U-15 "My Gypsy"

You know, this worked out GREAT! I was at dialysis all afternoon, then got back home just as the 5 minute gun was fired for 1-A ... not bad timing. Here's the qualifying speeds and heat draws for today's racing:

(Courtesy of the ABRA website)
San Diego Thunderboat Regatta Qualification Speeds -

U-16 MISS ELAM PLUS / Dave Villwock 165.386
U-37 MISS BEACON PLUMBING / Jean Theoret 163.371
U-6 OH BOY! OBERTO / Steve David 159.798
U-10 MISS AHERN RENTALS / David Bryant 158.951
U-5 FORMULABOATS.COM I / Jeff Bernard 158.867
U-21 MISS ALL ACCESS / Brian Perkins 152.191
U-13 SPIRIT OF DETROIT / J. Michael Kelly 151.757
U-25 SUPERIOR RACING / K en Muscatel 148.079
U-48 MISS LAKERIDGE PAVING / David Williams 147.183
U-1 FORMULABOATS.COM II / Mike Allen 130.000

Heat 1-A

U-16 MISS ELAM PLUS
U-13 SPIRIT OF DETROIT
U-37 MISS BEACON PLUMBING
U-25 SUPERIOR RACING
U-5 FORMULABOATS.COM I

Heat 1-B

U-6 OH BOY! OBERTO
U-1 FORMULABOATS.COM II
U-48 MISS LAKERIDGE PAVING
U-10 MISS AHERN RENTALS
U-21 MISS ALL ACCESS

All Dave Villwock and the ELAM team had to do was finish the first heat of racing, and the national championship would be sewn up. That may still become a reality but not today. Theoret and Villwock locked up early after a great start but coming out of the first turn on lap two, the ELAM coasted to a halt. It turned out that the engine had blown (according to Erick Ellstrom), but that wasn't all. A hole has struck the ELAM on the bottom of the boat. Apparently it can be fixed by tomorrow. Theoret and BEACON PLUMBING finished first, followed by J. Michael in SPIRIT OF DETROIT, Muscatel in SUPERIOR RACING, and Bernard fourth in FORMULABOATS.COM I. Bernard had captured the inside lane at the start and was almost equal to Theoret as they crossed the line, but something happened to slow the craft down (possibly the loss of the salt water intake) which resulted in the late finish. Villwock was heard to be not happy when he returned to the pits, muttering something about the starting procedure.

Well gosh ... I'm sort of shocked by that!

1-B saw the withdrawal of the MISS ALL ACCESS, as Brian Perkins - in an early afternoon test - tore up the team's only gearbox. A shame for this team, considering the bad luck from last year's fire destroying their hull and building a new one for this year. Topping that off is the fact that they're the hometown team of San Diego.

In somewhat of a surprise, Mike Allen - who's been on the beach since a horrible accident at the Gold Cup earlier this year - took off from the starting line in lane 2 and led the field from wire to wire in 1-B. The defending national champion had been rebuilt over the last 6 weeks, in fact, the team was still applying decals to the boat after it first arrived in the pits. Steve David was fast in the OBERTO but unable to catch the speedy U-1 and finished second. David Bryant must really like racing the OBERTO, because just as he had done in Seattle, he had the AHERN RENTALS flying fast and hard on the outside to almost nip some beef jerky first hand. AHERN finished third, with LAKERIDGE PAVING failing to finish.

No word yet on the heat draws for 2-A and 2-B, but as always, as soon as they have them set up I'll relay it.