NEWS 2010
7/1/2010
Burley Idaho!
On the far side of the Northwest!! Burley rocked for our club guys, with Mike Hofhine and Sid Rennells and Bianca Bonancini winning over the long three day weekend. The biggest surprise of the weekend was Sid’s SS-96 white boat. Charlie Marquard roared past the competition both heats on Saturday and built up a great points lead using the Motor from the 24 boat. Jeff Gibson and the gang swamped out the entire set up and moved in like swarm of bees to make the transfer to the #96 in time to win the overall title in Super Stock. It was good double team effort. Charlie also drove the K-150 boat of Brian Wehrer. The orange beauty finished second on Saturday but broke after the finish line, cost me a buck!! The long time project looked very good on the course with all the stuff that team has done to it to improve the reliability. The #70 boat of Bill Faulkner was the fastest boat there. The rocket Pro Stock set a new course record twice over the 2 day race, but it was racing against its own speed from last year and ended up 2nd in the race for the Mink. Brian Hajny and Mike Hofhine ruled the roost with the S-12 boat driven by Jeff Bernard, I think they one most every heat in the 2.5 class, while our Inboard V.P. broke everything he raced, including the Cracker Box, but he gave it one hell of a ride till then. All of our members raced well and we all had a pretty good time. Both Aarons were pretty much ok, but since I was bad on Thursday, we will have no report on that, What happens in Burley stays in Burley!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks to Carol Dodge and Kim Buzzmier and her guy Tim, we had a good team for ol Big Dick Price. The racing was the fastest ever on the river course in every class, and the jet guys took home the Mink, heck of a deal. We won the race home in just under 9 hours, Chevys rule. Thanks Aaron M. for a nice ride
Jim Codling
6/8/2010
A message From Jon Courtright @ Tastin~N~Racin
Boat Racers, Please come early and get your registration done and we'd like to see you Friday afternoon -so we can park the boats.
K&K the APBA insurance folks will be in attendance this year. We use K&K for both the race and the land sides of the event. No insurance, No venue, No racing.
Shoes?? Closed foot wear in the hot pits (APBA 3.3)
Pit pass &, waiver signature (APBA 34.1.3)
Fire Extinguishers -each team needs to have their own (APBA 5.1)
Boat Owner is responsible for entire crew's behavior and conduct (APBA 34.1.2)
Towel to cover propellers? (General Safety)
Garbage Bag each team (General Courtesy)
The park is a swamp with all this rain..., so you've got to be patient as we try and find the high ground to park the boats. Again, please get to the park with your boat Friday if possible.. Please do not load up the pits till directed to go to the pit entrance by one of the staff. Again patience.... We'll have unlimiteds, old unlimiteds, Gran Prix boats and about 50 other inboards coming to the race. Good weather is predicted -for a change, and we'll forecast a fun & safe week-end of racing.
Jon Courtright
Race Director TnR 2010 (by default)
(www.tastinracin.com or see us on facebook)
425-999-2920
4/28/2010
Moses Lake By Russ Dodge
What a strange weekend. Friday was for setting the record 1 1/4 mile course and testing. The morning was ideal for setting the course with no wind. But the calm was not to stay long. By testing time, the wind came out of the East and the water was lumpy. Some boats braved the waves and the GPs did the best because of their size. Saturday was a disaster. The wind came from the West and was twice as strong and that was the way it stayed for the whole day. That did not stop the dinner party Saturday night. Tasty food and super good friends were there in abundance.
Sunday was a marathon of racing heats. First, knock the frost off the buoys and reset the course. Second, run Sunday’s program and then back to Saturday’s event as per the rules. What a complete turn-around on the weather. The lake was smooth as glass. These were the conditions that racers dream about. The first heat was run at 8:30. The 2.5 Litre Stocks had 5 boats and Dutch Squires had the Megabucks dialed in. He ran 86.418 mph setting a new record. The second heat of the 2.5 Stocks brought a good run from Meyers Auto Tech S-81 at 86.199. Both boats would be found at the inspector’s station at the end of the day. Next heat brought 12 One Litres and the speedy Y-1 driven by Dan Kanfoush. Dan looked like he was on a rail road track. The boat hit the line at full speed at the drop of the flag and set a new record of 91.408 mph. Jim has installed a zipper on the engine to make it easier to inspect.
The GPs were a big hit with the racers and the fans. Seven boats came and the Crush traveled over 3000 miles. There was real thunder on the water when these guys got going. Problem was to keep them running. Two boats lost motors. A couple of others had parts problems. No more than 3 finished a heat and by the last heat of the day, only one boat was left running. Boats were running well over 107 mph but also jumping the gun. The old records for the GPs were archived and therefore the first winner of a legal heat would get a record. It happened on the first heat and after that it was impossible to get 4 starters or 3 finishers. Dave Warren in boat 329 now holds the record at 95.821 mph.
