The racing season in D13 is off to a fast start with two races in the books as of this writing and results from the Spring Challenge should be available soon. The OB Tunnel Champs hosted by the Charleston Model Boaters March 25 & 26 had over 90 entries from 26 drivers. We had a number of spectators come out and the Tunnel Boys put on a good show for them. B Tunnel was the largest class with 18 boats competing and Sport B the second largest with 16. Mike “Grimracer” Zaborowski (Nemesis/CMB) was able to overcome a DNS to win the B Tunnel Championship ahead of Randy Premo (Lynx/Nova Rossi) and James Clegg (Villain/K&B) who tied for second. Randy was able to win the run-off ahead of Gabe. Mike Talley (Lynx/OS) was able to take care of some unfinished business in Sport B. Mike was headed to a sure a win at the 2005 race when his boat was damaged and unable to continue dropping him to 3rd. With a 275 point lead heading into the final round it looked like a sure win this year but a DNF in the fourth round and a strong finish by John Otto left the two tied for 1st after four rounds. John had the lead at the start of the run-off but the win went to Mike when John had a spectacular blow off going into buoy one! The Sport Mod-VP class was offered for the first time with Mark Poole bringing five ready-to-run boats for lucky drivers who names were drawn to compete in four rounds of racing. These boats were also used for the hotly contested Smack Talk Driver’s Challenge that was won by Grimracer who held off a strong challenge from Ron Byrd. Sponsors were more than generous with HTB Boats, Van’s Racing and Aquacraft Models all donating boats and CMDi donating a MAC powerhead to the raffle prizes. Next year’s race is expected to top 100 entries!

The Atlanta Model Boaters hosted close to 100 drivers with over 250 boats at the annual Spring Nationals. Mother Nature cooperated this year and the AMB did a fantastic job to run off 188 heats in just two days! Bob Morton (Eagle/CMB’s) was able to rise to the top of very competitive Twin-Hydro class to win the Big Trophy in the final shootout. Jerry Crowther (Seaducer Boats) was definitely prepared for this race posting perfect scores in FIVE classes! Oliver Douglas (Scale) and Steve Ball (B Hydro) also posted perfect scores. Thanks to all the competitors for their cooperation in getting through all the heats and helping make this race a success!

We’re halfway through the High Point series with the AMB’s GA Championships, Sept 16 & 17, CMB’s SC Championships Oct 7 & 8 and the ECMC’s Halloween Race Oct 28 & 29 still remaining. The best four of five races count (Five of six for the Tunnel classes) toward the District Championships and this season is looking very competitive. There is a break in the HighPoint series over the summer but there will still be racing with the GP series and the Atlanta Model Boaters and Charleston Model Boaters both have one day monthly club races. The increase in activity has seen a rise in both race attendance and membership in D13. Race flyers, results and current HP standings are available on the D13 website,  www.impba13.com . 2006 is shaping up to be a very good year!