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2008 Mapes Mile High Regatta |
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17 Division 1 and 14 Division
2 boats showed up on June 29th for the 2008 Mapes Mile High Regatta at Angle
Lake in Seatac, WA. Hot weather and
generally fast, but surprisingly lumpy water conditions in spots, made for some
challenging racing. The City of Seatac
hosted the event during their annual International Festival again this year and
people came out in force to hang out, swim and add to the buzzing Festival
atmosphere. On several occasions we had
to put heats on hold for a bit to encourage a few of our more ambitious fellow
citizens to move their various flotation devices away from the race course to a
safer location. It was frustrating, but
we managed to get through the day with relative ease. We may have to rethink this location for next
year as it is difficult to control the water near the racing area. Tranquility Home Care was our race sponsor. Mitch Dillard stood in for Brent Hall as race
coordinator. Division 2 competition
started with one new boat and qualified driver in the field. Matt Sanders is the latest member to join the
fun. He brought his 83 Squire Shop out for
the its first race and made a good showing. He actually qualified for the Final
heat on points, but had to back out due to a motor failure. He’ll no doubt be back again with a new motor
in the boat and some modifications to help it handle more to his liking. Pete Schille made a notable change
to his U-95 hydro. The boat showed up
minus its rear wing and sporting the historic sharks teeth, freshly painted on
the underside of the sponsons. That’s
where the historical similarities ended.
Nope, the boat didn’t sink or anything like that. In fact it ran great, winning all of its
preliminary heats. The Division 2 Consolation
heat saw Mike Krone drive his Design 360 from a 1 lap deficit to win. Jeff Howard’s Appian Jeronimo had the lead
for three laps before losing power. Mark
Beatty’s Vans PX took over the lead and then rolled over in turn 2. Design 360 had barrel rolled at the start,
taking away someone elses lane, and received a one lap penalty. He drove like crazy and was able to pass Dale
Schroeder’s Freddies Club on the final lap to take the heat and advance to the
Final as the trailer. Gene Melang’s
Coors Dry was unable to finish. The Division 1 Consolation
heat started with almost no background noise from the beach. The lifeguards had everyone out of the water
for their routine safety sweep. Meanwhile,
six boats made their last bid for a spot in the Final heat. First across the line was Dale Schroeder’s
Waferers Club Lady ahead of Dan Clark’s Harrah’s Club driven by Pete Schille,
Mark Beatty’s Miss Timex and Dan Clark’s Miss Spokane. Ann Forman’s Miss US 5 and Bill McGraw’s
Outrigger Pay’n Pak started from the trailer position. Waferers Club rolled over in an early lap,
giving up the lead to the Timex. The
Harrah’s would lose its cowling and have to shut down out of second place. Timex would go on to win. The Pak rallied to finish second from the
trailer spot ahead of Miss Spokane who took third. Miss The Division 2 preliminary
heats ended with five boats advancing to the Final heat on points. The U-95 had a perfect 1200, Mark Beatty’s Beacon
Plumbing 1100, Tony Minalia’s Holset/Miss Madison 925, Mitch Dillard’s
Vacationville and Dave Sacry’s Notre Dame 750 were all locked in. Design 360 joined them as the trailer. The Division 2 Final had an impressive
start with all five boats basically side by side at the line. U-95 went upside down at the exit of the
first corner. Vacationville led the
Beacon slightly at the end of lap 1 followed by the Madison, Notre Dame and
Design 360. We could hear the crowd
going nuts behind us from the beach as the Vacationville and Beacon went back
and forth, exchanging the lead for three or four laps, until the Vacationville
stuffed its nose and rolled over as the boats battled deck to deck at the exit
of turn one. The Pete Schille was also perfect
in preliminary heat finishes in Division 1.
His Checkerboard Bardahl came to the Final heat with 1200 points, Mitch
Dillard’s Slo-Mo IV 1100, Mike Krone’s Miss Seattle Too 925, Dale Van Wyk’s
Slo-Mo V 900 and Dave Sacry’s Miss Lapeer scoring 694. Miss Timex was set as the trailer. Dale nailed the start in
Slo-Mo V, but was led into the first turn by the Checkerboard Bardahl and
Slo-Mo IV. Miss Seattle Too held down
fourth. Mo IV held a slight lead over Bardahl
up the back stretch on lap 2. At that
point the Bardahl began to challenge. As
the boats pulled even she started to lift.
The boat then executed a perfect 360 degree flip with a twist, landed
right side up and kept on going, not even giving up second place. Slo-Mo V cut the apex buoy of turn 2 and got
a lap penalty. Seattle Too also spun out
in the very lumpy turn 2. All the while
the Timex was making up ground quickly from the trailer spot. Later on Seattle Too got in trouble again in
turn 2 and flipped over. In a daring
move on the final corner, The Timex cut inside the disabled Seattle Too to pull
off a pass on the Checkerboard Bardahl who had taken the more conservative path
around the outside. A drag to the finish
found the Timex taking second by maybe a boat length. Bardahl would finish third, Miss Lapeer
fourth and Slo-Mo V fifth. While all of
this excitement was happening, the Slo-Mo IV slipped away and captured her
fourth win of the season. The boat is
really running well. Congratulations to Mitch Dillard, winner of
the 2008 Mapes Mile High Regatta in Division 1! Next up on the schedule is
the Apple Cup in Lacey, WA on July 20th. The race is sponsored by
OffshoreElectrics.com and coordinated by Mitch Dillard. It should be another good one and will likely
host the next leg of the Apple Core too, where drivers will get a chance to put
up their fastest time rowing around the course.
We’ve been doing this for the past few years and keeping track of the
winners of the coveted Apple Core Trophy.
It should be a blast. Looking
forward to seeing you there. Sincerely, Mitch Dillard Classic Thunder Commissioner
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