EXCERPTS FROM DISCUSSIONS WITH DAVID COES
Previous Driver's Corner comments have been archived - 2001, 2002, 2003. Lake HopatcongArrrrghhh!!!!????
OK-- I think the caption says it all. But we'll get to that in a moment. On my trip up to Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey, from Hampton, Virginia, I was reminded of the lines from the Bruce Springsteen song "Soul Driver"-- "Rode through 40 nights of the gospels' rain, black sky pourin' snakes, frogs and love in vain....." Out of the 9 and 1/2 hours it took me, 8 and 1/2 were through torrential rain and high winds. On top of that, the new cover for my boat tore, and I was starting to think that perhaps the weather was going to be like this for the entire weekend. About an hour from the race site however, the skies cleared, the sun shone brightly and the weather was absolutely beautiful. I checked in and learned that I owed $100 for the buoy I had hit a couple of weeks before at Portsmouth when my steering jammed. It must have had a delayed reaction and finally deflated. Oh well, I just happy that the steering hadn't jammed at a different time and someone had gotten hurt. Henry (Lauterbach) and Steve (Lewis) re-worked the whole system, fabricating and installing a new housing, pulleys and heavier cable. Gotta remember to get the buoy though-- nice memento for the shop wall!! (Along with the broken prop which cost me 2 years and trashed my boat). I grew up about 45 minutes north of Lake Hopatcong, so I felt like I was really racing in my home town. My mother still lives in the house I grew up in and I was looking forward to seeing her. I spent the night at her house and rose early the next morning. I arrived at the race site to set up my tools and prepare the boat. It generally takes me less than an hour to get everything ready and this day was no exception. I had plenty of time to study the race course and watch the other boats run. Since the race got started a bit late, the GNH's were only going to run one heat, which would be the final. When the race started, I immediately came up on plane and headed out onto the course. I started relatively slowly as the one minute pin and buoys marking the outside of the course seemed to be a bit small and I anticipated having a bit of trouble seeing them. Surprisingly, I did not have any trouble at all seeing the course so I immediately came up to speed. I have two count-down timers and two count-up timers and I take timing marks from a number of places on the course. On my first lap, at one particular point I had a 14 second timing mark. Later, on two marks subsequent to that, I registered 17 seconds and 23 seconds respectively. I wondered if I had moved out a lane or two which would have accounted for an increase in time but certainly would not have accounted for the difference between 14 and 23 seconds. I concluded I was having throttle problems (which I had experienced at a different time), perhaps due to a bent throttle cable guide. In addition to the timing issue, my handling in the turns seemed to be getting worse. I wondered if my new steering cable was stretching. At any rate, the clock was counting down and I passed the judges stand/starting line at 1 minute and 12 seconds. Normally I need to be in the first turn at approximately 45 secs so I knew I needed to take some time off the clock. As an aside, at the driver's meeting we received a paper listing the general racing rules. A point of importance is that it was noted that we could enter the infield from both the back stretch and the front stretch, while only being able to exit from the start line buoy to the entrance pin to turn one. Normally the rules state that one can enter from the backstretch and only exit from the start line buoy to the entrance pin to turn one. With the addition of being able to enter on the front stretch, miscalculation of time is virtually impossible. For example, being early (1:12) going into turn one would normally entail my having to go all the way around the turn and then entering the infield from the back stretch and exiting out the front, to come around the turn again. This would burn way too much time off the clock. With the rules the way they are, I entered the infield from the front stretch, milled (turned around) and exited back out the front stretch. By now, I was acutely aware I was having an acceleration problem. My clock was reading under 40 seconds left (which meant I had taken too much time) and I couldn't seem to get up on plane. My gauges indicated that everything else was OK; my oil and water temperatures were normal as was my oil pressure. Unfortunately I was watching the other boats simply get smaller in the distance. To give you an idea of just how slowly I was going, the other boats were at the start/finish line as I was just entering the upper turn, or turn 2. In addition to the acceleration problem, I had to get off the gas as I was sliding outside drastically; my skid fin simply wasn't holding me in the corner. I decided to continue to run so that we would at least have a group of boats running on the course. At one point, coming down the front stretch and in full view of the judging stand, I had a boat that was running just ahead of me and to the outside, inexplicably cut directly in front of me and go into the infield. Quite surprising. The referee black flagged (ended) the heat a short time later. Apparently there were numerous issues going on, with several boats