Madison Race

[hgatjens]

So all you Indiana boys. Tell us how the Regatta is this weekend. We can get the feed from the sites, but I'd be interested in what you modelers have to say.

 

[Hydro Junkie]

I'd be interested as well. As some one that has to watch this one from 2,000+ miles away, I was seriously bummed to see the U-3 pull out of the pits earlier. There had to be a better way to handle the situation than Noonan telling Cooper his boat wasn't qualified and Cooper taking his boat and leaving in protest because of a disagreement over a rule and money

 

[Bigbird]

So all you Indiana boys. Tell us how the Regatta is this weekend. We can get the feed from the sites, but I'd be interested in what you modelers have to say.

I'm going to the river today, but I'd rather be at a rc boat race..

bb

 

[bsmtboy2]

I watched the feed too, but two of my club members drove out to the event. A 9hour drive from Maryland.

 

[Ron Olson]

Harry, I watched some of the race online today and heard about the protesting but that was far from my mind.

I've only been to one full-sized boat race and those were just small OB tunnels and 3-pointers, I haven't been to Detroit yet for a big one.

Sitting here in my chair I saw a lot of downtime between heats. I don't know if its neccessary or not as it sure makes for a long day of racing.

 

[misshydro]

Had a blast there! Nate Brown U-17 let joe put the big crusing decials on his boat... Steve sign both U-1 Oberto's for us... might try to go to detroit next.

 

[Hydro Junkie]

Harry, I watched some of the race online today and heard about the protesting but that was far from my mind.

I've only been to one full-sized boat race and those were just small OB tunnels and 3-pointers, I haven't been to Detroit yet for a big one.

Sitting here in my chair I saw a lot of downtime between heats. I don't know if its neccessary or not as it sure makes for a long day of racing.

Ron, what you probably didn't see was a flight demonstration teams performing, other classes of boats racing along with other forms of entertainment.. From what I could tell, the live streaming only was running for the big boats but I tuned in late. In all actuallity, the boats do require that much time between the heats as some teams change engines, others change props, etc. In the old days, a crew could take over an hour to install a new Allison or Merlin in the old boats. Today, with the turbines and quick disconnect fittings, the norm is half an hour or less, depending on the boat and crew. If you go to the race and see it live, you will see a very different show.

 

[Ron Olson]

I was in and out of the house a lot today as I was throwing together a new grill then trying to burn some steaks on it before heading off to work. I did catch a flight by a bipe under the bridge before racing started. I was tuned into the link in another thread and the cameras didn't move around much. They were telling of some of the other activities going on around the race site and town.

You have a better insight of what all went on in the pit area than the rest of us.

 

[Aaron Johnson]

What website can you watch them on?? Is it the H1 Unlimited site??

 

[Gale54]

I was there and it was too long between heats! They had GNH hydro's but only half showed up and only three where running. The finial heat for them was a two boat heat and only one finished. The air show was the same as every year but Mr. Robbison did a great job. The finial heat was great three boats running together and two of them fighting it out at the end. It was HOT and due to wind storms the shade trees weren't as nice and by 1 we where in the sun. Lucas oil had a great demo tent with motorcycles, race cars, and a drag boat. Crowd seemed bigger this year. I hated seeing Cooper's pull out but this time he was being difficult over $250.00 dollars. Ed would not join the APBA and threw a fit. I supported him years ago when HYDRO-Prop wanted him to add weight and restrict his fuel that was BS, but this time Ed is throwing a fit over nothing. Oh yea did I mention it was HOT?

 

[Wesleys Custom Graphics]

I was there all weekend but am only reporting what I saw. It did not look to me like Ed Cooper was anywhere close to ready to practice when he got there(and he only lives a few hours away). I was told he had not yet paid his membership fee when he posted his 1st qualifying run. If so H1 was in GREAT jepordy of an insurence violation(think about it)let alone an no go on a qualifytin run. testing and qualifying was extended for about an hour or so (probably to let him qualify) and I'm sure that is no easy feat considering you have to shut down all barge traffic.

Its my opinion that Ed showed up not ready to race, un prepaired, had a poor qualifying run, got a bad additude and left.Again just my opinion. Other than that we had a great time all weekend. Had a good time racing rc boats on saturday. Camped out on the KY side and watched GREAT racing the rest of the time all from my fold up recliner and holding a cold one. The guys even went over and hung out in the pits a while. U GOTTA REGATTA! and , OH YA MISS MADDISON won!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[misshydro]

I was there all weekend but am only reporting what I saw. It did not look to me like Ed Cooper was anywhere close to ready to practice when he got there(and he only lives a few hours away). I was told he had not yet paid his membership fee when he posted his 1st qualifying run. If so H1 was in GREAT jepordy of an insurence violation(think about it)let alone an no go on a qualifytin run. testing and qualifying was extended for about an hour or so (probably to let him qualify) and I'm sure that is no easy feat considering you have to shut down all barge traffic.

Its my opinion that Ed showed up not ready to race, un prepaired, had a poor qualifying run, got a bad additude and left.Again just my opinion. Other than that we had a great time all weekend. Had a good time racing rc boats on saturday. Camped out on the KY side and watched GREAT racing the rest of the time all from my fold up recliner and holding a cold one. The guys even went over and hung out in the pits a while. U GOTTA REGATTA! and , OH YA MISS MADDISON won!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We'd watch U-3 run and after the first lap it buffed a smoke on 1/4 of the second lap sounds like he blew somthing from the engine and cut it short to bring her back in.This pic joe takened was just before the engine took a dump.

