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Gold Cup 2007 |
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A bright sun, great
water, and fast racing were all the rage as Classic Thunder’s 2007 Gold Cup was held at the Woodland Creek Community Center in
Lacey on July 8. Fans witnessed an
attempt at a world record long jump by a boat, a start/finish buoy beaten into
submission, a smoking brushed motor, several really awesome flips, barrel rolls
and bumping and above all an abundance of great racing. The day began with 16
boats showing up for Division 1 qualifying.
Traditionally, we do this at the Gold Cup and award a perpetual Fast
Qualifier Trophy. The top six boats also
gain season points based on their 3 lap qualifying speeds. This year we saw Jeff Howard’s 67 Parco have its
very fast time bested in the 13th hour by half of a second. The spoiler, Mitch Dillard’s Slo-Mo-Shun IV took the water with 2 minutes left
in the session and put up a time of 50.86 seconds to earn the top spot. However, we would hear from Jeff in a big way
later in the day in Division 2. Some of
the other boats on hand for Division 1 competition were Mike Krone’s Dutchman, Dave Sacry’s Mariner Too, Dale Schroeder’s
Valu-Mart, Dale Van Wyk’s Berryessa Belle (driven by Tony Minalia), Mike Krone’s Miss Seattle Too, Bob
VandenAkker’s defending Gold Cup champion Notre Dame, Dan Clark’s Tahoe Miss,
Mike Schultz’s Miss Thriftway, Tim Becker’s Miss US5 and Dan Clark’s 63 Miss Bardahl. We also saw the first test for new member
Bryan Deatherage, who showed up with
a very pretty, brand new 62 Miss B&I
with real mahogany decks and everything.
He has some work to do in order to get it running smoothly, but the boat’s
a knockout. Great work Bryan! Some of the boats that made up the
16 boat Division 2 field were Mike Krone’s
Design 360, Brent Hall’s Coors Dry and Bubble Bud, Steve Dumanis’s Shakeys
Special, Danny Minalia’s Pay’n Pak, Mike Schultz’s Griffon Bud and Oh Boy!
Oberto and Dale Schroeder’s 76
Budweiser. We also saw the glorious
debut of Pete Schille’s new Boss Marine. I know, I’d never heard of it either. After an exhausting day
of time trials, heats, connies and story swapping, it was time for the main
events, the finals. In Division II, Pete
Schille drove the Winston
“lobster boat” to a convincing win in the consolation heat to move on as the
trailer in the final. The EVIL ONE beat out the Trendwest, who jumped the gun and the 76 Budweiser in some crazy turn of events. The final field
consisted of the Winston trailing, Jeff
Howard’s Appian Jeronimo, Dale Van
Wyk’s Coopers Express, Mark Beatty’s
Beacon Plumbing, Dave Sacry’s Circus
Circus, and Clint Crane’s Coors Lite
driven by Tony “Pedal to the Medal”
Milalia. As the boats rounded the exit buoy, it appeared the front 5
would hit the line at the same time. The Coors however, hit the line and
the start/finish buoy dead center as well. (This was the third time someone
“nailed the start” buoy but it just rolled with the beating. At the
end of lap one the Appian held a small lead over the Beacon and Coopers with
the Winston charging hard. Mark’s Beacon made a run at the Appian to
close the gap on lap 2 but spun out on the third lap. The Coors Lite then
flipped as Jeff’s boat began to pull away. Congratulations to Jeff Howard and the Appian (wonders in the world of
plastics) for winning the Division 2 Gold Cup! Second place went to
Pete in the Winston, third to Dale’s Cooper Express, fourth to Dave Sacry’s
Circus Circus and fifth to Mark Beatty and the Beacon Plumbing. In Divison 1, Pizza Pete and his boat by the same
name won a wild connie to move into the final. Pete was joined this time
by Dale Van Wyk and the Miss Seattle, Mitch Dillard and the Slo-Mo
IV, Bob VandenAkker and the Nitrogen
Too, Jeff Howards’ Parco’s, and Mark
Beatty in the Miss Timex.
The start was clean with the Miss Seattle hitting the line first but not the
buoy. The boats encountered a sudden shift in wind direction but no one
backed off the throttles. The Seattle led with Slo-Mo, Parco’s, Nitrogen,
Timex, and the Pete following in that order. It appeared the first 4
boats were going to stay bunched when Jeff’s parco cut a buoy and the Nitrogen
and Timex began to lag. Pizza Pete just could not make up the trailer
start distance and was soon being overtaken by Dale and Mitch on lap 5.
As is often the case, overtaking Dale and the Seattle is not easy. No
exception this time. Mitch poured on the coals with a great run up the
backstretch, but Miss Seattle used the Pizza boat as a screen and gave the
Slo-Mo no opportunity to sneak to the inside lane. After driving a great
5 lap race, Dale Van Wyk and his Miss
Seattle won the 2007 Gold Cup. Mitch and the Slo-Mo took second, Bob
VandenAkker and the Nitrogen Too third, Timex and Mrak Beatty fourth, Pete
Schille and the Pizza Pete fifth and Jeff Howard’s Parco’s sixth. Classic Thunder would
like to thank Andy Kunz of RC-Hydros.com for donating 2 speed
controls which were won by Tony Minalia and Mike Schultz in a drawing.
Also a big thanks to Lacey Parks
Department and the Lacey Senior
Center for the use of Long’s Pond and the setup area. Oh yes, about that long
jump record, check with Mike Schultz
and the Griffon crew for details but
from lift off to touchdown it was measured the next day at 31 feet 9 inches. Second, Danny, after hours of looking, no prop
was found in the pond. Third, Pete doesn’t want to overthrow the club
anymore. Fourth, Dale Van Wyk, a guy named Tony says “watch
your back old man, I’m coming” And Finally, Dale Schroeder, The Seniors at the
Center said it “IS” an ugly boat. See you at Wild Waves for the Apple Cup on July 22nd.
Details about when to meet at the gate and other info will be forthcoming
via email from the commish. Spokane Dan
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