APPLE CUP 2004

On August 1^st Classic Thunder held its 2004 Apple Cup at Lake Waughop in Fort Steilacoom Park.  This race marked a first for our club.  This year’s Apple Cup is the first race where the number of Division 2 boats outnumbered Division 1 entries.  The weather was fantastic, the atmosphere was positive and the racing was spirited.  You can’t beat that!  The race was sponsored by Mitch Dillard with contributions from the Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum. 

MR. P’S TAKES CT APPLE CUP IN DIV.1! 

A strong field of 10 boats hit the green waters of Waughop in Division 1, however we thought we had lost one of them before the race even started.  In a freak incident, the Short Circuit ran head-on into the rowboat during a pre-race test run.  Mitch had been out setting up the course.  “Battery” Dave Sacry appearantly forgot he was out there, rounded turn two and headed full speed down the front stretch.  He didn’t see the rowboat at the start/finish buoy until it was too late.  Pow!  The incident reminded us all of Bill Muncey and the Miss Thiftway hitting the Coast Guard cutter in 1958, except the rowboat did not sustain any visible damage.  Unfortunately the fiberglass Short Circuit didn’t fare as well.  The hull was split along its deck seams and the batteries shot out the side of the boat where the seam split.  Fortunately, the boat stayed close to the rowboat after impact.  Mitch was able to pull it out of the water before it had a chance to finish sinking.  With the help of some creative duck taping and repairs, Dave was able to actually put the thing back on the water for his first heat of competition.  Now that’s impressive!  A couple of the other competitors in Division 1 included Bob Vanden Akker’s Notre Dame and Mike Krone’s Hurricane IV.    

At the end of preliminary heat racing, the top four point getters advanced to the final heat.  Three boats were tied for the other two spots in the final.  Under current procedures Jeff Howard’s Miss Budweiser, Dale Van Wyk’s Miss Seattle and John Dyer’s Rebel, Suh would run off for a chance to advance to the final.  It turned out to be one of the best heats of the day.  The Bud and the Miss Seattle battled back and forth for four agonizing laps before the Bud missed the entrance buoy in turn two on the final lap.  Miss Seattle took first and advanced to the front line and the Rebel, Suh advanced as the trailer in the final.  After a valiant effort, the Bud would have to sit the final heat out.   

The Final Heat saw Pete Schille’s very fast Mr. P’s get off to a great start with Miss Seattle hot on his tail and Mitch Dillard’s Gale IV close behind in third.  Dave Helton’s Miss Burien and Chris Cootsona’s Waferer’s Club Lady followed.  John Dyer’s Rebel, Suh was to be the trailer, but had difficulty getting up on plane and was unable to make a legal start.  For everyone else, the chase was on!  Waferer’s Club got a bad start and was desperately trying to get back in contention.  She ended up upside down in the front stretch at the end of lap one. For five laps the Miss Seattle gained ground on the Mr. P’s while the Gale made up ground on the Seattle.  Mr. P’s was able to hold off the menacing Miss Seattle and take home a hard-earned and narrow victory.  On the final backstretch, the Gale pulled inside of the Miss Seattle and challenged for second place.  The Seattle was carrying more speed off the corner and outdistanced the Gale boat by a nose at the finish line to take second.  Gale IV finished third.   Miss Burien finished in fourth place.  This was one heck of a great heat.  Outstanding racing!  Congratulations to Pete Schille’s Mr. P’s, winner of the 2004 Classic Thunder Apple Cup in Division 1!  This is the Mr. P’s second win of the season.   

AMERICAN SPEEDY PRINTING GETS THIRD 2004 DIV.2 WIN AT APPLE CUP! 

  The Division 2 class of racing in Classic Thunder has become just as popular and at least as exciting as Division 1.  I didn’t expect it to happen quite so quickly, but I’m very pleased with it.  12 boats checked in for Apple Cup Division 2 competition.  The day’s racing was full of excitement and plenty of fast, thrilling racing.  

