the crowd rushed to lakeside to get a first hand view of Dick’s return run. As Dick’s boat went on-step it was clear this run was to make history. The event MC, Mark Grimm calculated Dick’s return speed and shouted out the average speed for all to hear. 87.108 M.P.H!!!!! The cheering went for what seemed like 5 minutes. The boat was retrieved with the controller in-tack and the cells only warm. The adjustments worked”.

Then, a time-out was called in the racing for a photo opportunity and the presentation of the Rum Runner Cup to Dick Crowe.

“The small boats got warmed up and soon proved to be in the hunt for new records, as well. The best battle of the day was between noted RC Boat Modeler writer Jay Turner and Pat McDonald for the 4 cell hydro record. By the end of the day, Pat took the top spot with a 42.08 M.P.H. average in his M-2 Hydro. That is, OVER 42 M.P.H. on 4 cells”.

Another interesting problem developed for several of the racer’s. At these extreme high speeds the propeller blades were bending. Dick Crowe and Larry Larson were first to discover this problem while testing before hand. At the event – this became a real issue when several of the Rum Runner/Fuller Teams best props were rendered useless. This created a bigger problem in that Dick and Donnie were sharing a single prop in several classes. This specially prepared Octura V-937/3 was being used by Dick in his record setting Q-Hydro and by Donnie his record setting O-Hydro. The event MC / Timing Judge Mark Grimm came to the rescue. Mark straighten the prop blades perfectly and then over-night super-heated a number of props to harden them. Mark is an experience Nitro SAW racer’s who openly shared  his many speed secrets learned from his years of nitro racing. He and his son Chris were a great addition to the event.

Many other exciting records were set this day. The Mono front was every bit as exciting as the Hydro’s. very exciting. Mark Ferrer bumped up the O-Mono record with a new speed of 42.26 M.P.H. with Ray Fuller chasing him all day for the top speed. Both racers sported powerful Lighting Man motors. Then, Greg Schweers pushed his Q-Mono record up another notch to 57.25. Chris Fine chased the T-Mono record up with an average speed of 55.8 M.P.H.

Donnie Wollard launched his new Rum Runner SAW rigger and edged team mate Dick Crowe’s records in N-2 Hydro with a new record of 54.77 M.P.H. with his fastest one-way pass of 55.69. Shortly afterwards, Donnie captured the O-Hydro record with an average speed of 58.00 with a one-way top speed of 63.55 M.P.H.

The celebration of Dick Crowe’s record continued through the evening. Someone (by the name of Joerg) showed up with a bottle of moonshine (I think that is what it was). Our German friends promptly educated the American’s on the proper way to celebrate achievements. The bottle was passed around for all to sample ‘whatever’ was inside. Again – it seemed that no one went to bed early, except for Randy Naylor, Ray Fuller and yours truly. The celebration went into the wee hours of the next morning and was truly enjoyed by all. Well … actually no one could hardly sleep planning for the final day and the challenges ahead.

Day Two – Results.

-Day Three. November 11, 2001.

Donnie Wollard. “WOW!!! What a day. More contestants entered the 80 M.P.H club today. Larry Larson used 25 of the hottest cells in the world (Fuller’s) carefully configured inside a Rum Runner SAW rigger and became the World’s fastest electric racer with a two-way average speed of 87.51 M.P.H. and took the T-Hydro title. This was the same boat that earned the Rum Runner Cup for Dick, the day before.

Once the boat was retrieved, the team voted to retire the boat primarily for historical reasons. Dick and Larry proposed that everyone at the SAW event sign the boat in Memory of Don Wollards father who past away late on the first day. Our heart felt thanks to all. You guys are the best. We (the Wollard's) appreciate knowing you.

Rum Runner Team Driver Dick Crowe wasn’t finished just yet. He scorched the water once again to become the first driver to enter the 80 M.P.H. club, in two different classes. He Piloting his Rum Runner Q-Hydro (18 cells) to a ballistic average speed of 82.41 M.P.H. This boat almost did not make the trip. It was built as a back-up boat and barely fit into the Wollard’s traveling case. At the last minute, Donnie was able to get this boat into the box just before leaving for the airport.  Don and Dick rigged this boat after dinner the evening before. Brian Vega became the world’s P-Hydro (12 cell)  driver by pushing the speed mark over 73 M.P.H. with an average two way speed of 73.64 M.P.H. Brian says he will enter the 80 M.P.H. club on 12 cells at next years event. Good Luck B-Dog. You’re the man!

