Chip Witt
President
It seems that time is already flying by, and the year is off to a very good start despite some bumps along the way.
Autobahn Automotive had to cancel their late January Tech Session due to everyone in the shop getting sick the week before the scheduled event. Despite getting the word out to most folks via MotorsportReg, I showed up on January 26 as scheduled with a box of donuts in-hand to catch those that did not know the event had been canceled. About ten folks showed up; some just to stop by and say ‘hi’ because they were in the neighborhood anyway and knew I would be there but others had not heard the news of cancelation. Zach Oberlander, Owner of Autobahn Automotive, managed to make an appearance even though he was still a bit ill. Being careful not to shake hands with anyone, he graciously spent about an hour with us talking about our cars, the shop and the club. It turned out to be a very nice non-event event. Attempts to reschedule the Tech Session in February or March have not worked out but we hope to fit something in a bit later in the year at the Autobahn Automotive shop.
The Board had guests at our last meeting on January 29. Jackie Crook, Board President of Sonoma County Children’s Village; Hector Matias, Director Foster Youth & Adoption at TLC Child & Family Services, and Chris Helgren, Board President of the Redwood Empire Foster Parent Association all came to thank the club for our participation in the “Wish Upon a Wreath” program for Alternative Family Services in December. We invited them to join us in person to allow them to present more information about their respective programs. This information will feed into the evolution of our charitable community involvement programs under the leadership of Redwood Regions most recent Past President, Craig Steele.
On February 2 we made another attempt at our Annual Sharks Tour. Interest has just not caught on with this event: the distance, cost and the fact not everyone likes hockey has made this a challenging event. We will not be putting it on the calendar for 2020. This year, Craig Steele, Mike Hinton, Nicole Weld, Makenzie Weld and a few other friends sat the Porsches aside, jumped in the SUV and went down to enjoy watching the Sharks defeat the Coyotes in an exciting game that ended in overtime. It was a lot of fun!
Our sold out Run for the Crab was a fantastic event...again. See our VP
Ben Davoren's
article below for more details and pics from our great photographer
Paige Gaines
.
UPCOMING EVENTS FOR REMAINDER OF THE QUARTER:
March 16 - Whale to Whale Tail Rallye
Thank you and drive safe out there!
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Collin Fat
Zone 7 Representative
Several regions in Zone 7 will be celebrating significant anniversaries this year.
Yosemite Region
will be celebrating a historic 60
th
;
Redwood Region
will be celebrating their golden 50
th
Anniversary and the new kid on the block,
Diablo Region,
will be celebrating their 35
th
anniversary. Heartfelt congratulations to the members and leadership of these regions.
The
2019 Zone 7 Concours Series
calendar has been completed and will start off with a concours school on April 14 at Porsche of Livermore. Registration will be at Motorsportreg.com and is now open. The concours school is designed for members who are new to concours and will cover all the basics about preparing your car for competition as well as how cars are judged. Zone 7 Concours chair,
John D’Angelo
and his team will provide a comprehensive learning experience for all attendees whether you have a 356 or newer Panamera. Owners of all models of Porsche are encouraged to participate. The concours series will consist of 7 events with Sacramento, Diablo, Golden Gate, Redwood, Loma Prieta, Monterey Bay and Sierra Nevada Region each hosting an event.
The
2019 Zone 7 Autocross Series
currently has 6 events scheduled for the season and will likely add an additional two day event if Redwood Region finalizes its negotiations for a new site. Golden Gate and Loma Prieta Regions will be doing two weekend events on April 13 and 14 at Marina and again on September 28 and 29. Sacramento Valley Region will be hosting zone events on June 29 at the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds in Stockton and again on October 5 at Thunderhill Raceway.
The
2019 PCA Club Race West Coast Series
schedule has been posted and will feature a total of 9 events. A detailed schedule of all events can be found by visiting
www.pcaclubracing.org
.
