2007 Presidents Cup

The 2007 Presidents Cup was held at a new race site on Lake Morton near Covington on Sunday June 3^rd.

This is the residence of Marty and Sandy Landers and we like to thank them for allowing us to put on our event at their beautiful home. They and their neighbors invited many friends and relatives to witness and enjoy a boat race and Bar-B-Q. Marty and Sandy supplied the hamburgers and hotdogs and all the fix’ins with the other goodies supplied pot luck style. We had salads, meatballs, beans, deserts and I think everyone got their fill.

There were 15 Division 1 and 14 Division 2 boats ready to try their luck at the new site.

At the drivers meeting, we recognized the event sponsors, RC Hobbies of Covington and Woodinville, C and B Awards of Covington, and Prudential Real-estate agent Mena Krone. Commissioner Mitch passed on some bad news about a future club member, Army PFC Charles Hester, who lost his life on May 26^th in Bagdad, Iraq. We observed a moment of silence for him and his family.  Mitch has been in contact with his wife Roxanne over the past week.  She says he had been hooked on the boats since seeing them last season and was very much looking forward to joining CT upon his return this summer.  His memorial service will be on Thursday, June 7^th at Fort Lewis. There will be more information posted on CT News shortly.

Division 2 Preliminary Heat Highlights:

Heat 1A- To start the days racing, Mitch Dillard driving the Trendwest had forgotten he had a trailer start to make and hit the line with the pack and received a one lap penalty. The Design 360 with Mike Krone had the lead from that point until the final turn, then hit the exit pin and had to run and extra lap. Coopers Express with Dale VanWyk then took over the lead and went on to win with the Shakeys Special of Steve Dumanis taking second, Design 360 third and Trendwest fourth after running two extra laps. One for jumping the start and one for missing a buoy as he had turned to the infield at the end of 5 laps thinking he had won the heat. Mike Schultz’s Griffon Bud failed to start.

Heat 1B-Beacon Plumbing and Mark Beatty jumped out to an early lead and won the heat. Good battle for second between Circus Circus with Dave Sacry and Bubble Bud with Brent Hall. Pay N’Pak with Tony Minalia driving did not finish.

Heat 1C- Pete Schille’s Winston Eagle ran strong and won the heat with the 76 Budweiser of Dale Schroeder getting second place. The two Coors boats, Coors Light with Clint Crain and the Coors Dry of Brent Hall had a good battle going with the Coors Light finally taking third.

Heat 2A- This was a heat of the missed buoys. Design 360 and Circus Circus cut one with the Bubble Bud missing two. Only the Beacon Plumbing was clean and won the heat, with Circus Circus second, Design 360 third and Bubble Bud fourth. The Pay’N Pak did not start.

Heat 2B- This was a pretty straight forward heat as the Trendwest hit the start right on time and went on to win. The Coors Dry and Shakey’s Special had a good battle for a lap and a half until the Coors pulled ahead and took second with the Shakey’s finishing third. Mike Schultz’s Griffon Bud had radio/rudder problems and ended up in the middle of the lake and did not finish.

Heat 2C- Winston took the lead at the start and was never passed. Coopers took second with Coors Light third. The 76 Bud DNF’d and sustained propeller shaft and hull damage probably resulting from a broken strut.

Heat 3A- The Appian Geronimo finally got its chance to run at Lake Morton after suffering a penalty the previous race which kept it out of the days first two heats. Jeff  Howard showed the boat has plenty of speed and took the heat victory. The Coors Light stayed clean and got second place. The Coopers pulled off the course as the dummy Allison started to fall out of it mounts. The Coors Dry and Shakeys had a collision, resulting in a disqualification for the Shakeys.

Heat 3B- This was a fast heat with the Winston, Trendwest, and Design 360 all getting a good start with the Circus Circus close behind. The Pay’N Pak had a problem and went to the middle of the lake. Meanwhile, Trendwest took the lead and held on for the win with Winston second and Design 360 third. The Circus Circus went wide and hit one of our new outer perimeter markers causing his rudder control rod to slip.  It had a hard time making the left turns but did limp home in fourth place.

Heat 3C- The 76 Bud was unable to start the heat due to earlier damage. The Griffon Bud blew over and barrel rolled, landing right side up each time but still was unable to get a finish. The Beacon Plumbing got a third straight heat win with the Bubble Bud taking second.

