Being the guy that held the first CORCC comp and ran all of them for a few years until it got to be too much for me, here are some things I would offer up from my past experiences.
1. We are a USRCCA recognized club, which means we have agreed to run the USRCCA rules.
2. The USRCCA does not have an amateur "run what you brung" class. They have 1.9, 2.2 sportsman, 2.2 comp, and super.
3. Days to run comps take a long time, the only way to shorten that is to have less competitors, and we don't want that, so count on the days being long. Some simple math I have com up with in running large events that works well is take your total number of competitors, and multiply that by your course time limit plus 1 minute. So lets say a normal Colorado comp has 18 1.9 drivers, 47 2.2 drivers, and 15 super drivers, that is a total of 80 drivers, running 4 minute courses will take us 400 minutes, or 6.66 hours. Now add to that setup time, lunch break, and any other down time for any reason. That 400 minutes is based on rigs running on course non stop. So we easily end up with 9-10 hour days which in the winter is from sun up to sundown.
4. Making judging mandatory does not work. I know the rules inside out, I have been doing this longer than most anyone, yet I am a horrible judge. My slight bit of ADD does not allow me to focus at all.
5. The same thing goes for course designing, some people can drive the wheels off of their crawlers, but they cannot design a course that plays out well with competitors to save their lives.
6. Having the $5 buy in each day really made the comps more exciting for everyone, and like it's been mentioned in here already it is nice for those guys to take home a little gas money at the end of the day, and it makes the day feel a little more rewarding.
7. Running one of these events is a ton of work, we all know that, however many of the "newer guys" don't realize that, and they seem to want their comps just like they got their crawlers. They bought their crawlers, took them home opened the boxes and started crawling. Now they want to be able to show up to a comp, have everything all setup and waiting for them, walk right up run the courses in an hour or less then head home and have the scores waiting for them on the computer when they get home. That just isn't going to happen with a club this size. If you want things to move along faster there are only a couple of things you can do: get off your ass and help out, and have your rig ready to go at the starting line of a course when the judge is running the guy in front of you. These events are going to last all day, that is just the way it is, so show up early, pack a lunch, and be prepared to do work.
Hoppa, not picking on you, your post just was an easy one to quote that had the concerns that I wanted to address.
Wow, not sure what to say. A group of guys that have been crawling for more than 6 years together at locations all over the state is no more of a club than a group of guys that piled up some rock in a parking lot.
I'll agree with you, but if you think about it, our winter series typically ends in June. In July we have Rocas, we take August and September off to prep for Nationals, and our series begins again in October.
I am working on this.
I'll agree with you on that, having a computer at the site to enter the scores as they roll in really helps. Having to go home at the end of the day and then manually go through the sheets sucks.
I am hoping to be at the events with the RCC van and I'd be willing to help whoever our scoring guy is enter the scores. The van gives us a nice desk and plenty of light to do that.
2 judges per course would be awesome, however until people start stepping up it's hard to find 1 judge per course.
:twisted:
