Images by Chris Denslow, Jim Simpson, Lisa Courneya & Jeffrey Dahl

Aug. 6, 2011
Seattle, WA

Images by Chris Denslow

Aug. 6, 2011
Seattle, WA

Mike Ferreri of Seattle’s KOMO 4 News did a great feature on the building of the newest hydroplane on the Air National Guard circuit – the Schumacher Racing 88 Degree Men.

Images by Chris Denslow, Jim Simpson, Lisa Courneya & Jeffrey Dahl

Aug. 6, 2011
Seattle, WA

Saturday, August 6, 2011
8:30am GATES OPEN
8:30am Unlimited Lights Hydroplane Testing Session
9:30am Unlimited Hydroplane Testing Session
10:00am Hyperlite Wakeboard Experience
11:00am Main Stage: Blue Thunder (Seahawks)
11:05am Unlimited lights Hydroplane Racing 1A presented by Graham Trucking
11:20am Unlimited Lights Hydroplane Racing 1B presented by Graham Trucking
11:30am Vintage Hydroplanes
11:45am Boeing Air Show
12:15pm Main Stage: Navy Band
12:30pm Unlimited Hydroplane Driver Autograph Session
1:00pm Unlimited Lights Hydroplane Driver Autograph Session
1:00pm Boeing Air Show
1:25pm Fat Albert C-130 Demonstration
1:35pm U.S. Navy Blue Angels Demonstration
2:30pm Hyperlite Wakeboard Experience
2:50pm Vintage Hydroplanes
3:05pm Unlimited Hydroplanes Heat 1A Racing presented by AT&T and LG Mobile
3:25pm Unlimited Hydroplanes Heat 1B Racing presented by Western Washington Hyundai Dealers
3:40pm Boeing Air Show
3:45pm Main Stage: All Mixed Up
4:45pm Unlimited Lights Hydroplane Racing 2A presented by Sicklesteel Crane
5:00pm Unlimited Lights Hydroplane Racing 2B presented by Graham Trucking
5:00pm Main Stage: Inside Outlaws
5:15pm Vintage Hydroplanes
6:00pm GATES CLOSE

Running before his hometown fans, driver Dave Villwock ran a 151.879 mph lap on Lake Washington to earn top qualifier Friday afternoon at the Air National Guard Hydroplane Series race in Seattle, Wash.

Villwock grabbed the “Fast Lap Friday” award for the fourth-consecutive race, narrowly topping Steve David’s 150.835 mph lap on the 2-mile course. David went out a second time in an attempt to beat Villwock and the Spirit of Qatar’s speed but still fell short.

“We were ready to go back out if we needed to,” said Villwock, who lives in Seattle suburb of Auburn. “When the Oberto didn’t beat our speed, we knew we could turn our attention to racing tomorrow.”

Drivers and teams have a little more incentive to win this weekend at Seattle Seafair. Organizers are putting up a $25,000 purse with the winning driver and owner splitting the purse. That money is on top of the prize money they receive from the Air National Guard Hydroplane Series.

The Oh Boy! Oberto team says it has found additional speed in the boat after looking at footage of David running the boat out on the water. David is confident the team will be faster come Sunday.

“Mike Hanson (crew chief) watched the video and we learned something about a part of the boat and we’re going to make the change,” David said. “We learned a lot for the race.”

Rookie driver Scott Liddycoat of Suffolk, Va., was the third-fastest qualifier by posting a 149.950-mph lap on the course. Brian Perkins ran 148.453 mph to earn the fourth qualifying position and JW Myers in Stevenson Roofing Presents Peters & May was fifth fastest at 146.564 mph.

Racing continues today with one round of preliminary heats. Two more rounds of preliminary heats take place on Sunday with the final scheduled for approximately 4:35 p.m. All heats will be streamed live on the Internet at www.h1unlimited.com.

For more information on the Air National Guard Series, visit www.h1unlimited .com.

