THE FLORIDA SPEED FEST 2000 RACE
Presented by: The Florida High Voltage F/E Boat Club

By: Don Wollard
don@rumrunnerracing.com

The Florida High Voltage F/E Boat Club began this racing season with a goal of promoting our hobby to as many people as possible. Young and old would be introduced to our race boats and in some cases actually be able to control a race boat in a heat. Quite a feat considering the effort it takes to actually put on a race and cover all the details including officiating.

The club started this racing season in April with the Miami Championship Race. This event drew hundreds of young people and families to a "day at the beach" race. The race and event was a huge success. Radio Control Boat Modeler Magazine sent famed R/C boat writer Rick Eyrich to cover the event.  Our special thanks to Rick and RCBM for the great coverage and consideration. 

As the season progressed, club members prepared for racing around the country. The club sponsored a group of its top racer¹s to cross the country in June and attend the Spring Splash race, near Seattle. A memorable race and great time visiting with our many friends from the left coast FE community. The NAMBA Nationals were held in September in New Jersey. Club member¹s Chris Harris and Brian Vega were able to attend and race at what proved to be the most competitive Nationals ever.

Finally, the club¹s season was concluded with our annual Speed Fest race held this year on November 10th and 11th. This year, the race was held at beautiful Lake Lily in the City of Maitland, near Orlando.

The club joined with UCP Child Development Centers, a children¹s charity to put on the race during a festival and Chili Cook-off. A Chili Cook Off is a contest where hundreds of contestants cook-up chili concoctions and other goodies in a competition of sort. The program coordinator estimated nearly 10,000 people attended the festivities. No doubt some kind of record for the number of individuals to attend a boat race in the US. Better yet, $30,000. was raised for this important organization. 

On to the race. After a season of very hard racing, it was a feat for many of the club to field all of there boats. Battle wounds and worn-out parts seemed to have taken there share of casualties. Others had already started preparing for the 2001 season and were able to get a little competitive test time in for new equipment. Trey Adams and Dave Roak traveled 12 hours (each way) from Louisiana to test a portion of their 2001 fleet. It was great to have theses guys again and see how fast these guys have really become. They do great jobs setting up there boats not to mention they are good company at any race. Thanks for coming down, gentlemen.

Day One. A cool crisp Florida fall morning had the smell of "something hot" early on. The Chili contestants fired up there stoves just after dawn. The aroma of good things to come penetrated the air while charging batteries and small generators hummed along. This proved to be a shortened race day as the club volunteered to assist the charity in the afternoon. 

The club was honored with the opportunity of promoted the hobby and raising funds for the charity, by holding a kids race. Raffle tickets were sold and the winning youngster were teamed with an experienced club racer. 45 kids raced for bragging rights to the cheers of there parents and a large crowd that formed to observe. Its a bit of a chore to manage crowd control around expensive equipment at this type of event. All went well and nothing was broken.

I would like to mention our special thanks to Ray Fuller of Fuller¹s Fast Electric¹s for supplying the boats and equipment which the young people raced. Ray does a marvelous job supporting NAMBA F/E clubs and he is certainly appreciated. Way to go Uncle Ray!

Club members held a raffle which netted 45 youngster¹s to race. Other club members prepared the boats while each racer had the benefit of a mentor who instructed each youngster on the fine art of race strategy.

Then racing began. 

N-1 Mono (6 cells with a stock motor. Mono hull only). Long since a popular class at the club, most drivers fielding a boat to give top honors a shot. What¹s interesting is how this class has evolved over the past couple of years. Favored hulls seem to change frequently as drivers look for an edge and a more stable boat. Motors are restricted, of course. New more powerful batteries have provided a speed benefit. 

Early on, the newly redesigned Bandit Boats Pistolero 22 proved to be a serious contender against the likes of the Maus Mirco Bullet and the Warehouse hobbies Enforcer. Trey Adams drove his Pistolero 22 to 3 perfect finishes and took top class honors. Chasing close behind was Mike Pleszewski driving his Enforcer into second place overall and Dave Roark with another Pistolero 22 took third place over. Donnie Wollard and Chris Harris both fielded the new Pistolero 22. These guys were very fast and had their boats set-up to run on the "edge". Which edge was evident when both drivers failed to finish in the money because of flips. Better luck in the spring, Guys.

N-1 Hydro. ( 6 cells with a stock motor. Any Hydro hull). A fast class if your name is Chris Harris. Chris fielded his new Hammer Head rigger that was expertly set-up. Chris smoked the field and easily won first place overall. Chris has for years set the "bar to reach" in this class. Certainly a bench mark for everyone else. Trey Adams did a great job designing and building his rigger for this class. Trey grabbed second place with Brian Vega in for third with a brand new Rum Runner which hit the water for the first time, race day.

P-Offshore ( 12 cells and any qualified Offshore hull. No restriction on power). Having originated at the Florida club, this class has become the favorite local class. Scale looking boats racing on an "M" shape course for 4 minutes is just a "hoot" to race and watch. What was special at this event is the large number of spectators the Offshore boats attracted. 

Chris Harris had his Hammer Head Offshore Catt hooked-up and ready to go. Chris easily grabbed first place overall. Second went to Mike Pleszewski with his Super Hawaii and third went to Donnie Wollard with his Rum Runner Catt. Donnie lost his steering system in the first heat. Some quick repairs got him positioned to move up in heat two and three for a respectable finish. Its certainly worth noting that all three of these boats are at least 30 inches long overall. The larger boats just kick!