Late in the day near sundown, Joerg  Mrkwitschka (team JAG’s/Germany) passed the mark with a two-way average speed of 80.6 M.P.H. Team member Arne Hold had awesome speed and certainly will be seen in the future designed his boat. These guys battled problems all day. Lots of glitching …

Don Wollard and Chris Grimm both took 80+ M.P.H. passes with Dick’s Q-Hydro to wrap up the day and claim membership in the exclusive club. What a rush that must have been for both these guys!

There were so many accomplishments at this event it would take pages to detail every accomplishment. The accomplishment of 18 World’s records at any event is a new milestone for this entire hobby. What does this say for the future of Fast Electric R/C boating, worldwide? Could this be a sign of a new beginning? Certainly this event established a few new facts for the FE hobbyist. First, it’s safe to say that Technology is now established in FE racing, worldwide. Second, you can certainly go fast with 05 can motors, Gear-driven 05 and exotic motors, and Brushless wonders.

It should be noted that the very first FE boat to exceed the 80 M.P.H. mark was homemade substantially of  wood. This boat cost less than $50.00US to construct. WOOD BOATS still RULE the fastest water’s in the world! Come join all the fun in 2002! You can get started in FE boat racing for a lot less then you may think.

What will next year’s Straight-away’s bring? Ray Fuller has announced his sponsorship of the event. RumRunnerRacing.com upped the ante by announcing, The Rum Runner Cup II. This cup will be awarded to the first racer who exceeds 100M.P.H. See you there!

LINK to pictures.

LINK to Dick Crowe’s Official Straightaway’s site. Please watch the Video’s of these fast boats.

Final Comment. This event became a reality because of the sponsorship and generosity of Ray Fuller, Fuller’s Fast Electrics. This racing season, Ray stepped up and sponsored The Miami Grand Prix (April), The NAMBA National’s (June), The California race (August) and the NAMBA Straight-away’s (November).

This was a substantial investment into the future of this hobby and one appreciated by the many racers’ who attended these events. Give Ray a call someday. His number is (425) 334-8312 or email at; fastel@email.msn.com.

Also, Special thanks to the hosting clubs. The Skimmer’s and Team Three Amigo’s. What a great job they did setting up and running the event. Also, a BIG thanks to the officiating and assistance of Chris Grimm and his son Mark. These two made a HUGE difference and were very much appreciated.

Comments page. What racer’s said about this important event?

Jay Turner. “This was among the most exciting and enjoyable FE racing events I've ever attended.  Of course actually seeing Dick Crowe run 87 mph was a one-in-a-lifetime experience, and watching the many other outstanding performances was great too.  But to me the best part was seeing many old friends, meeting new ones, and simply being part of this important event.  While the three other SAW trials I've attended were fun, this one highlighted the spirit of cooperation and purpose that to me is the real attraction of FE SAW competition.  Virtually everyone helped everyone else, and the goal was advancing the speeds (and thus the legitimacy) of fast electric boats.

My own efforts were a blast.  I was very pleasantly surprised at the performance of Pat McDonald's rigger, and I had the challenge and fun of trading the M2 hydro record back and forth with him for three days.  The biggest surprise for me was the speeds we finally attained.  My old record was 37 mph, and I know that I could break 40, but I figured not by much.  Setting the first over-40 record was a real milestone for me,
but we just kept on going.  I doubt that I would have gotten to the speeds I did (44 mph finally) without the competition from Pat. Before the event I would not have believed that the final record would
be over 45 mph”!

I didn't get this kind of push in the M2 mono class and had to pursue that one alone.  But I was extremely pleased that my new SAW mono design was as fast as my first M2 hydro was, and I know there is more in it. Wait until next year!”

Ray Fuller. “ Whiskey and Fast Horses for my Men. One beep and we went fast. See you all next year. Happy Holidays”.

Dick Crowe. “A little over a year ago a few of us flew down to the SAW’s in California. After that weekend Ray Fuller and Jeff Vasquez got together and discussed a 3-day all fast electric SAW. That’s all it took for me and a few of my buddies to finally get real serious about setting some records.  We soon realized the key would be teamwork and testing. Don went to work on the boats, Fuller with the power and Brian, Larry and I took to the water.