Images by Jim Simpson, Chris Denslow, Jeffrey Dahl & Lisa Courneya

Aug. 5, 2011
Seattle, WA

Images by Chris Denslow

Images by Jim Simpson, Chris Denslow & Jeffrey Dahl

Aug. 5, 2011
Seattle, WA

Friday, August 5, 2011
8:30am GATES OPEN
8:30am Unlimited Lights Hydroplane Testing Session
9:50am Unlimited Hydroplane Testing Session
10:30am Hyperlite Wakeboard Experience
11:25am Boeing Air Show
12:00pm Main Stage: Navy Band
12:30pm Unlimited Light Hydroplane Driver Autograph Session
1:00pm Unlimited Hydroplane Driver Autograph Session
1:00pm Boeing Air Show
1:25pm Fat Albert C-130 Practice
1:35pm U.S. Navy Blue Angels Practice
2:30pm Main Stage: Red Hot Blues Sisters
2:30pm Hyperlite Wakeboard Experience
2:35pm Vintage Hydroplane Practice Session
2:45pm Unlimited Hydroplane Qualifying Session
4:00pm Main Stage: Afraid of Figs
4:50pm Boeing Air Show
5:25pm Unlimited Lights Hydroplane Qualifying Session
6:00pm GATES CLOSE

When you have more wins than any driver in the history of the sport, there is a certain expectation other teams will be taking aim at you every race. Drivers on the Air National Guard Hydroplane Series going into the Seattle race this weekend are especially focused on keeping Dave Villwock from getting his third win of the season.

 Villwock has been nearly unstoppable, winning the APBA Gold Cup in Detroit and last week in Tri-Cities, Wash. And if Villwock hadn’t spun out his Spirit of Qatar boat and caused a crash in the final of the season opener in Madison, Ind., he would be perfect on the season.

 Asked what he thought about the other 12 teams focused on ending his winning streak, the 57-year-old driver from Auburn, Wash., was amused.

 “What’s new?” Villwock said with a laugh. “What’s different about that? It goes with the territory.”

 The drivers will have extra incentive—at least financially—to win at Seafair this weekend. Organizers, thanks to AT&T and LG, are putting up a $25,000 purse that will be split evenly between the winning driver and the winning owner. It’s prize money that hasn’t been seen in the sport since the 1970s. Teams on the Air National Guard Hydroplane Series equally share a pool of money at each race.

 Hoping to cash in is Steve David, who is looking for his second win of the season. He was declared the winner in Madison after his Oh Boy! Oberto boat tangled with Villwock and the race was ended because it was late into the day.

 David says he has the boat that can beat Villwock and that the Oh Boy! Oberto is better suited for the shorter 2-mile course on Lake Washington.

“Our boat has never been great on the bigger courses but on the 2-mile course it has been very good,” David said. “This is a course where we’ve excelled on and at the end of the weekend it’s going to get down to the two old titans.”

Kip Brown and the Miss Red Dot are having a breakout season and are narrowly trailing the Spirit of Qatar team in the national high point standings. Brown has won all five preliminary heats he’s raced in in Madison and Tri-Cities. Like the other drivers, they would like to keep Villwock from collecting another cup.

 “He’s been the fastest (boat) for a long time,” Brown said. “That being said, it doesn’t make it any less frustrating for us. Personally, the Miss Red Dot hasn’t been that competitive in year’s past. Now that we’re close it makes it a little more frustrating. I can’t put the hammer down any more unless I put my foot through the bottom of the boat.”

 For rookie driver Scott Liddycoat, it’s the first time on the big stage at Seafair with the Air National Guard Series. Liddycoat has been busy representing his team’s sponsor, Valken Sports, at various functions that are part of Seafair. But Liddycoat and his teammate, Jeff Bernard, will get some time to relax and plan to take a boat out on the lake to do some tubing.

 “When you are running a limited hydroplane it’s not quite the same atmosphere,” Liddycoat said. “This feels as close as you can get to a NASCAR event on the water.”