M-2 Hydro (4 cells with any Hydro Hull). This was the first official club race were a 4 cell class was entered. Only a few had time to prepare a boat to enter but all watched with enthusiasm to observe the speed and handling of these little demons. Chris Harris and Brian Vega were both ready for the challenge. Chris had a success test in this class at the NAMBA nationals and was eager to further tune-up his boat. Brian field a brand new Rum Runner which he launched the for the first time in heat one. 

Chris zipped the course and sweep in for 3 perfects heats and first place overall. Brian was second overall with Eric Johnson with his new BBY in hot pursuit for 3rd place. From the chat I heard, sounds like this class will grow for the new year. 

Day Two. The club got to start the event a little later in the day which benefited many who had to prepare or make adjustments. Open water began about 8:00am with the first heat a little after 9:00am.

N-2 Hydro ( 6 cells with an Hydro hull) was first to get wet. The N-2 class of hydro¹s and mono¹s are a long time favorite at FHVC. With new motors and electronics, both class classes promised to be fun, fast and competitive. 

Team Rum Runner driver Donnie Wollard was testing a new motor set-up and had hoped to catch team mate Brian Vega to tag for top honors. Donnie ripped a clean sweep and grabbed the top spot. Second went to Trey Adams with his brand new home built rigger. Scott Harris edged into third place with his successful Hatt rigger. This rigger was built from plans which are available for free on the Hatt FE site.

Just a little added cheer for team Rum Runner, The same weekend of this race was the Los Angles straight-a-way time trials. Dick Crowe drive his Rum Runner N-2 rigger to a new record in both N-2 and O Hydro, smashing both previous records. Quite an accomplishment and tribute to Dick¹s masterful skills setting up a boat. Great job, Dick. 

N-2 Mono ( 6 cells with an Mono hull). Another hot class nationwide this season. The new Neo Man motors appeared in several boats with much anticipation. After a short pre-race open water test it was evident that these motors had a lot to offer.

Trey Adams jumped into first place easily on with a Micro Bullet powered with the Neo Man. Trey was dialed in and did a clean sweep. Trey was closely followed by Donnie Wollard who also used a Neo Man motor to power his new Pistolero 22. Donnie built a water chamber in his boat so the boat would be "self-righting" in the event of a flip. A really sharp conversion to an outstanding hull. Watch for Donnie¹s set-up story on this boat, early in the new year. Donnie grabbed second place in spite of dealing with over heating problems with the motor. Water cooling and a higher turn arm is in his near future with this set-up. Third place was won by 15 year old Daniel Wollard driving a home designed/built Rum Runner Mono. Daniel has consistently gotten faster the past year with this unique design. Daniel used a 9 turn Reedy Sonic for power and easily had the speed of the top dogs.

O-Hydro ( 8 cells with any Hydro hull). Could O Hydro be approaching the minute mark? Sure looks that way. Rob Michael¹s broke the class open early in the season with his new 5 lap record of 65.91 seconds. Speeds seemed stable until the NAMBA nationals when Doggie Twaits grabbed Rob's record with a new top speed of 63.14 sec. The chase is on to break the minute mark in 2001.

Brian Vega fielded his snappy Rum Runner rigger powered by Aveox. Brian has finished either first or second in every national event he enter this year with the same equipment. Driving skill and a hot boat allowed Mr. "B" to easily sweep the event. Chasing Brian "nip and tuck" was Don Wollard with another Aveox powered Run Runner. Don¹s motor coupler gave way in the final heat on the last lap dropping him to third place overall with a DNA in this heat. "Mr. Consistent" Scott Harris eased into second place with his BBY rigger with Astro power.

P-Hydro (12 cells with any Hydro hull). The clubs top two drivers in this class, Chris Harris and Brian Vega both had suffered from damaged equipment which occurred at the NAMBA Nationals. Neither driver was able to finish a heat. But watch out in 2001. 

Donnie Wollard fielded a brand new Run Runner rigger design with Aveox power. This boat will be a contender in 2001, after a few minor adjustments. Donnie¹s speed and handling distanced the field in every heat. In heat one, on the final lap Donnie tested his flotation system. His boat floated perfectly, upside down. In the second heat, again on the final lap (two entire lapse ahead of the next competitor) Donnie set the club record for a tail walk, just prior to testing the floating system for the second time. Heat three, no problem a easy first place and enough points for third place overall. 

"Mr. Consistent" Scott Harris drove his Maus Rigger to first place overall. Eric Johnson was a close second with his scratch built rigger with Plettenberg power.

P-Mono ( 12 cells with any Mono hull). A large fleet launched for a chance of bragging rights in this competitive class. Early on, the man to beat was Chris Harris. Chris dialed in his Aveox powered Bandit Pistolero and was very fast, easily winning top honors. "Mr. Consistent" Scott Harris was the second place winner with his Black Diamond hull with an Astro 25. And third went to Eric Johnson with his successful BBY Charger hull and a Plettenberg motor. A number of other contestants were very fast, also. Mr. "B" had several spectacular flips which dropped him from contention. He was neck and neck with Chris in every heat. Brian drives a Maus Bullet with Plettenberg power.

Well that is about it for our 2000 season from Florida. The short winter (hopefully so) will hopeful give the club members enough time to prepare for the Miami race, the first weekend of April. Get ready, gentlemen. Miami will be hear before you know it. 

There is two special acknowledgments I would like to make. First is to Chris Harris for the outstanding job preparing for this event. Its a lot of work and often frustrating to prepare for and hold a successful event. Way-to go, Chris! You came through again. And second, to all of the trophy sponsors. We appreciate you!

RACE RESULTS

Rum Runner Racing

www.RumRunnerRacing.com