Originally Posted by
Silent-AV8R
It appears he was talking about IMPBA racing. The other boat racing group, NAMBA, has no such testing requirement. NAMBA is bigger in the west/southwest, IMPBA is more mid-west and east coast.
Here is the NAMBA District 19 schedule for 2015:
http://www.namba19.com/Schedule.php
25 races mostly in California and Arizona. Most gas boat races are seeing 40+ people racing in multiple classes. Head up to Legg Lake in Whittier Narrows park most any weekend and you'll see a good group of local boat racers. Boat racing (gas, nitro,fast electric) is very much alive and well in the US and in the SW especially.
2014 saw 125 individuals post scores over the season. Compare that to the approximately 55 souls who competed in IMAC in 2014 in the SW region.
So I think your statement is fairly inaccurate.
Actually, the two clubs in Washington state that run strictly 1/8th scale unlimiteds
DO, IN FACT, TEST PROSPECTIVE RACERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now, let's look at the reasons why:
1)
COST: Our boats, in general, cost $2000 and up to complete, not counting all the support equipment and spare parts. When you consider the average marine engine is running at 25,000+ RPM at racing speeds, they tend to wear out faster than a comparably sized aircraft engine that runs at less than 50% of that speed, so having several hundred dollars in spare parts in not abnormal. For this very reason, all NAMBA District 8 races have a beginner's class that is closely monitored by experienced racers, regardless of the type of boat the new person has.
2)
PROXIMITY: Our boats tend to run at 50+ MPH WHILE INCHES FROM OTHER BOATS!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you have someone that doesn't know how to drive, several boats could be severely damaged, if not destroyed, in a few seconds. Since our hydroplanes are much wider than other styles of racing boats, the room needed around them is much greater than a vee hull, for example
3)
WHERE AND WHEN: Our rules specify where we can drive our boats and when. We use a clock start that requires all boats to be on the water and running 30 seconds prior to the start. We are not allowed to start a boat until three minutes prior to the start. Crossing the infield is allowed only from front straight to back, not the other way and only while meeting other requirements in the rules. Moving in front of another boat is restricted to prevent disabling a competitor.
I've only just scratched the surface on what we have to deal with at a standard race. Now, picture a rogue boater launching and running a boat that doesn't know the rules or how to handle his boat. That is what the people ignoring or just not knowing the rules are doing with the FPV planes and quads.
Now, let's take this one step further. A week or two ago, two Seattle TV station helicopters were filming a news story from around 1500 feet up. A quadcopter was spotted by one of the camera operators flying around the rotor of the other helicopter. The helicopter pilot followed the quad back to the operator who, very quickly, packed up and ran into the house he had been standing in front of. A few minutes later, a police car arrived and upon questioning the person that answered the door, the police left, being told there wasn't a quad on the property. So, now the question is what would have happened had the quad actually got into the rotor blades of the manned helicopter? Would a test have prevented this? Maybe. Would knowing the penalties of being caught make a difference? Who knows but, to me, it's something that could be tried since being required to know the rules would eliminate the excuse of "No one told me that"