IMPBA Minutes 2007

August 02 2007:
International Model Power Boat Association
2007 IMPBA International Regatta Board Meeting
Seville, Ohio
August 2, 2007
7:00PM Central Time

MINUTES

Present:
President, Bill Zuber
Executive Secretary, John Equi
District 1, Randall Thomas
District 2, Kevin Sheren
District 4, Garrett Randall (represented by Ken Stang)
District 5, Kelly Wilson (telephonically)
District 6, Brian Nelsen (also IMPBA VP)
District 7, Ed Mest (represented by Joe Dugas)
District 12, Don Ferrette (telephonically)
District 13, Bobby Halliday (represented by Jim Ragan)
District 14, Bryan Schymik (also IMPBA Treasurer) (telephonically)
National Fast Electric Director, Randall Thomas
National Gas Director, Kevin Sheren
National Technical Chairman, Mike Schindler
National Scale Unlimited Director, Steve Ball
National O/B Director, James Clegg (represented by Brian Nelsen)

Absent:
District 3, Glover Jeffcoat
National Record Director, Glenn Quarles
Past President, Dick Jones
Past President, Pat Kelly

President Bill Zuber determined a quorum was present and called the meeting to order at 7:03PM central time after the roll call.

The minutes of the previous meetings were approved as presented by a motion from Don Ferrette, second by Kevin Sheren.

Bill then called for District Reports.

D1 – Randall has 5 clubs registered and racing is going well in his district. There is one problem of a land zoning issue at one site; model boats are not allowed to run on the pond. He requested that all directors check to insure that model boats are allowed to run on their ponds. Randall hopes to have the issue resolved concerning that site very soon.

D2 – Kevin reported that he has 13 races this year not counting the 2 major ones. (Regatta and Gas Nat’s) His district is real busy and probably the fastest growing district in the country. It seems like 2–5 members are added every week. He has good sub directors with very few problems in the district. There’s a lot of complaining, but few problems.

D3 – Absent

D4 – Representative Ken Stang reports things are going real well and that there are only 2 races left in the district, the Minute Breakers and his District 4 race. He further elaborated that the Joliet site was lost this year, which was a real good pond at the NASCAR track. The club using that pond is looking for a new race site for the 2008 season.

D5 – Kelly reports that the Southern end of D5 is running real well, there are lots of races & good participation. The Northern end is a bit weak, with the Jackson, TN club the only ones hosting Nitro races. He added that all D5 races are open to all classes of boats. D5 is in the mid summer low at this time, but getting set to start the second round of racing for the year, beginning September first and finishing in December.

D6 – Brian Nelsen explained that things are moving along nicely, with no major issues. His Assistant Director, Allan Hoyle in the Southern end also reported that things are going well. A few races remain in the northern part before they begin to ice up! There have been no injuries and things are going fine.

D7 – Representative Joe Dugas does not have much to report since he stepped in at the last minute to help Ed Mest. Joe did report that the Houston club has lost their pond and is in the process of going back to their old race site. Dallas is in chaos; there are 2-3 clubs down there, lots of in fighting. There is a club running out of the Austin, San Antonio area that conducts some racing events. D7 has about 6-8 races scheduled for 2007.

D12 – Don reports that things are going well, and that they are midway thru the district point series with great attendance. He has had zero issues; everyone has been very compliant with the current noise restrictions. There have been no violations with noise, which is good. The District of Columbia club had announced earlier in the year that they procured a new pond, but access to the pond is on the Virginia Department of Transportation property. The club is working on this problem. This same club is also looking at a new site if the access problem is not resolved. The Delmarva club allowed the D.C. club to use their site for the scheduled race. Don concluded that there are no issues or complaints in District 12.

D13 - Representative Jim Regan elaborated that the district remains quite level and are midway in the racing season with 4 races completed and 4 to go. Two of these races are highpoint events and the other two are in the Grand Prix series. D13 lost the Ogeechee club in Savannah, GA, but Atlanta has picked up a Fast Electric club of six members that lost their pond. The FE club asked Atlanta if they could join them. Membership is stable, race attendance is good, and everything is on track right now.

D14 – Brian Schymik had a positive report, his 10 race series going this year and not having any problems with race sites in D14. Indianapolis is hosting a race at their pond instead of using the Cincinnati pond. Louisville is hosting their second race this year after a successful race in 2006. Sites are looking good with about a 100-member goal for the district for 2007; he had 87 members last year. They had a really good turn out for 1/8 Scale racing with 21 boats registered that obtained points this year. He is real pleased with the Scale progress in the district.