 In a testament to the hype surrounding the Seafair Festival, KIRO TV will show the races live on Sunday and the television ratings in the Seattle area rival a regular season football game by the Seattle Seahawks. All the heats will also be streamed live on www.h1unlimited.com during the weekend.

 Racing starts on Friday with the “Fast Lap Friday” qualifying session followed by preliminary heats on Saturday and Sunday. The Albert Lee Cup final will take place at approximately 4:40 p.m. PDT on Sunday.

A 13 boat field is expected to compete in the Albert Lee Cup at Seafair.

Due to drought-impacted water levels, H1 Unlimited is canceling plans to stage an Air National Guard Hydroplane Series event in Houston and Clear Lake, Texas, next month. H1 Unlimited this week sent a representative to the lake, located southeast of Houston, for a meeting with organizers and a thorough review of the site, logistics and water levels.

“The communities were excited to see us coming there along with the P1 Offshores,” said H1 Unlimited Chairman Sam Cole. “However, after being told that the lake level has dropped almost 4 feet during the past six months and no relief in sight, there was nothing we could do but cancel the event and look forward to a return next year.”

Texas and New Mexico are in the midst of an unprecedented drought. The states between January and June completed the driest six months on record, according to the National Weather Service. The lack of rain and the extreme summer heat have contributed to the record drought. Lake levels near the proposed pit area were “too low” to safely launch the Air National Guard boats, as was the depth in other parts of the lake.

H1 rules require a minimum of 8-foot water depth on a racecourse, which was not the case. “We are hopeful that Mother Nature cooperates between now and next Labor Day,” Cole added. “It’s a great venue for the Air National Guard Series. We had some successful events there in years’ past, the interest has been keen and we were looking forward to making this our first venture with the folks at P1 Offshore.” The series competes this weekend at the Albert Lee Cup at Seattle’s Seafair, moves on to the Air National Guard championship race in San Diego, Sept. 16-18.

Duke’s Chowder House at Southcenter in Seattle was the scene of the second celebrity waiter fund raiser of the season.  Fans enjoyed Duke’s legenday chowder and fish dishes as the had the opportunity to chat with drivers from the Air National Guard Series.  Hundreds of autographs were signed and a generous portion of the tips and proceeds wil go to the accident victim’s fund in Madison.

Pictured left to right: Brian Perkins, Jon Zimmerman, Dave Villwock, Duke Moscrip, Bianca Bononcini, Mike Webster, Kip Brown, Greg Hopp, Scott Liddycoat, Jeff Bernard.  Photos by Ed Clark

Jeff Bernard & Scott Liddycoat

Greg Hopp

Photo by Craig Barney

From The Tri-City Herald

Hydroplanes weren’t the only things cruising the waves at Sunday’s 46th annual Water Follies.

A gaggle of about 20 Canada geese in close formation hugged the Pasco side of the Columbia River near turn three.

The birds steered well away from speeding boats as well as children floating on inner tubes, rubber rafts and a girl balanced on the back of a plastic porpoise.

The boat races that typically attract tens of thousands of spectators on both sides of the Columbia River ended Sunday with Dave Villwock’s commanding win dashing Steve David’s attempt at a fourth straight victory on the Columbia.

This year’s signature Tri-City summer event had nothing to mar the day, said police officials covering the Kennewick and Pasco sides of the river.

The weather and the crowd — estimated by organizers between 100,000 and 120,000 for the weekend — were pleasantly tolerable.

“It’s going pretty good, said Pasco police Sgt. Mike Monroe, who noted that there were no arrests or citations along the river during the two days.

“We just had to take away some (alcoholic) drinks from three or four people each day. But people have been cooperative. We’d have to cite or arrest them if they didn’t,” he said.

This was Doug Anderson’s 29th year attending the races, and he has a collection of race pins dating back to 1982 to prove it.

“We love the boat races and the Tri-Cities,” said Anderson, 52, who was among the guests at the Total Sight Service tent in Pasco. “I like coming down and seeing my friends.”

