fullwatts

iTrader: (15)

Aloha Valley Isle RC enthusiasts! My name is Jon and I go by the forum name Fullwatts.

I wanted to start a thread with the hopes of resurrecting an off-road racing season for 2015. I had the chance to meet and race with many of you during the 2013 season, but as you all know 2014 did not come together for a variety of reasons. It seems our long time organizer and supporter George Kennedy has had some health problems and isn't responding to email. Garrett and the rest of his crew have closed the Wailuku Island Hobbies shop and are spending the majority of their time with the e-cig and vape business, leaving a massive hole in leadership for the off-road community.

I've been over to the track at MCC several times this year and it has been in a constant state of disrepair, and is in my opinion unusable for racing without a major overhaul. As it's been explained to me the MCC track requires permission to use and they expect to be paid for us to use it. Which if I'm not mistaken also requires some sort of insurance. I'm unclear on all the details regarding that location, but if anyone has something to add it would be most helpful. With all the available space on this island, I think it would be a total shame to see R/C disappear entirely. It's really up to us to see the sport preserved and shared with our keiki.

I would like to use this thread to organize the Maui off-road racing crew, and either find a way to use the MCC track or work on finding a suitable location to build a new track. Naturally as this comes together and we begin to float ideas and discuss options we should find a time and place to get together and put plans into action.

So please join up and introduce yourself on the thread and PM me your email for the mailing list.

fullwatts

iTrader: (15)

::reserved::

RoyU

iTrader: (2)

Its sad to hear that there's no organized off road racing on Maui. I remember the off road track next to IHOP back in the days, all the championship races the Maui racers held that I went to. I rememeber Garret, George, Sandy, Paige, Arnold, and others.

Is there any on road racing going on?

fullwatts

iTrader: (15)

Yes, its a sad time right now. The on road raceway behind Treats & Sweets was lost in 2013 as well. With the closing of the Kahului and Wailuku hobby stores there's only one hobby store left on Maui in Lahaina. That store doesn't really focus on racing, more high end hobby grade stuff, crawlers and drifters from what I can tell. As far as I know there is no on-road racing going on in any formal (or informal) capacity right now.

I'm really hoping to generate some interest again and hopefully get some casual club racing going, at least some Short Course or even an open class, just to get the kids back into it and involved. My reasoning here is that SC is one of the cheapest and easiest ways to get started. The cars and batteries are relatively inexpensive and durable. On-road while a bit easier track wise, is more unforgiving in the durability area.

I'd love to jump on a plane and fly over to Oahu and race with the crew over there, but flying with all the tools and cars and batteries is a PITA, so I'd prolly have to ship the gear both ways, then buy tickets, rental car, make arrangements to crash at a friends place, etc, and at that point I'm into a couple hundred bucks for a days worth of fun, and I still don't manage to get any Maui Keiki involved.

It's a real shame to see it fade out like this but I just keep reminding myself to keep a long term outlook. It might not be back this year or next, but if I keep working on it and don't give up, there's a chance.

RoyU

iTrader: (2)

I wish you all luck to get rc going on Maui again, would be great to have a championship race there again, offroad and/or onroad. There's a lot of offroaders here that wouldn't mind going there.

Too bad the Super Ferry didn't make it. Would've made traveling a whole lot easier!

kailiboi

iTrader: (1)

i would go for sure

fullwatts

iTrader: (15)

Thanks for the encouraging words Roy. It is a shame the ferry didn't make it. It sure would have made lives better in the islands. Sad to see that our bought and paid for politicians are so easily manipulated by the airlines and shipping interests. I actually know the captain that sailed the Superferry. We were living on the Big Island at the time and service hadn't been established there yet so we never even had the chance to take it. I can only imagine what it would have meant for things like R/C racing. To load up the car and drive off on to another island seems like such a no-brainer.

Nevertheless I'm going to do my part to keep it alive even if it means building a new track and putting together a stable of cars to lend to the kids. Nothing like seeing the smile on a kids face when they get that first thrill of driving an R/C. I still remember my first Tamiya models, the Frog, the Hornet, and the good old Grasshopper.

Best part of my day is when I get home and my son comes running up to me and says "Dad, can we go play cars?"