Other heats had too few boat to field a class for national points. Five Litres had 4 but only 3 ran, 2.5 Litre Mods had 3, National Mods had 4 but only ran 3, and Pro Stocks had 3. This was sad because there has never been a better day for racing that I can remember. The second biggest group was the Vintage with 11 boats. These old crafts are beautiful and really draw a crowd. There was one problem with the N-6 Snapper. There was a leak in the fuel tank and when Jerry Wortman pushed the starter button, the boat exploded in a ball of flame. Jerry was burned with 2nd degree burns. It took some time to get the flames out because the starter continued to run and there was an electrical short. The boat was saved but was badly burned. The last heat was run at 4:37 in the afternoon and everyone had a early start toward home. For an event that started out so badly, it sure finish up great. Many thanks to all the people that run the park and the volunteers that make an event successful.
3/12/2010
Capsule training
Last one for the year!
March 20, 2010
Hazen Hi School Pool
12pm to 3 pm
1101 Hoquiam Ave NE
Renton, WA 98059
Phone: (425) 204-4230
3/8/2010 From GP-15 Jerry Hopp's Corner
March 7, 2010 (Seattle WA) The Grand Prix West Hydroplane’s announced today they’ll be roaring into Moses Lake’s 6th Annual “Papa’s Casino Presents The Moses Lake Regatta at Connelly Park” April 24th & 25th 2010.
The Moses Lake event will host the American Power Boat Associations (APBA) inboard hydroplane class commonly known as the Grand Prix West (“GPW”). As in the past and more often known as the “Grand Prix’s”, these boats thrill race fans with their super-charged big block deck to deck spectacles and ear splitting thunderous roar which literally can be heard for miles around. The Grand Prix Hydroplanes with be competing at several events with the H1 Unlimited Hydroplanes for the 2010 season.
The roar of finely-tuned race engines will once again echo across the Moses Lake desert when the American Power Boat Association (APBA) Inboard Hydroplanes return for the annual Papa's Casino Presents Moses Lake Regatta at Connelly Park. As in years past, headlining the competition will be the thundering ‘Grand Prix’ boats. However, this year, they will compete under the auspices of their own organization, ‘Grand Prix West’ (GPW), assuring not only closer competition and increased boat-count, but added excitement and spectacle. Expect at least six, and possibly more, of these largest, fastest, and loudest of automotive-powered hydroplanes (see attached entrant-list, and team-profile pages).
Grand Prix’s (GP’s) feature supercharged big-block engines producing as much as 1500 horsepower, and the 24-26 foot craft attain speeds in excess of 150 miles-per-hour in the straight-a-ways with lap averages approaching 130 mph. Long a premier class on the east coast of North America, ‘Grand Prix West’ is the first club to organize GP racing on the west coast and consists mostly, but not exclusively, of west coast teams. This new club also boasts enthusiastic membership from the Midwest, and even one team from the deep South.
The Moses Lake Regatta will be one of the first races under the GPW banner, though most of the participants have long competed together within the APBA and other organizations. 2009 saw a sneak preview when the GPW boats were invited to run in conjunction with the turbine-powered Unlimited Hydroplanes at the prestigious ‘Thunder on the Ohio’ in Evansville, Ohio. Garnering rave reviews, the GPW boats not only provided most of the “thunder”, they earned a probable return engagement. Then, in a fitting end to the boat-racing season, the class gathered for the Lake Chelan, Washington Inboard race. Once again they provided a healthy portion of the excitement, including the return-to-competition of famous boat-racer Mark Evans.
While 2010 is GPW’s inaugural year, and Moses Lake is its inaugural race, expect great things from this organization. Plans are in the works for races throughout the country. An east-west championship-style race is in the discussion stage that, if successful, could present a participant-field the size of which has not been seen in decades. Organized Grand Prix racing has invaded the west coast and the thunder is rolling. Don’t miss it.
For additional information visit; www.gpwracing.com and www.moseslakeregatta.com
2/11/10 - Wow its February now and we have just over a week tell the Winter Meeting and our Banquet next Saturday. Hope all the boats are closes to being done. Our first race of the season is about 60 days away. This year's Annual Awards Banquet and Party is hosted by Seattle Inboard Racing Association at Don Kelson's Museum. It's always a fun party to go to.
This year it starts at 6:30 pm
Don Kelson's Museum
225 S Austin
Seattle, WA 98108
Hositality Hour 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Dinner 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Awards - 8:30- 10:pm
2009 News