broken down and the boats spread out all over the course. Only two boats started on time and together. All of us seemed to be having problems of one kind or another. As soon as I got back to the pits, I saw what my problem was. I didn't have a throttle problem; I had a crack on the nontrip portion of my boat and I had a tremendous amount of water in my boat. This would explain both my acceleration problem and my handling issues which became progressively worse the longer I was out on the course. To say the race was a disaster would probably be an understatement; it was terrible. Somehow after the first lap, I developed the crack in the boat which accounted for the additional (water) weight and poor performance. I was well aware of the time and where I was on the course. I made good use of the rules and milling procedures and would have had everything timed just right had the boat performed the way she normally does. So... shoulda, woulda, coulda......other than having a boat full of water that accelerated like a slug and handled like a pig, I would have performed well. On Sunday, the GNH heat was cancelled as the rest of the boats developed problems which simply decimated the field. The brightest part of the weekend was visiting with my mother. She will be 91 years old in 3 months, has never seen my boat and never been to a hydroplane race. My brother Don, who was in town for a couple of weeks, was able to bring her to the race site and she was able to witness the whole debacle. I only regret she wasn't able to see the boat, and the class, perform like I know we can. The boat is cleaned up and the engine has been removed and is ready for it's check out. Hopefully by the weekend the hull will be upside down and we will repair the damage we know about. After that, a thorough and careful inspection is due and we will go from there. I have not made a decision as to which race I will be participating in next but as soon as that decision is made, an announcement will be made on this site. Stay tuned!!!!
Prep 1, Prep 2, Prep 3, First Year Race - Hampton, Portsmouth and Clarksville We are already into the new year and while so much has happened since the end of the 2003 season, unfortunately none of it involves the boat. The season ended last year at Hampton for me and I expected to get a huge jump on the 2004 season by starting work on the boat right away. I immediately tore down the engine and sent parts to the machine shop. We planned on starting all those "nice to do" things which really aren't crucial to the running of the boat in the latter part of September or beginning of October, and do the other changes and painting in December. Instead, I left town for almost two months; working in the US (and abroad for a short time). I would not have traded the experience for anything in the world. Returning home, I was really snowed under at work, and only recently have managed to get back to a somewhat normal schedule. I feel as though I am almost caught up and so now I can finally turn my attention back to the boat. I am having a really neat custom cover made for the boat and I believe the pattern is finished. I expect, barring unseen issues, that it will be done within another week or two. The cover is extremely important as we are preparing to make some non structural changes to the boat (re-doing fasteners and configuration of the rear deck) prior to repainting it. We are also re-wiring the boat so once again, practically the entire boat will be new. We have configured the boat so that we can run our conventional distributor with our dual MSD/rev limiter system or, if there is a problem with the electrics, we set up a separate switch so we can run with a Mag. I purchased two new propellers last season (which are unused) from Dennis Cavanaugh (Mercury Racing) which I am itching to test out. On the subject of Dennis, certainly those who were close to him will miss him but those of us who he helped from a "propeller" standpoint will also. I cannot say I knew him well; my relationship was primarily a "telephone" one which spanned from the time I raced my 2.5L to my GNH, but I found him to be an intelligent, knowledgeable and courteous man. Recently I've had two of my close friends undergo physical trauma. Several weeks ago, my friend and partner in my drag racing endeavor had a heart attack. Fortunately he is doing well now, but only two days ago was readmitted to the hospital for an erratic heart beat. He will undergo surgery for the implantation of a defibulator in about a week. I just learned that another close friend and avid hydro fan is now hooked to a home dialysis machine for 10 hours a day and the future, while stable at the moment, does not appear to have viable alternatives. The people who are part of my racing program (as these two friends are) have a definite impact on my racing program. Work on my shop has continued at a slow but even pace. My new doors are in and my main room needs only the floor finished. Then the task of unpacking and re-organizing all my parts will commence yet once again. The never ending battle of organization! At least I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Within a month I hope to be able to report some real progress on boat. Hopefully we can break the cycle this year of little or no progress and then a nonstop "thrash" to get the boat ready to race. But then again, if we didn't do that, would it really seem like racing season was here??
