Legg Lake, California

Final Results of 2004
Videos at the bottom of the page

A Recap of the 2004 NAMBA Fast Electric SAW's
By Dick Crowe

I want to Thank Ray Fuller, Fine Design, Castle Creations, Starluck R/C, Greg Schweers, Mark Ferrera, Ray Bidwell, Mark and Chris Grim and Jeff Vasquez. These guys are the ones who made this event possible. I also want to thank all of the participants. The teamwork and sportsmanship at this event surpassed any I have been to! I'm not sure anyone competing at the event wasn't helped by or ran their boats without the aid of another racer. I actually had to think about this regarding the JAG's team, they really have there act together although, but I do remember setting up Joerg with my belt sander and giving Matthias my battery jig and iron late Saturday night so that he could shoe horn in 4 more cells into his O hydro to do battle with Tim Higdon in P Hydro, one of the best battles of the weekend!

The weather and water was the best we have ever had at the lake and it was very apparent with the speeds. It pushed many boats beyond their limitations and some right to the bottom!!! The only other trouble was with the location it is that the lake is starting to get too small for the very high speeds. Joerg Mrkwitschka's T Hydro just didn't have the room to stretch it's legs. During his 133 MPH pass, Arne Hold launched the boat at the end of the lake and it still wasn't far enough back for the boat to get up to full speed before it passed through the the timing lights, Police radar had the boat at 143 as it was exiting the traps and just before it hit the shore. Check the video out below to see what it looked like

I know that I've already mentioned Team JAG's in my opening but there is so much more to say. These guys are just incredible. Each plays a very integral part on the team and compliments each other perfectly. They came to set records in N2, O, P, S and T hydro and with the help of Mark Grim who drove the S Hydro, they got them all! I can't think of a better group of guys to carry the flag for 'Extreme' Fast Electrics! Thanks Guys!

Joerg Mrkwitschka seemed to enjoy himself this trip more then any other. My super human friend even made a few human errors. In one pass a little miscommunication between Joerg and Arne led to a coupler that didn't get tightened all the way. It was one of those been there done that moments and reassured me that from time to time he is just like the rest of us, well except for that one little thing about being the fastest R/C model boater in the world.

Many classes had some classic battles with the records going back and forth. Tim Higdon was right there in all of the big rigger classes. His T Hydro unfortunately arced to the right during a left to right pass and hit the shore very hard (he wasn't the only one that hit that spot, many found that part of the beach this weekend). He was able to recover the GPS which showed 119! I was really impressed by Tim's boats. This guy really did his homework and it paid off. He earned the Q Hydro record at 104 and had a fast pass of 107. I had a nice little competition going with Tim in this class and had matched his pass with a 107 of my own. Unfortunately I found a big stick at the end of the run and sent the boat to the bottom of the lake. I'll look forward to picking this battle up next year where we left off!!!!! Tim also had a nice competition with Matthias Bose in P Hydro and held the record until Matthias picked it up on Sunday.

I would like to say that Arne Hold and Matthias Bose had good battles in N2 and O Hydro, but after these two ran their boats the rest of us put ours away! They were just untouchable. These boats could have won the Rum Runner Cup from 4 years ago! Something that many thought couldn't be done with any cell count!

Jay Turner and Pat McDonald continued their classic M2 Hydro Battle. This contest has gone back and forth for years! This time Pat decided to break the tradition and keep the record for a second year with a record of 53.93 MPH! I can't wait to see where this battle goes next year!

The Sport Hydro Battles were hot too! Both Chris Fine and Jim Vaughn had screaming fast 70+ MPH 1/8 scales that they used to compete for the S Hydro records and matched each other pass for pass with Jim putting down a pair that edged out Chris. Randy Naylor had a smaller concept sport boat and the fastest two passes for the record. However, there is some question to this concept hull meeting the specifications for the class so for now the record is Pending. 

The other hot Sport Hydro competition was between Paul Pachmeyer's Viper and my Aussie Cabover. For two days Paul held the top mark. On the last day I was able to edge him out at 52.54 MPH, less then 1 MPH over Paul's speed! These two boats were as closely matched as any I've ever seen. Both seemed to hover the whole pass! I also need to thank Chris Grim. Paul was able to get a hold of Larry Larson's old prop that he set the previous record with. I didn't have anything like it and Asked Chris if he had any ideas. We finally found a prop that was close and cut and whacked and tweaked it until it was enough for the record on the last day!

Finally, Offshore! Last year it was a Dennis Whitt trifecta. In his absence, Jay Turner and newcomer Brian Buass stepped up to the plate and hit a few out of the park! Jay had a scratch built SAW Offshore cat that was just ballistic and captured both P and Q Offshore records. Mark Ferrera was chasing the record hard too and should be in the hunt next year. Jay's exclamation point came when he tried to push his records even farther and found the edge of the envelope the hard way! That is my nice way of saying it became kindling, or as Tim Higdon called it "Pieces of a boat kit"! Brian Buass - ex Airplane guy took one of his hand made motors and dropped it into a MHZ Iceberg to claim N2 Offshore. The boat was so little and turned so many RPM's you'd swear it was going faster then it was. Great job Brian. I know we'll be seeing a lot more of you in the future!

That pretty much covers the records. Still, there were many other notable performances and boats that would have could have should have. Chris Fine, Mark Ferrera and Greg Schweers Big monos were 1 pass away from history every single day!  It's wild to see monos run at hydro speeds. Paul Pachmeyer was on the mark in just about everything he threw in the water. His performances were some of the best for a "first time" saw competitor that I've ever seen. Randy Naylor brought one of the nicest kids I've met named Tom. He told me that Tom has been helping him out at the shop. He's definitely picked up a few tricks. It won't be long and Randy will be picking up a few tricks from this guy! Ray Fuller put together a few small monos and knocked on the door a few times although it seemed what Ray really wanted to do is help anyone out that needed a hand, myself included! Thanks Ray! Wilmer Oxidean was back at it again! No records this year, but he was right on them all weekend.

Something new for the LASAW's was media exposure! The Outdoor Channel hung out with us for the weekend and taped a  "Inside R/C" show. Check your local listings for times and dates. I will post the air dates back here when I get them.

Well, that about wraps it up. While I need a little break from R/C to be a dad and husband again, I can't stop dreaming about next year!!!!

Dick Crowe

Videos
The following videos were compressed using Microsoft Mpeg4 V2. The latest  Windows Media Player should have everything you need.

Here is a video of Joerg's T Hydro hitting the bank at 143 (according to Police radar) to hold you over until I can get everything else up.
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Here is a video of Joerg's T Hydro blowing off at high speed. A little left rudder to keep it away from the point lifted it off.
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Joerg's record pass T Hydro
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Arne Hold's N2 Hydro
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Tim Higdon's P Hydro Crash
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Jay Turner's Q Offshore crash
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Dick Crowe's 53+ MPH LSH
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2004 Results

2003 Results

2002 Results

2001 Results