National Fast Electric – Randall informed the Board that the single Fast Electric race that was scheduled had to be cancelled since there was a zoning by-laws issues (distance from Regatta). There are major changes coming up concerning the FE rules, essentially a re-write which will be presented as a proposal at a later date.

National Gas Director – Kevin explained that things are really going good, the Gas Nats are in Celina this year, and next year they will be in Durant, MS. The State of MS has allocated a large amount of money to rebuild the Durant Club pit area and access road. Kevin told us he has scheduled the IMPBA Gas Nats with various clubs out through the year 2011. It will be a North-South-North-South type of schedule from these clubs. He gave a special thanks to Kelly Wilson for his valuable help with the scheduling.

Technical Review – Mike Schindler thanked the Board for appointing him to the position, he is getting up to speed, learning a few things, had a few issues to resolve, and has a few more to work on. Mike sees a few things in our rule book he needs to look into. Things are going well in the Technical Review area.

National Scale Director – Steve Ball has not done much racing this year but received several reports from districts. Scale activity is up in D14; scale is down in D2, but overall is rising. Ken Hildreth wrote a nice scale report, it was well received. Attendance at the Springtime Scale race at Evansville was good.

National Outboard Director – Brian Nelson has no report for James Clegg.

Treasurer’s Report – Brian referred the Board to the July 25th most recent financial report that shows $15,000.00 moved to a money market from the checkbook, where we can make extra income from the excess cash. The money market account is over $25,000.00, our rainy day fund. The checkbook balance is over $9,000.00; we are $3000.00 ahead of last year’s figures, which shows good progress. A main financial issue for this fall is to obtain a reasonable insurance quote. For 2007 the insurance cost was $23,000.00. He had two issues to bring before the Board, seed money for the Regatta & the GAS Nat’s. We can save $1500.00 by not providing the money. These Internats make plenty of money. He called upon Kevin to comment on seed money. IMPBA would still provide the usual US-1 and special awards. Discussion ensued by several about IMPBA advancing the same amounts to the host club, but the host club would pay the entire amount of the loan back to IMPBA. Brian wishes this as a proposal; he did not find anything in the rule book about this. Motion for vote by Brian Nelsen, Don Ferrette seconds, Bill calls for district vote, motion passes.

Secretary Report – John reports that we have 61 clubs on 84 ponds, membership continues to climb with 1210 members as of July 25, 2007. He gave a current district membership tally, with D2 having the most at 281. The office has been issuing globe stickers to all new members, and now we have run out. John petitioned the Board for authorization to get quotes. Kevin Sheren motions we proceed, Joe Dugas seconds. John will get costing. John then explained that he has issued almost all of the rule books that were in the IMPBA property lockup. He will start sending full sized flexible binder rule books when the small books are finally gone, and presented a rough estimate of costing for these books. He then gave a detailed costing of mailing & postage for rule books & Roostertails. He finished with a very comprehensive explanation of how office costs are minimized and the fact that we now know where every penny is spent.

President’s Report – Bill stated that IMPBA membership has shown growth; our finances have improved dramatically from March 2005 to the present. There have been vast improvements with the amended noise rule at this Regatta, and that none of the boats were over the 92 db when a trained observer read the meter. Bill also explained that discussion of IMPBA business should not be posted on open boating forums. Forum moderators should limit these types of posts, which harm the IMPBA. Full names should be required on these forums, not secret identities. Bill also noted that we are looking for a Webmaster and are still in need of a host club/racers group to host the International Regatta for 2008.

Proposal: Course survey option for the International Regatta. The secretary read the Glenn Quarles/Randall Thomas wording, and called for discussion. The proposal would offer bidding clubs the option to conduct the Regatta on non-surveyed courses, which would eliminate the possibility of setting a record at the Regatta. It was pointed out that several past Regattas were conducted on non-surveyed courses. Brian Nelsen, Randall Thomas, Don Ferrette had minor questions. Randall offered changes to the wording “1/16 straightaway and 1/3 mile oval or the 1/31st mile straightaway and ¼ mile oval”. Bill Zuber called for a motion, Randall Thomas made the motion, Brian Nelsen seconded. Proposal passes unanimously for inclusion in the March rule book update pages.

Proposal: Large scale engine change. D5 Director Kelly Wilson explained that the existing rule #3 in the LSG section, of LS rules needs clarification. He would like to add the sentence “Major components such as cranks, pistons, cases, and cylinder/heads must be parts of the original manufacturer.” Discussion followed by Don Ferrette, Kevin Sheren, Kelly Wilson. Bill called for a motion. Joe Dugas offered the motion & Brian Nelsen seconds. The proposal fails; therefore, this will go to the membership as a voting ballot in the September Roostertail.

