Waterford, Michigan
Backyard Regatta
July 17-19, 2009
J & Fae Report Sunday's Race
Well, well, well, as a follow up to the Eastern Divisionals Waterford threw in a cracker Regatta on Sunday. This format makes a lot of sense. Finishing the main event on Saturday allows wiggle room in case of bad weather and sets up awards presentations in the evening. The risk is that people may pull out early but this time almost everyone stayed. The field was still excellent and the water was the best of the three days. Could we see records? Let's get straight to the action.
T boats jumbled the order after Brandon Kennedy (T-1) Shameless Say What. He ran off and hid as usual. Hall of Champions in 2009? Uh yeah! Alexis Weber (T-10) Flirtin With Disaster outran John Shaw (T-125) Shameless My Mistake for second.
Y boats saw Dan Kanfoush (Y-1) Fast Eddie 2 fend off a swarm of hungry bees. Keith McMullen (Y-80) Outlaw prevailed in a heated battle with Sean Bowsher (Y-52) Roostertails Racing. All three boats were scootin. Most improved award goes to Mike Pomphrey (Y-88) Portside Marine (Why) as he ran a strong fourth.
S boats stayed true to our divisional favorites with a little shuffling. The start was wild and hectic but Marc Theoret (CS-444) Miss Virgo nailed it. He drovefast and true to the checkers just like his dad Robert did years ago. Mark Johnson (S-9) Rewinder and Bobby Kennedy (Y-88) Playin Again completed the podium. Bad luck award goes to Western Divisional champion Jessie Robertson (S-81) Meyer's Auto Tech. He looks fast but collisions and gremlins spoiled his weekend after a long trip. The stockers were very competitive.
A boats still belonged to Tom Thompson (A-52) Fat Chance Too. This time Tom threw in an added highlight by setting a new one mile competition record at over 95 miles per hour. That's flyin gang! Buster Graham (A-66) Mr. Bud 3 and Dan Kanfoush (A-600) Mr Bud 2 took the place and show positions. A final footnote: Tommy Thompson can flat out drive!
E boats still had a gigantic field. Marc Lecompte (CE-104) Wily's Pub and Norm Ensbury (CE-99) OCR Racing led the field to turn one. However, as Jeff Ayler likes to say, "write it down in pencil" and he was right as they jumped. Jeff Bernard drove Mark Burghardt's (E-726) X-Ray fast and legal to a great win. Tom Thompson (E-816) Batt Boat took second after hitting a waterfall in turn one Saturday. Sylvain Campeau (CE-20) Dynomites bounced back to Valleyfield form to take third. What a field of fives!
NM boats showed unusual staying power this weekend. The motors in this class did not explode leaving a fine field for Sunday. Elizabeth Wolfe (NM-93)Desperado decided that the only way to stop Jeff Bernard (NM-33) Macks Out was to take the pin and let er rip. She made a great start and rocketed up the backstretch before things got wild in turn two. The Desperado did a violent spin damaging the rudder. The rest of the day belonged to Jeff (NM-33) as he won both heats and set a new one mile competition record at over 100 miles per hour. The acceleration of this hull is incredible. Hold on Jeff! Tom Thompson (NM-81) Country Boy ran excellent to second and Jackie Meyer brought the very improved (NM-333) Gotcha home third.
GNH boats ran out of hulls after one heat. Before that Mark Burghardt (GNH-515) One Way took a nice win over Patrick Sankuer (GNH-6) Showtime Racing.
Well, that is about it from Waterford. This regatta will compete for the best of 2009 when we stop to think about it in the fall. Sunday brought great water conditions allowing fast speeds highlighted by our two new records. Over the years many records have fallen on this scary fast course. In closing we send a special thanks to Chief Scorer Jennifer Grigg for helping us to be accurate with this story. See ya in the pits. J and Fae