Lisa Chapman-Rosa, owner of Total Sight Service, said this year’s event seemed to be more family friendly than ever.

Chuck Keltch, chairman of the Pasco operations for Water Follies, said ticket sales on the Franklin County side were close to 9,000, which would be about 3,000 more than last year.

Event director Kathy Powell agreed. “I’ve never seen the Pasco side so full,” she said.

Mike Bennett, 39, of Richland, said he prefers to see the races from the Franklin County side because of what some believe is better spectator viewing around turn two.

“The crowd on this side seems to be growing every year, and there are more people in the water with tubes and rafts,” said Bennett, who tries to never miss attending the Water Follies.

“There were definitely more airplanes in the air this year,” he said, noting that the air show has become a big plus for boat race weekend.

He also appreciates seeing and hearing the vintage hydroplanes with their piston-powered engines.

This was the first year Roxie Schescke, owner of Indian Eyes, a consulting company at Hanford, sponsored one of the 25 corporate tents on the Pasco side.

She said the boat races have something for the entire family.

“The kids are genuinely attracted to the air show,” Schescke said. “This is a family event. I love it,” she added.

Schescke said she decided to become a corporate sponsor so she could have out-of-area guests attend Water Follies. “We have clients fly in from Nebraska, Texas, California and Oklahoma,” she said.

“We are trying to get people who have never experienced Water Follies to come and see if they want to become a sponsor,” Schescke said.

Dennis Burbanks of Edmond, Okla., was glad he accepted her invitation.

“The entire event was great, the air show, the boat races and the spread put on by Indian Eyes. This whole town puts on a great event. I’d like to come back next year with my wife and children,” he said.

Sunday’s action appeared to draw a larger crowd than on Saturday in Kennewick’s Columbia Park, where vendors and emergency officials reported a slight uptick in business.

Dennis Ganz, owner of Krazy Dogs from Nampa, Idaho, said his breakfast business Sunday was up about 15 percent compared with Saturday.

Business for the weekend was about the same as last year, he said.

Sherry Slaney brought her ice cream cart Coney Express Sweet Scoops to the Follies for the first time this year. She was happy with her sales this weekend and plans to come back next year.

In the beer garden, sales of adult beverages on both sides of the river were improved over last year, with 104 kegs of beer sold and 45 cases of liquor, said Kyle Simmons of Country Gentleman Catering in Kennewick.

Simmons said sales were up in Pasco and slightly down in Kennewick, but an overall slight gain over 2010.

A few people enjoyed their alcoholic beverages outside the beer garden or corporate-sponsored tents, breaking the rules.

Police cited five people for alcohol-related issues in Columbia Park, said Kennewick police Sgt. Ken Lattin.

Medics also had “a pretty quiet weekend,” said Tamie Bradbury, spokeswoman for Kennewick General Hospital, which provided first-aid in Columbia Park.

There were some kids with scraped knees or stubbed toes, but hardly any sun or heat-related illnesses, she said.

A lot of people helped themselves to water from the large coolers KGH set up, she said. Nobody was transported to the hospital from KGH’s medic tents, Bradbury said.

And medics from the Kennewick Fire Department helped 10 people Sunday, said Battalion Chief Mike Barnett.

Two were taken to hospitals — an alcohol-related patient Saturday and someone with a minor head injury late Sunday afternoon.

Keltch, who has been involved with Water Follies since the mid-1970s, said it has become a major logistical challenge, and requires lots of volunteers, not to mention about 100 portable toilets and at least as many trash bins.

Randy Maurer of Spokane, whose father, Ken, helped bring hydroplane races to the Tri-Cities 46 years ago, said he hasn’t missed a one.

“I remember as a kid living on Road 48, hearing the thunder of those boats and the pounding in my chest. We’d get on our bikes and ride down here just to see it,” Maurer said.

Nearly a half-century later, Maurer still feels the thunder when those vintage piston-powered boats fly by.

Images by Chris Denslow