Rolling Thunder Racing

Great weekend of racing on Onondaga Lake. Rolling Thunder won the one off Eastern Divisional Championship race on Friday after some good testing.

Saturday GP-88 ran second to GP-77 in the only set of heats. Sunday Tom won his heat against Ken Brodie Jr. and in the final had lane three for the start. Seven boats ran by far the most exciting GP race this season, all finishing strong. GP-88 led the whole race but had jumped the gun by less than a boat length. That left Pierre Maheu in GP-46 ADF Diesel and Bert Henderson in The Crush II GP-77 to duel for second on the course but first after Rolling Thunder’s penalty. Maheu won and Henderson was awarded a penalty.

GP-88 had a great start in Heat 1B at Brockville on Saturday. Tom hit the start perfect and took an early lead. Bert Henderson in the new GP-77 The Crush II came charging hard from lane 4 and at the completion of lap 2 was right with Tom. Henderson went into turn 1 on lap 3 still way out in lane 4 and Tom was still tight to the buoys. GP-77 came out of the turn right next to GP-88 and then they hit. They smashed sponsons and then the back corner of GP-77 gouged a hole in the side of Rolling Thunder. GP-77 motored on to the victory while Rolling Thunder slowed for awhile unsure of the condition of the boat. Ken Brodie Jr. caught GP-88 on the last lap but Tom hit the throttle and was able to hold off Brodie for a 2nd place finish. No penalties were called in the heat. GP-77 would race in Heat 2B later on Saturday and finished 2nd to GP-46 driven by Pierre Maheu.

Sunday’s races were canceled due to wind and rough conditions. The damage to GP-88 hull was pretty serious but engine issues were also discovered when the boat was back on the trailer. Both the hull and engine are fixable and the boat should be as good as new for Syracuse.

It was an eventful first weekend of racing in Canada. There was a bad accident between Marty Wolfe (GP-93) and Ken Brodie (GP-50) but both came out largely unscathed. GP-88 had some solid showings in the qualification heats but problems with the barrel valve in the final kept the team out of contention. Bert Henderson in his new GP-77 The Crush II won the final with Pierre Maheu taking second but first overal in points for the weekend. We’ll be back at it this weekend in Brockville. The race will be carried live on Hydroplane Quebec and Grand Prix Hydroplane. Check out the new HD footage from on board GP-88.

Yesterday we took GP-88 to Two Rivers Yacht Basin for testing on the Bohemia River. The team worked out a few kinks and got to test some improvements to the boat and engine. Everyone is looking forward to the first GP race in Long Sault, Ontario May 29-30.

JS-7 had some engine problems and was forced to stop mid-race on both Saturday and Sunday. It was a good turn out for skiffs with a field of nine including two rookie teams. Unfortunately both days were cut short due to wind and water conditions. The race was streamed live on Hydroplane Quebec and you can find archived video there. Video and photo updates will follow shortly.

Check out the new GrandPrixHydroplane.com by Hydroplane Quebec. There will be live video coverage of ACHA GP races this summer on the new site.

The Treasure Coast Regatta has been postponed until October 9th and 10th. The bridge/causeway that was to be used for spectators can not be closed in time for the original April dates. Read the full statement from Jessica O’Connor at the Inboard Yahoo Group. It remains to be seen if ACHA GPs will be part of the rescheduled event.

The Gold Cup dates have been changed back to the original of July 9-11. This is the same weekend as Valleyfield, so any possibility of the ACHA GPs going to Detroit seems gone. Maybe the GP West boats will still go?

GP-88 will be at the Treasure Coast Regatta in Jensen Beach, Florida on April 24th and 25th. There will be a good number of GPs at this brand new race along with other hydroplane and flatbottom classes. This should be an excellent race in the Sunshine State and it will be broadcast live on Hydroplane Quebec.