Proposal: New racing class, “Classic Thunderboat Hydro” - This was introduced by Kelly Wilson & Kevin Sheren. Interesting technical discussion ensued by Don Ferrette, Kelly, Bill Zuber, & Randall Thomas. Several changes were recommended and accepted by Kelly. Kevin also received an almost identical proposal from Bob Finn in Texas. Bob’s proposal was read, discussed and ultimately rejected. Brian Nelsen made a motion to accept the Kelly Wilson proposal with the accepted changes, Don Ferrette seconds. District vote was taken; proposal passes with exception of D7. This new racing class goes for a one-year trial beginning January 2008. Kevin gave thanks to Bob Finn for his input on this new class. Kelly will prepare the revised document for distribution to the full Board.

Proposal: Nitro engine classification change. Mark Bullard submitted this proposal to limit A thru F class to auto ignition only, no spark ignition. Several Directors expressed strong views that this type of addition to the rule would just drive another spike between the Nitro and Gas boaters and that it was not required. All a club would need to do is add the statement “No gas boats allowed in the ‘F’ classes” on their race flyer. It was mentioned that Gas Boats running in the US-1 Classes at the Internats have never been a problem in the past 3 Internats. Kevin Sheren made a motion for a vote, Kelly seconded. The proposal failed which forces this proposal to be placed on a membership ballot in the September Roostertail.

Proposal Revision: Alternate Regatta Format. The short Regatta revision was read by Don Ferrette and comments were offered by Randal Thomas, Steve Ball, & Bill Zuber. This finalized document will be added to the Contest Directors’ Guidebook as a short version for the Regatta.

Johnny Berr Award: Kevin Sheren who petitioned the Board to allocate funds to pay for the award, which would be presented at the Gas Nats, explained this new award. Randall Thomas made a motion to accept, & Joe Dugas seconded. The new Johnny Berr award was approved by voice vote.

One Year Trial Rule Clarification: Don Ferrette explained in detail a change he would like to make in the 1/8 Scale one year trial rules. The change concerns the master hull roster listing. Further details by Steve Ball were offered to educate the meeting attendees. This change is to help local contest directors in areas of legality of the hull, noted dimensions, and when the boat actually raced. Kevin offered a motion to accept the change, Mike Schindler seconds. The Board approved the clarification. This rule change will be incorporated into the existing wording for the one-year trial rule that appeared in the June 2007 Roostertail and will continue in the September and December.

Update to unpaid members running at IMPBA races: This topic relates to the original Tony Jacuzzi document that was previously approved. The Board must decide the penalties that should be applied if people attempt to enter IMPBA events without being a paid-up member. Discussion followed by Randall, Zuber, with Don Ferrette making a motion to accept the penalties as drawn up. Joe Dugas seconds the penalty phase with suggested changes to page C-4 as Item I with 3 sentences, 2 paragraphs. Approved. This is a financial change that is added to the rule book. Bill Zuber then went on to mention an idea that was presented by Mike Zaborowski about the possible use of member identity wristbands for local races. The wristband would be issued to all IMPBA members that attend the race. Race CD’s could easily spot people that should not be in the pit areas (non members) since they would not have wristbands. The office could order these bands in bulk with simple wording on them, possibly “IMPBA Pit Pass”. Brian Nelsen mentioned that he likes the wristband concept.

Discussion: President Bill Zuber called upon all the directors for their comments on how the family reduced rate of $10.00 that was enacted for the 2007 one-year trial. All directors responded positively, therefore, the $10.00 family, junior and juvenile rate will continue for 2008.

Discussion: Bill called for comments on how well the Numeric Engine identification classes vs. Alpha Engine identification classes were working. Several negative comments were offered by directors who explained that the Alpha system has been in use for a very long time and should not be changed. Short discussion ensued by Don Ferrette, Bill Zuber, Kevin Sheren, Mike Schindler, Kelly Wilson & Joe Dugas. Further discussion was tabled.

New Business: International Regatta 500-mile race restriction change proposal. Kevin received a proposal from Bob Nauss that would like to change the 500-mile race restriction to only 250 miles. This change would also allow events of non-represented boats to be run. Example: a Fast Electric event could be run nearby if Fast Electric was not offered at the International Regatta. Another example would be to allow a Gas race to be held if no Gas boats were at the regatta. A discussion followed by several directors with good points. Item was tabled.

Kevin Sheren mentioned the possible requirement of adding prop guards to our model boat stands. Dom Mauro submitted a request for Kevin to mention this to the Board. Since this is a safety related item, Brian Nelsen was tasked with this.

Executive Sessions:

Meeting adjourned at 10:42 PM CST