HISTORY 2003

 Great stories abound at the 2003 Classic Thunder Harmsworth

On May 18th Classic Thunder hosted its Harmsworth Trophy Race at Coulon Park.  What a day!  The weather was hot and sunny, the water conditions were excellent and the racing was just as good.  I can’t remember when so many different stories came out of one race.  I don’t know where to begin.  Let’s start with the driver’s meeting and go from there.  

The Harmsworth format was explained at the driver’s meeting as it differs from the normal heat racing that we are accustomed to.  It is contested in a match-racing format where two boats compete in each heat for daily points.  Three boats were picked in one of the heats as an odd number of boats were entered. There are three sets of heats. The top six point-getters normally advance to a final round of heats, where they are placed in heats of 2 or possibly 3 boats to determine the final finishing order for the race.  Season points are awarded depending on final finishing order for every boat.  The highlite of the drivers meeting was the trophy itself.  We now have a brand new Harmsworth trophy in Classic Thunder.  It’s is a replica of the historic Harmsworth trophy of the early 1900’s.  It’s nearly completed and is really cool.  Dale Van Wyk, Andy Sharples and Pete Schille are to be commended for their great work putting it together.  They’ve done a great job.  Thanks guys.  Now for the stories!

11 boats took to the water in division 1, including one brand new boat and one brand new driver.  

Bob VandenAkker put his brand new Notre Dame on the water for the first time.  He was paired with Jeff Howard’s Miss Budweiser in the first round.  This was by far the strangest of our stories and paralleled the history of the real unlimiteds.  As you may recall, these were the two boats that were competing in the “Black Sunday” ’66 President’s Cup where an accident resulted in the deaths of Notre Dame driver, Rex Manchester and Budweiser driver Don Wilson. Earlier the same day, Ron Musson had lost his life in the cockpit of the Miss Bardahl.  Ironically this matchup was destined to again end in a tragedy. Jeff and Bob started the heat and the boats were running great.  In the middle of the south turn, the Notre Dame suddenly picked up speed, lost rudder control and slammed into a steel I-beam over by the Ivar’s restaurant.  It was a nasty crash and the hull was so badly damaged that it could not continue.  Bob had his original Notre Dame in the car and was able to finish the day with that boat, but we all felt bad about the crash.  At the end of the day, the last of the “Black Sunday” boats took the water for a photo opportunity with the Budweiser and the replacement Notre Dame.  Mike Krone’s Cabover Bardahl had some glitching problems, but was able to circle the course a few times with the other two boats.  Hopefully this paid off with some good footage and fortunately there were no more incidents.  

Our next stories are of personal accomplishments that we saw at the Harmsworth.

Gary Simpson drove to his first heat victory in the Chrysler Crew.  Gary liked it so much that he went out in his next heat and did it again!  Congratulations to Gary.  It couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.  

Classic Thunder now has its first qualified female driver!  Congratulations to Jessica Van Wyk, who competed in her first race at the Harmsworth.  Jessica took the wheel of the Berryessa Belle and knocked off a few of her rookie starts.  She completed her heats and made a good showing.  She was smiling the whole time and gave all of the credit for her boat’s performance to her crew chief/husband, Dale.  Fortunately, she’s too much of a lady to brag about outscoring Dale’s Miss Seattle.  Way to go Jessica!

Congratulations are also in order for the drivers and crew of the Miss U.S.  The combination of Danny Sacry and Chris Cootsona, with help from “Battery Dave” Sacry is responsible for the U.S. being the only boat in division 1 to make a top 3 finish in all of the first three races this season.  That’s consistency!  Danny kept the streak going by driving the Miss U.S. to a third place finish in the Harmsworth.  

Jeff Howard in the Miss Budweiser battled with Danny’s U.S for three laps and was finally able to get around him late in the final heat.  The final was a three-boat heat due to the odd number of entries in division 1.  Jeff brought the Bud home in second place and ran well all day.  

When all the dust settled, it was Bill McGraw’s Pride of Pay n’Pak out in front.  Bill hit the start and never looked back.  While the Bud and U.S. battled each other, Bill packed the luggage and “checked out”.  The Bud closed the gap after finally getting past the U.S., but Bill made no mistakes on his way to his first ever Classic Thunder win.  Congratulations to Bill McGraw and the Pak, our first place winner of the Harmsworth in division 1!

There were 5 entries in division 2 and one old driver turned new driver.

He’s baaaaaaack.   He being Jon Zimmerman, who took the wheel of Bob VandenAkker’s Weisfields in order to get his requalification starts done.  Jon is back in competition after several years away from Classic Thunder, at least as a driver.  Jon was required to make three rookie starts to requalify for a start on the front row.  Bob was nice enough to let Jon get the starts out of the way in anticipation of Jon completing his 2002 Vacationville.com.  Jon will now be able to start on the front row right out of the box with his new boat.  We can’t wait. Jon had a decent day, until the fouth heat.  That heat was to be his first one on the front row.  Jon promptly took advantage of his new starting position by hitting not one, but two buoys in the first turn of the mill lap.  The Weisfields later threw a propeller blade and was forced to shut down.  You can be certain that the Weisfields and Jon will shake that kind of bad luck.  Despite the setbacks, the Weisfields finished the day with enough points to bring home a third place finish.

The Griffon Bud spent the day blinded by the fluorescent orange boat with the laundry detergent logo on the side.   Mitch managed to pull off one heat win in the second heat when he was able to hold off the Tide for five laps with Pete breathing down his neck the whole way.  This was the most exciting of many good heats during the day in division 2.  We can never get enough of that.  The Griffon Bud finished the afternoon in second place and was still waiting for the rinse cycle when the day ended.

The cream of the crop in division 2 was Pete Schille’s Tide.  The boat ran very well and Pete drove the heck out of it all day long.  Congratulation to Pete Schille and the Tide as the Harmsworth winner in division 2!

Though everyone didn’t have good luck, we all had great fun.  It was a blast being part of some new stories and witnessing some personal accomplishments.  It was nice to see so many of you there. I spotted former Classic Thunder drivers Mark Killgore and Jim Clark, both with their sons. Thanks for coming out.  It was also my pleasure to meet Mark Manchester, the son of the late Rex Manchester.  He came out to see some of his friends who race in Classic Thunder.  I could tell that he enjoyed himself and was impressed with the racing.  The people around the course also had a good time watching.  Thanks for putting on a good show.  We expect that some time soon we will see the Checkerboard Bardahl, $ Bill and Tahoe Miss.  Special thanks to Dale and Jessica Van Wyk for putting together and distributing the Classic Thunder schedule flyers for us.  Let’s put them to good use.  Next up is the Muncey Memorial Regatta on June 8th at Lake Pleasant, Bothell, WA.  The season points race is really heating up in both divisions.  You’ve gotta love it!  See you all there.  Take care and thanks again.

Sincerely,

Mitch Dillard

Classic Thunder Commissioner