OMRA News

 AA-D Class 2008 Championship results by STEWART RAE
 

Bernard Holder, 2nd in A Class.



What happened to 2008? No sooner had it arrived than it was gone, or it seemed that way!

First of all, the OMRA committee wish to thank everyone who gave up their time to help out during the 2008 racing season. Race organisers, O.O.Ds, lap scorers, local model boat club members (venue hosts), rescue crews and A.N. Other, who covers anyone I have missed off the list. All these people are an integral part of OMRA racing, so a big THANK YOU to all of them.

Thanks must also go to Ian Hayward who managed the OMRA Newsletter for the 2008 season and Danny Bell who has done a splendid job setting up our new website: www.omra-uk.org. Danny is also responsible for the administration on our OMRA forum site which was set up and is moderated by Phil Snewin, so thanks chaps.

By the time you read this we will be settled into the 2009 season with three races already under our belts at Hove, Torquay, Bristol. If you are considering joining OMRA why not pop along to one of our events before splashing out your cash to see what type of boat you really need for OMRA racing. The cheap ready to run boats from the internet as more often than not dont comply with racing specifications and rules (please see our website for our specs. and rules) and the contact details for OMRA are listed at the end of this article.

This is the May issue of MB, on sale in mid-April, so quite possibly the next race available to you is at Southampton on Sunday 17th May. We welcome all spectators and if you have any queries please dont hesitate to ask any of the racers - we dont bite! You will find them keen to show you their boats and answer any questions you may have.

Good news, Dave Monck (thanks Dave) has stepped forward and offered to write the race reports for the six Z Class events booked for the 2009 season. Z Class boats are the smallest of the OMRA classes and were originally designed to keep the initial cost down and to fit easily into the boot of a family sized car.

With the loss of the two day Windermere meeting in 2008 thanks must also go to Mark Wild and Tony Ellis for stepping in and offering at the last minute alternative race venues at Torside Reservoir and Torquay.

New venues for 2009

There are four new venues for the 2009 season and in chronological order:

Hove - March 15th (replaces Eastbourne)

Southport - July 26th (a later replacement for Telford)

Leicester - September 6th

Calshot (Nr, Southampton) - September 13th

Both of these last two replacing the September two day event at Windermere.

The Penzance meeting this season is taking place on Saturday 31st October so dont go turning up on the Sunday (our normal race day) or you will be very disappointed! The 2009 AGM will take place at Almondsbury (Bristol) on November 22nd.

So lets get down to who won what with what during 2008, only the top three places reported, but I have included the top ten in the results listings.

AA Class
 
Top honours went to Mark Copley who retained his 2007 trophy with his ever trusty A.M. Challenger43 Pro CMB21. Mark took the maximum score of 105 points, seven wins, two seconds and a third place from the ten races he entered. OMRA Championship scoring uses your best seven race scores from the seasons events, thus 105 points being the absolute maximum per class.

Second place went to Alan Thompson, again driving his A.M. Challenger43 Pro CMB21 to 80 points.

Andy Rennie had a couple of wins and a couple of second places to take the bronze trophy with his CMB21 powered Crusader III taking 72 points.

A Class

Keeping it in the family, young Luke Copley followed his dads example in AA Class and took first place in this popular category. Luke took five wins, a couple of seconds and a third with his A.M Challenger48 Pro CMB45 giving him 99 points.

Bernard Holder was next taking the Silver trophy with his own design Crusader II CMB45 scoring 82 points.

Steve Southam had a couple of wins, a couple of seconds and a third to take 76 points and third place with his very quick Manta Ray CMB45.

B Class

Scores of 99, 88 and 77 points were the top three in B Class. Bernard Holder retained his 2007 trophy to take the gold with his own design Magnum CMB67 from five wins and four second places.

Geoff Thompsons Donzi CMB67 found itself in second place having taken two wins, four seconds and a third.

Richard Haydock attended seven races during the season and scored points at every one to take four wins, a third and a couple of minor placings for the bronze trophy.

C Class
 
This class is one of, if not, the most powerful in OMRA racing and Mark Copley was at it again, retaining another of his trophies. This time three points shy of the maximum, Mark took six wins, four seconds and a fourth place with his own design Phantom 145 CMB91, Mark has produced quite a few of the Phantom mouldings so expect to see plenty on the circuit during 2009.

With his Giant Apache CMB91 combination, Geoff Thompson took second place from his seven race entries taking two wins, three seconds, a third and a fourth to give him an 84 point total.

Another trophy for Bernard Holder taking overall third place with his Magnum CMB90 scoring two wins, a second, five thirds plus a few minor places.

