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9/9
Pictures of the qualifing runs today at Nashville. The U-16 Elstrom turned a 170+ mph lap. They over fueled, got fined
$100 but got to keep their time. Nashville TV called the Unlimiteds "The Nascar's of boat racing"
The results of todays testing;
U-16 Miss Elam 170.692
U-8 Miss LLumar Window Films 163.997
U-3 U-3 Racing 163.662
U-6 Oh Boy Oberto 157.563
U-100 Leland Racing 152.419
U-13 Spirit Of Detroit 152.033
U-2 Graham Trucking 150.379
U-25 Superior Racing 147.269
U-5 Miss Formula Power Boats 142.483
9/9
Live from Nashville. Greg qualified the U-100 at 152.419 mph. The U-16 Qualified at 169.847 on thus 2 mile egg shaped
course. Pictures to follow.
8/27
Pictures from the display at the Harvey Airfield Corn Roast Fly-In. It was a larger crowd than last year. Definitely
had more than one ear of corn. It was Great!!
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| Dot, Brent and Leroy enjoy some corn |
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| Beechcraft D-18 buzzes the airfield |
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| Corn roast |
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Picture of Jack Ady's Fairchild 71. Jerry Hopp and Steve Knopp completely recovered and painted this airplane in
the mid 1970's. Jerry and Steve owned Snohomish Aircraft Paint & Fabric at that time.
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8/16
Greg holds on to with the first ever Quicksilver Unlimited Light race in Silverdale Washington. The UL-72 Miss
Boat Electric was second. The race was very successful for a first race. The crew will be working to prepare the boat
for the San Diego race September 16-18.
8/8
Greg drives to victory in the Seattle Seafair race.
Jerry drove the boat to a win in the B Main heat, returning to driving after both knee replacements 5 months ago. Will
post more info shortly.
7/17
Greg WINS the Sweepstake race!!!!!!
Greg lead from wire to wire to win the Silver Cup. There were 8 boats competing from 4 different classes, UL, GP, GNH
and NM. Greg got a good start in lane 3 and was never headed. His name will now be on the trophy right next to Jerry's name.
Jerry won the Silver Cup last year. In Unlimited action Greg broke in heat 3-A and was towed back to the pits.
In heat 4-B Greg was right next to the U-16 going into the second turn. The U-16 hit some waves and slid out 3 lanes
and Greg got washed down. He restarted the engine and finished 3rd after the U-16 was penalized a lap for bearing out.
In heat 4-A the U-3 squeezed off the U-8 in roostertail turn and the U-8 went into the roostertail of the U-3 breaking
off the right sponson tip. The U-8 is done for the race. Greg made the final heat and starts in the front row.
In the final heat of the Gold Cup, the U-2 got pinched by the U-3 and went over. Greg started as trailer boat. When they
got back to the pits they found engine bad and had to withdraw from the rerun of the final.
In the Unlimited action yesterday Greg drove the Miss Rebecca U-100 sponsored by Bill and Happy Rands in honer of their
new Granddaugther 2 month old Rebecca Valente. Greg took 2nd in heat 1-A yesterday, U-8 took 1st place. In heat 2-A Greg took
a 3rd place. Greg drew into heat 3-A for today.
Brian Perkins drove the UL-1 to victory in heat 2-B to earn a spot in todays Silver Cup race here at the Detroit Gold
Cup. Brian's comments about having a chance to drive the Happy Go Lucky/Mike's Hard Lemonade: "Unbelievable, just unbelievable.
Wow!! That was great." Brian did a good filling in for Jerry while he is recovering from total knee replacements of both knees
3 months ago. Greg will drive the UL-1 in todays final.
7/16
The UL-1 wins heat 1-B here in the Detroit Sweepstakes race. 15 boats made up of National Mods, GNHs, GPs and of coarse
ULs. The Happy Go Lucky/Mike's Hard Lemonade was driven by Brian Perkins from the Seattle area. Brian had a blast driving
the fast yellow boat. Right now it is raining cats and dogs and the race is on hold. Greg will be driving the U-100 Miss Rebecca
in Heat 1-A of the Gold Cup.
7/15
Greg quaulified the U-100 Miss Rebecca today at 145 MPH and the U-16 Ellstrom blew over during qualifing breaking the
back of the boat up. Lot of repairs to do. Jerry took the Happy Go Lucky/Mike's Hard Lemonade out for a couple of laps but
was towed back in after the fuel pump wire shorted out in the cock pit filling it with smoke. Crew is doing some rewiring.