I recently returned from the Winter Board/National Staff Meeting in Seattle and learned a great deal about the club’s goals for 2019. In addition, I attended PCA University for new Zone Reps and had an opportunity to meet the other 13 Zone Reps in PCA. Except for the historic snowfall over the weekend, it was a wonderful learning experience and a great opportunity to share thoughts with other Porsche enthusiasts who have volunteered their time to serving as a national staff member and volunteer.
The PCA Executive Council recently held its annual strategic planning meeting, also known as Vision 2020.2, and have set some goals to:
- Improve its image to the public
- Update its website to make it more user friendly for both members and administrators
- Launch a membership growth initiative geared at continuing to grow the club’s membership as well as the PCA Juniors program launched a few years ago
- Expand content and increase engagement in the Region Focus program
- Improve communications between national staff, members and volunteers
- Strive to make the PCA website the primary source for tech information for all things Porsche.
Looking ahead to many of the events of interest in the Zone as well as PCA are the following:
Zone 7 Presidents Meeting, March 2, 2019
PCA Treffen Santa Barbara
, Hilton Beachfront Resort, April 3-6, 2019 (event full)
Zone 7 Tour
with Shasta Region, June 6-10, 2019 (event Full)
Werks Reunion,
Monterey, August 16, 2019
Porsche Parade,
Greater Palm Springs, California, June 21-27, 2020
Zone Autocross:
April 13 -- Marina
April 14 -- Marina
June 29 -- Stockton
August 3 -- Ukiah (tentative)
August 4 -- Ukiah (tentative)
September 28 -- Marina
September 29 -- Marina
October 5 -- Thunderhill
Concours:
April 14 - Judging School and Clinic, Livermore, limited to 60 people (
register here)
May 19 -- Sacramento
June 23 -- Fremont
July 14 -- Reno
August 4 -- Redwood City
September 22 -- Petaluma
September 29 -- Carmel Valley
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Greg Matsumoto
Autocross Chair
Good News, along with constant continual changes is what's up.
Starting out with good news, our own
Grady Carter
has been selected as Zone 7 Autocross Chair! Congratulations Grady! Grady had been Redwoods previous Autocross Director for four years. In addition to his great leadership, Grady introduced many great operational and technical changes that other clubs are now adopting. And, Grady’s times have always been tough to beat.
More good news is that we just secured two autocross events at Sonoma Raceway by subcontracting with Trackmasters Racing. These events will be in May (5/5) and September (9/15). Since it is closer to the Bay Area than Ukiah, the event should be a draw for all Zone 7 autocrossers.
We are fortunate to have secured a long-term relationship with Trackmasters since their director is a “brother“ (an owner of numerous Porsches). Several other high-performance driver education clubs had been approached with unsuccessful results.
There will be an instructor change at Sonoma Raceway due to their exclusive driver instructing contract with Simraceway Performance Driving Center. This means that our driving instructors are not allowed to instruct or coach drivers. This is monitored by allowing only the driver in the car at all times. The only person allowed in the passenger seat is a Simraceway instructor. Our instructors are working on ideas to prepare new drivers for these events.
Speaking of new drivers, here are some opportunities to jump into this invigorating and captivating sport. If you have been considering autocrossing and you haven’t given it a try, here are some possible solutions:
The
Sacramento Valley Region
is having a two-day autocross school. The first day is a ground school (3/30) and the second day (4/6) is actual autocross driving. Check out their
website
for details and fees. Some Redwood members will be helping SVR by providing driving instructors. This would be another way to prepare for our May Sonoma Raceway event.
In addition, the
Golden Gate Region
also has their annual autocross school on June 22. See their
website
for details and fees.
Golden Gate
and
Loma Prieta Regions
are hosting a two-day autocross in Marina April 13 and14. Registraton opens in March. See the flyer below or
click here
for more information.
And now for the constant continual changes:
The saga with Mendocino County Planning and Building Department continues. Last month we submitted our proposal, application and fees for a use permit at the Ukiah autocross site.
Unfortunately, this week we were asked to submit additional fees and they discussed greater restrictions. I have been in constant communication with them to clarify these changes to determine if their additional restrictions can be adapted or if exceptions can be made. I have submitted counter proposals and am waiting for their response. Once we hear their offer(s) we will be able to determine if we should proceed with our request or not.
