Roger J. Newton
04-18-2005, 08:02 PM
RCU had their second race of the season this past weekend in Crescent Bar, Washington. CB is located on the Columbia river about 3 hours east of Seattle. The biggest problem we faced was the lack of water in the Columbia due to the drought conditions we have been experiencing this past 6 months. It just meant we had to walk a little farther from our tents to the water. Got there Thursday night and started testeing about noon on Friday. God I love being retired!!. First thing we did was roll the V. The boat has some handling issues. The water was calm and all I did was run across my own wake. Saturday I tried a couple of other props. Went back to an X462 that I have been running. Rolled the boat at least one more time testing. It has something to do with the balance and sponson angles. They are a little steep and I will be changing them again. Sunday, race day. Missed my first heat 'cause I was jawing with someone I had just met. Turns out he was a nephew of someone I havent seen since grade school 45 years ago. Second heat. Had a good start lead the race until the last turn. Must of had another senior moment as I let the second boat cut inside and out race me to the line. Next heat I had another good start and going into the first turn on the second lap it took a nose dive. A friend of mine calls it "The Mahogany Mudhen". Next heat I was leading for 2 laps and it shut off for no apparent reason. After sitting for a minute or two I was able to drive back to shore. All that was left was to run in a special round nose heat. I hit the start on the nose and was never headed. Made history. First electric boat to trophy in RCU. I have 2 maybe 3 races before the Nats so I hope I can get the handling problems figured out. My next move is to change over my 2004 Miss Budweiser to electric. Stay tuned.
Roger
Roger