• Race World Offshore's Mentor Race 2018, Very Interesting

    Race World Offshore's very first race was something else. Many things were working against the event, including weather and boat count, but my final opinion was completely different than what I expected. When all was said and done, I made the comment it was the most exciting offshore race event I've ever seen where a total of only 11 boats showed up to participate.



    The day started out with a slight drizzle. We had to be at the Priceless turn boat's slip by 9:30, so off to the Yacht Club it was. Pete Boden of Shoot 2 Thrill was going on Priceless, as was Jordan from the M-Con team to help with lap counting for the races. It was interesting as Priceless is owned by very good friends of the owner of the Cleveland Construction team, and Jordan was the only person who had team gear on which was not Cleveland Construction. She did make it back no problem though. Everybody I met on the boat, owners, captain, etc., before leaving to go shoot from shore was great. For those wondering, Priceless is a 94 Capri built by Hargrave. A great big thanks to our members, Inbetween here on Serious, for the assist in getting Pete on the boat.



    After leaving Pete and Jordan on the yacht, I had some time to kill I so went to visit the wet pits. Two of the boats were having problems. WHM had hurt an engine in testing the day before so was hoping to at least get a start before breaking completely. And CR Racing was battling gremlins in their outboard cat.





    After visiting the pits, it was off to watch the race from a friends house located at the west turn. The fog and overcast were pretty much going to make it impossible to get any good shots, but it was looking to be an interesting race. The swells were between 3 and 5 feet and would be quartering the race course. The chop on top of the swells was around another foot. When I arrived at my location, I immediately noticed that Priceless was heading the wrong direction on the course. What the heck? So I contacted Pete on the boat and he said they were heading back in to drop off some seasick people.

    Afterwards both Jordan and Pete said they did not go downstairs in the cabin, so they did not have to see or smell the problem. Smart!!

    Pete also said it was pretty funny when they were leaving the boat basin and heading out towards the lake. Because there were large quartering swells, the captain had to pick up speed to maintain proper headway when approaching the mouth entering Lake Erie. When they hit the first of the large swells, there were people all over the lounges out on the bow. The nose of the yacht got buried, and everyone out there got soaked. Oops,
    . Shortly after, watching the yacht come back out going pretty slow after disposing of the pukers, I could still see water coming over the bow on occasion. Nobody was out front anymore though. Wonder why?

    So here we are, the race boats haven't even left the wet pits, and I'm already having a great time cracking up. The only negative, besides the weather so far, it was so rough Priceless anchored in front of me instead of at the opposite end of the course a couple miles away. I'd have to look at Boden all day.


    Shortly after they were in position, it was race time. The first boat out was WHM taking it slow so they could save the bad engine and hopefully get at least a start. I told Billy in the pits to try to get a flyby of the yacht where Pete was at, but he wasn't sure they'd make it even that far. He did say at least it was on the way to the pits so there would be a chance.



    The 6 boats who would be in the first heat were: Wake Effects in the Extreme class and WHM, M-Con, Cleveland Construction, Performance/Jimmy John's, and MGI in Supercat. MGI failed the tech inspection the day before with a compression ratio of, (I heard), 10:1 on a maximum allowed of 9.5:1. So they were penalized with a 500 Lb. extra weight disadvantage. But, because of the conditions, I'm not sure that would be much of a penalty if it was placed in the right position. Now, time for the start.

    As they came down the first straight, there was some huge air. Later they told me it was so rough the paceboat took them about 30 yards and quickly green-flagged the race, (I'm guessing that was a bit of an exaggeration). Here is a shot about a mile away as they are heading down the first straight.




    At the beginning of the race, M-Con just ran away from the rest of the boats. They had the setup right it appeared. After exiting turn one it was M-Con first, Cleveland second, MGI third, Performance fourth, and WHM down for the count. Wake Effects was running way on the outside to stay away from the Supercats.







    M-Con was way out front for the first couple laps, then the pack started catching them. On lap 2 it was M-Con first, Performance second, Cleveland third, and MGI fourth. Lap 3 stayed the same. Lap 4 was Performance first, M-Con second, and Cleveland third. Laps 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 was Cleveland first, Performance second, and M-Con third. On the last lap, Performance squeezed by at the end for the win.


    A couple terrible shots to show what the racers were putting up with, (and the helicopter).



    This was supposed to be the first heat of two for the class. They were planning on coming back out after the Stock Outboards and Super Vee Lites ran the second race. Then the finishes from the two heats would be combined to determine the winners.

    The second race had one Super Vee Lite - Octane, and four Stock Cat Outboards - Advanced Sleeve, FJ Propellor, Team Allen Lawn Care, and the previously mentioned CR Racing. Octane ran about five of the scheduled laps, then went in. CR Racing also ran about the same amount of laps, and also went in. The gremlin issue had not been completely solved it appeared. FJ Propeller took the lead right away, and never relinquished it. Allen Lawn Care ran in second most of the race, but Advanced Sleeve reined them in with a couple laps to go, passed them for a bit, then on the next lap were almost half a straightaway behind by the time they returned. I wouldn't find out why until later. The three finished in that order.








    Towards the end of the race you could hardly see the boats in the front stretch, and they would disappear in the back stretch. This pic is where Advanced Sleeve had reined in Allen Lawn Care with a couple laps to go. This will give you an idea of what was going on.



    After race two, it was time for the second heat of the Supercats. After a bit, we were notified there was a 45 minute delay because the local airport had put the area on IFR due to the fog. So, the helicopters couldn't fly. A little after 3:00, when the 45 minutes had expired, we were notified the race had been cancelled due to the lack of visibility.

    After the race it was interesting talking with some of the racers. M-Con, who looked to be able to run away at the start, had the setup just right. They said they had actually slowed down on purpose because they were running away so quickly. But, as they went on, the boat started to handle worse and worse. They kept trimming down farther and farther until they couldn't anymore and still got passed.

    After the race, when they were trying to figure out what went wrong, they found that their steel shot ballast bags, approximately 200 lbs. in each nose, had broken so the shot went through the drain holes all the way to the transom and their weight to keep the nose down was all in the back. Oops.
    Needless to say, they were very disappointed when the second heat was cancelled. They thought they had it!

    Cleveland, who had passed both M-Con and Performance to take the lead, was several boat lengths ahead on the last lap and almost positive they had the win. Then, the engine alarms went off. When they looked at the gauges one engine was at 205 and showed no water pressure. They quickly had to back off to shut down and try not to blow up the engine. When they did, the pressure came right back up and the engine cooled right back down. Evidently a piece of plastic, or seaweed, or something else had covered the pickup until they slowed. However, before they got back up to speed again Performance had gone by right before the last corner, and they couldn't get back past them before the flag. They were only a few boat lengths behind at the flag. Oops.


    In Stock Outboard, there was a totally different set of problems.

    When I chatted with Gary Ballough, who won the race in FJ Propeller, he said they had a issue that was driving them nuts. Because the water was so rough, they would hit hard and water would come in around the tunnel escape hatch edges. The weather cold front had come through, and the difference in temperature between the water and air was causing the fog issues shown in the pictures above. Well, it was also causing the inside of the boat to fog up. He said they would have to slow and take turns wiping off the inside of the windshield to see where they were going.

    He said he tried wrapping a towel around his foot and wiping the windshield as he drove. But then, he hit a large wave, and said he was afraid he'd broken his leg on the dash he hit so hard. No more of that.

    One time, he thought his spot for going east he had in sight, (the lighthouse at the State Park), but come to find out it was a sailboat out in the lake and he was headed for Canada.

    Ryan Beckley, who had made the pass to briefly move into second place with Advanced Sleeve, said the reason they ended up so far behind after that lap; they had to come to a complete stop and wipe off the windshield before they could continue. They could not see at all.

    Jim Simmons in the only SVL, Octane, said he had the same issue but when it was steamed up and they were wiping the windshield down they almost ran into shore. He thought those on shore probably wondered what the heck they were doing. After that happened, he decided they were going in.

    As I said, very interesting. Three different leaders in Supercat, with a pass on the last lap for first. Boats almost running into shore. Other boats heading for Canada and a tight race with passing near the end for second place.

    Other items of interest: Race World Offshore has changed the rules for weigh-in. Now the weight of the throttle-man and driver in the boat are part of the total weight. So, us fat guys have a chance again against those skinny guys. I love it!!

    I was also impressed that they were going to run two 10 lap races in Supercat instead of one 18 lap race. I firmly believe that makes the event much more exciting for the fans. It is too bad it didn't work out due to the fog. However, the second race most likely would not have happened if the first race had not been shortened by half.

    All in all, the most exciting 11 boat event I have ever attended, period. Big water, major lead changes, soaked spectators, seasick sightseers, and other great stories. Just glad I wasn't part of the frustrated teams in Cleveland or M-Con.

    Till next time.


    Comments 12 Comments
    1. SC288's Avatar
      SC288 -
      Have you heard if Cleveland Construction and WHM are going to be ready for Michigan City this weekend?
    1. Ratickle's Avatar
      Ratickle -
      Yes, both will be there.

      As will AMH.
    1. SC288's Avatar
      SC288 -
      Awesome....hoping for good weather and water for them this weekend!
    1. Ratickle's Avatar
      Ratickle -
      Are you watching from your boat?
    1. SC288's Avatar
      SC288 -
      Hard to say....depends on weather and water conditions. We usually decide Sunday morning.
    1. Ratickle's Avatar
      Ratickle -
      I'll keep an eye out.
    1. SC288's Avatar
      SC288 -
      We will be on the 800 dock next to the pits...it's the furthest pier north. Got rid of the Sunny and have a 37' AT....need to change my avatar lol.
    1. inbetween's Avatar
      inbetween -
      Great article Paul! Maybe next year, if there is a race next year, you'll have more time and we can get out on the boat for lunch or dinner on the Saturday before the race.
    1. phragle's Avatar
      phragle -
      Quote Originally Posted by inbetween View Post
      Great article Paul! Maybe next year, if there is a race next year, you'll have more time and we can get out on the boat for lunch or dinner on the Saturday before the race.
      Cigarette logo Adam??
    1. Ratickle's Avatar
      Ratickle -
      Quote Originally Posted by phragle View Post
      Cigarette logo Adam??
      Check here: http://seriousoffshore.com/forums/sh...e=3&highlight=
    1. inbetween's Avatar
      inbetween -
      Quote Originally Posted by phragle View Post
      Cigarette logo Adam??
    1. Ratickle's Avatar
      Ratickle -
      Phrag must still be stunned.