InspGadgt

Good luck man! It would be great to go back out to Maui for some racing like the good ol days

sc321

What are the major stumbling point
Participation of racers
Timing system
Someone to organize it
No interest
Location of track property

We are looking to move to maui in just over a year and was thinking of bring my trackmate timing system and my fleet of rc trucks in hope of doing some racing.
In winter we do 1/24 scale slot car whick i was thinking of bring that track also.
Just curious if there was any hope of racing.

fullwatts

iTrader: (15)

Aloha SC, Happy to hear there is another RC enthusiast considering a move to beautiful Maui. You pretty much hit the nail on the head with your list of issues. If I had to rank the issues we are facing it would look a lot like your list. For a time we had a pretty active R/C community. We had a track and good turnout. We raced multiple classes and it seemed that the club was starting to gain momentum. Then in a turn of bad luck we lost the use of the track and about the same time the great recession hit us. As you can imagine during a hard recession people have a hard time justifying toy cars when homes are being foreclosed and jobs lost. Add to this Maui is one of the most expensive places to live in the nation, and you can imagine our hobby took a shellacking. The few that remained relocated the track to the community college and tried to rebuild the group. For a short while this smaller group kept together but again we lost a few members and eventually some of the founding members either moved off island or quit because of injuries or illness and the remainder of the group just fell apart. We are in a rebuilding stage now. The track is in shambles and probably needs to be totally reevaluated for suitability. I would prefer to find a better venue that is available for practice and races without needing to pay the college or maintain an insurance policy.
We also lost support of our local hobby shop as well. During the recession, the only hobby store on the island found success selling e-cigarettes and "vape" equipment and supplies. This turned out to be far more lucrative than RC or airsoft. All this was a "perfect storm" for off-road RC.
So where are we now? We could really use a timing system. Our only timing system is in the hands of the former race coordinator who is incommunicado. To use the existing track would require re-establishing a dialog with the college and plenty of work rehabilitating the track. So a suitable track or place to build a new one is needed. Some club sponsorship from the local community would be very helpful too. I can't be sure we can count on Island Hobbies anymore. But it would be worth trying to open a new dialog with them as well. Once we have these items, we can focus on building the group again. I have the old mailing list, and have the skills to build the web site and some of the communication tools needed, but I lack the the time to build this entire club back up from scratch. Only with the concerted effort of a dedicated core group of people will we see this rebuilt. I hope if you do decide to move here you will bring your trucks and timing system. With some time, dedication, and a timing system we could have some hope of starting over. Hopefully with the economy on the rebound we can find more interested people and someone with some property to donate for a track.
Feel free to PM me and I will exchange my email with you and we can talk some more. I have lived on Maui for many years and in Hawaii for many more. I'd be happy to answer questions about your upcoming move. Thanks for reaching out and finding my thread.

lylefk

iTrader: (3)

Aloha, I'll jump in here. Getting back into the hobby, I'm up in Makawao and have a 1/8 scale electric buggy, 1/10 scale electric on road, and a 1/5 scale gas on the way as well as a few drones. Would love to connect with some local bashers, or any tips on good places to run would be greatly appreciated. Just want to have fun with it, but would not mind racing a little bit if it became available again.

Krazikid

I have been in and out of the hobby for about 25 years and I have seen several shops and tracks come and go. The Rc scene here needs lots of help. I live up country and also am searching for a place to drive,

Keola

If the super ferry made it we would have bigger problems on Maui than what ever obstacles are holding back the off road racing initiative. I guess what I'm trying to say is; ease of access to Maui for leisure seems like a selfish thing if you consider the overpopulation of towns and inherently increased crime rate, not to mention depletion of our remaining natural resources.

Here's the thing if we want to bump start this hobby again, we need to be deliberate, efficient and we need to prioritize our solutions to these obstacles. Its that what this hobby is all about?

For example you wouldn't change an engine before you checked your fuel lines,fuel,glow plugs,etc.

In my opinion, first priority should be to obtain an area for a track, having some where to race these things would automatically bring more people in to the hobby.
It just wouldn't be as effective if you were to try to recruit people before you had a place for them to run their vehicles.

I hear they are building a track in Hana, now granted it's not an ideal location but it's a start.
I love this hobby and if it means driving to Hana to put the wheeles in motion so to speak then so be it. Just no super ferry please