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NZMPBA National Champs
26 / 27 March 2016
Hosted by Bay of Plenty Model Powerboat Club

At first it appeared there might not be enough entries to make this regatta viable, but then, as usual, the entries came in just before the close date and suddenly there was an event worth getting geared up for.
While there were only a dozen or so entrants, many entered many classes, so ended up with about 12 classes where there were 4 or more entries.
The regatta was preceded by editorial reports in 2 local news papers, one was even full front page news, and the result of that was large crowds of spectators both Saturday and Sunday of the likes that we had never witnessed before, there was a lot of enquiry and most of the give away promotional material we printed up was distributed over the 2 days of racing.
The BOP Club suddenly had to think about crowd control and modifications were made to the safety tape areas to cope.
The BOP club puts out a sign and collection tin at the entrance to the venue, for a gold coin donation entry, while a final count is yet to be concluded, it appears that approx $500 was collected over the 2 days. Many of the spectators also took advantage of the hot food and drinks we had for sale, while this was intended to be for the competitors, at the end of the day we sold about 3 times more than we had anticipated, with repeat trips to the supermarket to keep up with the spectator demand. A very tidy $ outcome was realised from this effort also, so a massive thanks to Megan and Ash Adlington for managing the catering.
Thanks must also go to all the other BOP lads who got stuck in with pre event preparations, and especially those who showed up early morning, in the dark, each day to set up the venue. It was well worth it, the feed back we got about how awesome the venue is to visit by many of the spectators had many saying that they cant wait to come back and watch more racing in the future.

To the regatta itself… it was always going to be a challenge that when ever there was a 6 boat heat that everyone had to be on deck in terms of helping with pit duties etc. Everyone gladly assisted when and where required and there were no hold ups at all waiting for pit people to materialise. One of the key factors in keeping the spectators engaged was finding a balance of keeping races starting regularly, without disadvantaging the competitors in not having enough time to prepare for the next heat. Starting a race either as soon as all were ready, or no longer than about 10 > 12 minutes apart worked very well.
As mentioned there were not enough people available to cover off the normal course observer duties, so we resorted to asking that the drivers and pit people front up with some honesty at the conclusion of each heat if they had incurred any penalties, this self policing worked extremely well, a couple of times drivers actually DQed themselves following 3 or more penalties in a single heat. Once the first person reported a penalty, the precedent was set, and all others played fair too. This outcome actually lead to some very funny and friendly banter on the drivers stand when someone fessed up to a mistake, a negative became a true positive. The focus was on fun and good sportsmanship first and results second.
All events ran as scheduled, at worst we were only about 10 minutes behind at one stage, and so again for the spectators, especially the ones that checked the regatta schedule knew what was coming up, and in a lot of cases arrived back on site the next day to catch an event they particularly wanted to see. Seems as though we are now in the entertainment business !

The racing itself was excellent, many starts saw the entire field of boats stretched across the front straight side by side, and holding lanes quite well into turn 1.
During the racing there were some very close calls as there always is with deck to deck racing, having said that there was no damage to any boats bar one or two minor scratches, yours truly was the only one to destroy a motor so all in all everyone went home with their gear intact and ready to fight another day, just the usual maintenance required, no major rebuilds !
There are many photos already loaded to the Bay of Plenty Model Powerboat Club Facebook page, and it is anticipated that in the near future there will be quite a bit of drone footage as well, offering a very unique point of view, having a look at this will beat anything else I can say in this report !
Lastly, congratulations to Bruce Clarke for winning the 2015 / 2016 Presidents Cup, just reward for a massive effort all season long…

The full results follow …

In the mean time, it is important that we all start to think about what sort of shape our National Championships take in future, there has been bit of a dip in the last few years so it is time to make some sort of changes to encourage more participation again…based on some discussion with those at this regatta, then the following is a summary which we hope will get you thinking about things too…most importantly, let the committee know those thoughts so all can be considered…

1> When ?
It seems that Easter as a time for the Nats has lost its appeal, many want to spend that time with families at home, its also always a moving target with a date variation of upto a month year to year. Based on the following, of a rationalised program of events to fit 2 days of racing could see the Nats run, as an example, at Waitangi Weekend, many see this as a “spare” day off, its still in the nice part of the year weather wise, the date remains the same year to year, so is easier for all to plan for and falls within daylite savings should the need arise to run a little later into the afternoon due to larger entry numbers.

2> 4 days vs 2 days racing ?
With a simplified / rationalised event list, then there is no reason a very good regatta cant be run over 2 days. Perhaps the preceding Friday afternoon could be set down as the open practice time, there would be no 10 minute practice / tune before each event starts. With the types of boats running these days, ie mainly gas and electric, then there is very little tuning to be done if the pre regatta preparation has been carried out at your home venue before travelling.
At the conclusion of Saturdays racing, a 1 hour open practice could be made available for boats that need to be tested for Sundays racing.

3> Event structure and classes.
While change does not sit well with some, it is inevitable, we have to change what we do now and again to make sure we are adapting to the current trends, wants and needs of the membership. In this regard my initial personal thoughts are as follows, and hope that this provokes thoughts of your own that you let committee know about…
For a 2 day event…
Friday afternoon, open practice.
Classes / events to be run over 2 days, running stock classes first, so all making motor swaps for other classes have time…apart from that in no particular order…

P1 Mono
P1 Tunnel
P1 Thunderboat
All recognised as “stock” classes. No boats in the same P1 configuration can enter “modified” classes. Ie a motor modification or motor swap is required to create a change of configuration. (Stock boats can still enter Petrol Open Oval as they are)

P2 Thunderboat
P2 / P3 Mono combined
P2 / P3 Tunnel combined
P2 / P3 Hydro combined ( No Thunderboats allowed )
All recognised as “modified” classes

Electric P Offshore

Electric Open Oval
Nitro Open Oval
Petrol Open Oval

So, 11 events in total to get through in 2 days…yes, Nitro Open Oval is the only nitro event…that’s recognising some of the changes required.
The basis of viable events needs to remain at 4 entries minimum.

Anyways, that’s just some personal initial thoughts to get you thinking…

Regards, Steve T.

2016 NZMPBA National Championships Results.

Electric P Offshore

1—P Anderson—1800
2—K Martin—1375
3—M McGovern—1000
4—M Cordeiro—dnf

C1 Mono
1—P Anderson—800
2—S Trott—725
3—M Smithson—569
4—M Lee—525

P1 Mono
1—B Clarke—1200
2—M Smithson—1175
3—A Adlington—1102
4—M McGovern—1000
5—P Botha—363
6—J Burke

P2 Mono
1—B Clarke—1450
2—M Cordeiro—1319
3—M Smithson—1075
4—J Burke—700
5—M McGovern—dnf

P3 Mono
1—M McGovern—1550
2—P Anderson—1350
3—P Collier—725
4—B Clarke—700
5—M Smithson—25

P1 Tunnel
1—M McGovern—2000
2—P Botha—1125
3—B Clarke—300
4—M Smithson—dnf

P3 Tunnel
1—B Clarke—1800
2—M Smithson—750
3—M McGovern—400
4—K Martin—dnf

P1 Thunderboat
1—M McGovern—1725
2—B Clarke—1627
3—M Smithson—1000
4—M Lee—821
5—P Collier—744
6—P Botha—617
7—S Trott—530

T2 Thunderboat
1—B Clarke—1625
2—M Smithson—994
3—M Lee—950
4—P Collier—863
5—M McGovern—450

Electric Open Oval
1—P Anderson—2000
2—K Martin—1125
3—P Botha—300
4—M Cordeiro—dnf
5—M McGovern—dnf

Nitro Open Oval
1—S Trott—1200
2—M Smithson—350
3—M Lee—25
4—P Collier—dnf

Petrol Open Oval
1—M Lee—1627
2—M Smithson—1550
3—P Collier—1163
4—P Botha—844
5—B Clarke—375
6—P Anderson—300
7—M McGovern—25

Engine Breakers Trophy
S Trott

Hard luck Trophy
J Burke

Best presented Boat Trophy
M Smithson “Mother” Thunderboat

Most Improved Driver Trophy
M Cordeiro

Rookies Cup
K Martin

King of Nationals Trophy
1—B Clarke—270
2—M Smithson—220
3—P Anderson—200

Thunder Down Under Trophy
Bay of Plenty Model Powerboat Club

Presidents Cup
1—B Clarke—1175
2—P Anderson—740
3—S Trott—580
Full list on forum.