I had actually got an idea of what it would take from the SAW’s a year before when Don Wollard built me a purpose built 12 cell boat and Ray Fuller dropped in a Hacker he had just gotten from Germany the day before. We didn’t even know what prop to run but took a good guess and set the 12-cell record at 64+, just 3 MPH slower then the existing 32-cell record.

With this as a foundation we began our next goal, the 2001 NAMBA LA SAW’s. As time got closer Larry Larson flew down from Alaska and tested with Larry Kirby, Ray Fuller and myself for a couple days, dawn to dusk. When we were done we had tried almost everything.  After a call to Brian for some info on his testing in Florida and another call to Don for a few more ideas on some boats we would be ready to go.

The first day at the SAW’s was a learning experience. We had decided to crank it up another notch with hotter motors and bigger props. In many cases we found we were over the top. It wasn’t until we went back to what we had done in testing those records started to fall.

The 2 boats I was having the most success with were the 18 and 24 cell boats. While the 24 cell boat was the fastest, I got almost more of a kick from the 18 cell boat. When I started the weekend it was with a small boat running CP 1700’s and a Hacker 7XL. I was running in the mid 70’s until I hit some choppy water and wrecked the boat. That ended up to be a good thing as Don had brought a second boat for 18 cells that wasn’t even rigged yet. This one was a little larger, just big enough to squeeze 18, 2400’s in it. That night I set it up and after a little more tweaking I was making passes at 84 MPH with the same 7XL. This boat seemed to be just right for the class.

The 24-cell boat was a little tougher. On the first day I broke shafts and couplers every run, although I did have one pass where the cable held together for about a half a pass. It was very clear that if I could keep it together, this boat had what it was going to take. That night Larry Larson and I cut out every shaft in all our boats and replaced them with heavier cable.  On the first attempt I threw on a pitched up v937. That was a mistake. While I did make a pass at 81 MPH the speed control grenade at the end of the run. I was pretty bummed at this point. All I could think of is how people would say 80 is possible, but you’d have to blow a speed control to do it. I knew this wasn’t the case since I had made about 6 passes at home on 1 charge with no problems, but I ran a stock v937 then. After talking Fuller out of his controller and replacing the tweaked v937 with a stock one I was ready to go again. This time the first pass was 89+. All I wanted to do is get it back the other way for the record, which it did. I was blown away and very humbled by the cheering all the other guys were doing as the boat ran it’s second pass. I can remember hearing Chris Harris yelling prior to the second pass “this is it guys, everyone watch. 80 are going down.” All I can say is I was very humbled to see my friends cheering for me like they did. It seemed like everyone was trying to figure out why I was so calm during the presentation of the Rum Runner Cup. In reality I was trying to figure out how to handle the celebration. It was cool though!!!!! Later that night the German Team brought out a bottle of 60% 105 proof Whiskey to be cracked in the advent of 80 MPH. Everyone took a slug. I thought I was going to melt from the inside out!!! A few guys had easily their fair share, which made for an interesting evening!!!

That night it was decided that we throw another cell in the 24-cell boat to make it legal for the T hydro class. Since Larry Larson was the biggest influence to me with that boat it only seemed right that he would drive it. We still had one more problem though. Both the 18 and 24 cell boats would bend the props on every pass. After the record run with 24 cells the blades were folded back almost 1/8^th of an inch!!!! That night Mark Grimm (he was running the event) took home several props and hardened them for us. Larry made 2 great passes and set the T Hydro record at 87.5 (faster then me, but I could live with that).  We decided to retire the boat after that in Memory of Don Wollards father who had passed away 2 nights before. Everyone at the event signed it. Again, very cool!!!!

One other great memory was with my German friends. Joerg and I had been having some lighthearted battles on what it would take to get to 80 MPH. I went with overpowered motors and small props. He went with super efficiency.  While I was breaking hardware, he was blowing his boat off the water. By the end of the weekend we had both got it right. Just before his last pass I was helping him with a radio problem.  I ended up loaning him my radio. When he plugged his batteries in his controller beeped 3 times. To me this was a very conservative setting so I said “3 beeps? This is not a time for 3 beeps it is 1 beep time!” Joerge and his teammates started laughing then reprogrammed his controller. Two passes later he was the third inductee to the 80-MPH club AND had a new slogan “This is not a time for 3 beeps!”

I’ll NEVER forget this event. While the knowledge gained was incredible, it was the friendships that made it for me”!