D Class

The only other person to score maximum points with seven wins was Tony Gilder with his petrol RCMK26 powered Spirit of Oslo. This was not quite the fastest boat on the circuit, but certainly the most reliable, Tony kept his head down, stayed out of trouble and finished in every one of his races to take the gold trophy home (eventually!).

Robin Butler popped up in second place with his Zenoah26 powered Magnum. Robin had a win, three seconds, a couple of thirds and some minor placings to take the silver trophy.

Gary Darch spent the early season tuning his Blatta40 motor, but from mid-season onwards he started to put some points on the table with his Phantom 145 taking two wins, a second, a couple of thirds and some minor placings for the bronze trophy.

Best Junior

First:    Shannen Wilkinson

Second:  Ben Powell

Third:    Josh Knight

Shannen wins the £100 cash prize for her winning effort in 2008. There is a £100 prize for the Best Junior each season, donated by an OMRA member to encourage the under 18s to take part in our hobby.

First Lady of OMRA:                   Shannen Wilkinson

Les May Shield (best newcomer):       Phil Snewin

Concours dElegance:                  Dave Monck

Member of the Year:                   Andy Rennie

Champion of Champions AA-D Class:     Mark Copley

Z Classes

Although I do not attend Z Class racing, the final results are as follows with points scored in brackets:

Z Standard

First:        Dave Clay (74)

Second:   Kelvin Bird (71)

Third:    Ted Aggett (68)

Z Modified

First:        Kelvin Bird (75)

Second:   Shannen Wilkinson (73)

Third:    Ted Aggett (73)

(Shannen took second place on countback with three wins against Teds one).

Champion of Champions Z Class:    Kelvin Bird

Max Coote Trophy Z Standard:      Paul Weller

Max Coote Trophy Z Modified:      Lloyd Stebbings

Would you like to join us?

If you would like to take part in OMRA racing then you do have to be a member, so please check out our website: www.omra-uk.org for details of how to join or call our Public Relations Officer, Stewart Rae, tel: 07711 594063. Alternatively ask for details at a race venue. You never know, you might just be the next British Champion!

Bits and bobs including complete race boats can be obtained from the suppliers listed on our website. We hope to see you on the racing circuit and if you are just spectating do please come and have a chat with us, we dont bite! We do prefer to pass on our knowledge and experience as it could save you time and money buying right first time. Dont forget there are a lot of ready to run models out there that dont comply with our racing specifications and these will not be allowed to race so best to come and see us first before spending your hard earned money.

If you have never built a race boat before then dont worry. Andy Rennie a regular race competitor has built an AA Class boat from scratch and this build project will be published in this magazine later in the year including lots of hints and tips on building. Thanks to Andy for this and the new owner of this boat (Mike Digger Barnes) will be racing it throughout the 2009 season - hopefully successfully!

 
 
 

OMRA AA-D Class Championship Results (first 10 places only)

          Position      Name      Points Total

AA Class
 
              1         Mark Copley        105

              2         Alan Thompson      80

              3         Andy Rennie             72

              4         Shannen Wilkinson 70

              5         Robin Butler       58

              6         Danny Bell              55

              7         Dave Clay          45

              8         Ian Hayward        29

              9         Paul Weller             26

              10        Mark Beesley       20

A Class
       
             1         Luke Copley             99

              2         Bernard Holder     82

              3         Steve Southam      76

              4         Gary Wilkinson     69

              5         Nigel Bedford      64

              6         Robin Butler       58

              7         Alan Thompson      47

              8         Tony Ellis              42

              9         Danny Bell              40

              10        Robert Gay              34

B Class

              1         Bernard Holder     99

              2         Geoff Thompson     88

              3         Richard Haydock         77

              4         Andy Rennie             71

              5         Dave Clay          63

              6         Tony Ellis              50

              7         John K. Dobson     41

              8         Richard Jordan     36

              9         Mark Beesley       31

              10        Andy Uttley             31

C Class

              1         Mark Copley        102

              2         Geoff Thompson     84

              3         Bernard Holder     82

              4         Nigel Bedford      67

              5         Robin Butler       52

              6         Danny Bell              39

              7         Kevin Hodges       36

              8         Tony Ellis              32

              9         Jason Barrett      27

              10        John K.Dobson      25

D Class

              1         Tony Gilder             105

              2         Robin Butler       77

              3         Gary Darch              74

              4         John Hand          64

              5         Simon Beament      59

              6         John Smith              55

              7         Geoff Stent             51

              8         Phil Snewin             51

              9         Phil Hatcher            37

              10        Robert Gay              32