We had been hoping to have our administrative hearing on 4/11 followed by first event on 4/20. But, after their recent restrictions, that date may have gone up in smoke (pun intended).
Our best-case scenario for 2019 is six events in Ukiah and two at Sonoma Raceway. The opposing scenario is two events at Sonoma Raceway. We are open to some type of “in-between” creative alternative, if feasible. We are working hard to have a successful 2019 autocross season and will keep you informed. Keep you fingers crossed for a positive outcome.
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Hoppy Porsche Brewery Tour
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Join Redwoodies on Saturday, March 2 for our annual Hoppy Porsche Brewery Tour. Located in the historic district of downtown Petaluma, Brewsters offers an array of over 30 revolving local craft beers on draft, Sonoma and Napa Valley wines and a full bar.
The food is influenced by Southern Carolina BBQ, is locally sourced and sustainably raised. We’ll be treated to outdoor seating with heat lamps, fire pit, bocce court and music stage.
Brewsters is laid back, dog friendly and a perfect tour destination for us to have some fun.
9:00 am:
Meet up at Chevy’s @ Vintage Oaks - 128 Vintage Way, Novato
9:30:
Drivers meetings and depart for the run through West Marin and Sonoma
11:00 am:
Park at Golden Eagle shopping center parking lot and and cross the street to Brewsters
Please bring cash for lunch. We are limited to one tab per 20-person table split no more than three ways.
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Fifth Annual Run For The Crab
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Ben Davoren
Vice President
One hundred and twelve Porsche enthusiasts from Redwood, Diablo, Sacramento Valley and Golden Gate Regions made the pilgrimage to the Marin Yacht Club on Saturday February 23 for Redwood’s biggest annual event, the Run for the Crab. Dungeness fever was accompanied by widespread enthusiasm for the pre-feast backroads drive in Marin, since this was the first Saturday in over a month without any rain!
Sixty polished and colorful Porsches split into two groups, led by Past President Craig Steele and his secret navigation weapon
Kurt Fischer and for the first time yours truly, and headed out along Lucas Valley Road west to the simply gorgeous Marshall-Petaluma Road to Highway 1.
Sweep duty by
President Chip Witt and long time member
Joe Burroughs kept everyone together through the slightly tricky turn into Point Reyes station for a regroup and bio-break. Everybody, that is, except for our unofficial RR photographer
Paige Gaines who set up his camera at two different locations to capture us all in glorious detail with big smiles on the drive!
Everyone had a great tour but were also happy to get back to the Dungeness, salad, fruit, bread and appetizers, graciously hosted once again by former Commodore Paul Simmons and his wife Kay, and deftly organized by our own PCA crabfeed expert
Sharon Castle, who has somehow makes this shindig even better each year. Sharon’s team was boosted by a large number of volunteers who set everything up beautifully while the rest of us were out on the drive, and stayed late to clean up too. Very cool event T-shirts for the volunteers were kindly donated by
Porsche Marin, thanks to
GM Bill Lamphere who also attended our event to see what the fuss is all about!
In addition to our continued tradition of making new friends around shared tables, we had a special occasion, marked by our Zone 7 PCA representative
Collin Fat from SVR: Redwood Region’s 50
th Anniversary! With two plaques and a proclamation from PCA National, President Witt launched us into the next half-century while celebrating the leaders who helped grow our club during the last one.
This growth of this event, involving drivers, navigators and volunteers really shows how much fun our Redwood Region is. I look forward to seeing you at the next one!
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Alan Geddes
Redwood Region Secretary
Our next board meeting is scheduled for 7:00 pm on March 26, 2019 at Mary's Pizza Shack, located at
121 San Marin Dr., Novato
. All members are welcome to attend. (The February meeting has been cancelled.)
You can read previous board meeting minutes
here
.
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Membership Report & Information
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Tom Short
Membership Director
In January 2019, 35 PCA Redwood Region members marked five or more years in the club, including five members with 40 or more years in the club and one who marked over 30 years!
