2005 APPLE CUP

On July 24^th, Classic Thunder held its 2005 Apple Cup Regatta at Lake Waughop in Lakewood, WA.  The event was sponsored by Mitch Dillard with help from the Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum.  Thanks to Dan Clark for bringing out the chase boat, which later became a race boat itself.  We’ll get to that later in the story.   The weather was hot and waters of Waughop were good and tricky.  The typical Waughop breeze came and went during the day making the green waters rougher at times.  The algae bloom was moderate compared to last year and the conditions made for some pretty fast racing action.  Basically, we had a blast!

The boats in Division 2 broke out first and put on their typical exciting show from the get go.  Right away we got a look at a brand spankin’ new 1972 Atlas Van Lines debuted by John Dyer.  John’s got another good race boat on his hands.  He won his first heat right out of the box.  His driver showed great toughness too.  He bounced right out of the cockpit, hung on to the steering wheel with one hand while his head banged off the deck.  Despite his obvious peril, he would not relent his grip and drove the boat to victory over a very fast Elam boat.  Now that’s determination!  Good job John.  I’m sure we’ll see this boat out front again.  Unfortunately, a sudden loss of steering just before the Final Heat kept the impressive new boat on the beach, unable to start at the end of the day.  

The Division 2 Final was a good one that saw Mitch Dillard hit the start line right on time with the Miller High Life and hold off a hard charging Elam driven by Jeff Howard to claim the win.  This is the first 2005 win for the Miller and the boat seems to be performing better after a few modifications to the right sponson and skid fin made just prior to the Diamond Cup.  Elam continues to run well and gave the Miller all she could handle.  Another lap and the outcome may have been different.  The Elam finished very strong in second.  Chris Cootsona drove the Circus Circus to third place ahead of Dale Van Wyk’s 83 Atlas Van Lines.  Pete Schille’s Llumar Window Film ended his three race winning streak with a tough day.  The Llumar started as the trailer, lost power and was unable to finish the heat.  No doubt the Llumar will bounce back.  Congratulations to Mitch Dillard’s Miller High Life, winner of the 2005 Classic Thunder Apple Cup in Division 2!

The Final Heat in Division 1 capped off a perfect day for the Miss Budweiser and Jeff Howard.  The boat just keeps on keeping on!  The Bud triumphed over the second place Miss U.S. driven by Mitch Dillard, who ran hard, but had nothing left for the Bud in the end.  Pete Schille came from the trailer position to take home third with the Blue Chip.  Dale Van Wyk’s Miss Seattle crossed the line fourth and Mike Krone rounded out the field with the Hurricane IV in fifth.  Bill McGraw’s Pride of Pay’n Pak took a bite out of the tail of the Miss U.S. and was disqualified from the heat.  A little glue and some elbow grease and the U.S. will be fine.  The Pak will be back to do battle again too.  One thing became very clear at the Apple Cup.  We all have our hands full chasing the gold beer boat.  The Bud has now got a strangle hold on the championship run and is threatening to run away with it.  Congratulations to Jeff Howard’s Miss Budweiser, winner of the 2005 Classic Thunder Apple Cup in Division 1!

We thought we were done racing for the day when the Division 1 Final was over.  Nope!  A couple of our more ambitious geniuses came up with the idea of getting in the rowboat and racing around the buoys in a time trial.  Before we were able to come to our senses, six of us took on the challenge of the very first Apple Core Cup race.  I figure we called it that because none of us had anything left by the time we got to the finish.  The enthusiasm was high as we yelled encouragement to each other from the shore.  We each took our turn and entertained those that were left in the pits and around the race area.  Mostly we just cracked each other up.  The water was splashing and the bubbles churning as Mike Krone showed us all the fastest way around the course.  He proved that experience and consistency are the keys to speed.  Mike was the only one of us who came in under the 2-minute mark.  We’re not worthy! We’re not worthy!  I was certainly impressed.  Good job Mike!  Our second place finisher was “The Evil One”.  We just figure he had to have cheated without us seeing him.  Dale Van Wyk came across third.  Your’s truly limped across in a close fourth.  Chris Cootsona was an impressive fifth and our Jeff Howard rounded off the group in sixth place.  He had better hope his wife doesn’t read about his crushing defeat.  Honestly, it was a crack up!  We were all within 25 seconds of Mike’s incredible time.  Next year we’re going to beat him!  They’ll have to drug test all of us if that happens.  He’s pretty good.  Congratulations to Mike Krone, winner of the very first Classic Thunder Apple Core Cup!

The Unlimiteds are coming to the west and we will be taking a couple of weekends off to follow the big boats to the Tri-Cities and then take in the action here in Seattle at the General Motors Cup.  We will pick up the Classic Thunder action again with our Seafair Trophy Race on August 14^th at Coulon Park in Renton.  The event is sponsored once again by our beloved Mike Krone.  Don’t miss this one as you never know what will happen at Coulon.  This is race #8 of the season and should be another exciting one to watch.  Let’s get ready!  I’ll see you all there in a few weeks.  Thanks for supporting CT racing and making the Apple Cup so much fun. 

Sincerely,

Mitch Dillard

Classic Thunder Commissioner