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View Full Version : Huntsville Gene Taylor/John Hall race



donhuff
05-23-2016, 02:07 PM
We had a great time at this race. Not a lot of FE there but we took enough boats to make the P limited class. And I think we made an impression on the other racers. Maybe some others will get into this "fun" class. We ran oval and offshore. This was the first time that offshore had been run in Huntsville.

My family of racers, me my wife , two sons and one daughter in law, were the bulk of the class. Then I also loaned a boat to David Hall, so the class would make a "trophy" class.

So it was an all OCRA race again, and the field was pretty level as far as performance goes since I built every one of the boats. But driving skills (ie throttle management) was lacking in a few of the drivers. Daughter in law Haley, had a hard time slowing down in the extremely rough conditions and flipped almost every time she went out. David was plagued with the same problem, even though he wanted to blame the "set-up". He claimed that he adjusted it to make it better, but I don't remember seeing him cross the finish line very often. He did buy a hull Sunday afternoon, so I think he enjoyed the class.....or either he is planning to get some REVENGE! The wind blew up big waves both days, and it was for the big part, a race to see who could actually make it to the finish line. She got second in gas crackerbox, so the potential is there, but she's still not accustom to the electrics instant throttle response, compared to the gassers delayed reaction. My wife Kathy got third in oval, by keeping her cool and finishing all her heats. She seemed to have that throttle completely under control, and did not get the urge to gun it, when someone went flying by her boat. I messed up a week ealier at a race in south Georgia, and let her go by me once, so she could see what it was like to be out front. Then I made a zigzag to dodge a buoy and could never catch back up to her. I think maybe I need to "work" on her boat.

Another fun aspect of us running this relaxed class, was that the launchers/callers we had to solicit. They really got into the act and had a good time on the launch pad with one launcher, Jesse from Louisiana's VooDoo club, almost going in after tossing in my wifes ORCA. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3skNJKeT-ac&feature=youtu.be Some of my best conversations during the whole weekend, were during these races. Mostly trying to explain to my caller that yes, I was suppose to be going "way out yonder" around that buoy. "See all the other boats are doing it too"! He just told me "well that don't make it right"!!!!!!!!

It was fun seeing a lot of the other racers gathering around to watch a launch, and then cheer us on during the race. And we could actually hear them because of the quite AQ 2030 motors. We did a Lemans type of launch with the clock starting at 30 seconds. This added a different twist to the action cause soon as your boat hit the water, you had to get on it or fall to the back of the pack. That's where I usually ended up because my caller got to the far right of the launch pad most of the time. I finally made him understand he was hurting my chances by doing that, so he moved to the far left for the next heat. That did no good cause when they started the clock, I was turned around backwards talking to the scoring lady, trying to "make points". Damit, back of the pack again and my caller no where in sight. He finally got up there at about 10 seconds, just in time to see me start in the rear.

Lots of fun and I'm hoping that there will be a few more Limiteds there next time.

Doug Smock
05-23-2016, 03:06 PM
Good stuff Don! Wish I had been able to make it.:mellow:

HUFFRACING
05-28-2016, 11:06 AM
That lead I stole out of Doug's toolbox in Atlanta when he wasn't looking sure came in handy during the windy and rough conditions in Huntsville! :Sinking: I promise to give it back at the July Grand Prix in Atlanta (unless it's windy and rough)... LOL

It took me few races to figure out these pesky little P-Limited monos, but I'm finally starting to get used to them. The first few races I ran w/ the boat I was having a heck of a hard time not hitting the buoys. I'm accustomed to turning waaaaaay before I get to the buoys with the bigger and faster Gas boats to hang in lane 1. The speed on the P-Limiteds doesn't call for so much lead time... LOL

It's a fun class though with all the boats so evenly matched. It's more of an IROC style race with throttle and lane management making the real difference. Looking forward to doing it all over again in Atlanta in just a few weeks!

Later,
Lamar

Doug Smock
05-28-2016, 01:07 PM
Remind me to give you and "Pop" a sheet of that lead that came out of an X Ray room remodel. It does come in handy!:wink: