• A Visit with Team CRC

    by Jeff Dieringer



    One of the most respected teams on and off the water is Team CRC, sponsored by Columbia Rim Corporation. Their current MTI 850 Supercat has been a mainstay on the offshore racing circuit and has carried the teammates Tim McDonald and Mike DeFrees to more than a few podium finishes.

    Driver Mike DeFrees owns Columbia Rim and throttleman Tim McDonald is the owner of Oregon Custom Marine.
    A special thanks to our field reporter Jeff Dieringer. He called upon his existing friendship with the CRC team to bring us this inside look into their operation. Thanks also go out to our friends at Shoot2Thrill and FreezeFrame Video for their contributions to the story.

    I had the pleasure of visiting with Tim McDonald and Mike DeFrees during the Portland Boat Show this past month. Appropriately enough, we sat in one of Oregon Custom Marine’s P-1 raceboats. This is a twin to the boat that Mike and Tim drove to a San Diego Bayfair victory a few months ago. If success is the junction of good timing, good planning and good people then it’s no mystery why this team gets the gold right out of the gate.
    Serious Offshore: So, what part of the country do you come from?
    Tim: I grew up in Oregon and have been here all my life.
    Mike: I’m born and raised in Washington and I still live there, just outside of Vancouver.
    Serious Offshore: Tell me how you guys first met.
    Mike: I guess it was at a poker run in central Oregon about ten years ago.
    Tim: Yeah, I’m pretty sure that it was the first OCM sponsored poker run up at Lake Billy Chinook not too far outside of Bend Oregon.
    Mike: I think I was running my 34’ DCB then.
    Serious Offshore: So top notch machinery is a habit; I’d like to find out about how you both got started in boats – what’s your background?
    Tim: Well, my dad raced boats so it might be in my blood a bit although my first boat was a fairly humble 16’ Larson with a 175hp outboard. I worked at a few things until about 15 years ago when I ended up at a local dealership selling boats. I guess driving and being involved with higher performance boats kind of re-lit the go fast torch. Ruby and I started our current company back in 2001. Our niche is performance boats with an emphasis on offshore.
    Mike: Since I’d been a Mopar enthusiast since I was a kid, it’s no surprise that I put a modified street Hemi between the stringers of a 16’ Hallett.
    Serious Offshore: I’m starting to see how the progression started.
    Mike: I’m absolutely hooked on the thrill of speed; cars, snowmobiles and of boats. When I race I’m really only interested in first place, winning – period.
    Tim: (laughing) ditto, but I’m not about ready to keep up with him on snowmobiles.
    Serious Offshore: So how about the overall “joy of boating”, family time etc.?
    Tim: Maybe, but for me, it’s really the thrill of speed, like Mike said – winning!



    Serious Offshore: Ok, I get it. Give us the rundown on your current boats.
    Tim: That may take awhile we’ve got a decent inventory of beautiful machinery; probably best to go to our OCM website.
    Serious Offshore: Fair enough, I know that I’ve enjoyed being out in some of your Nordics, Spectre’s and Nortech’s. Mike, give me the details of your raceboats.
    Mike: Of course, we’re sitting in a P-1 raceboat identical to the boat that Tim and I campaigned and will spend more seat time in 2012. After my DCB our company acquired a couple of Randy Schism built MTI’s. Our winningest boat is the 42 foot Mercury Racing equipped MTI 850 Supercat. It has been a dominant competitor since 2004, acquiring several National and World Championships. Even though it is a lighter layup boat, it’s really a bulletproof machine from a hull and powertrain standpoint.
    Serious Offshore: I can remember 25-30 years ago the amount of time, money and staff that it took to campaign a boat at this level? What’s been your experience during the past several seasons? Tim, you might be too young to remember those times.
    Tim: (chuckling) I’ll just not say anything about your age.
    Serious Offshore: Thanks – I think….
    Mike: Our race team size is about4 people which is pretty minimal compared to past years. This is pretty much because of engine and drive reliability. It’s not unusual for CRC to go a complete season on the same motors. We’ve spent considerable time strategically and intelligently setting up the boat and its rigging to be spot on. This has saved us time, money and frustration and of course puts us in the winner’s circle a lot.



    Serious Offshore: Tim has been driving CRC for awhile, so Mike, what did you notice about Tim that inspired you to partner with him on the circuit?
    Mike: I noticed during the poker runs and other outings that he’s comfortable around boats and is an all around good driver. I guess in a word, he’s a natural. Of course we had to “get in sync” and be compatible in our throttling and driving styles. I have a habit of coming into the turns pretty “hot” and this took some getting used to on Tim’s part; obviously he’s getting the hang of it.
    Tim: That’s for sure! It takes some real trust that your throttleman is going to back off in time to not roll the boat. Now, spinning out, that’s part of the game, but we’ve seen some serious stuff this season.
    Serious Offshore: You guys seem fairly relaxed and laid-back, but you both obviously have a pretty intense desire to win. This brings me to another question, what incident or incidents have tested your cool or what is the scariest moment of your racing career or boating in general for that matter?
    Mike: Hands down it had to be Puerto Rico in 2006. The sea state was incredible at nearly 10’. It actually felt like the boat was going to break into pieces. I would look backward and see the Budweiser Boat insanely high up in the air and see it come crashing down and I thought to myself – are we doing the same thing? Of course the boat held together which is another reason why I respect the layup and construction expertise of Randy Scism at MTI.
    Tim: It had to be Key West this past year during the Worlds; in fact it was Saturday during testing. We had just come around turn 1 where the course intersects the Atlantic. This is where the water goes from about 2-3’ to 5-7’, it’s a real wall. We stood the boat up real high and real long; I actually saw the horizon shift from left to right twice and figured this is it. When we landed, we both just kind of looked at each other.
    Serious Offshore: Would you guys mind sharing some of your thoughts about the events at the Worlds in Key West?
    Tim: We went down with a lot of optimism and excitement this year. After the Big Thunder accident there was a definite pall hanging over everyone. I had a bit of anxiousness because you’re more aware of what the stakes are. I’m sure Ruby my wife was more concerned too. After the second accident and the third death, it just brought it home even more.
    Mike: Yeah, there was no mistaking the sense of loss in the air. We came to race and that’s what the guys who we lost would have wanted us to do. I think we gave it 100% but, yeah we were thinking about our mortality more.
    Serious Offshore: How about the Warpaint incident?
    Tim: We were going along behind Billy Mauff in WHM and that’s where our focus was at the time. Warpaint was off to the left and we barely noticed some white water when they just disappeared. When we came back around the course Warpaint’s bow was up and the stern looked like it was sinking. Apparently they must have been under for quite awhile after stuffing.
    Serious Offshore: Tim brought up your wife’s concern. How do your wives process your racing activities?
    Tim: I’m a dad too, so my wife Ruby has her concerns but is pretty gung-ho about boating and supports me.
    Mike: (grinning) My wife Christi is overall supportive but she would prefer that we keep it under 200.
    Serious Offshore: Seems like a reasonable request. What’s on the docket for future projects business and racing wise?
    Mike: CRC will keep up our development work and hopefully be involved in supporting the local performance boat scene. We’ve hosted a number of poker run dinners at our marina complex in the past. We had so much fun in the P-1 boat this past year, I’m looking forward to more of it in 2012; the field is well populated and that’s important.
    Tim: Well for Oregon Custom Marine, we are getting up to speed with our Lake Havasu store and I’m jazzed about that. Racing wise, I’m excited to do more in the P-1 class. Martin Sanborn was just here at our booth and he thinks that this is the shape of things to come and I definitely see his point.