nats05report

Results and Report on the 2005 MPBA Fast Electric Championships- Bridlington 16^th & 17^th July 2005

Report by Race Director –Ernie Lazenby

Once again the weather gods smiled upon us and we had a very good weekend of sunshine and very little wind. The presence of friends from overseas was very welcome and they very much added to the competitive side of the weekend and also to the general air of good humour and friendliness.

Because the event was the MPBA national Championship with an international element separate trophies were awarded to the MPBA members and the overseas visitors. The trophies awarded to the overseas visitors were sponsored by Allan Shillito and are for permanent retention by the recipients.

NOTE: The top three placed UK competitors in each class qualified for the 2006 World Championships.

Mono 1.

This was a very well supported class with 12 competitors from the Uk and Belgium. It was apparent that any one could win this class but the front-runners were Tom Feyen, Bart Vangeyt, Vaughan Miller and Paul Dodge. It was necessary to split the 12 into 2 groups of 6 not least because we only had sufficient lap counters for 10 boats!!

The pleasing thing about the racing from a race director’s point of view is that it was easy to control; all the drivers knew what was required and there were few racing incidents. The standard of racing was top notch.

Result Mono1

1^st Tome Feyen (Belgium) Total score 60 laps 41 secs. *

2^nd Vaughan Miller 57 29

3^rd Bart Vangeyt(Belgium) 55 27 *

4^th Paul Dodge 53 29

5^th Luc De Weerd(Belgium) 52 40

6^th David Pearson 48 55

7^th Ken Brown 39 65

8^th Nigel Murgatroyd 38 10

9^th Jordan Dodge(jnr) 33 33

10^th Joe Read 31

11^th B Gains 23 05

12^th Ian Williams 12 05

The MPBA trophy and medals therefore went to

Trophy and MPBA Champion Vaughan Miller (Electra)

Runner up Paul Dodge(Bury)

Bronze medal David Pearson(Bury)

* Tom Feyen awarded the gold cup

* Bronze medal to Bart Vangeyt

Mono 2 open

The number of competitors was perhaps on the low side but one thing was for certain, all those who competed were highly competitive and nothing was decided until the last heat. Luc De Weerd gave a master class of how to drive a course at speed and how to drive when dead boats litter the lake. Luc found the course strange because of the dimensions of the oval however he made no complaint and just got on with the job of proving that a top racer can race anywhere. The three musketeers from Bury cleaned up the three MPBA positions.

Result Mono 2

1^st Luc De Weerd 63 laps 40 secs

2^nd Paul Heaton 59 20

3^rd Simon Mitchell 58 21

4^th Joe Read 58 52

5^th Peter De Winter 39 25

6^th Bill Addison 19 10

7^th Ian Williams 7 05

Therefore the MPBA national Champion is Paul Heaton (Bury)

Runner up Simon Mitchell(Bury)

Bronze medal Joe Read (Bury)

Luc De Weerd was awarded the Gold cup.

Mono 2 Restricted

This class used to be very well supported often into double figures.

This year the numbers were well down but that did not mean the competition was not hot because it was!. Paul Heaton always looked favourite and did not disappoint. Ken Brown was driving his rebuilt B24 a boat that he had not used for well over 6 months and had he tested it before the first heat he may well have challenged for first place.

Results Mono 2 rest

1^st & National Champion Paul Heaton (Bury) 33 laps 30 secs

2^nd Simon Mitchell (Bury ) 31 24

3^rd Ken Brown(Darlington) 31 26

4^th David Pearson (Bury) 30 12

5^th Jordan Dodge(Bury-jnr) 27 28

Mono 3

This class is not as popular in Europe as it was a couple of years ago and this downward trend was repeated at this event however the racing was highly competitive. Paul Heaton gave a demonstration of controlled driving with a fast boat proving that to win it you need to finish!

Result Mono 3

1^st Paul Heaton 40 37

2^nd Joe Read 39 80

3^rd Tom Feyen 24 laps

4^th Simon Mitchell 20 36

5^th Bill Addison 10 05

6^th Guy Verachtert 8

MPBA National Champion Paul Heaton (Bury)

Runner Up Joe Read (Bury)

Bronze medal Simon Mitchell (Bury)

Tom Feyen awarded a Bronze medal.

Eco Standard

The race director thoroughly enjoyed this class and in particular watching Stephe Hart of Electra give a master class in how to drive the triangle at high speed. He was pushed by Tom Watson and Andy Hassan but the result did not really look in doubt barring any mechanical failure. The top three achieved lap scores that would have been enough to get into the final at this years European championships.