Congratulations and thanks to those with anniversaries. I hope you are enjoying your membership and taking advantage of all the great benefits our club offers.
I encourage everyone to participate in
your
club's events -- they're a great way to meet other PCA members and have some great fun with people and our amazing cars.
If you spot any errors or have questions about membership, please
email
me.
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1999 Boxster, 102k miles. Great condition. Runs very well. Many new OEM parts, clutch, air oil separator, all secondary air injection parts, water pump, coolant tank and system flush, fluid update, motor mount, drive belt, idler pulleys, LN spin on oil filter assembly, brake fluid flush, battery and more. A/C blows cold. Spoiler doesn't deploy. $7250
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1967 912 Coupe. Red/Black. This is a straight, low mileage, rust free, CA black plate car with COA. I have owned since 1993. Weekend driver with less that 20 K miles in past 25-years. Motor was running strong and pulled for cosmetic rebuild and is down to the case. Some may remember this car from the Redwood Avenue of the Giants Tour a few years back. Must sell. Asking $29,000 as is.
See more pics and details
here
.
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2000 2.7 motor complete, 89k miles, recent dual mass flywheel, clutch
assy., E.B.S.racing I.M.S. bearing, fits 2000, 2001, 20003 boxster 986. Have lots of other 986 parts! $2600.00
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1995 928GTS for sale Red/Black 87k miles. Everything works on this prime stock automatic. Exterior/interior are clean and correct showing only normal use. Well maintained by Porsche professionals and owner using all factory parts. Recent T/B and cam gears. Factory manuals plus many extra parts. Currant registration and smog, clean title and CARFAX. Owner since 2002. Used for touring only. $60K.
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Great lodging solution for builders or vacationers: 2016 Keystone Cougar 327RES, 5th Wheel
32ft., 3 Slides, Sleeps 4, Odometer: 1100, Dry weight: 10590. Perfect for long term lodging while rebuilding or camping on your destination vacation
property. $34,950K (bmw not included)
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Got something to buy or sell? We'll post it here for free. Send us details and a picture by the 5th of the month to be included.
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Hi Tec Automotive
Marin's Highest Rated Porsche & Audi Facility Since 1985
Specializing in:
-Audi & Mini Cooper
-Porsche, new & vintage
-Factory recommended maintenance & repair
-Entire building
-Performance tuning
-Restoration & reconditioning with emphasis on authenticit
y
San Rafael
415 258-9619
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Porsche Marin
When you want the best selection and prices on new, used and pre-owned Porsche vehicles, Porsche Marin offers exactly what you’re looking for. 911, Boxster, Cayman, Cayenne, Macan, Panamera and more.
Mill Valley
415 578-9101
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Autobahn Automotive
Sonoma County's premier automotive location for maintenance, servicing, auto repairs and performance upgrades for your Porsche and BMW since 2007
Santa Rosa
707 545-1958
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Dress in style and get your Redwood Region branded items in our Goodie Store.
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Der Riesenbaum is the official newsletter of the Porsche Club of America, Redwood Region, encompassing Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Napa, and Sonoma Counties. This publication is intended to inform Club members about Club activities and other related matters of interest.
We encourage letters to the editor, feedback, questions and suggestions about our newsletter and the Redwood Region in general. Want to contribute to the newsletter?
Submit photos and articles
about Club events or related activities. Please submit your entry by the 5th day of the month for inclusion in that month's newsletter. Articles received after the deadline will be considered for the next month's newsletter. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit all materials submitted for publication.
Want to reach an audience of Porsche enthusiasts with your marketing message? Consider advertising in der Riesenbaum. Contact the
editor
for more information and rates.
All written content and images in this publication are protected by copyright. Permission is granted to reprint any original content herein provided credit is given to the author, the der Riesenbaum and to the Porsche Club of America, Redwood Region. The opinions expressed in der Riesenbaum are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Porsche Club of America, Redwood Region, its officers, or its members.
Cover photo credit: Paige Gaines
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Thanks for supporting our Club!
Stacy O'Connell
der Riesenbaum Editor
Porsche Club of America, Redwood Region
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