Greetings all! Just a brief word to introduce myself. I'm the new NAMBA Combat Class Chair. I don't know if you all are NAMBA members, but I strongly recommend that you join - especially if you participate in combat events. NAMBA insurance comes with your membership fee. A few important things to know. 1) Individual NAMBA membership. Whether you belong to a NAMBA-registered club or not, anyone who engages in RC warship combat should seriously consider keeping his or her NAMBA membership up to date. Why? NAMBA membership is renewable annually, and includes liability and property damage coverage in the unfortunate event that a NAMBA member's boat should be involved in an accident in which a spectator is injured or damage is done to someone else’s property. This coverage is $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate. (Note: Sorry, does not include coverage for another NAMBA member's boat that you damage with your boat!) Membership includes an additional $1,000,000 umbrella policy to add to the above-mentioned coverages. This coverage is primary coverage, so you do not have to look first to your homeowner's policy for protection as is the case with some of the other boating organizations. In addition, it is individual insurance rather than site insurance, which protects you no matter where you are running your model boat, not just at pre-approved lakes and ponds, as with some of the other organizations. (Important note: You must comply with all local and state laws and restrictions. If you are running a boat on a lake on which you are trespassing you may not be covered.) NAMBA insurance also provides you with a $1,000,000 personal accident policy which covers injuries which you may incur while running your boat or while assisting someone else with their boat. In the past, this has covered such injuries as a cut hand, or torn ligaments suffered when a boater slipped on the mud in the launch area. This policy is secondary insurance. That means that if you have health insurance at work or through a family member, NAMBA insurance will expect your primary policy to pay first. Then, once your primary policy has paid what it covers, NAMBA’s secondary policy goes into effect. This would cover such things as deductibles, amounts over the policy limits, etc. If you do not have health insurance of any kind, NAMBA’s policy covers you the same as if it were a primary policy. There are, of course, deductibles on both of these coverages, $500 on the liability coverage, and $100 on the personal accident coverage. However, in the past, NAMBA has has been able to pick up the cost of these deductibles, and we assume we will continue to do so in the future as long as funds permit. 2) NAMBA Club Registration and Site Coverage. Any combat club that wants full support from NAMBA needs to register ($10 annually). Registration comes with benefits, one of which is to get access to NAMBA resource materials, advice on insurance matters, and advocacy in dealing with governmental agencies when attempting to secure - or keep - a combat site. Register here: http://www.namba.com/content/library/forms/club_registration.pdf All combat clubs are urged to secure NAMBA site liability insurance coverage to protect the owner of the combat site. This is a $2,000,000 policy with the same liability coverage as is afforded the individual member. While this is not required for the individual insurance to be in effect, some cities and site owners require this additional coverage. Registered clubs may purchase this coverage at a cost of $45.00 per year here: http://www.namba.com/content/library/forms/site_insurance_application.pdf Read more about NAMBA insurance here: http://www.namba.com/content/insurance.asp 3) NAMBA rulebook. Around 12 years ago, members of the RC warship combat community formed a task force to write a set of NAMBA rules that specifically pertain to our hobby. Wreno Wynne and I were two members of the task force, as were others across the community. The rules are fairly basic, and are not meant to cover every aspect of our hobby/sport. They are specifically meant to establish basic safety protocols for all NAMBA individual members and clubs. Following NAMBA safety rules puts you in a very strong position when filing a claim, or when someone files an accident-related claim against you. Read the NAMBA rulebook, especially those sections that pertain to combat, by visiting clicking on the Resources tab at www.namba.com 4) Contacts. Also via the Resources tab, find the NAMBA contact for your district. Also note that I am always available to help you in any way I can, and my contact information is also included in the contacts page. Have fun, and stay safe! Rob Wood NAMBA International Combat Chair Vice President, Western Warship Combat Club
A question... in the rules addenda that just came out was the issue of Propwash that announced that you had been appointed Combat Chair, and it mentioned someone named Dave Santistevan. Who's Dave? Do I already know him and don't realize it?