I have made the commitment to make it to Valleyfield as my first race so the battle to get the boat ready has commenced in earnest. I have also committed to Buffalo as the second race and hope to make it to Cambridge as my third. Hampton, as usual, is the race of most importance to me and I don't plan to let anything stand in the way of that goal!! As usual, things have been moving quickly regarding everything but the race program. Work (earning a living) has continued at a nonstop pace; I'm hoping that it will slow back down to a normal pace with in a month or so. We have been able to start on the boat, and although the progress may seem agonizingly slow, it really is progressing at a steady pace. The boat is almost completely sanded and the back deck area is partially removed in preparation for it's reconfiguration. I have removed the dash (with gauges) as well as all the electrical wiring. I expect to "de-rig" the entire boat this coming weekend. This is actually a larger task that it seems at first glance. The job will entail removing the fire system and plumbing as well as the oil cooler and filter, fuel pump and filter and fuel regulator. These items (with the exception of the fire system which will permanently mounted in a slightly different location), will all be placed on separate backing plates and then be relocated. I also have to remove the dry sump system in the expectation of having a bracket fabricated which will attach it to the engine. Since the engine and the dry sump is actually a part of an engine "system," I need to be able to remove it in one piece. While I have not had recurring problems with the engine (I have run the same engine for three seasons), I need to be prepared for the eventuality of bearing wearing or contaminated oil supply and things of that nature. In that case, I would be forced to remove, not only the engine, but the entire oiling system (to include oil pump, sump and overflow tank) as it would have bearing (metal) flakes contaminating it. As I am currently set up, I would have to remove the engine, then (separately) remove the sump system from the boat in order to clean or replace it before installing my replacement engine. Currently this would be a much more time consuming job than is necessary, as I have to not only remove the engine motor mounts, but then separately unhook the oil lines attaching the cooler to the engine as well as the oil sump to the engine. Unfortunately none of my oil lines are easily accessible with the engine in the boat. In addition, unhooking oil lines can be a pretty messy job, especially when you are in a hurry. In the future situation (as I envision it), I would be able to switch out the entire system quite easily and efficiently. After I get the bracket made, I will be able to remove the four engine motor mounts, detach the starter wire, coil wire and fuel lines and be ready to go. I expect to accomplish the goal of making the boat completely "user friendly" from the standpoint of maintenance, as well as easy removal and replacement of malfunctioning parts. My ultimate goal is to be able to remove and replace any auxiliary part on the boat within a 15 minute time frame. Currently I have excellent access to all areas of the boat because Steve (Lewis) fabricated a number of hatches for this purpose. We are now modifying this system to reduce the number of hatches we have. The rear deck will be one large hatch (rather than the 6 or so small hatches), which will allow easy accessibility of the steering mechanism and cable as well as the rudder system. I am quite excited about the new dash we are designing. I am reducing the size of my RPM gauge which will make the switch and gauge layout a bit more manageable. It will be set up for a "triple" ignition system; a dual MSD system which will allow me to switch back and forth from two conventional systems and a separate switch which will be setup as an "on/off" for a Magneto system should my conventional system malfunction. (This way if my conventional system fails, I would replace it with a Mag between heats, and have a switch already set up for it rather than just rigging a "field expedient" switch as we did last year). All in all, I am happy to be working toward the goal of making the boat completely user friendly in every way. I know we have a long way to go and as usual, I'm a little worried that we won't accomplish our goal in the time frame we have set out for us. I expect there will be a lot of late nights as the deadline approaches.
