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2013 Rules

Technically, he was right. You were wrong to stop the clock. Many on this forum would disagree, but that's just because they don't know our unique rules. We run a 15 gate course with the last 5 being optional bonuses and the driver continues on the running clock until time runs out (or he points out at 40). After gate 10 the mandatory gates are completed and he can quit whenever he chooses. Sounds like he did not so choose.

But I also competed and judged at this event and like you, I would have given him the benefit of the doubt. If he doesn't want it, good for him. USRCCA doesn't really get a vote, because the region has choosen to do things a little differently. BTW, it's a lot of fun.
 
So, do you guys apply the penalties accrued on the last 5 gates to the score course as well? Do you have to complete all 5 gates to get the bonuses? Can a driver stop whenever he wants?
 
So, do you guys apply the penalties accrued on the last 5 gates to the score course as well? Do you have to complete all 5 gates to get the bonuses? Can a driver stop whenever he wants?

Yep, standard penalties apply. Which can be a killer because our optional bonuses are only worth -2 points but a struck marker is still a 10 point penalty. You gotta be pretty sure you can make it.

No, you can do any or none of the five gates. You do have to do them in ascending order, but you can skip over any you don't like the looks of. IE you could do gate 11 and then go on to 13. But once having done 13 you can't change your mind and come back to 12.

You can stop anytime you're not falling thru the air about to hit a marker. IE you should be stopped and stable. Today I got to within about 1/32" of brushing a bonus marker when I stopped and quit. For grins I then continued unofficially and made it. :evil: No guts, no glory.
 
It's different for sure but fun.

I would've given him the touch penalty. The driver should've made his intentions clear. If he had no intention of going for bonus gates, he should've called time after progressing the finish gate. Otherwise, clock is still ticking until time runs out.

J.D.
 
Then to make it a little more bizarre there's what we do for 2.2Shafty. We share the same 15 gate courses (today there were five of them), but only have the first five gates mandatory. You can finish five and go home. But the remaining 10 gates are now available for optional bonuses, time permitting.

The first five gates are supposed to be a little more forgiving, but some designers occasionally don't seem to get the memo. And if you can't finish the first five, you can't procede to bonus land. But most of us finish the first five and then get to go shopping.
 
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You can stop anytime you're not falling thru the air about to hit a marker. IE you should be stopped and stable. Today I got to within about 1/32" of brushing a bonus marker when I stopped and quit. For grins I then continued unofficially and made it. :evil: No guts, no glory.

5.5 Stopping after Attempt: Once a driver has finished their attempt at a course, the driver must remove their vehicle from the course as quickly as possible, to allow the next driver to attempt the course. If a driver fails to adhere to the rule and continues to drive on the course, the driver may be subjected to a 50 point DQ for that course.:roll:
 
Heh, you got me. Now you understand, we're talking about driving another 6", but a rule's a rule. :ror:
 
You can stop anytime you're not falling thru the air about to hit a marker. IE you should be stopped and stable.

Then yeah, so long as everybody understands that rule, then I'd agree with the call of giving the touch penalty. If everybody knows that you need to declare your intent, then that's what you've gotta do.
 
As soon as you touch the car is would be a reposition back to the last gate.
Not in comps where 1.7.2 is in use.

1.7.2 is a good rule for keeping competitions fun even if/when the first or second gate in most courses are "impassible" for the less experienced drivers.
You don't gain much experience (other than that of failure) if you're not allowed to pass the first gate.
 
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Not in comps where 7.2.2 is in use.
I assume you are referring to the "optional" 20 point bypass rules (even thought 7.2.2 now shows something else). As it has been said here before, most major comps in this country do NOT abide by that "optional" rule. I cant even think of a local club in this state that uses that rule....

If you guys setup a course locally and are not able to pass the first gate, you really need to work on your course building skills.
 
I assume you are referring to the "optional" 20 point bypass rules (even thought 7.2.2 now shows something else). As it has been said here before, most major comps in this country do NOT abide by that "optional" rule. I cant even think of a local club in this state that uses that rule....

If you guys setup a course locally and are not able to pass the first gate, you really need to work on your course building skills.

Exactly, leave an out for every gate and the 20 point carry rule is not needed.
 
Exactly, leave an out for every gate and the 20 point carry rule is not needed.

You're exactly right. Problem is courses are built by volunteers with varying degrees of experience and judgement. Not everyone gets it right. Some have the best of intentions, but never get it right.

The operative phrase is "Damn, I was sure we could make that."
 
You're exactly right. Problem is courses are built by volunteers with varying degrees of experience and judgement. Not everyone gets it right. Some have the best of intentions, but never get it right.

The operative phrase is "Damn, I was sure we could make that."

Experienced people attending should review the courses and make the necessary adjustments.
 
I assume you are referring to the "optional" 20 point bypass rules (even thought 7.2.2 now shows something else).
Yes, seems like the rules have been rewritten very lately.
The former 7.2.2 is now moved to 7.3.2 and made a lot more fuzzy.

Problem is courses are built by volunteers with varying degrees of experience and judgement. Not everyone gets it right.
That's one of the problems, yes.
Another problem is when the competitors range in skill and experience from "European Champ" to "Rookie", as is the situation in "the Nordics", an international competition held annually. (And that comp contitutes the complete list of our "local comps" for this year...)

How do you lay a course to be passable for rookies yet challenging for highly experienced champs?
 
How do you lay a course to be passable for rookies yet challenging for highly experienced champs?

Leave an out for every gate, rookies can take the gate and move on, seasoned drivers can go for clean progress. "thumbsup"
 
How do you lay a course to be passable for rookies yet challenging for highly experienced champs?

Our club has had comps where we had a bunch of new guys show up. We realized that if they were discouraged, they would likely not return. What we chose to do was to setup a course with 10 gates and several bonus gates. We made the regular gates somewhat easier and the bonus gates were quite difficult. The new guys were able to do well on the regular gates (some even finished the courses) an the experienced guys knew that if they wanted to win, they'd need to complete the bonus gates. This allows the new guys to increase their skill level AND watch the experienced guys as well....and nobody got discouraged.
 
Also, within the rules there's a category called alternate gates. I only remember seeing it used once but if I recall correctly every green gate had a harder blue gate next to it or nearby. Probably the easier green gates were worth 2 progress points and the harder blue were maybe 5 progress points. Driver chose one or the other, not both. You could choose differently as you went along. G-G-B-G-B etc.

I could see how you could use this approach with high and low skill levels in the same event
 
Experienced people attending should review the courses and make the necessary adjustments.

That sounds like the answer, and we do that. But oddly, it doesn't work out as well as you'd think. Dunno if it's a hurt-feelings thing, political, macho effect or what. It should work better than it does.

Sometimes it's just "well who knew?"
 
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