2015 RULES COMPLETE

[RiverDave]

Can be found under the 336 Tab at the top of the forum, or can be downloaded by clicking the link below. Please take the time to read them, as their has been some "minor" changes to them since the Divisions post I put up. I believe this last iteration addresses any concerns that were brought up in the previous thread.

I am working on the online registration for the race with motorsportsreg.com tomorrow, and hope to have it completed and online in short order. I do not have "Mini Boat" entry fee's yet for those wanting to race, and those rules are still subject to change as we are in the midst of some discussions.

http://www.riverdavesplace.com/Files/CURRENT_2015_RULES.pdf


RD

 

[TEAGUE CUSTOM MARINE]

Excellent. We are already off on a positive direction for 2015!

JT

 

[RiverDave]

Regarding qualifing, so the fastest half the class has to run as slow as the average of class?

I didn't read it that way, but I could see how it could be construed that way. I'll talk to Ben about that, and see if a rephrasing is necessary.

RD

 

[TEAGUE CUSTOM MARINE]

I didn't read it that way, but I could see how it could be construed that way. I'll talk to Ben about that, and see if a rephrasing is necessary.

RD

The wording is "may" omit the fastest and or slowest in each division.

So it gives the referee the option to set times as they see fit.

JT

 

[GN22]

Regarding qualifing, so the fastest half the class has to run as slow as the average of class?

It states the fastest qualifying time and the slowest will be thrown out and an average time will be established for the class. The point of qualifying is to establish handicaps for each Division. I am not sure this year but I believe you were allowed 3% over the established Division lap time last year.

 

[GETBOATS]

RACE COURSE: The race shall consist of 28 laps on a 12 mile river course with a minimum of 2 buoy turns at either end.

Do your handicapping in time not laps. Like it says the race is 336 miles or 28 laps, in the current configuration the winner could be a boat that only completed 23 laps. Keep the faster boats on the beach till its their turn.

There are two mandatory pit stops required by all competing teams. Pit stops require all teams to remove their boats from the water and return them safely to their assigned pit. A 15 minute minimum is mandatory and begins when a crew member touches the boat at the out ramp

Logic behind 15 pit stops? seems as though 10 minutes was plenty of time.

Who is responsible for timing pit stops? Errors were made in 2014 because of rounding to minutes by ramp officials, that leaves
a margin of error of 59 seconds on each end. you could gain time or loose depending on the ramp official's interpretation of their timing device.

 

[RiverDave]

Last year was 3% faster than the fastest qualifier. So if the the fastest boat in your division went 100mph, you could run 103mph without breaking the speed limit.

The way the current 2015 rules are written, you would take the average, let's call it between 90mph and 100mph or 95mph... so instead of being able to run 103mph, any lap run over 95.1mph would be a penalty and not counted.

I think this needs to be addressed.

I will talk to the rules guys about this, and get an answer Mike. I can see the logic to it on both sides.. 1 the average would ultimately make the best "parity" for a class and overall chance at winning. If you have one boat that is considerably faster then the rest of the pack for whatever reason, his time will pretty much ensure the others have no chance.

The flipside of that though is if you do an average of the field, then everybody that is faster then the average can no longer stretch their legs and face potential penalties for breaking out. A lot to think about with regard to this.

RACE COURSE: The race shall consist of 28 laps on a 12 mile river course with a minimum of 2 buoy turns at either end.

Do your handicapping in time not laps. Like it says the race is 336 miles or 28 laps, in the current configuration the winner could be a boat that only completed 23 laps. Keep the faster boats on the beach till its their turn.

There are two mandatory pit stops required by all competing teams. Pit stops require all teams to remove their boats from the water and return them safely to their assigned pit. A 15 minute minimum is mandatory and begins when a crew member touches the boat at the out ramp

Logic behind 15 pit stops? seems as though 10 minutes was plenty of time.

Who is responsible for timing pit stops? Errors were made in 2014 because of rounding to minutes by ramp officials, that leaves
a margin of error of 59 seconds on each end. you could gain time or loose depending on the ramp official's interpretation of their timing device.

GETBOATS, the reason that we don't keep all the boats on the beach until it's their turn as you said, is because the old format had some of these boats sitting on the beach for 45'ish minutes. This was changed in order to get all of the boats running on the course in the first lap. It has been this way for the last 2 years.

I will explain the 15 minutes instead of 10 minute pit stops in the next race update coming out on the 23rd. The long and short of it is though the entire pit area is being restructured, and we aren't using the same ramps that have been used in the past. We believe the changes will make it better for the spectators, and for the racers alike.

RD

 

[BajaMike]

Cool

 

[RiverDave]

Regarding qualifing, so the fastest half the class has to run as slow as the average of class?

Last year was 3% faster than the fastest qualifier. So if the the fastest boat in your division went 100mph, you could run 103mph without breaking the speed limit.

The way the current 2015 rules are written, you would take the average, let's call it between 90mph and 100mph or 95mph... so instead of being able to run 103mph, any lap run over 95.1mph would be a penalty and not counted.

I think this needs to be addressed.

Apologize for the delay Mike, I've been extremely busy with work and getting the online registration process finalized for the race.

So to look at this, I think you may have mistaken last years rules a little bit. If I remember right the rules were based on time, not speed.

The basic answer to your question is what John Teague said

The wording is "may" omit the fastest and or slowest in each division.

So it gives the referee the option to set times as they see fit.

JT

The reason that they have included that is more or less to have the ability to exercise an option if the need arose. For example if a class were to show up with big blocks, and one guy ran a lap time that is just unsustainable for an Endurance race, then that time may not be used in order to keep parity for the rest of the classes. I think it's important to note, that it's just an option, and one that likely won't be used, but is there as a "just in case."

Hope that clarifies.

RD

 

[RiverDave]

It does not sound like a race to me? More like poker run?

The rules the year before gave the race director complete autonomy over pretty much anything in the race. Including starting anyone pretty much anywhere they want regardless of qualifying times. (Which in the case of at least one division that I know, actually happened last year)

These rules are considerably better defined, and only gives the race director / staff the ability to "possibly" throw out either the fastest or slowest time if it is glaringly apparent that it can screw up the parity of the divisions.

I guess I just don't understand why your position would be in complete support of the previous, but not the latter? Nor do I understand the poker run reference?

RD

 

[RiverDave]

I can't be more clear but I know others racers understand what I am saying cause they have called me. As a supporter of this over the last 5 years, it is not clear to me why I can't get a call back on the rules from the guy who is doing the rules? I also don't understand why you raised the prop shaft by 1/2 inch after the 2.0 liters ran an inch below for 10 years? Before people start making costly changes to boats, I would like to know if the APBA has approved these rules?

The rules have been approved by the APBA Mike. I'm unsure of the call back thing?

What was the deal with that Facebook deal.. Private / Secret? Is there something going on I should be aware of?

RD