I managed to get quite a bit done tonight; I removed the oil sump system as well as the oil cooler and associated lines and fire extinguisher system. A lot of time was spent "dry fitting" the different parts in different areas of the boat. While I have already decided to make a bracket for the oil sump system to attach it to the engine, the decision as to where the oil filter and cooler has not been made. I'm starting to think about attaching it to the front of the engine (which is actually at the rear of the boat as the engine is installed "backward"). My only concern is that it will be too cumbersome a system. The bracket will have to be very strong as the cooler and filter are quite heavy, but then again, so is the oil sump system which will be attached to the other end of the engine. On the positive side, if we go this route, the boat will remain balanced, and this is an important consideration when moving parts around. I am also evaluating the placement of the other three important items; the battery, fuel pump and filter system, and fuel regulator. Last week (Saturday night), I ran into Valerie Wilson downtown and she gave me the news that her father Durward had picked up one of the old "Export A" boats. I went over the next day to see the new "baby." Durward has a lot of plans for the boat, which he expects to run as a 2.5L. He appears to be pretty well prepared for coming season as the "Pink Panther" is already set to go. I know he will have his new boat ready in no time at all. As I mentioned before, my boat is pretty much apart and I felt badly that I couldn't support the annual Hampton Cup display at our local boat show by putting the boat on display as I had planned. Fortunately Kasey Browning had her 1.5L on display and Jerry Glass, the president of our local boat club, had his "new" Jersey Skiff there. The boats, along with a small tent and enthusiastic members of the Race committee, made quite a good showing, if I do say so myself. I have to apologize for the lack of "hydro" news on my site and the lack of timely updates on my own racing program. My intention when I started this site was to try to have a running "diary" of my racing program as well as keep fans abreast of other hydro news. My purpose was to keep the interest level in hydroplane racing at a high level. Unfortunately I simply have not had the time to do this. I have received a few e-mails gently chiding me for not staying current and I can only pledge that I will attempt to do a bit better in the future. Again, I have to stress that my day job, as well as my family (which is the first priority) are taking up a heck of a lot of time. The kids are involved in a number of activities and sports, and my wife and I spend the weekend coordinating the family "taxi service." All in all, it's a great life and we have much to be thankful for.
The Hampton Cup Regatta 2004 has come and gone. Ray (Downes) webmaster for this site was kind enough to place a quick update on the first page of the site but I've finally found a little time and can now bring the news of the Demon Chaser Racing Team up to date. The week of the Cup was pretty standard for me-- I took the entire week off and thrashed.... and then thrashed some more. Steve Lewis, his son Brett, and I and my son Jaime, worked until about 3:30 Friday morning. I slept for 2 hours and then went back to the shop and worked some more. I got the boat to the race site in time to get inspected, and then continued to work on it. Our last task, and the hardest, was to attach the fasteners to both the engine cowling and deck. We finally made the decision just to pin them any way we could and use massive amounts of duct tape as the proverbial "fix-it." I need to back up here a minute and explain that while we were putting the finishing touches on the boat in the last several weeks, Bill Gwyn and company (Gary and Igor) were putting the engine together and engineering brackets for the auxiliary parts (dry sump and oil filter) so the engine could be removed and installed with the oil system intact. The engine was carefully assembled and dynoed. I was more confident than I ever have been before, knowing that everything had been done carefully, meticulously and correctly. Bill was unable to attend the race as he was in Ohio for the weekend racing his Harley Davidson. (Incidentally he took 2nd place on both days!!) Gary showed up at the race site on Friday morning and immediately set out to re-check the timing, which had been set the day before. Curiously the timing seemed to have shifted (more on this issue later!!) and Gary reset it. I selected a prop to test as this was merely the first of two qualifiers (one more to be held on Saturday), and we installed it. This particular prop was considerably smaller than what I normally run, so I was interested in what the performance would be. Things seemed generally pretty good so we went to the cranes for the first heat. I got up on plane immediately and the engine seemed to have power, but it sounded "flat." I started my timing runs and things seemed to be off considerably. Prior to the start, at the point where it normally takes around 45 seconds to make it to the start, I was a bit early; I had 55 seconds, therefore (in theory) I would have to go a little slower at some point during my run to the start. There were two other boats and they were already near the 1 minute buoy. I wasn't worried in the least; my concern was that I would be early. I put my foot down (running at what I thought was about 80 %) and came up the back stretch. I was watching the time and suddenly realized that I was way behind. I couldn't figure out what was going on. I put my foot on the floor and picked up a little speed but not a whole lot. I looked at my tach and it was going crazy-- fluctuating from 5,000 to about 7,500 RPM.... and I still wasn't going any faster. It felt like I had a rev limiter in the boat!!! I knew something was wrong but just didn't know what it was. I started timing myself from my known reference points and found that what normally took me 7 seconds at approximately 80% power, took me between 12 and 13 seconds!! Talk about slow!! I realized I could just pull in the infield, but I figure that's sort of bad sportsmanship. As long as there are boats are running, the fans deserve to see everyone participate; just because my boat wasn't running up to par isn't a good reason to quit. It certainly was frustrating though. I continued, finished the race and headed to the pits when suddenly I realized my oil pressure was at ZERO!! Now, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that you cannot run an engine without oil pressure. I immediately figured I'd burned up (at the very least) my bearings and crankshaft. This is a catastrophic situation and meant I was finished for the weekend. We craned the boat out and got back to my spot in the pits and immediately determined that I had broken the oil pump belt. The next step was to check the oil. We checked the filter and it was clean. Of course, when the belt broke, this would stop the oil from being pumped through the filter so we turned over the engine without firing it. We checked the filter again and there was a microscopic speck of what might have been bearing material present. I made a quick decision to call Performance Unlimited in Norfolk and asked Joyce to order me a set of bearings. She was able to get them delivered the next morning at 10:45. I was hoping that (perhaps unrealistically) I might have damaged the bearings, but that my crank (and other internal parts) would be undamaged. We had already pulled the engine the night before at Henry Lauterbach's shop in Suffolk, so I hurried over there with the bearings. Gary pulled off the oil pan and got the bearings out. As unbelievable as it was, there was almost no damage to the bearings, and no damage to the crank at all!! Since we had the new bearings, Gary installed them and we reinstalled the engine in the boat. The GNH's had already run their qualifier for Saturday, but at least we were ready for Sunday. I was simply ecstatic! On Sunday, the wind kicked up and it looked a bit rough. The race was put on hold and we used the time to retune and troubleshoot the engine. Gary figured out that there was some sort of electrical interference with the magneto which actually was retarding the timing as the RPM's went up. We dismantled the dash and disconnected the tachometer and the electrical converter which allowed it to read the magneto. I then went through and disconnected every wire which even came close to the magneto switch. Gary checked the timing and presto(!!) suddenly our tuning problems were over. Just as we finished buttoning the dash back up, the course was opened to run some test laps. We immediately went to the crane. The testing session was absolutely great. The boat handled beautifully and suddenly I had REAL power. My timing runs were not only on the mark, they were actually a hair faster. I was hitting my 10 second marks at about 9 seconds. I wasn't having any problems with the course conditions either. We were definitely ready to run. There was a lot of discussion whether to run the race or not. The racers who had tested were asked their opinion and there were racers on both sides of the fence. My position was pretty simple; at the very least, the bigger boats should run as we really weren't affected by the conditions. If there was a question, the class should get together and make a decision. The most ridiculous argument that I heard against running was that people who were racing would "push" it, thereby making the race unsafe. Listen, there is an appendage that pushes the accelerator pedal. It is a foot which is hooked to a leg. The leg, in theory is controlled by a brain. Racers used their brain (at least in theory) to control their actions. If your boat can't hold a line going into a corner, or if you need to slow down, take your foot off the gas!!! This maxim holds true whether the water is like glass or whether there are whitecaps. As it was, Terry Browning, in the Legend (a Henry Lauterbach 1L Mod) broke the WORLD record. (Congrats Terry and Henry!!) Guess it wasn't all that rough if the smallest size boat class featured in the race was able to perform like that..... The decision was made to run and the GNH's were scheduled second, after the Jersey Skiffs. We got craned into the water and I was ready to go. I expected 4 or 5 boats to run, the only question being the Miss USA as I thought that there was an issue with boat earlier that had to be fixed. I had been so involved with my own issues that I wasn't sure what was going on with the other boats. At any rate, there would be at least 4 boats running and that is all we needed to have national points and a GNH Summer National Champion crowned. Well, I was wrong. I was focused on my driving and timing marks and saw two other boats out on the course. I didn't really think about it as I figured