After an impressive showing at the Diamond Cup, Pat Malaspina’s Squire Shop suffered some serious equipment damage at the beginning of Heat 1A.  The boat was having difficulty getting up on plane for the mill and went dead at the entrance to turn one.  Smoke began billowing out of the engine compartment and seemed to be leading to an all out fire.  Pat wisely called the heat and quickly rowed out to extinguish the problem before more damage was done.  Fortunately, the hull did not sustain any major structural damage, but it was a mess inside.   The brushless speed controller was completely toast and the batteries were fried too.  The cause remains a mystery, but we hope Pat can get to the source.  As cool as the smoking boat looked, we don’t ever want to see that happen again.  Pat was distraught, but still determined to race.  He got some help and went to work thrashing on the boat.  He missed some racing, but was able to install an Astro 25 and another speed controller and eventually got the Squire back on the water later in the day.  That’s determination! The Apple Cup also saw the return of Bill McGraw with his Turbine Pay’n Pak.  The boat ran well and led the first laps of the Consolation Heat until she swapped ends in the front stretch.  We hope to see the boat again before the end of the season.  Other boats on the scene included John Dyer’s 76 Atlas Van Lines, Craig Mullen’s 71 Pride of Pay’n Pak, Mike Krone’s Island Security Systems and Jeff Howard’s Dewalt Tools.  Dave Sacry’s Weisfields was the winner of the Consolation Heat and advanced to the Final Heat as the trailer. 

The Division 2 Final started and ended as a wild affair.  This was a fun heat to watch.  Four boats hit the line together with Mitch Dillard’s Coors Dry holding the inside lane.  Pete Schille’s Stroh Light was right on her hip as they rounded the first corner.  Dale Van Wyk’s 83 Atlas, Dave Helton’s American Speedy Printing and Bob Vanden Akker’s Candyman followed.  Weisfields got a late start from the trailer position.  The Coors led up the backstretch with the Stroh close behind.  Stroh closed as the Coors set up for turn two.   Stroh carried her momentum, dove across the Coors’ roostertail and took the inside position.  Unfortunately she was carrying way too much speed to hold the corner and slid very wide.  The Coors carved the corner on the inside and maintained its lead at the end of lap one.  The Stroh, still carrying all of that speed, barreled down the front stretch on the outside in hot pursuit.  At the end of the straightaway, she began to sponson walk rather violently and then went dead in about lane 4 as she entered the turn.  Coors Dry exited the corner with the lead secured.  However, as we all know, security is an illusion.  On the very next lap, the Coors would clip the point buoy with her inside pickle fork while trying to negotiate turn one.  She would have to run an extra lap.  So who the heck was in the lead now?  Dale!  The 83 Atlas had inherited the lead and was paddling for all she was worth to hold on to it.  Her lead was dwindling by the end of lap four.  American Speed was behind, but was making up ground quickly.  The Atlas pinned it on the buoy line and hoped that traffic would slow the relentless pursuit of the Speedy.  As the boats approached the final corner, it became appearant that the trailing Candyman would not provide enough cover to protect the Atlas cause.  American Speed would swallow her up in turn two and moved on past the Atlas for an impressive third win of 2004.   Congratulations to Dave Helton’s American Speedy Printing, winner of the 2004 Classic Thunder Apple Cup in Division 2! The Atlas would come in a close second place.  Coors Dry managed to scratch out a third place finish.  A steady running Weisfields crossed the line in fourth and the Candyman cashed in with a steady fifth place run.  It turned out that the Stroh’s wild ride had shaken loose the connector on the radio receiver batteries inside the boat.  These boats really do take a beating!     

I really enjoyed sponsoring the Apple Cup and I appreciate everyone who helped out down at Waughop.  Thanks to the Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum for their contribution of prizes.  Thanks to Dan Clark for coming up and being our lead official for the entire day. We got a sneak peak at his new Miss Spokane too.  Good job on the new boat! Thanks to my girlfriend Lynda for the apples and for being so supportive of my hobby and our club.  Thanks to Bob for all that he does to promote the club.  Thanks to Judy for helping Bob and for announcing the heats for us.  Thanks to Mike for hauling all of our stuff around to the races.  Thanks to Pete too for keeping track of the book and the stuff in it.  Most importantly, thanks for all of you Classic Thunder racers who have made this racing so much fun!  This is awsome!  I love looking at the boats and sharing ideas with all of you.  The level of competition we’ve been able to maintain is a credit to all of you.  We do run into some glitches in our system here and there, but we’ve been able to learn from them and make the club even better.  We already have some constructive proposals to look at more closely during the off-season.  Things are looking good and you guys are the reason for it.  Thanks again.  

Next up is race #8, the Seafair Trophy Race sponsored by Mike Krone.  The race is set for Sunday, August 15^th at Gene Coulon Park in Renton.  Mike has already sent out the format information for the event.  We’ll be using flag starts for this race and it should be really interesting.  Hope everyone can make it.  Only three more races!  Let’s have some fun with em!   

Sincerely,  

Mitch Dillard

Classic Thunder Commissioner