Pride of Pay’n Pak becomes the first 2003 Classic Thunder repeat winner in Division 1!

The City of Seatac hosted Classic Thunder’s Mapes Mile High Trophy Race on June 29th.  We were given the opportunity to be a part of at their Seatac International Festival at Angle Lake Park.  The setting was great, the festival was hoppin’ and we put on a great show.  The event was a great success and we would love to come back next season to do it again.  

12 boats registered for competition in division 1.  The crowd witnessed some great racing.  

Heat 1A was won by Bill McGraw’s Pay’n Pak, Mitch Dillard’s Gale IV was back after extensive repair to finish second, followed by Danny Sacry’s Miss U.S. and Mike Krone’s cabover Bardahl.

Heat 1B saw Dale Van Wyk’s Miss Seattle win ahead of Craig Mullen’s $ Bill, Gary Simpson’s Chrysler Crew and Pete Schille’s Harrah’s Club.  The Harrah’s hit a buoy while battling for the lead with Miss Seattle and was forced to run an extra lap.  Craig Mullen and Jon Zimmerman shared driving duty in the $Bill all day long.  Rumor has it that Jon was getting some seat time before next week’s Diamond Cup which Craig can not attend.  We assume that Jon will have full time driving duty at the Diamond Cup.

Jeff Howard took Heat 1C, followed by Bob Vanden Akker’s newly repaired Notre Dame.  The boat is looking good after having suffered that horrible accident in the season opener at Coulon Park.  Third place went to Jim Clark’s Miss Bardahl.  This was Jim’s first appearance in Classic Thunder competition this year.  It was nice to see him, his son and the Blonde Bombshell again.   Fourth place in the heat went to Jessica Van Wyk’s Berryessa Belle.  

That first flight of heats shows just how much Classic Thunder racing is improving.  12 boats started in that flight and all of them finished the heats that they were in.  Good work everyone.  Your pride in workmanship and good driving does matter.  The people competing and spectating can see it and appreciate the level of competition you’ve been able to maintain.  I know it can’t always happen like that, but I think it’s a great achievement.  Give yourselves a hand!   

Heats 2A was won by Miss Budweiser over Miss Seattle, Berryessa Belle.  $Bill did not finish.

Pay’n Pak won Heat 2B followed by Miss U.S., Gale IV, and Chrysler Crew.

Harrah’s bounced back in heat 2C with a victory over Miss Bardahl.  Notre Dame did not finish and the cabover Bardahl did not start.

Heat 3A went to Miss Seattle ahead of Gale IV, Chrysler Crew and Berryessa Belle.

Heat 3B was won by Harrah’s followed by Miss U.S., and cabover Bardahl.  $Bill did not start.

Miss Budweiser won Heat 3C followed by Pay’n Pak, Notre Dame and Miss Bardahl.

The Consolation heat went to the Notre Dame, followed by Chrysler Crew, cabover Bardahl, Berryessa Belle and Miss Bardahl.  The Notre Dame did not advance to the final heat as the Gale IV and Miss U.S. were tied in preliminary heat points and had already filled the 5th and 6th spots.  However, boats in the consolation heat did accumulate season points as usual.

The Final Heat shaped up nicely.  The Miss Budweiser came into the final trying to preserve what had been a perfect day with three preliminary heat wins. The Pay’n Pak came in with a strong day too, it’s only heat loss was at the hands of the Budweiser.  The Harrah’s had been fast all day and had two heat wins as did the Miss Seattle.  The Pay’n Pak hit the start line first followed by the Harrah’s, Miss Seattle, Miss Budweiser, Miss U.S and Gale IV.  It didn’t take long before a battle for the lead started to shape up.  The Harrah’s gave chase for a couple of laps and was dicing for the lead when it hooked and rolled coming out of the first turn.  The Miss Seattle, Bud, U.S. and Gale IV avoided the capsized Harrah’s and took up the chase.  As determined as they were, they may as well have been chasing a dream.  The Outrigger ‘Pak was too far away by then and cruised to its second victory of the season.  Congratulation to Bill McGraw and the Pride of Pay’n Pak, the winner of the 2003 Classic Thunder Mapes Mile High Trophy Race!  Second place went to Dale Van Wyk’s Miss Seattle.  Third place went to Jeff Howard’s Miss Budweiser.   Danny Sacry brought the Miss U.S. home in fourth place.  Still very consistent, but ending its streak of top three finishes at four.  Gale IV rolled in the final corner and, like the Harrah’s, did not finish.

Division 2 report