The IRCWCC 2009 NATS was my first event with IRCWCC group. I got hooked on the hobby by Curt Stokes and was battling locally with the North Atlantic Battle Squadron (NABS).
When it was announced that the IRCWCC NATS was being held in Rhode Island, I started making plans to attend. The first thing I realized was this was going to be a long drive. A nice 12.5 hr drive without any stops but still I made my plans. I tried to convince some others to come along but those plans fell through. My initial plan was take my Prinz Eugen (a VU class warship) as my primary and take my USS Alabama as my reserve. The reserve boat was contingent on it’s completion during the winter. I had just received the Prinz Eugen about 2 weeks prior to 2008 CANNATS. The winter of 2008 saw no progress as I was planning on moving into a house from a 1-bedroom condo in the spring. So all of my hobby stuff was stored in a storage locker. I even tried to get my first bout, the USS South Carolina ready but it was not completed in time. So on July 18th the car was packed and I was (to quote Family Guy) on the road to Rhode Island. The only place I had any concern was the US-Canada border. I did not think it wise to tell the agent the ships were armed with bb cannon so I just kept the story to a model boat regatta. So once I crossed the border it was several hours until I hit the hotel. After checking in I unpacked and turned on the TV. Channel 3. Nuff said. So the next day it was off to the pond for speed tests and other tests. Of course I did not print off directions to the pond so I was searching for the place. I finally make it and I see others by the pavilion. I finally mad it to NATS. The Prinz Eugen passed all tests except for speed check. The moss on the pond just stopped he boat cold. But thankfully all was not lost. Someone had an extra pair of props to loan me and the boat seemed to move fine after that. So after the tests were completed for the day we all went to supper at a place called Bishop Hill tavern. To say the food service was a little slow would be an under statement. I think I was the very last one served. I guess a turkey wrap is harder than it looks. After that it was retiring to the room and make sure I changed over from channel 66 to my 2.4 radio.
Day 1 Battle 1
The Prinz Eugen (PE) was launched and ready to go. Prior to the battle I was having a little issue with the pump hose it seemed to want to come off from the pump. I thought I resolved it by pushing it on a little more. Now came the signal for war to begin. Coming from a battling experience of 4 to 6 ships at an event to around 22 was a little but different. I was used to having room. Now it was staying in a pack. A part of the dreaded “swarm” The ship seemed to performing well pumping out the water. Although it was hard to keep the pump on as the gimbal settings were off and I had not made any correction. But still the pump stream was working. So I decided to call my 5 and hopefully escape but it was not to be. I noticed the stream stopped coming out. So it was steer as close to shore as possible for the inevitable sink. And sink I did.
Battle 2
Having patched the damage the PE launched and was ready for the declaration of war. I hung back once again as part of the swarm. The Allies really did not like going near the swarm and for a good reason. A boat would get chewed up quicker than piranhas on a cow. I did notice one of my cannons was firing rather weakly. So I decided to call my 5 and come in. In between sorties I adjusted the cannon hoping it would fire a little better. The second sortie saw the PE try to sneak up and pot shot some unwary allied captain. I got some shots off but I am not sure at how successful I was. When I felt the ammo was expended I called 5 and in I came
Day 2
Due to the weather it was decided to have 1 on 1 battle’s today. I only had 1 battle. I challenged the USS South Carolina. Well it was a bit of a disaster for me. Not one scoring hit at all on the South Carolina. The battle was called when the PE rudders healed over and could not move. Some other noteworthy battles were the father-son battle and the Baden sinking an Iowa in a 1 on 1.
Day 3
The debate was on whether to run Campaign Lite or fleet battles. Fleet Battles won out. Also today was the dreaded night battle. So the PE was ready and was launched. Now once the PE was launched I noticed I was having some issues with the radio control. So just when war was declared, the control issues were coming worse. So I called my 5 and thankfully escaped. I then took the PE back to the table to see if there was any noticeable reason for the control issues. With nothing visible I had to bite the bullet and open up the balloon coating that held the receiver. There I saw my problem. Moisture was inside the receiver and had shorted it out. Thankfully Steve Andrews had a spare Spektrum receiver and Dave Simmons had a spare watertight box. So a hole was dug, the servo extensions inserted and the receiver hooked up and then binded to my transmitter. However at this point I was on the shelf until the goop dries. And believe me it took a while to dry. It was dry enough for Night Battle. As the park has lights it was not pitch black for battling but dark enough. Interesting at how people put illumination on their boat. From Nate’s superstructure that had led lights mounted in the cage masts to Rob A’s christmas lights on the Alabama. It was definitely hard to tell friend from foe. So after a few potshots at some nearby boats I decided to call 5 as I did not want to sink and possible damage someone else’s receiver.
Day 4
Campaign Battle
The campaign was different as this was the first time I battled where there were convoy ships out on the water as targets as well as attempting to defend your own convoy ships. Convoy ships could touch you and send you to the shore for a few minutes. You could relaunch and reload your bb’s and gas unless you sink. I launched twice and was having issues with the battery life on the Spektrum transmitter. I was not lasting long. Still I managed to load and launch twice until the hour was up.
Battle 5
We moved back to the fleet battles. As with past battles I was hanging out with the swarm. I did notice that the transmitter battery life was decreasing all week. So After I had managed to unload my rounds I decided to call 5 and come in. During the second sortie I almost had a major disaster. The transmitter died while the PE was in reverse. I immediately called out of control 5. Thankfully the ever present moss stopped it cold until I could get a spare transmitter battery in and after my 5 brought the boat in.
Battle 6
It is Friday and sadly the time just flew. So in Battle 6 with diminishing battery on the transmitter I decided it was go until I sunk. At this time the PE had hoisted the Canukistan flag. The canukistan flag was my idea after Steve and I were bantering all week. I went from Paul to P to Pete. Steve’s NC also was adorned with the Canukistan flag as well as a loonie and a twoonie. It still didn’t prevent him from getting shot at from me. So into the furball I went and promptly paid the price. Down she goes as I see the Pen sink. Thankfully it was close to shore for an easy recovery. Once it was recovered I was seriously considering entering the ship for the last event. The RING OF DEATH!! However I was having a tough receiver that would work on the bench and fail at pond side so I decided against it. After that it was off to Fall River for the Awards banquet about the USS Massachusetts. I must say I was impressed with the size of ship. I would definitely like to tour it again. I was named rookie of the year, which was a complete surprise to me.
I am already planning to try and make it for next year’s NATS. It was a blast.
