December, 2000 A holiday message from ULHRA Commissioner Patricia Darling
Looking back over the year, I am remembering the great times, new winners, new boats and new drivers ... you just can't describe those smiles. Tough times -- Charley's accidents and his retirement, and then losing George. And so our family pulled together to support each other. At this season, I can say, the Christmas Lights are burning even brighter than ever. There are new boats and new teams coming on board for 2001 and the excitement is building!!! We have commitments (both verbal and written) from a number of race sites and are working hard to get a schedule together for St. Louis. I hope to see many of you there. On the Christmas scene: the bright star of the Lights is the new President, Joe Frauenheim. I see this as an exceptionally good choice. Joe is hard working, honest, intelligent, excited, and he is genuinely interested in supporting ALL the teams. I am personally grateful to him for taking the wheel and giving me the opportunity to step back and spend some time on other endeavors. I do continue to do some work at the behest of the Board. Of course Joe has great assistance from Carl Haas, Bob Larimore and John O'Brien. Also he and Bo have set up a marketing team to seek series and race sponsorships. Now for the tree top ... our ever wonderful Angels, Cindy and Chuck. Where on earth would we be without their help? And EACH of you is a gift under my tree. Blessings and peace, A new website for the UL-333 Demon Chaser! David Coes sent us the following update on his new website... "I would like to invite you to my web site at www.demonchaserracing.com. The site is actually under construction but Ray Downes has been gracious enough to manipulate a picture of the newly finished Demon Chaser GNH/UL 333 on the home page of the site so those who are interested can get a preview. For those of you who may not know, the Demon Chaser in a previous life was the Flyin' Hawaiian, piloted by Brian Reynolds to the current world records in the 1 mi and 1 and 1/4 mi lap courses. Before that, she was a world record holder known as the Shazam, driven by John Prevost. Originally constructed in 1984 by Ed Karlsen, she has been reworked over the last 2 and 1/2 years by a virtual "who's who" in the boat building world. We will run the 2001 season. An entire history of the boat, including pictures will be posted on the site as soon as time permits."
Great news as we look forward to seeing the Demon
Chaser out on the water in 2001! A sad day in Madison, Indiana... Yesterday we learned that the building that houses Hinkle's Sandwich Shop was
involved in a fire and it is considered a total loss. As you can see from our
last story just below, Hinkle's is the sponsor of the Joe Marshall's UL-33
unlimited light. Hinkle's Sandwich Shop has been a Madison landmark for quite a
while. We extend our sympathy and offer our sincere hope that the business will
be able to reopen soon! Looking back on the UL-33 and Madison Denny Jackson, long time hydro fan and driver of Joe
Marshall's UL-33 Hinkle's Sandwich Shop, offers fans a nice look back on their
race weekend at the 2000 Madison Regatta. Just stop
by his website and look for the section titled "Hinkle's (GNH/UL-33)".
Denny has about twenty-seven shots from the race weekend. The movie "Madison" set to premiere! The movie "Madison" has been accepted for the
Premieres section of the 2001 Sundance Film Festival! ULHRA's own Jerry
Hopp (UL-15), among others, took part in the filming of the movie. The
film is good news for the entire hydro community as an entirely new audience
gets a chance to see these hydro
classics on the big screen. You can get all the details on Hydros
under the recent story titled "'Madison'
movie selected to premiere at Sundance!" A quick UL-4 update from Fred Farley! The following report is from the UL-4 Unlimited Light Racing Team, owned by Mike McCormick of Philpot, Kentucky. The boat needs one more coat of glass. Mike has cut a hole in the bottom for the escape hatch. The team still needs to finish the canopy and the cockpit, plus paint the boat. The engine is almost finished. The UL-4 is expected to debut in 2001 at Evansville, Indiana. The craft formerly raced in the Unlimited Class and was previously owned by John Prevost of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Prevost campaigned it in 1986 as MISS MERCRUISER and finished fifth in the Unlimited race at Miami, Florida. The boat later participated in Jerry Schoenith's shortlived Automotive Thunderboat Association series. This is the first boat, originally intended for Unlimited racing, to be modified for Unlimited Light competition. She was designed by Ed Karelsen and built by David Williams, both of Seattle, Washington. Mike McCormick is the son of the late Gold Cup champion Jim McCormick and is a veteran Limited inboard driver. Mike made his UL debut in the 1999 Madison Regatta. (As reported to Fred Farley by UL-4 crew member Bob
Teklinski.) Inboard capsule training announced in Region 3 Inboard Capsule Training will be held in conjunction with the Region 3 Inboard Banquet on Saturday, February 24, 2001 from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Wyndham Hotel, Mount Laurel, NJ (exit 4 on the NJ Turnpike) from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. For all the details, visit the full announcement on the APBA website, www.apba.org. Click here for updates from November, 2000.
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Greetings to all,