Results Eco Standard

1^st Stephe Hart (Electra) 86 laps 36 secs

2^nd Tom Watson(Bridlington) 85 27

3^rd Andy Hassan(Electra) 81 22

4^th Nick Rees (Concorde) 77 06

5^th Vaughan Miller (Electra) 71 40

6^th Steve Raynor (Electra) 67 21

7^th Tim Watson (NFERC) 22 05

Eco Expert

Seriously fast boats being driven around the triangle is not for the beginner. These boats are motoring and great skill is needed to drive close to the buoys while avoiding other boats all doing the same. It was good to see young Rubin Rees drive his boat so well and it won’t be long before he’s a serious challenger, The top 4 boats in this class were streets ahead of the others but the real class act was once again Stephe Hart.Tom and Andy had their own private battle and as you can see from the scores it was very close.

Result Eco Expert

1^st Stephe Hart (Electra) 117 laps 42 secs

2^nd Tom Watson (Bridlington) 109 19

3^rd Andy Hassan(Electra) 109 26

4^th Nick Rees (Concorde) 108 10

5^th Ian Phillips(Bridlington) 98 23

6^th George Roberts(Bridlington 98 57

7^th Steve Raynor(Electra) 92 27

8^th Rubin Rees Concorde) 58 04

FORMULA 400

This class was quite well supported and remains popular in the north and south of the country. Some of these 400/480 powered boats are quick. Joe Read was rather lucky to hold onto his title just managing to beat newcomer David Church (14 yrs) by 15 seconds!

The trophy and medals for this class were kindly presented by Mrs Betty Dack widow of Alan Dack who passed away in 2004. Alan was a keen fast electric racer and he loved the 400 class. The race Director was very moved to have Alan’s widow do the presentation and makes no apology for getting his words mixed up due to the lump in his throat when introducing Betty. (he’s a big softy at heart)

Special mention must go to master Luke Burton of the Bridlington club who showed he is well able to race his boat while displaying excellent sportsmanship

Results FM 400

1^st Joe Read (Bury) 42 laps 14 secs.

2^nd David Church (Electra) 42 29

3^rd Tom Watson(Bridlington 40 47

4^th George Roberts (Bridlington) 36 14

5^th Tim Watson(Bridlington) 35 54

6^th Luke Burton(Jnr)(Bridlington) 32 47

7^th Nigel Murgatroyd (NFERC) 30

8^th Ian Phillips (Bridlington) 30 07

Hydro 1

This turned out to be a bit of a damp squib because although 5 boats pre entered only 2 managed it to the water.

Because there were not three UK entries no MPBA prizes could be awarded. A Gold cup was awarded to Bart Vangeyt who gave a master class demonstration of how to make a Victory micro cat run fast totally under control and for the full 5 minutes. Having seen this boat run there is not doubt in the race directors mind that Bart would have won the class no matter how many boats had entered

We will need to look at this class because this is the 4^th event when there has been very low numbers resulting in it not being contested in 2003 and 2004. Maybe I will have to come out of retirement for next year!!

Result Hydro 1

1st Bart Vangeyt (Belgium) 34 laps 07 secs

2^nd Nick Rees 4 02

Hydro 2

Unfortunately interest in this class seems to have drained away and although 4 boats pre entered only 2 hit the water at the start. Having less three boats resulted in the MPBA element not being contested however the two contestants put on a good display of driving and a gold cup was awarded to Ian Williams and a silver medal to Paul Heaton. Hopefully we can attract more entries for 2006 otherwise this class will wither on the vine and die.

Result Hydro 2

1^st Ian Williams (NFERC) 37 laps 22 secs

2^nd Paul Heaton (Bury) 36 00

Eco Team

The Race Director always looks forward to this event even though it means he has to concentrate for 18 minutes and needs eyes in the back of his head. It’s a crazy event requiring great skill particularly when the recovery boat goes out because racing does not stop for dead boats.

Stephe Hart had kindly donated a splendid silver trophy to be awarded annually for this event in memory of his father who passed away in 2005. Stephe has kindly offered to have the names of the previous winners going back to 2002 engraved on the trophy. A splendid all round gesture by Stephe and most appreciated.

The race itself was excellent however from an early stage it was apparent that Team Electra was the front runners pushed hard by Dack’s Destroyers and the Eco warriors.

Result- Eco team

Winners Team Electra Stephe Hart

106 laps Andy Hassan

David Church

Silver Medallists Dack’s Destroyers

Tom Watson(Bridlington)

Tim Watson (Bridlington)

Ian Phillips (Bridlington)

FURTHER AWARDS

The race director provided the following trophies

BEST OVERSEAS VISITOR

A silver cup awarded to Tom Feyen for his results in Mono 1 & Mono 2 but particularly for his mono 1 result in a big field.

BEST JUNIOR

A cup awarded to David Church for his result in FM400

Medals for endeavor were awarded to those who gave of their time for the weekend fulfilling duties that otherwise would have to have been filled by competitors.

Photos