The Final - - - It all comes down to this... The entire 2003 season has now been decided! Jerry Hopp and the UL-15 Mike's Hard Lemonade / Happy Go Lucky team win Strait Thunder and take the Unlimited Light Hydroplane Racing Association Boat Championship for 2003. At the same time, driver Phil Bononcini took the Unlimited Light Hydroplane Racing Association Driver Championship for 2003. Congratulations to the UL-15 team for taking Port Angeles! Here's how the final shaped up... 1st
- UL-15 Mike's Hard Lemonade
/ Happy Go Lucky (Jerry Hopp) Outstanding weather greeted the final here in Port Angeles, Washington. Everyone had a great time... outstanding crowd, vendors and a great event! In the final, it would be the UL-15 and the UL-72, the soon to be National High Points Team and Driver respectively, going deck-to-deck, neck and neck offering up a race that would feature two of a growing number of stars which established themselves during 2003. Behind the leaders, the UL-14 and the UL-136 would duel for third. The UL-17 went down on the 4th lap following a bounce and hard landing. He lost a prop during that landing. The UL-5's engine gave out. The UL-51 was an alternate, ran half a lap and returned to the pits as appropriate. This was a great race. It's the kind of finale that makes us all yearn for the start of the 2004 season... See you there... Sunday at Port Angeles Visibility has greatly improved today as it's race day at Strait Thunder! Between some of the racing we've enjoyed outstanding vintage air force flyovers as well this weekend. Heat 2A Results Heat 2B Results Draw for Heat 3A - UL-5,
UL-15, UL-17, UL-51, UL-58, UL-929 Heat 3A Results Heat 3B Results Line-up for the B Main - UL-19, UL-58, UL-929, UL-51, UL136, UL-14 1st - UL-136 La
Cucharacha/Llumar Window Film (Brian Perkins) Following the heat, the UL-19 had sponson damage. The UL-58 had a rough time out as well. Talking with Dawn Barnes, the UL-58 hit some floating debris which put a hole in the boat and caused it to sink. The shaft and prop held up, as was engineered by John and Ping. The coupler disconnected from the motor when Ping tried to refire and take off again, as he didn't know there was a hole or that the boat was filling with water. The weight of the water when boat tried to jerk forward apparently caused the coupler to disconnect. The hull almost totally sank at the dock." The UL-136 and the UL-14 advance to the final. We'll return with the final... Saturday Heat 1A and 1B Heat 1A Results Vince Xaudaro and the UL-929 led the first lap, but was first overtaken by Phil Bononcini in the UL-72 then Jerry Hopp in the UL-15. Hopp would move to last following the penalty. Heat 1B Results Rick Bridgeman ran away with this one with George Woods chasing, but unable to catch the front runner. The battle to watch this time out was between the UL-19 and the UL-5. Deck-to-deck all the way! Saturday at Port Angeles Here are your draws for Heat
1A and 1B The race course this weekend is a 1.25 mile course and the boats will be running four lap heats. Mike Flaherty has been recognized as an alternate driver this weekend. Ed Nelson will serve as chief referee today. Greg Hopp will serve as driver's representative. Shawn Bridgeman will cover the radio corral. Rick and Bill Nystrom are on site helping. Bob Allison and the Region 10 Safety/Rescue will be overseeing the racing. Frieda Eng will be the chief medical person and, for the first time, breathalyzer tests were administered to the drivers... everyone passed with flying colors! Fog delay has hampered the action a bit today. We were able to get in a qualification session, but racing remains on hold. Here are your speeds... UL-15 Mike's Hard Lemonade
/ Happy Go Lucky (Jerry Hopp) ... 117.157 The UL-40 Front Page 2003 went out twice. The first time they suffered a capsule lid problem but the second time was a successful run. The 5 Liters went out, but suffered an early incident (one ran over another in competition). No one was hurt, but the 5 Liter boat count was reduced. More once the fog lifts... Friday - Late afternoon update ... taking a look around the pits! In the pits so far, we have the UL-17 Miss Ted's Red Apple Market (Rick Bridgeman), the UL-58 SharePoint Portal Server 2003 ("Ping" Conflitti), the UL-15 Mike's Hard Lemonade / Happy Go Lucky (Jerry Hopp), the UL-136 La Cucharacha IV (Brian Perkins), UL-72 Graham Trucking (Phil Bononcini), the UL-5 San Diego Thunderboats presents Freedom Racing (Kevin Aylesworth) and the UL-929 Microsoft Office Project (Vince Xaudaro). The UL-51 Security Race Products (George Woods) is in the area, but on display at a local casino. In addition to the growing Unlimited Light fleet, the Lighter than Lights are arriving as well. UL-72's Joe Frauenheim has brought his Jersey Speed Skiff and took photographer Mark Sharley (who's work we feature regularly here on www.ulhra.org) for a wild ride!
It's a bit foggy this evening, but the water is absolutely terrific. The town is quite excited by the race and had signs up throughout the city. Many fans are touring the pits checking out the fleet. Action begins at 9:00 AM tomorrow. The Lights take to the water at 10:00 AM for testing, but the beer garden, food and vendor booths open at 9:00. Gates open at 8:00 AM. Schedule for Saturday... 10:00
AM to 11:30 PM - Testing 
Copyright © 2000 Unlimited Light
Hydroplane Racing Association |
