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The U.S. A-Team began its 2016 campaign for the World OSY-400 Championship in early spring when the A-Teams newest driver, west coast hot shoe Kyle Lewis, flew east to race one of the A-Teams three O’Connor hydroplanes at The South Shore Outboard Association’s spring Ice Breaker Regatta in Standish Maine on May 26-27. Travelling all the way from Seattle, Washington, Lewis was picked up at Logan International Airport by team captain Billy Allen on Thursday and after a one night stay at The Parke Avenue Speedboat Club in Squantum, the pair headed north to the nether reaches of New England where Lewis planned to familiarize himself with the “Left Coast Ghost” boat which he would be driving at the World Championship race later that summer on July 23rd-24th in the powerboat racing mecca of Tallinn, Estonia. “I didn’t want Kyle getting in the boat for the first time at the World Championship” stated the team captain. “I thought it was important for him to get comfortable in the rig and travelling all the way from Seattle also demonstrated his high level of commitment to the race”.
After a busy day of testing on Friday the set-up adjustments were complete, the exact prop was selected and the beautifully painted red #93 was ready for racing action on Saturday morning. Lewis delivered his own brand of west coast cool to Region One as he practiced his yoga positions in his skin tight black stretch pants in the pits under the sideways glances of his bearded, plaid shirted Yankee competitors. It wasn’t long however before his friendly personality overcame any trepidation by the New England racing crowd and he was offered to drive in several other classes besides the one he came for, OSY-400. Also joining the team for the race was the team’s Director of Video Operations Valerie Lighthart from Germantown, Wisconsin who would be gathering film footage for a documentary of the A-Teams trip to Estonia.
With Lewis safely returned to Logan on Monday morning it was back to the grind of getting ready for The World Championship as Billy and Racer Allen, along with the team’s other driver, Mike Akerstrom from Westford, Massachusetts, put in a heavy three weeks of testing and preparation of the teams other two hydros as the June 13th shipping date loomed closer.
On shipping day the container was loaded without incident for the long journey to Estonia by Billy Allen and longtime Team Scott member Jeff Thompson at the warehouse facility of Cool Air Creations in Smithfield, Rhode Island, the same place where the team purchases all of their great looking uniforms and apparel. As the container doors swung shut the Team Captain looked skyward and said a silent prayer to the heavens that the boats and equipment would reach the busy port of Tallinn in one piece and on time. However, as this team has learned by now, when international shipping is concerned, there are almost always unforeseen obstacles.
As the Teams July 19th departure date drew closer, there were occasional emails exchanged between the A-Team’s Director of Administration, Rachel Warnock and the shipping company to ensure that the boats would be safely at the Port of Tallinn on or before the teams previously selected date of July 20. Warnock was reassured numerous times that all was in order up until July 15th when an email was received from the team’s Estonian contact and Race Director, Algo Kuus, that he had heard from the customs clearance agent in Estonia that the ship carrying their container would not be docking until the day before the race. This email was quickly forwarded to the A-Teams shipping company and it was soon discovered that the container had missed being put on the previously selected feeder vessel to Tallinn due to congestion at the Port of Hamburg Germany. Team Captain Billy Allen was once again chewing his fingernails as he wrestled with both a yearly attack of anxiety and the decision whether or not to put his team on the plane to Tallinn. After several days and more emails between the A-Team, Estonian customs, the shipping company and the race organizers, it was determined that the ship had a more that 50 percent chance of making it to the port and cleared through customs by Friday, July 22nd. The first day of racing was on Saturday the 23rd. The decision was then made for the team to take the chance and fly to Tallinn.
Arriving in Tallinn on Wednesday afternoon were The 2016 U.S. A-Team crew of Billy and Racer Allen, Rachel Warnock, Kyle Lewis and Mike Akerstrom, Alan Akerstrom, Lois and Dudley Smith, Photographer David Recht, and Valerie Lighthart. The team had previously planned to use Thursday as a set up day in the crowded pits but could now only literally sit and wait for their ship to come in. The latest report from their very competent customs clearance agent was that their container would be arriving on Thursday evening and would be expedited as priority cargo off of the ship and cleared through Estonian customs on Friday morning.
As the team then prepared to explore the historic city of Tallinn on Thursday, they were once again horrified when word came via text that the paperwork forwarded from their U.S. shipping company was improperly submitted. Rachel and Billy then scrapped their sightseeing plans and Rachel went to work in the hotel room struggling with the U.S. to Estonia time difference with emails, phone calls and texts while Billy laid on the bed trying his hardest not to puke. The clock was ticking on the A-Team. After another full day of work the details once again seemed to be ironed out and the team was assured that the container had a good chance of clearing customs some time on Friday.
On Friday at 9:00am the call came in from the team’s Estonian contact, Algo Kuus that the boats would be released and could be unloaded from the container within the hour. The elated team members then piled into the rental car and followed Algo 20 miles to the unloading facility in Maardu, Estonia. Upon arrival, Algo checked in at the office and reported to the team members that the container was being put on a truck at the port and would be there shortly. As Video Director Valerie Lighthart continued to document the events she decided to get some words from Algo about directing the World Championship race. When she approached Algo, who was sitting in his car talking on the phone with the customs clearance agency he said “get Billy, there is another problem”. This time it was a big one. The paperwork from American shipper for a temporary import was missing the most important page with the required stamps from United States Customs. Once again Rachel, now sitting in the back of the rental car, got on the phone to the United States fighting the time difference and trying to straighten out another shipping problem. It was now past 11 am. Tick tock.
Now it was time for Estonian Race Director Algo Kuus to come to the rescue of The U.S. A-Team. Without the proper United Stated customs stamps on the import papers there was literally no way that Estonian customs could legally release the container. The only other option was for the Estonian Racing Federation to post a bond equaling the value of the shipment which was thousands of euros. The U.S. A-Team now headed 20 miles through traffic back to the Estonian Racing Club where Algo had an office. Algo now tabled his duties as Race Director for the benefit of The U.S. A-Team and all the Americans could do was once again sit and wait. Tick tock.
Finally, at 5pm on Friday, a weary Algo Kuus emerged from his office and stated to the Americans, “I think we can go and get your boats now”. With trepidation combined with renewed hope, the U.S. A-Team once again piled into their rental car and followed Algo, now traveling in a van equipped with a trailer hitch, the 20 miles back to the container unloading facility, where, after another 20 minute wait, the truck carrying the container, which had left Cool Air Creations six weeks prior, pulled into the unloading facility and was hastily unloaded by the frazzled Americans. Stop the clock.
As the van towing the three American boats pulled into the pits at 6:30 on Friday evening, a round of applause went up inside the big enclosed tent where an open UIM Meeting was now taking place. Unbeknownst to The Americans, the plight of their shipping and customs clearance woes had been circulating throughout the pits for the entire day and most everyone was relieved to see the trailer carrying the red, white and blue hydros finally arrive. The U.S. A-Team then went to work with a renewed sense of urgency, unpacking plastic bins, erecting ez-ups and boat dollies, unloading boats, assembling engines and of course, hoisting the long awaited American Flags in their pit area.
After a busy day of testing on Friday the set-up adjustments were complete, the exact prop was selected and the beautifully painted red #93 was ready for racing action on Saturday morning. Lewis delivered his own brand of west coast cool to Region One as he practiced his yoga positions in his skin tight black stretch pants in the pits under the sideways glances of his bearded, plaid shirted Yankee competitors. It wasn’t long however before his friendly personality overcame any trepidation by the New England racing crowd and he was offered to drive in several other classes besides the one he came for, OSY-400. Also joining the team for the race was the team’s Director of Video Operations Valerie Lighthart from Germantown, Wisconsin who would be gathering film footage for a documentary of the A-Teams trip to Estonia.