that four of us were out there-- I was more concerned with making as many timing runs as I could. I saw one boat leave the course right before the race started but again, was so focused on the task at hand that I didn't give it thought. In addition, I didn't have any communications as my radios were malfunctioning. I made a real good start and was at about 80% power when the clock ticked down. The boat was running so well I had to actually come off the gas in the apex of the turn (before the start) as I thought I was actually going to be early. I ran well and by the end of the third lap, I realize I had lapped one other boat. As it was a hometown boat, and, by then, realized it was only the two of us out there, I slowed as I came up on him. We were black flagged and we made our way back to the pits. I wish that my radios had been working, as I was unable to relay the reason that I had slowed. My crew knew exactly why I had slowed but it seems that there were others who thought I had broken down (again). When I won the final in Indiana two years ago (which was the last time I finished a heat as I sunk my boat the following race!!) I lapped a boat. In that case, I continued to run hard. The difference was that 8 boats (a full heat) started and finished that race. Although I beat the other boats by half a lap, I wasn't going to slow down in that particular case. The GNH's travel at such speed that stopping for a few seconds (stalling in the water) or slowing too much can instantly translate into getting beaten. (Believe me, it's happened to me!!) In this situation, it was entirely different. In my view, to continue to run at (near) full speed would have been a lack of sportsmanship and totally unnecessary. I chose to run along side the other boat, and we were black flagged (ordered to return to the pits) at that point. When I got back to the pits, I was pretty curious as to why there was only two of us out on the course. I was told (and then told by two other people the exact same story), that the leader in National points for the GNH class decided not to run because he felt he couldn't win, and that the individual who was 2nd in points (who was also present) would pass him in points, if they both raced. Remember, we only had four boats to start with, and if one didn't run, there are no points awarded (as we need four boats to get points). So, by the mere fact of not running, the Points Leader, effectively made the Hampton Cup a No Points, No Championship race. Okay, so how do I feel about all this? Well, the first thing to remember is that I "don't have a dog in this fight." I haven't been able to run all year, and hence have no points and am not in any type of points race. My feelings about running my boat should be pretty clear though. I continued to run on Friday when my boat wasn't running properly, even though I was pretty frustrated. I knew I wasn't running anywhere nearly as fast as I could and that there was something wrong. But I'm not the kind of guy that throws in the towel just because I don't have a chance to win. I feel that I have a responsibility to the fans and the people who have helped me, so I suck it up and at least finish if possible. My boat is the fastest boat in the class, and baring mechanical failure or a catastrophic mistake in driving, when my boat is ready to run, there is no one in the class that can stay with me. Period. I'm not into politics or strategy. I don't boycott races because of (lack of ) prize money. I run for bragging rights because guess what-- at over $9 a gallon for race gas, the cost of putting my boat in the water for the weekend, and the cost of getting to and from races, I'm not going to make a dime getting my boat wet. Hopefully I'll be able to get a sponsor at some point, but even then, I'll run because I love hydroplanes and driving the boat. The quality of a championship is the driver and boats that you beat. Beating boats because they broke or didn't run doesn't make a champion in my opinion. And, if you check around, most people will say the same thing. Beating Mike Tyson means something when you go heads up-- if he steps in the ring with a broken hand, you'd have a hard time convincing people you were a legitimate winner. Anyway, the driver who left the race course before the start of the race (the #2 points racer) apologized after the race, for not continuing. I don't have a problem with him because if I were in a points race and suddenly realized that the #1 guy wasn't running because he was ducking me, I'd probably be upset too. In addition, with the #2 guy going after points, he needs to make sure he can run at the next "points" race-- if he hurts his engine here, that could effectively end his season, if the damage is severe enough. That I understand, and it makes sense. Anyway-- What happened to running because you want beat the other guy? As one individual stated in his email to me concerning the situation-- "strategy (like that) is for chess, not for racing." I could understand the strategy (but still not agree with it) if we were Nascar or F1 or Champ Car. In that environment, we're talking about "real" money. There isn't any prize money to speak of in boat racing; the funding comes from sponsorship, if you're lucky enough to be able to have it. Normally racers help each other simply because you can't beat the other guy if he's on a trailer!! Case in point: I lent another GNH racer a prop for the Hampton Cup for two reasons-- first we have to help each