Eastern Outboard Racing Club of Long Island

EORC's Latest Newsletter

November 2002

COMMODORE’S CORNER

The 2002 racing season is now over. We are looking forward to our annual banquet and the coming racing season. Nominations were held for officers at the last meeting. See who’s been nominated for what in the meeting highlights to the right. We will probably be looking for a volunteer for secretary. Please let me know if any one is interested. Elections will be held at the November meeting.

I recently attended the APBA Region 2 meeting and banquet.. There is a lot of activity going on in the region along with a lot of growth. Next year’s racing schedule seems to be packed; so as we begin to expand our race schedule, we will try our hardest not to overlap any local APBA/AOF races. I will discuss some more of the topics of the region 2 meeting at our November meeting.

- Erik Petersen

Boat Shows and Festivals

Unfortunately, there is no room for us to have a booth at the Nassau Coliseum boat show in February. However, Erik has found out that there will be a Suffolk Boat Show. He is looking into the details and we will keep you posted. We Will need volunteers to man the booth when the time comes. We would like to get one or two boats to be displayed

Jason spoke to Greenport Maritime Festival committee and they want hydroplanes at the next festival to take the place of the pirate exhibition, which is getting “old”.

We have also been asked by the people who run the Harvest Festival in Riverhead if we would like a booth. That festival occurs in September.

October Meeting Highlights

All agree we had a very successful racing season. Racing entries were up as was race attendance. Some items were discussed for possible changes next season:
     Scoring the grand prix is too difficult for one person. Discussion was held on having each team send someone to score the GP with names being drawn from a hat as to which boat the team member would be scoring.
     Flag start at North Sea went well and members have no problem using either a flag start or a dock start. Howie mentioned that having the flag dropped when all boats are lined up and ready to go rather than at a starting line is actually more exciting and accurate.
     Discussion was reopened with respect to EORC becoming an AOF Club. There has been feedback that inflatable drivers are definitely interested in participating in Long Island races.
     Dave Young suggested a "tri-region” meeting in January or February with all local dubs included to schedule a race that all clubs would attend. It was agreed that it will be difficult to find such a date, however it was brought out that there are a few races that are much further away and some boats might prefer to come here than travel twice the distance. It was agreed that if we go AOF, EORC would keep Insurance with our present insurer as well as the insurance provided by AOF in case we want to hold a nonsanctioned event. Brief discussion was held on the possibility of a two-day event at our best site, which currently is Flanders.
     Erik brought up some goals for next year:
1. Increase racing entries and increase test time and efficiency at races.
2. Increase race sites. Jason will continue talking to Southold.
3. We should provide a list of all equipment available for sale from members and dealers.
4. We should have a nice trophy for the novice class.

Dave Young mentioned that there is still quite an interest among marinas to establish the Dealer Performance class. There is a need to come up with a good hull design. Dave will continue to work toward a good design.

Club T-shirts
The club has just approved artwork for our new tshirts. The shirts will feature our new logo. There will mostly be Large and X-Large Sizez, but we will also have a few small and medium for the Novice Class as well as a few XX Large. There will be 4 dozen shirts with pockets available to club members. The shirts available for general sale will not have pockets. The shirts will all sell for $ 10.00

Our goal is to have the shirts available for sale at the Annual Banquet. We will also be selling them at races. during the course of the year.

ELECTION OF OFFICERS TO BE HELD AT 11/21 MEETING

A proposal was made that the current slate of officers be nominated for another term unchanged. Judy advised that she would not be able to serve as secretary next year and nominated Nicole Muller. Nicole is willing to help but due to work and school obligations, may not be able to attend many meetings. We, therefore, are seeking a volunteer for secretary
Commodore: Erik Petersen
Vice-Commodore : Howie Pickerell
Treasurer: Jason Pickerell
Secretary: ???
Newsletter/Publicity: Pam Young.

EORC Annual Banquet
Our annual banquet is tentatively set for January 18, 2003 at the Elks Club, Main Street, Riverhead. This date has to be confirmed with the Elks club and may also conflict with SSOA’S banquet. Stay tuned for updates.
     As In the past, there will be a charge of $10 per person. Anyone who wishes to bring a covered dish and a gift donation for the Chinese Auction is welcome to do so. There will be a 50/50 raffle as well.
     This event has been our club’s primary fundraiser for years and has been particularly successful in the recent past. It’s always a great time and a nice opportunity for everyone to get together. We’ve been pretty successful in luring visitors from different parts of the racing world and you never know who you might run into.
     If you want to bring a dish (always encouraged), please contact the banquet coordinator, Carole Terry, at 631-423-4204.

Membership Dues Increasing
Jason Pickerell, our Treasurer, mentioned that it is time to increase our dues from $25 for a racing member to $30 and from $20 for a non-racing member to $25.

November Meeting
Where: Town of Brookhaven Recreation Hall
39 Montauk Hwy., Blue Point

When: 8:00 P.M., Thursday, November 21