7/14
Pictures of the pit area in Detroit on Thursday.
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| Detroit pits Thursday |
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| UL-1 being set up in the pits |
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7/14 Pictures from Valleyfield
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| Greg and Patrick Hayward battle in the final |
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| Greg gets first place trophy at Valleyfield tower |
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| Greg, Justin, Leroy and Jerry at finish line dock |
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| UL-10 and UL-72 |
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| Greg and Jerry at finish line |
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| Justin and Grandpa Jerry at radio corral |
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| UL-1, UL-10 and UL-5 |
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7/14
Had no internet connection in Valleyfield. Greg won the race, Yahoo!!! We are now in Detroit setting the boat up for
testing tomorrow Friday for the sweepstakes race.
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| U-100 |
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| Nashville Pits |
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| Nashville |
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| U-16 |
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| U-5 |
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| U-6 |
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| U-2 |
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| U-8 |
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| Nashville |
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| Greg leading the start of the Unlimited final Evansville |
7/6
Made it to Detroit. We had dinner with Fred Alter last night and dropped off some Allison parts we hauled back here for
his vintage Unlimited project. Will leave for Valleyfield tomorrow.
7/5
Broke down in Wapakoneta Ohio yesterday on the way to Detroit. Lost a wheel bearing in the trailer. Justin has a picture
of it on his page today.
6/28/05
Haven’t had a good experience with WI-FI. Trying to get a good connection or just getting the laptop set up right.
I don’t get int. The weekend went well until the final heats for both the Unlimited and the Unlimited Light. Both were
engine related. We had oil pressure go away on the UL and Greg lead the Unlimited final for 3 laps when his engine turned
into a ball of flame. Defeat claimed from the jaws of victory. Have some cool pictures and will update Justin’s as soon
as we get a connection. Sandy from the Executive Inn, thanks for the good service. Turn em inside out 4 times right? Off to
Madison, Greg will BE THERE.
6/25/05
EVANSVILLE
Mike's Hard Lemonade/Happy Go Lucky is fastest qualifier at the Evansville Freedom Festiville.
UL-1 117.238
UL-72 116.120
UL-9 115.960
UL-5 113.937
UL-10 113.149
UL-40 106.011
UL-929 105.936
UL-19 101.401
6/22/05
Jerry, Leroy and Justin left town Sunday afternoon and drove to Spokane Washington. We stayed at long time friend, sponsor
and crew guy Pat Riggins. He fed us a rib dinner and cleaned up the boat. Monday morning we drove to Billings Montana and
stayed the night. Tried for a second night to get the laptop on line and couldn't do it. (help Jay). Tuesday we left Billings
and drove straight through to Evansville Indiana, 30 hours of driving and 1100 miles. Today (Wednesday) we went to Kelly's
Northside Chevrolet where we did a display last year. Todd Stephens the manager let us clean the road grim off the truck and
boat with the help of his detail crew. We will be doing a display there tomorrow. We are doing a display this afternoon at
East Evansville Comfort Inn. Handy how they have a little fishing pond right across the street. See Justin's page for info
and pictures.
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| Pat Riggins with boat at his mobile home |
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| Evansville East Comfort Inn |
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6/19/05
HOT NEW LOOK for the UL-1 FLAMES
Off to Evansville.
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| New Look |
6/16/05
The UL-1 will be sporting a "Hot" new look for the rest of the season. Stay tuned for some pictures before the boat leaves
town for Evansville. Still working too many hours on the boat. Everyone will be glad to see it leave town and get some peace
and quiet.
Mike's Hard Lemonade/Happy Go Lucky Sweeps Tastin' N Racin'.
6/12/05
Hopp Racing's UL-1 starts the season off right in a wind delayed race. Winning both of the preliminary heats Greg
Hopp drove to victory in the final heat from lane one. A fast Paul Droullard's UL-9 American Eagle took second and Mike Flaherty
driving the UL-72 Miss Boat Electric took third. Will have more info and pictures later today.
6/13/05
Some photo's from Sunday at Tastin' N Racin'
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| Start of UL heat 2-A |
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| Start of UL final heat |
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| UL-1 heat 2-A |
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| Back to the dock |
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6/11/05
Wind and rain bring a halt to action at TnR. Tom Eckenberg got his new UL-19 ZipFizz in the water for the first time
but didn't get to run because the wind came up. A few heats were run and racing will resume on Sunday.
