Pixie

1 hour ago, FireStone said:

Why would there be a rule that disallowed family members from helping? The whole intent of the derby is that it is a collaborative project, it's not supposed to be done entirely by just a scout, nor is it supposed to be done by just a parent/guardian. I would think that a car build should have as many people involved as the scout wants.

Sorry, I didn’t mean to say they were questioning the legality of getting help from a relative.   They were questioning something else on the car, but I didn’t think it relevant to get into the specifics.  The point I meant was that I am the leader and one of the people checking in cars.  I found myself in the uncomfortable position of trying to defend my son’s car (that I didn’t even actually build).  My point was that it gave me a look into what it is like to be on the other side of it.

 I appreciated the comments here that said they greatly simplified the Derby rules and tried to remove the focus off the rules.  

I have been doing this a long time.  Most every year has been great and fun, but occasionally there is a bad apple that get too competitive.  The comments here have helped me to form a “policy” going forward when there is a questioning of the rules.

I really appreciate all these that say they greatly simplified the rules.  I struggle every year with parents interpreting the rules in different ways and trying to call out other cars as "breaking" the rules.  This year, a family member helped with my son's car.  I kept getting questions about whether his was legal or not (it was legal), but it made me a nervous wreck that people were thinking my son (and me!) a cheater.  I really did not like that feeling and would hate to put someone else in that situation. 

During a previous year, the race administrator caught that one of the cars had an illegal extended wheel base.  He called all the kids over away from the parents (parents could hear, but could not provide input).  He explained the situation.  He said that the family worked hard on the car.  He told them that it might make the car go faster (or it might not), but he bet that the family did not know that they were doing something illegal.  (They didn't.)  He let the kids vote and of course all the kids voted to let it race.  He said, "and that is the last I want to hear about it".  It worked out. 

Of course, though, I don't think you did anything wrong in enforcing the rules.  I would imagine that the other kids would have been very disgruntled that someone broke the rules and got away with it.  Certainly following the rules is an important lesson and the District Derby would be much more strict!