Commodore’s Corner

The 2002 racing season is upon us. The first race of EORC’s schedule is quickly approaching. Will you be ready? The 2002 race schedule is as follows:

June 30th — Cold Spring Pond
July 14th — Flanders (Scott Hooghkirk Race)
Sept. 22— North Sea

This year we have scheduled a joint race with AOF. I hope you will all try to attend. A good representation at this race can only help the club. Let’s try and get our name off Long Island and maybe we could get a few racers from off the Island to our races. To those who have never been to a race other than EORC, this can be a good learning experience for you.
There are many things going on in the club right now. Are you part of It? Jason Pickerell is hard at work promoting our new novice class. Dave Young is working on the dealer performance class. Pam Young has been working hard to promote our club and doing a great job with the newsletter. I would like to thank everyone who has been working to promote the club. There has been a lot happening at our meetings; please try to attend. If you have any ideas or suggestions and cannot attend, please give me a call (516-312-8735). Let’s work together to make EORC’s 2002 season a successful one.
     Hope to see you at our May meeting,
          Erik Petersen

Join EORC—It’s Fun!
Get off your duff! Get involved! You can either sit and watch from the sidelines or events on TV.. ..or you can actually hop into a boat and experience the thrill of BOAT RACING! Join today. Complete the membership form on page 4 and send it in with your dues.
If you are interested in receiving the newsletter but do not want to race, become a non-racing member for $20 (this covers the cost of printing and mailing the newsletter). But for only $20 you can be kept up to date on club news!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM MEETING OF APRIL 18, 2002:

Pamphlets will be printed as soon as race schedule is firm. Jason is having the pamphlets printed at BOCES since that is cheaper than anywhere else. Pamphlets will be printed in black and white. The Rule Book is also being printed at BOCES.

Additional race sites: Tiana Race on June 30 has a problem with high tide. Tide that day is at I 1:30 am. Racing would absolutely have to start and end on time. Also ambulance could be a problem. A suggestion was made to look into Pike’s Inlet Problems brought up with that site are 250 feet to the water and boats would have to be walked; also if there’s a west wind, race would be blown out and finally there are many jet skis at the site. It was decided Pike’s Inlet would not be a good site.

Suggestion made by Howie that EORC join with SSOA for September 7th and 8th AOF race at Taunton. Our club would help SSOA by bringing more boats and our club would benefit from two days of racing that could be scored separately for club points, by an EORC scorer. Diane mentioned that Taunton dates conflict with Title series race in St Joseph’s, MO.

AOF membership for 9/7-8 racing would be $75, non-AOF members would have option of paying a $25 special event fee for that race only.

V-Hulls: Dave Young reported that V-hulls were getting a good response and lots of interest. Problem is with motor size and safety concerns need to be worked out. Boats will need trim tabs and small engine, size to be determined.

Novice Class: Jason is getting some interest in novice class.

New Business:
Club Equipment: The clock has been repainted and should be visible without problem. All the racing equipment is in the trailer and Erik and Jason will check it out and make sure it’s all race ready.

Membership Roster: Pam is working on a new list with Jason. It was brought out that no one has an accurate updated list and one is needed by Pam for the newsletter and by Jason and Judy as treasurer and secretary. Erik suggested that a new roster be made up and every member be given a copy. All agreed that was a good idea.

Boat specifications: More discussion was held with respect to the new requirement that runabouts cannot have side fins. Bob Rusnak stated that the boats would not turn without a side fin and is in favor of rescinding this rule change. Diane and other members feel that it’s dangerous. Lengthy discussion was held as to pros and cons of side fin and whether or not new specification should stand or be rescinded. Bob Rusnak made a motion to rescind the turning fin rule prescribed at the February meeting and replace it with the following” “it is up to the discretion of Race Committee to determine safety of all fins in all classes”. Motion was seconded a vote was held and the motion carried by a majority vote of 12 in favor and 2 opposed.

It’s time to make sure your equipment is up to snuff. Please refer to the Safety Inspection checklist when getting your gear together.

Boat
     Overall Soundness
     Transom
     Rotten Wood
     Patches
     Planking

Steering and Hardware
     Helm and Wheel
     Cables
     Pulleys and Guides
     Safety Clamps and Pins
     Double Nut/Safety Wired

Engine & Throttle
     Safety Shields
     Spray Shields
     Leg Tie Down
     Throttle Linkage and Connection
     Throttle Return Mechanism
     Throttle Cable
     Kill Switch
     Lanyard Length
     Full Butterfly (must be fully closed)

Personal Safety
     Helmet Condition and Date
     Helmet 85 Snell or more
     PFD Condition
     Rookie X
     Kevlar Inspection

Common details that need extra attention are: rusted steering cable pulleys: cracked steering cables; sticky throttle cables; rotted tie-down ropes; loose steering wheels; loose throttles; steering bars that are attached permanently to the engines.

Copyright © 2002 Eastern Outboard Racing Club, Inc. All rights reserved.