Division 1 Preliminary Heat Highlights:

Heat 1A- We had the Miss Bardahl with Dan Clark driving stuff in the backstretch and not finish. The Berryessa Belle with Tony Minalia flipped while trying to make up ground on the field. Mitch Dillard was, as usual, out front with his Slo Mo IV and won the heat with Dale VanWyk with Miss Seattle coming in second and Mike Krone driving The Dutchman in third.

Heat 1B- Three boats; Parco’s O-Ring Miss, Mariner Too, and Valu-Mart (driven by Jeff Howard, Dave Sacry and Dale Schroeder respectively) were very early coming to the start, but all managed to stay legal. The Miss U.S. driven by Brent Hall and the Miss Seattle Too piloted by Mike Krone were close behind. Everyone ran strong but strung out into a parade with Parco’s O-Ring Miss, Mariner Too, Miss U.S., Value Mart and Miss Seattle Too as the finishing order.

Heat 1C- The Timex with Mark Beatty was just a little early and jumped the gun. This put Pete Schille’s Pizza Pete in the lead. Mike Schultz and Miss Thriftway went over in the north turn on lap 2. Soon after that Dan Clark’s Tahoe Miss went dead in the south turn. That left obstacles for the Pizza Pete, Timex and Clint Crain’s 70 Parco’s to negotiate around. They did a good job and finished with Pizza Pete’s first, Parco’s second and Timex taking the third spot.

Heat 2A- This was good heat with all the boats finishing. Miss Seattle first, Berryessa Belle second, Mariner Too third, Miss Seattle Too fourth and the Bardahl fifth. My notes say it flipped but still finished?

Heat 2B- As the boats came to the starting line the Slo Mo and Dutchman were neck and neck. The battle lasted two laps before the Dutchman took a wide turn and Mitch stretched out the lead. Meanwhile there was a good race for third place with Tahoe and Thriftway.  The 70 Parco’s rolled at the start/finish line and was out of the race.

The finishing order was Slo Mo, Dutchman, Thriftway and Tahoe.

Heat 2C- All the boats were together at the start and stayed close through the first lap Timex and Pizza Pete battled until the Pizza flipped and was done for the heat. The brightly colored Valu Mart drove by the 67 Parco’s O-Ring Miss as it slowed and pulled to the infield (may not have had fully charged batteries). This let the Miss U.S. move up to a third place finish. Timex won with the Valu Mart coming in second.

Heat 3A- The Miss Seattle ran smooth and took the heat win. Some rudder adjustments were made to the Thriftway after its previous heat. She was able to run without rolling over and took second place. The Bardahl improved too getting third place points. During the heat the 70 Parco’s pushed a bit wide out of turn one and hit the back of the Mariner Too, taking off both propeller blades. Mariner Too was unable to finish and the Parco’s was DQ’d for causing the accident.

Heat 3B- Mike Krone had both his boats draw into this heat. Since the Seattle Too had been struggling, he left it on the shore and ran the Dutchman, looking to get it into the final. As boats came to the start, the Dutchman spun out, letting Pizza Pete, the 67 Parco’s O-Ring Miss, and Valu Mart race for the lead. Pizza Pete then cut a buoy and earned a one lap penalty. Parco’s O-Ring Miss led Valu Mart across the line. They took first and second respectively. The Dutchman pulled in for third. Pete, mad at himself for missing the earlier buoy, cut another one and then flipped the Pizza before it was all over.

Heat 3C- The last preliminary heat showed some good driving on the part of Tony in the Berryessa Belle. The heat started with the Timex flipping in the first turn and the Slo Mo IV missing the exit buoy on the same lap. The U.S., Tahoe and Belle were all clean. Over the next two laps the Belle was able to over take both the U.S. and Tahoe. The Slo Mo managed to make up the lap and come back to pass the Belle on the final corner, But Tony gave it all he had. The finishing order for this heat was Slo Mo first, Berryessa Belle second, Miss U.S. third, and Tahoe Miss forth.