See ya,  Dick

Don Wollard. “Donnie and I had a ball. I truly enjoyed the enormous challenge of the 80 MPH bar. I don’t think I will ever forget Chris Grimm’s voice after Dick’s first pass .I was standing right next to Dick when Chris Grimm shouted out, ‘2.520 seconds’. Dick is a real pro. He never took his eyes off the boat as he turned around for the return run. I hooted and shouted with the crowd.

Above all, it was hanging out with our many friends that made this trip so special. I learned a lot. This was my very first SAW and the first time I designed and built single purpose boats. The design process gave me a headache. The outcome was very joyous. I am equally proud of Donnie, Brian and Larry for there outstanding Achievements. And special thanks to Ray Fuller and my Buddy Joerg for all the help with motors, controller’s and specialty stuff.

 I look forward to seeing everyone at next year’s events. Oh! One last thing. Wood Boats Rule”!

Larry Larson. “ My biggest impression of the event both before and after was the complete team work that was used to break these records. Team Rum Runner was a complete Team effort sharing equipment, set-up and ideas. We also made a special effort not to bang heads against each other and try to take as many different records as possible. It was a fantastic feeling to belong to such and effort. There are a lot of professional teams that would have been envious of the way we worked together”.

Joerg Mrkwitschka. “Title: It's one beep time...   After Sep. 11 and the beginning war we were not sure if we should make the trip. But then we decided that those terrorists should not rule the world. So we went and it was a good decision. The trip was safe, probably safer than ever before.

We landed in LA on Wednesday evening and met the Wollard's and Brian Vega at the Motel 6. After dinner we spent the whole evening on checking each other’s boats. On Thursday Don Wollard invited us to a LA tour. So I saw the Hollywood letters before the race. Later most of the others arrived at the motel 6 and the boat checking began again.

The first race day was a little windy and choppy. It began not bad. I increased the Q hydro record to 69.96 mph in my first run on the second pass! But than we had bad luck. I hit the shore in the second run and the boat flipped on the third doing a wild loop. On side wing broke off and the controller got wet.

Matthias sunk his boat and Arne and Gunnar gad bad luck as well. That little wind killed us. We went back to the motel with only 4 boats, 3 of them damaged badly. 2 boats got repaired for Saturday, while mine needed the whole Saturday at the pond to be ready again.

On Saturday the bad luck stayed with us. We killed 2 controllers (which probably got wet on Friday), damaged some props and broke the 2 repaired boats again. At least I saw the first electric boat going above 80mph. I was at the shore and saw the full run cheering for Dick Crowe on the pass back. Breathtaking speed. Whow. He really deserves the RRR cup (and the whiskey).

Sunday began badly again for us. We melted an Aveox motor, lost a prop and blew 2 battery packs. Because Ray Fuller borrowed me one of his Schulze controllers I could run my boat again, but I did not want to make 2 passes. In the afternoon Gunnar handed the wheel of his O hydro to Matthias. He went out and set a record like nothing. So I let him drive my boat as well but the prop was much to big. That 2250 got bend really bad just by the water pressure. Ok, the 2mm piano wire looked like a corkscrew as well. But the ban was broken. Gunnar went out with his O hydro again and set another record at 63.99. I went out with 24CP1700 and did at least one full pass at 78mph but had glitching problems. The rest is history: Dick borrowed me his radio and made me switch the controller to mode 1 (It's 1 beep time). Now with 26 CP1700 I did one pass of 82mph and an average of 80.6mph. After it got dark Mark and Chris Grimm found Matthias' boat. So the weekend tuned out good for us in the end.

Don asked me what I learned at the event. Well, much. Very much. I learned much about surface props, the design of boats and their power needs. The right rpm. And it looks like I got hooked on SAW boats. And, most important, I met a great bunch of people and had a great time.

It's hard to remember every little story of the weekend, to remember everything where we got help - it has just been so many things. I must say thank you to everyone, but especially want to thank the crew at the pond, especially Mark Grimm for his help on the props and the good discussions, Ray Fuller for sponsoring the event and letting me use his controller, Dick Crowe for his radio and the 1 beep advise. One very big thanks goes to Don Wollard. He let me use everything out of his big boxes. I used his anvil the whole weekend; he even gave it to me on Sunday evening.

I was very proud to sign his record setting boat on Sunday evening. Especially because it's held in memory of Don's father whom passed away Friday night. Don, he will be watching you and I'm sure he was smiling and very proud of you when your boats blew away the old records.

And at least for this year: Wood Boats Rule. That’s my story. Joerg”.

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