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| UL-5 outside of turn 1 heat 1-A |
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| Vintage heat |
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| UL-19 ZipFizz gets wet for the 1st time heat 1-B |
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6/10/05
Setting up in the pits at TnR. The UL-1 gets out on the coarse Friday afternoon.
6/10/05
Photo's from yesterdays display at the Issaquah Albertsons. Today the UL-1 will go to the pits at Lake Sammamish State
Park. There is testing and qualification scheduled for this afternoon from 2pm to 6pm. Racing will be Saturday and Sunday.
6/8/05
The Mike's Hard Lemonade/Happy Go Lucky will be on display at the Albertsons store in Issaquah tomorrow 6/9/05 from 11am
to 3pm. Jerry will be there to sign autographs from 2pm to 3pm.
6/7/05
Here are some photo's of the Inboard and OPC action at the Entiat race. Many of these fast and exciting racers will be
at Tastin' N Racin' this weekend at Lake Sammamish.
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| 5 Litre Heat |
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| National Modified Heat |
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| 2.5 Modified Heat |
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| SST 120 Heat |
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| 1 Litre Stock |
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| 2.5 Litre Stock |
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6/4/05
The Mike's Hard Lemonade/Happy Go Lucky made it to Entiat to go testing. We made 2 runs and everything performed
well. A few glitches but all in all a good day. The weather was good and a good turn out of Inboards and OPC's. Back
home and get ready for Tastin n Racin June 10-12.
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| Back to the trailer |
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| Inboards at Entiat |
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| GP/UL-1 on the back stretch |
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| GP/UL-9 Paul Drollard |
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| GP/UL-1 & GP/UL-9 |
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| GP/UL-929 Vinny Xaudaro leaves the pits |
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6/3/05
After another 1:00AM in the morning shot and 11PM tonight the truck is packed and the boat decals are on we are ready
to head over to Entiat at 5am Saturday morning. Who needs sleep anyway.
6/2/05
The crew was busy installing more systems and the propshaft. After the sun set we pulled the boat outside and fired up
the engine. Everything checked out OK. Friday will be packing up for the SIRA race at Entiat this weekend for some testing.
Jimmy, Ed and Greg work on shaft |
Running engine Ed, Greg and Brent |
6/1/05
The engine goes back in the boat after a long winters nap.
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Randy P and Brent unload fuel drums |
Greg, Jimmy, and Shana put engine in |
6/1/05
Brand new gauge package and instrument panel supplied by our sponsors Nordskog Perfomance Products and Ed's Automotive
5/31/05
With the paint job all but wrapped up it is time to reapply the sponsor decals and continue to install the systems. Jay
Cuttyback owner of Touch of Color, makes the decals for the Mike's Hard Lemonade/Happy Go Lucky. Anyone catch the
MHL commercials during the running of the Indy 500?
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Jay "The Decal Guy" applying MHL decal
Greg and Randy H putting in systems
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5/29/05
Buff, buff, buff, and polish, polish, polish, will it ever end.
5/28/05
The crew installing systems and buffing the paint. Working away Dan, Brent, Shana, Tim, Brian, Jimmy, Ed and Greg.
5/27/05
Randy P and Jimmy buffing out the clear. Also working on their summer tan. Dan was seen with a buffer in hand and Rich
repacked the wheel bearings on the trailer.
5/26/05
Hopp Racing would like to thank Justin Weymouth of J.J.W. Construction Inc for letting us use his shop to paint our boat.
Justin runs a 2.5 Mod hydro and a 5 Litre hydro.
5/23/05
The boat has paint on and is loaded back on the trailer. Then it goes back to the shop at Harvey Airfield in Snohomish.
Still more small parts to paint and get the hardware and engine back in.
5/20/05
Crew loads the boat on the trailer and take it to Justin's paint shop.
Boat is put in the shop and masked for painting.
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Greg, Tim, Randy P, and Jimmy get boat on trailer |
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5/18/05
Getting close to paint. The deck is now primed. More sanding and put the
boat back on the trailer and take to paint shop.
5/12/05
The "to do list" has more things on it than the "can
do list". We won't be taking the boat to Tri-Cities Spring Training this Saturday 5/14. Work continues on the body work
on the deck and getting the boat ready to paint. We are shooting for painting the boat the weekend of May 21-22. If
it was easy everbody would do this.
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Engine bay painted yellow |
Working on cowl and tail fins |
5/9/05
Here are a few pictures of the work being done on
the boat. The midnight oil is being burned at full blast. The new deck pictures were just taken. Body work is in full swing
and the systems are going back in. Spring Training is in Tri-Cities this Saturday May 14th. Still trying to make it.
