New club: Hastings, indoor off road, large venue

[1066 Racing]

Hi all

We're working very hard to start a new off road club in Hastings, Sussex. Have a read below as we’ve tried to cover as many likely questions as we can.

Most importantly we need to grow our network if we’re going to make this work; please spare 2 seconds to like our Facebook page for updates, especially if you live in the South East, or maybe just out of curiosity to see three blokes trying to set up a club!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/1066-...63675263726423

First meeting is our open night, Sunday 23rd of Feb. We'll be at the venue, details below but basically a large sports hall (4 badminton courts large) setting up from 1730, you’re welcome to help!

Track will open around 1800 for a couple of hours free practice…for free, though any small donations towards hall hire appreciated!

Whilst we're aiming to run an off road club generally, 'run what you brung' on the first night, anything 1/10th electric (or smaller scale) allowed, we’ll even have a couple of ‘club cars’ for people to try if you don’t yet own a car.

I’m sure there will be questions, so either ping a reply on here or facebook and we’ll try to get back to you ASAP…we’ve all got real life jobs too! Some more details below. PLEASE TRY NOT TO PM, we’re trying to be as public as possible to save time and answer more questions for all VISIBLY.

Where: We've secured a large sports hall, 4 badminton courts, (30meters long) with a decent height rostrum and separate pitting area overlooking the track. It’s the YMCA sports centre in Hastings, postcode TN37 6RS. Pics on Facebook.

Track: The three of us have chipped in and bought enough carpet to cover most of the hall leaving a couple of slippery sections if we want to. It’s decent carpet! We’re lucky that we have a friend who builds Skate park ramps for a living; he’s going to assist building a series of sensible, nice jumps etc. Eastbourne Electric Car Club have been incredibly supportive and lent us 100metres of track marking rope (currently being jetwashed, see facebook!) so a massive thankyou to them. We’ve already discussed with local councils what we’re doing, and may have the opportunity to secure an outdoor venue for summer use, maybe even a permanent track.

Who: This account is run by Ben Winters, Andrew Coley and Russ Juby, the three blokes endeavoring to start the club. All three have been into for RC 20 years plus, Ben has always raced, Andrew raced with Ben for 10 years and has recently returned, and Russ has recently started competing. Whilst this account is brand new, we’ve been members for a while. Ben is on here as ‘benny gti’, Andrew as ‘andrewc’.

Why: There’s nothing 1/10th off road in the immediate area; nearest clubs are Eden Park, Maritime and Barham all over an hour away and only Maritime indoors. We race at all the above, we still will, but feel there’s room for another club further south if we avoid date/day clashes as best we can and can gather enough interest. Incidentally there used to be two clubs within ten miles, Battle and Eastbourne; Battle is long gone, Eastbourne is now a permanent (and excellent) Touring Car track.

When: As above, open night on Sunday Feb 23rd, details on Facebook. We hope to gauge interest at this first event, but likely to be a fortnightly meeting on a Sunday night. We’ve been asked why Sunday; lots of reasons, first being venue availability! Also traffic in SE is busy on weeknights, so this is an easier journey on weekends. Currently early start early finish to help people with kids who need to get to bed. All of the above may well be modified to meet demand, up or down! Keep you posted on here and FB.

Thanks for reading; I hope you can see from this we’ve put a lot of thought, effort and time into our ideas even prior to our first meeting. Any likes, shares, assistance, visitors, ideas etc much appreciated. We have a PDF poster available; if you want to print and put up anywhere just drop us a line.

Thanks all! AC

[Dudders]

Good luck guys, hope it all works out. I took the plunge alone 3 years ago and built SHRCCC into a great club with a strong and dedicated team of committee and helpers. It's their club now, I just interfere!!!

Any help, give me a shout.

[andrewc]

That's great to hear! Thank you. Looking forward to getting started!

I visited your track last year when passing through the area, looks ace, we'll be up some time I'm sure.

[jph]

Really looking forward to this - I'll be coming along with my TC initially with a view to buying a buggy in the future once the club is established.

Have you thought about posting on the EECC & WKRCC forums for a bit of publicity assuming the club organizers don't mind)?

Good-work on everything you have achieved so far and I will try and arrive early to help set-up :-)

[contrast]

Looking forward to this..

[andrewc]

Thanks guys; look forward to seeing you on the night. We'll either put in 'option' lines for TC/Minis on open night or move the jumps for a bit!

Wasn't sure on etiquette for posting on other clubs pages; certainly we'd like to be able to publicise with other clubs, as we'd hope to work with them to continue to grow the off road scene in the region.

EECC have been really good to us with rope loan etc; Me and Ben used to race off road with them in BRCA regionals and SOWL…remember that?! South of Watford League?!

[martinw76]

Getting closer, just a little bump