Rats!! There’s no such thing as a Double-Turtle trophy. If there were, PropTalk’s own Molotov would have taken it home from the Kent Island YC (KIYC) Cocktail Class Regatta. Molotov entertained the spectators by twice testing the motor kill lanyard and the inverted flotation system, thereby entering the history books with several dubious firsts: the first boat to turn over twice in one regatta, the first boat to turn over in the pits without even getting to the race course, and the first boat to turn over while driven by a woman.
But, Molotov’s acrobatic performances were only minor blips in a great day of racing for 25 boats, 38 drivers in seven racing classes, and a good-weather crowd watching from shore. It’s hard to think how it could have been better. Frank Stauss and his crew of race officials kept things organized, with the kind of good-natured flexibility that made sure things kept moving, but with plenty of time for minor repairs, motor swaps, and driver changes. After Mike Serio did his snap roll with Molotov in the pits, the racing was delayed for unsuccessful restart attempts, but then Mike was allowed to jump into Havin’ Fun at the 30-second horns. Molotov was still upside down when Jess Rigelman took over Toothache and went out to run her post ‘79 races.
Special thanks are due to the officials: Frank for authorizing the driver-boat changes, Todd Steffes for keeping the pits organized and keeping the start crews advised, and scorers Debbie Edmonds, Kimberly Shubert, and the rotating group of assistant scorers, starters and line judges for keeping the racers racing. As usual, CCWBRA Secretary BreeAnn Edmonds did most of the pre-race computer and paperwork and post-race tabulations, not to mention photographs for the website and driving #83 Sundowner — making the finals in both the women’s classes.
A special award maybe should have been created for Jack Pettigrew, who raced his boat, worked with Todd Steffes in pit management, helped the scorers and starters, and made his boat available for no less than four other people. No. 82, Havin’ Fun really lived up to its name, qualifying four racers for class finals, scoring three podium finishes, and perhaps most important, giving Zach Malone, CCWBRA’s first youth entrant, his first runs around the race course.
The racing was close and exciting. Before proving the old boat-racing rule that upside down is slow, Jess Rigelman topped the women’s classic 6 hp class with Molotov. Rookie Dan Paluchowski then took Molotov to a win in Mixed Classic 6. Jim Schmicker took the Classic 6 Heavy Win in River Madness. Tara Carew drove husband Keith’s Dram to win the Post ‘79 6 hp Women’s class. The men’s Post ‘79 6 hp top spots were taken by Russ Bowler in Flying Kiwi in the Mixed class and Keith Carew with Dram in the Heavyweights. Darryl Kepler, with his Silver Bullet topped the 8 hp field, and then Zach Malone took Havin’ Fun out to issue the call to other junior drivers to come race. (The junior classes have just been instituted. Find contact information for club officials for anyone wanting information about how to get involved as a junior racer, adult competitor, or boat builder at CCWBRA.com. There is almost always a boat at each event for test drives.)
After a strong showing at Urbanna, the Severn River Race team topped all of the KIYC 6 hp classes, but didn’t brag much after hearing: “Yeah, but you turned over twice, had to borrow Jack’s boat in two classes, and needed a lot of help from the officials.” All true.
KIYC did itself proud once again, with great facilities and a superb lunch buffet included in the entry fees. We’re already looking forward to next year. But there’s a lot of this year’s racing still to do. Nationals take place at Rock Hall August 16 . Check CCWBRA.com for that and the other races in 2014.
by Charlie Iliff