Division 2 Coni

Six boats were scheduled to make a start. Cooper Express, Bubble Bud, Design 360, Appian Geronimo, 76 Budwieser, and Coors Dry. Brent withdrew the Coors Dry and by the time the clock was at 30 seconds, only three boats were running, Cooper Express, Design 360 and Appian Geronimo. At the start line, the Design 360 and Appian Geronimo came together in a big tangled splash, the 360 was upside down and the Appian had lost half of the right sponson. The Cooper’s ran the required laps, was declared the winner and moved on to the final!

Division 1 Coni

The last chance for Berryessa Belle, Timex, Pizza Pete, Miss U.S., Mariner Too and Miss Thriftway would end up with only three boats finishing. A breeze had come up in the late afternoon and the boats were showing signs of flightiness. After two laps the Pizza Pete and Miss U.S. were upside down and the other boats had to pick their way aroundthe carnage. The Berryessa Belle led by a safe margin. Just as the she crossed the start/finish line to start the final lap, slowing to move carefully past dead boats, she came to an unexpected stop and was unable to continue. The Timex drove by to take the win and move on to the final. Mariner Too was second and Thriftway was third. The Belle’s prop shaft had pulled out of the coupler.

Division 2 Final

Five boats were on the front line for the start with the Winston Eagle in lane one Beacon Plumbing lane two and Trendwest in lane three. Circus Circus and Coors Light were not far back with the Coopers Express coming up from the trailer position. Rounding the turn to finish lap 1, Winston Eagle, Beacon Plumbing and Trendwest were still close when Trendwest spun out. Letting the other boats by before resuming, Trendwest dropping into sixth place. Up front the Winston Eagle and Beacon Plumbing had a good battle going with Winston pulling the Beacon on the straight but Beacon making up the difference in the turns. On lap three the Winston was a little too close to the buoy line and went inside one of them. That would cost Pete a podium position. Mitch recovered from the spin in lap one was now picking off boats on each lap, finally taking over second on the final lap. Beacon would not be caught and Mark Beatty would get his first victory in Classic Thunder. Good Job Mark!  The finishing order was Beacon Plumbing, Trendwest, Circus Circus, Coors Light, and Winston. The Coopers failed to finish.

Division 1 Final

The boats were in the water and the tension was high, everyone wondering if Mitch and the Slo Mo would be continuing their winning streak. The challengers were Miss Seattle, The Dutchman, 67 Parco’s O-Ring Miss, Valu Mart and the Timex, starting from the trailer position. The water was bubbling as the boats crossed the start line with Parco’s O-Ring Miss taking the early lead followed by Seattle and Slo Mo. Dutchman not far behind and Valu Mart fading a bit. Parco’s O-Ring Miss cut a buoy and everyone moved up a position. Mitch had a small lead at the end of lap four, but Dale had the Seattle running just too good. Neither boat backed off, but the Seattle had a little more top end and would not be denied. Dale drove his butt off and pried the lead away from the Slo Mo in the final corner to take the win. Mike held the Dutchman in third and this time the “Kroney” gearbox stayed together for the whole day. Mark brought the Timex up to fourth while the Parco’s O-Ring Miss got by Valu Mart for fifth.

Final Awards and thoughts:

Prudential agent Mena Krone supplied Gift Cards for our host Marty & Sandy and had a drawing for the best Race Fan, which went to Vicki Hagen. Also she handed out five Gift Cards to the race participants. The lucky winners were Mark Beatty, Dan Clark, Tony Minalia, Clint Crain and Dale Van Wyk.

The Lake Morton race site turned out to be a very good one with good water conditions, lots of room for pitting and good dock facilities. The site looks like a keeper and The Landers are already thinking about next year’s race.

Mark Beatty had a great day with the Beacon Plumbing and has shown his boat can win at any time. Mitch is still the man to beat so far in 2007, but we now know he can be out done in either Division. There are plenty of good boats and drivers in the club.

A special thanks goes to all our sponsors that helped make this a great event!  We had an awesome time!  We’ve got a couple of weeks off to regroup and get ready for the June 24^th Mapes Mile High Regatta at Angle Lake. It will be hosted by the City of Seatac International Festival and sponsored by Tranquility Home Care. Brent Hall will be the race coordinator.  See you there for some more great CT racing!

Sincerely,

Mike Krone

Classic Thunder Secretary Treasurer and Registrar