By Shawn Skager-The Courier Herald

To the uninformed listener the east cove of North Lake Tapps Park may have seemed to have been home to a landscapers convention this past weekend.

The only indication that the high-pitched whine of 26 cc two-stroke motors were not attached to weed wackers, was the steady slap of water on boat hulls, as remote control boasts sped around the course laid out in the waters of Lake Tapps.

The site was the location of the inaugural N.W. Nitro RC Hobbies Offshore Championships.

The event, sponsored by N.W. Nitro RC Hobbies in Puyallup, was the brainchild of co-owners John Carnegie and Charlie Gray.

“It’s a growing sport,” Carnegie said. “We’re trying to promote the big boats and more people seem to be getting turned on by them.”

According to Carnegie, the boats, one-fifth scale models of offshore racing boats, typically cost anywhere from $700 for a starter outfit to up to $3,000 for more advanced boats.

“They run on 26cc weed wacker motors,” Carnegie said, taking a break from tuning his own boat. “They’re anywhere from three to seven horsepower.”

Although some owners choose to put together their own boats, most packages come ready to hit the water.

“You just need to add batteries to the radio controller and gas and oil mixture for the motors, because they’re two-stroke,” he said.

For the N.W. championship, a semi-oval course was set up on the choppy water of Lake Tapps, providing a challenge to contestants.

“It has both left and right handed turns,” Carnegie said. “As opposed to traditional hydro ovals which are just left handed turns. That’s the best things with these offshore boats. They’re able to handle the more choppy water. With hydros you want the water to be as close to glass as possible.”

For Carnegie, his hobby has been two decades in the making.

“I’ve been into them for about 20 years,” he said. “I first got into the small cars and as my son got older we got more and more things. Of course, he grew out of it, but I didn’t.”

According to Carnegie, about four years ago he decided it was time for him and Gray to open up their own shop, N.W. Nitro.

“We both used to work for Boeing and were laid off,” he said. “We just decided that maybe this could work. There wasn’t any other shop of the kind in the area.”

For Carnegie and many of the other participants, however, it’s about hanging out with people of like interests on a nice sunny day.

“I like them (remote control boats) because you get to be by the water,” he said. “It’s nice to get together with a bunch of people who are into the same thing.”

Reach Shawn Skager at sskager@courierherald.comor 253-862-7719 ext. 208.