International Model Power Boat Association

Race Report

2005 Valdosta Speed Weeks II

Well, fellow model boaters, it looks like the Valdosta Model Boat Club has come back from the brink of extinction. I had serious doubts about what the future might hold, but SPEEDWEEK 2 has revived my hopes. The event was, without question, an overwhelming success.

People generally use a fair amount of real estate when describing the weather at a model boating event. I'm afraid I won't have that opportunity. Think of about a trillion synonyms for perfect and fill in the blank. You couldn't have bought better weather at Wal-Mart. The nitro gods must have been happy, because we had 67 degrees and 3 knot winds for seven straight days...what more could you want?

I would venture to say that everyone who attended weighed a solid ten pounds heavier by the end of the trials. Ron drake had a flamethrower under a 55 gallon drum spiting out low country boils, ribs, and pot roasts. Holly Showers had a 24/7 short-order kitchen in the rear of the Reptile Racing trailer, and I personally cooked about a hundred hamburgers and sausages, not to mention the fact that Glenn brought an entire pre-smoked brisket exactly 976 miles from La Vernia, Texas. It was like being in the food court at the Mall of America, except everything was free and there weren't any Starbuck's or Old Navy outlets.

Throughout the time-trials, we had about ten people actively running boats, dozens of spectators, and of course the racer's had their entourages and pit crews. Just to highlight some of the excitement, here's the rundown. Ron Drake was pushing the edge of the mod-.20 tunnel oval record, but just couldn't get his fingers on it. Mike Whitley hammered away at the .12 & .20 mono records and managed some modest improvements. Eric Canto pushed his twin F rigger to 107 and change before turning a perfectly fine boat into kindling. Jeff Lutz went 103 and a half with his F hydro. Mike Talley was just behind Ron Drake in the Mod .20 tunnel. Robert Rollason decided he liked music better than model boating, so he transformed his F hydro into an accordion (with the help of a pine tree). John Brown was tuning a blistering fast .40 mono, but never could get the cards to fall right. Glenn and Ross Quarles were shooting hard for the .12 hydro SAW record, and actually made some record passes, but just weren't able to back them up. Mitch Atwell, Jr. ran his stock .20 tunnel and raised the bar a few notches, setting both oval and SAW records. And then there were the Showers. What a crew. I've seen wolverines with less fight. These guys made a billion changes and a billion attempts, until they found one that worked (just at the last minute, none-the-less). We were literally packing up when I caught the red F mono from the corner of my eye, jumped on the clocks, and the rest is history. The whole family is a tight team and it shows. Excellent job...21.850 seconds.

This is no doubt the records trial that Glenn and I have been striving for. All of the support and help is more than appreciated, and I'm quite certain that everyone enjoyed themselves as much as we did. We should all be grateful that we live in a place where such recreation is even a possibility. We gripe about life and all of it's little quirks, and pitch a fit about little boats with little motors, but at least we're not sleeping in sand pits looking out for incoming mortar fire. Be thankful, and remember, they're just toys.

Jason O'Brien

Valdosta Model Boat Club