Jerry
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Greg prepping for new deck |
Bottom of boat is painted |
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7/14
Picture from Valleyfield.
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| Greg wins Valleyfield |
Here's what the Hopp Racing team does in the winter months "JUST FOR FUN".The engine in our hydro hauler was hurt coming
home from testing at Entiat last year. We nursed it around the country last year, finally we had to put a Caterpillar remanufactured
engine in it. It only took 4 months outside in the winter rain.
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| Truck after engine pulled |
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| Old engine |
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| Old engine |
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| Radiator and hood |
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| Engine out |
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| Engine out |
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10/3/05
Michael Flaherty in the Miss Boat Electric wins the battle at Port Angeles and Greg Hopp in the Mike's Hard Lemonade
won the war. Michael finished 1st in the final heat and won the race, Greg running for points in the lumpy course cruised
to second. Greg won the national boat Hi-point and the driver Hi-point for the season and the third year in a row for the
UL-1. Our registered number is UL-15 but get to run UL-1 for the next season by winning the Hi-point race. It was realy close
this year, winning by 83 points.
10/1
We are here in sunny Port Angeles. 2 heats of UL racing have been completed. In the very tight points race The UL-72
picked up 2 heat wins beating use in heat 2A. We won our other heat. Heat 3A&B and the final tomorrow. The UL web site
has live streaming video. Well worth looking at. See www.ulhra.org
9/6
Hopp Racing would like to welcome a new sponsor for the UL-1.
Chuck's Seafood Grotto & A Fresh Seafood Bar
Located at the north end of the Snohomish river bridge on 1st street in Historic Downtown Snohomish. They
have a full selection of fresh shellfish and seafood.
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| Chuck's Seafood Grotto |
9/21
A few pictures from the San Diego race. Wishing a speedy recovery to Kevin Alyesworth after his flip in the B Main heat.
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| Greg gets ready for the final heat |
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| Ed & Jerry with radio gear |
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| Greg wins the final heat |
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| Greg and Michele after win |
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9/19
Greg wins the San Diego Bill Muncey Cup. In a tight battle with Paul Droullard in the UL-9 and Michael Flaherty in the
UL-72 for the first and second laps, the UL-72 dropped a valve and finished 4th. The UL-9 pushed Greg on the last lap
and finished one roostertail behind at the finish. Al Carstensen finished 3rd in the U-6. Leroy and I are driving the boat
back to Snohomish. When I get home I have some pictures to share from San Diego. For more info on the race go to:
http://www.ulhra.org/news/news-05x09.htm#hopp-wins
9/16
Today we had a rudder problem and took everything apart and got it repaired. We'll see what happens tomorrow.
9/13
Well back from Nashville. Leroy and I grabbed the truck and the Mike's Hard Lemonade/Happy Go Lucky and headed for
the San Diego race today.
9/12
More pictures from Nashville. I fly home today and jump in the truck with Leroy and take the boat to the San Diego race
this weekend.
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| U-2 & U-3 Heat 1 |
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| Final start |
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| Final start U-6 & U-16 |
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| U-13 |
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| Water park viewing |
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| Log boom |
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| Log boom |
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9/11 6:20
LLumar Window Films wins the first ever Nashville Unlimited Hydroplane Race.
In a wild final heat the U-16, U-6 and the U-13 were penalized a lap for passing the score up buoy before the 40 second
gun. The U-16 was penalized another lap for being off plane 3 times. Ed Coopers U-3 and the Llumar U-8 trailed the field to
the start line. The U-3 pulled ahead of the Llumar be 3 roostertails. Coming off the final turn going to the finish line,
the Allison power craft lost a prop and came to a stop 300 yards from the finish. Order of finish.
U-8, U-6, U-13, U-16 and U-3 DNF.
9/11
Pictures from Sunday morning.
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| Greg and Sam Cole |
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| U-2 guys putting engine in boat |
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| U-3 getting ready |
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9-10 7:00 PM
This afternoon the U-16 set a 2 mile course record at 171.996. The U-25 raised their speed to 149.756 and the U-100 to
153.198. The race comittee decided to run Three three boat heats with three boats per heat. This is because the start finish
line to star buoy is too tight. Will have the heat draws tomorrow as the officials are still working on the draw.
9/10 12:00
One boat upped it's time this morning.
U-25 149.753
9/10 9:50 AM
Greg took the U-100 out this morning after changing an engine but compressor stalled and he brought it back in. The 3rd
qualifing sesion is about to begin.
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