Great Year in the Shop!

[Need for Speed]

The boys and I worked on 10 cars this year for family and close friends.

6 out 10 cars placed.

5-1st in Dens and 1-2nd in Dens.
3-1st in Packs, 1-2nd,1-3rd and 1-4th in Pack. 70 cars in one Pack, 45 cars in another Pack and 26 cars in the other Pack.
Only one car went to district race. 1st in Den and 4th overall. 85 cars in District.

Thank to all for the extra help.

[Pinewood Daddy]

I worked on 3 cars. 1 for each son (Wolf & 2nd year pre-Tiger), and 1 for a cub in our den without a father.

My son won the Den and fastest in the Pack. The cub was second fastest. The other son (2nd year pre-Tiger) was the fastest in the building, he beat all of the fastest Weblos by at least 1/2 a car length.

Now if I could just get that alignment thing down!

We're on to the District race in May.

Next year I plan on sharing some of the secrets to make the races more competitive.

[gpraceman]

Next year I plan on sharing some of the secrets to make the races more competitive.

Why not share this website?

[Pinewood Daddy]

Why not share this website?

Last week I was appointed the Pack PWD Chairman. I mentioned, to the Cubmaster, that I would like to write a PWD guide and organizing a workshop for next year. He seemed hesitant. We had 42 of 44 scouts make cars. 90% of the competitive cars were in the Weblos. I think the lower ranks need alot of help. At least all of the cars made it down the track, the slowest was just over 4 seconds.

I think sharing this website would be a great idea, but many people aren't as curious, competitive and/or technicaly minded as us, about how to make this block of wood go faster. He's afraid there won't be much interest. Our fundraisers have low participation.

I will ask a few parents if they would be inerested in some guidance next year, but I'm afraid they may be a little angry that I had the fastest 2 cars in the Pack.

[Cory]

Why not share this website?

I will ask a few parents if they would be interested in some guidance next year, but I'm afraid they may be a little angry that I had the fastest 2 cars in the Pack.

My limited experience is that...

1. A significant percentage of participants (both youngsters and parents) are interested in going faster and building "cool cars".

2. Workshops are a good way to get people involved, and to have some influence over that involvement (e.g. helping a parent help a youngster drill axle holes instead of watching a youngster watch a parent drill the axle holes)

3. Many people have no idea there is so much Pinewood Derby information on the Internet, and that it's available in so many flavors.

More people will come inside if you open the door for them.

[gpraceman]

I think sharing this website would be a great idea, but many people aren't as curious, competitive and/or technicaly minded as us, about how to make this block of wood go faster.

More people will come inside if you open the door for them.

I agree with Cory. Of course, those that are willing to do the extra work and research will usually be the most successful ones. You can lead a horse to water ... but you can't make him drink. Some won't drink, some will a little and others will not get enough to drink to slake their thirst for making a well performing car (speed or design wise). Those later folks join the ranks of the "Pineheads".

[wardrocks]

During the years we have had a workshop, it has seemed to tweak the interest of the kids and dads and we have had not only better cars, faster and better looking, but also the turnout for the race has been better. We had no workshop this year and the actual race suffered. I'm going to push for a return to the workshop days.

[Tomcat14]

It's kind of weird, but we scheduled a workshop and no one showed up other than leader's kids. Then the parents complain that the "Leader's kids" alway do well in the race. I'm hesitant to schedule another workshop and have no body show up again. Any Thoughts??

[Stan Pope]

Unfortunately, it is not a new story.

You could tell 'em a date and time and require RSVP a week ahead. No RSVP, no session.

Good luck

[gpraceman]

It's kind of weird, but we scheduled a workshop and no one showed up other than leader's kids. Then the parents complain that the "Leader's kids" alway do well in the race. I'm hesitant to schedule another workshop and have no body show up again. Any Thoughts??

You might want to check out this thread.

http://derbytalk.com/viewtopic.php?t=169