other so we can get on the water to give the crowd a show, and second, when I beat you, I don't want you running "hurt." Yes, I want to win, but I want to win when my opponent is at the top of his game. If this were strictly a business, maybe I'd look at things differently. We have a number of very, very fast boats in the GNH class and that is why it is so exciting to run when we can get a decent field. Anyway, while I'm personally not torqued about the "points/run or not run" situation (because admittedly it doesn't affect me at all), I certainly understand why others are. I feel that it unfortunately shows the negative side of inboard hydroplane racing. Incidently, I have made a point of NOT "naming names" because, while this site is mine, and this portion of the site is meant to comment of GNH and racing issues, I wish to get the issue out in the open, NOT point fingers or "badmouth" any particular racer or racers. This issue is only worth discussing because a number of people (NOT in the GNH class) have brought it up to me. Since this situation has arisen, I have been told by 3 individuals (again, surprisingly not in the class and not even boat racers), that the GNH class needs to make a rule so this does not happen again. This may surprise everyone, but I strongly disagree with this. This is something you cannot legislate. It would be an unenforceable rule. People have a variety of reasons why they run or do not run. Making a rule up won't change anything. All in all, and the above situation notwithstanding, racing at the Hampton Cup this year was great for me. It was the first time I have finished a GNH heat in Hampton without incident, and the first time my wife and children have seen the boat come in under it's own power (as they don't travel to the races with me during the year). I received a fantastic response from a number of local residents and finally feel that at least I gave them something to see. In addition, including my test session, I ran three times and tried three different props. It was great to be in the seat again!! I also got to renew old "racing friendships" and it was simply great to see the "old gang." Even seeing the familiar faces of racers I don't know personally gave me that "good" feeling of continuity and "the old times." I miss seeing the faces of the racers (primarily in the 2.5L class) no longer out there. I need to thank a great number of people who helped me, and I am afraid that I may end up leaving someone out but (in no particular order), here goes: Henry Lauterbach (the hometown "personal" consultant) who always makes his shop and wealth of knowledge available to us. Without Henry, there are a lot of racers who wouldn't be running-- and I'm one of them. Steve Lewis; who I affectionately refer to as the "man who can't say no." Steve's only problem is that he's willing to help everyone, and then people get upset when things aren't done quickly enough to suit them!! Steve worked countless hours on the boat fashioning a new rear deck hatch. In addition, he painted the boat and we did a number of other tasks together; the list seems endless(!!); Dexter Phibbs, my electrical/dash engineer. Dexter, despite having an incredible (real) work schedule, had the new dash and systems set up for me nicely. (We designed an entirely new system which Dexter wired); Bill Gwyn, without whose meticulous machining, engine assembly and tuning, I wouldn't have run. I can't thank Bill enough for putting everything aside to help me get on the water; Gary Hassel for taking his weekend and devoting it to making sure I ran. He did everything on the engine from tuning it to tearing down the bottom end and replacing the bearings. Gary was absolutely crucial in making the engine perform optimally and was exceptionally astute in tracking the electrical feedback problem and correcting it; Igor, for his help in creating the brackets (no small task) which now hold my dry sump and accessories. Without this, it would have taken us hours rather than minutes to remove the engine; Don Greaser for all his help those long nights, re-rigging and getting things ready as well as being there every minute of the weekend. Don was willing and available to do any and everything; from driving the boat to the crane (and running into a fellow racer's truck :-)) to running to the shop to pick up something we needed in the pits. Don was incredible; tireless, and never losing his cool; Jack Carter (Carter Signs) (who always drops everything when I show up on his door step), for getting my decals together on the boat. We have spent hours agonizing over details such as which font to use, how big etc., etc. (I'm surprised he doesn't lock the door when he sees me coming!), Dan, Dennis, John and Mike for their exceptional prep work on the hull (everyone knows that without the proper prep work, the end result will look terrible!); Paul Haag and Jason Watson, two fellow FBI agents that I tapped to wet sand the boat to get her ready for painting; Matt Allen and Jennifer Collins (also FBI agents) for constantly calling and asking for updates and reminding me that they could help, as well as all my other friends at work who called regularly to see if there was anything they could do to help get me running; and my son, Jaime who busts his butt cleaning the boat, making the shop useable after we've been tearing around and everything is in disarray, and holding the boat in the water on race day. I would be remiss if I didn't mention my