 

[Duck899]

I was there and it was too long between heats! They had GNH hydro's but only half showed up and only three where running. The finial heat for them was a two boat heat and only one finished. The air show was the same as every year but Mr. Robbison did a great job. The finial heat was great three boats running together and two of them fighting it out at the end. It was HOT and due to wind storms the shade trees weren't as nice and by 1 we where in the sun. Lucas oil had a great demo tent with motorcycles, race cars, and a drag boat. Crowd seemed bigger this year. I hated seeing Cooper's pull out but this time he was being difficult over $250.00 dollars. Ed would not join the APBA and threw a fit. I supported him years ago when HYDRO-Prop wanted him to add weight and restrict his fuel that was BS, but this time Ed is throwing a fit over nothing. Oh yea did I mention it was HOT?

Seems kinda silly to not join APBA. I thought all the teams were insured by the APBA. I suppose there are reasons for what goes on.....

:blink:

 

[Ken Hildreth]

Well,

I was with Wes, To me also, The U-3 seemed not ready to race. A couple friends went with me to the other side after the friends that were mentioned earlier on this post were on the radio. Thank you Kyle and Chad for taking me over there. If there is one easy way to find boaters in a crowd, its to carry your U-13 Scale with you. haha!! The U-13 crew found us first. But we still got to meet the guys from the east coast. Pretty cool. We got J. Micheal Kelly to sign the boat, and also Cal Phelps. The current driver, to sign it. The U-17 broke a gear box, I thought they were going to make repairs but that didnt happen. I saw the U-100 sitting with no one working on it but I am still not sure what broke. I am still wondering if some teams were saving parts for the Gold Cup. We had watched it run well on Saturday testing after it didnt start in the first heat due to a battery failure, like, it had a hole in it. Its a wonder it didnt catch fire. The U-22 team was a blast to watch. They celebrated like they had wone every time that boat left the bank running. They were truely having fun. In Heat 3 when the U-13 was out. He really didnt leave much room for the Albert Lee in the first turn. Then on turn 4 the U-13 threw a prop. I dont know if there was any damage to the transom or not. In heat 3b, Wes didnt say this, but we clearly saw the U-37 hit a bouy while battling the U-5 formula boat for the lead. The win for the U-5 was taken away for a fuel violation. They never said a word about the bouy. He didnt dislodge it, so maybe that makes it not a cut. It was a great heat. I will say that much. In the final, the U-96 spirit of Qatar was acting nothing like a trailer boat until the last turn when he finally went long after running early on the clock until the last 30 seconds. He definately changed the start of the race. Speaking of which, J Micheal was all in at the start leaping out to the lead. But we all know lane three is tough to win from, and as the water chopped up, J Micheal wasnt handling as well and had to fight to keep second. The U-37 got third. The Albert Lee stayed close showing some real speed and handling to get fourth. Man, thats a lot of typing. Ken

 

[BlueBlaster]

Yeah I seen someone carrying your U13 scale. Didn't see you around. It was some good racing. The U37 and U21 where some great looking boats to see run.

 

[misshydro]

Yeah I seen someone carrying your U13 scale. Didn't see you around. It was some good racing. The U37 and U21 where some great looking boats to see run.

cool ,I guess we wasnt the only ones who was carrying around scale boats. B)

 

[Ken Hildreth]

Kyle and Chad carried it quite a bit. But you can bet, if the scale was there, so was I. We were back with Wes on the Kentucky side before heat 3A started.

 

[misshydro]

Kyle and Chad carried it quite a bit. But you can bet, if the scale was there, so was I. We were back with Wes on the Kentucky side before heat 3A started.

Steve David got a big kick out of joe's gas scale of Oberto. .. Vidlock seen that boat and one guy said that looks like it was miss ellam, Joe said it was..just say Vidlock didnt look to happy about it.

 

[f41stryker]

I have to say I enjoyed the regatta overall, but it has seen better days in my opinion. The GNH hydros were neat...had there been more. I went to the rc race all day Saturday and didn't go to the regatta but a big thanks for the discounted wrist band! I think it was more exciting back when the Unlimited Lights came as well, they were fast and very competitive with one another. I'm glad Lucas Oil got on board, I'm a big fan of them and their presence in NHRA. I hope other large companies find their way into H1 Unlimited racing, it could be the injection the sport needs to get back to being more mainstream. The racing itself was pretty good overall and the sun was BLAZING!!! I'm gonna go to the Gold Cup this Sunday as I'm looking forward to seeing some Offshore boats as well as the hydros.

 

[brandonclan]

How was my Regatta????

In my opinion, it was one of the best in years!

I was bummed about the U-3 leaving the pits, but, it's been done before and frankly it sits a little harsh with me. A great first time regatta sponsor in Lucas and Mr. Cooper pulls out? I know people were talking to Lucas about Evansville money before the Madison race.....Ed's decision to pull out will go down as a very bad one for the entire sport as well as his own operation. enuff bout that!

Back to the regatta....I've been going since 69 with memories of my own and you have to go back quite a few years to find one this good. The weather was fantastic for Madison...NO RAIN/WIND and very little debris in the river. The river was in great shape. The boat count started out great and except for the 3's rant the others suffered boat racing problems. Some of which came from lack of being prepared.(sound familiar to anyone?) The smaller classes suffered the same woes, and needed more boats to help fill the show.

Still a great weekend of boat racing, one of the Best I've seen in years there. The pits were full and buzzing all weekend. I usually stay in my "little KY. Home" all weekend, but this year we spent some great time in the pits and seeing all the folks. (yes Wes, we saw you guys, just never "crossed the line" into your campgrounds. I know you could not miss us!

No matter how good things are going, these days, it seems someone will always complain. BUT, This was a great Madison race, boats on the water all weekend and great weather and friends/family.......hard to beat.

I just hope next year can top last weekend! Man, it will be be a blast!

On to the Gold Cup.......should be interesting........