friend Art Davidson, from Olympia, Washington, the man who originally designed and built the engine. I had to call Art on a regular basis for a number of crucial facts concerning the engine. Art has never failed to help me, and has always been there to help with much needed advice. And finally my friend John Christiansen, now in Florida, who came up to see me run. I have mentioned John in this site as the person who initially helped get me involved in hydroplane racing. While we had spoken over the past few years, we hadn't seen each other for at least 3 years. I would also like to mention people like my former Karate student, John Hanlon who wasn't able to make it, and Glenn Cupit, the crew chief for the Demon Chaser when John Prevost ran her as the Shazaam. While neither John nor Glenn were here at the race site, they have helped me tremendously in the past and when the boat is running well, I think of anyone who has had a hand in making her capable of doing what she can do. The last person I will mention is Ray Downes, the webmaster for this site. Ray underwent a kidney transplant 2 months ago and is doing great. In addition to the surgery within this same time frame, he also married a lovely lady (Joy). Ray has continued to labor away at the site and positive changes are usually his idea!! So... I've probably forgotten someone and I'll apologize up front. The mind just isn't what it used to be!! I know whoever I've forgotten is probably someone who did something crucial. Right now my thoughts are on the future. I learned this week that the Portsmouth race will be running the Henry Lauterbach Invitational with National Mods running against the GNH's. This is a "no points" race but who cares??!! While this will be a tough race for my boat because it is a tight course, I can't wait!! The course will favor the lighter, faster accelerating NM's, as the GNH's will not be able to take advantage of their bigger engines. It should be a great competition and I hope we get a number of GNH's and NM's to participate. Although my work schedule right now seems to be at an all time high, I am going to make every effort to make it and I expect to be there. I also hope to make the Clarksville race in October. I promised Kent Powell (a member of our local boat club) who put the race together that I would make it out there to run the boat and put it on display, even if there aren't enough GNH's to field a race. It takes a tremendous amount of work to put on a race, and it's great that we have individuals who have the time to devote to it and are willing to do it. It's a thankless job being a race director, and I for one, get tired of hearing the bellyaching when things don't run smoothly. Again, because of the work schedule, I am not able to take any time off, but it is close enough (3 hours) that I think I can make it out there, at least to help out. So until next time.......
Portsmouth and Clarksville (2004/10/12) Portsmouth was a lot of fun. I tried a different (smaller) prop on the first day and had quite a bit of difficulty running. The following day I went back to my "bread and butter" prop and was running way out front. Thinking I had one lap to go, I slowed down to put a closer show on for the crowd. I got passed just before the finish line (on what I thought was 1 lap before my "white flag" (last) lap. I sped up as I figured it was the last lap-- unfortunately for me, the race was actually over!! Oh well, the crowd loved it. I was more embarrassed than disappointed. After all, the boat ran beautifully and we really there to put on a show; there were no points involved. On Saturday at the Clarksville event, again it was a "show" race with no points. I ran with two other boats as the last racing class and heat for the day. The race site (and day's weather) was pleasant for the fans, the facilities well laid out, with a mostly shaded spectator viewing area. The course was very tight and it would have been tough with 5 or 6 big boats running, so it was just as well that there were only 3 of us. I got a pretty good start in lane one and, on a tight course like this one, it's tough to get around even a slow boat on the inside. The boat was handling beautifully and I just smoked the course. On Sunday, I ended up having a leaking shaft seal and by the time the race started, I had a boat full of water. I could really feel the difference as my acceleration was very sluggish. I was running just outside of Dennis who was running in lane one and I was eager to make a move. One lap two, going into the first turn I dove to the inside as we exited the turn. Unfortunately I miscalculated and ended up catching part of Dennis's roostertail and ended up stalling the engine. The reality of it was that even if the boat hadn't had the extra weight of the water in it, Dennis actually outdrove me, and I even if I hadn't stalled, it's doubtful on such a small course I would have been able to outrun him. Dennis is too good a driver to let me take the inside lane away from him as we were going into the corners, and effectively made me run wide whenever I'd try to make a move. I wish the final heat of the year had been like the previous day, but all in all, the year ended well. The boat is finally back together and I have very little to do to prepare for the 2005 season. -- Of course there is always that "nice to do" stuff that we will be doing to the boat over the winter!! See you next season!!
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