With Lewis safely returned to Logan on Monday morning it was back to the grind of getting ready for The World Championship as Billy and Racer Allen, along with the team’s other driver, Mike Akerstrom from Westford, Massachusetts, put in a heavy three weeks of testing and preparation of the teams other two hydros as the June 13th shipping date loomed closer.
On shipping day the container was loaded without incident for the long journey to Estonia by Billy Allen and longtime Team Scott member Jeff Thompson at the warehouse facility of Cool Air Creations in Smithfield, Rhode Island, the same place where the team purchases all of their great looking uniforms and apparel. As the container doors swung shut the Team Captain looked skyward and said a silent prayer to the heavens that the boats and equipment would reach the busy port of Tallinn in one piece and on time. However, as this team has learned by now, when international shipping is concerned, there are almost always unforeseen obstacles.
As the Teams July 19th departure date drew closer, there were occasional emails exchanged between the A-Team’s Director of Administration, Rachel Warnock and the shipping company to ensure that the boats would be safely at the Port of Tallinn on or before the teams previously selected date of July 20. Warnock was reassured numerous times that all was in order up until July 15th when an email was received from the team’s Estonian contact and Race Director, Algo Kuus, that he had heard from the customs clearance agent in Estonia that the ship carrying their container would not be docking until the day before the race. This email was quickly forwarded to the A-Teams shipping company and it was soon discovered that the container had missed being put on the previously selected feeder vessel to Tallinn due to congestion at the Port of Hamburg Germany. Team Captain Billy Allen was once again chewing his fingernails as he wrestled with both a yearly attack of anxiety and the decision whether or not to put his team on the plane to Tallinn. After several days and more emails between the A-Team, Estonian customs, the shipping company and the race organizers, it was determined that the ship had a more that 50 percent chance of making it to the port and cleared through customs by Friday, July 22nd. The first day of racing was on Saturday the 23rd. The decision was then made for the team to take the chance and fly to Tallinn.
Arriving in Tallinn on Wednesday afternoon were The 2016 U.S. A-Team crew of Billy and Racer Allen, Rachel Warnock, Kyle Lewis and Mike Akerstrom, Alan Akerstrom, Lois and Dudley Smith, Photographer David Recht, and Valerie Lighthart. The team had previously planned to use Thursday as a set up day in the crowded pits but could now only literally sit and wait for their ship to come in. The latest report from their very competent customs clearance agent was that their container would be arriving on Thursday evening and would be expedited as priority cargo off of the ship and cleared through Estonian customs on Friday morning.
As the team then prepared to explore the historic city of Tallinn on Thursday, they were once again horrified when word came via text that the paperwork forwarded from their U.S. shipping company was improperly submitted. Rachel and Billy then scrapped their sightseeing plans and Rachel went to work in the hotel room struggling with the U.S. to Estonia time difference with emails, phone calls and texts while Billy laid on the bed trying his hardest not to puke. The clock was ticking on the A-Team. After another full day of work the details once again seemed to be ironed out and the team was assured that the container had a good chance of clearing customs some time on Friday.
On Friday at 9:00am the call came in from the team’s Estonian contact, Algo Kuus that the boats would be released and could be unloaded from the container within the hour. The elated team members then piled into the rental car and followed Algo 20 miles to the unloading facility in Maardu, Estonia. Upon arrival, Algo checked in at the office and reported to the team members that the container was being put on a truck at the port and would be there shortly. As Video Director Valerie Lighthart continued to document the events she decided to get some words from Algo about directing the World Championship race. When she approached Algo, who was sitting in his car talking on the phone with the customs clearance agency he said “get Billy, there is another problem”. This time it was a big one. The paperwork from American shipper for a temporary import was missing the most important page with the required stamps from United States Customs. Once again Rachel, now sitting in the back of the rental car, got on the phone to the United States fighting the time difference and trying to straighten out another shipping problem. It was now past 11 am. Tick tock.
Now it was time for Estonian Race Director Algo Kuus to come to the rescue of The U.S. A-Team. Without the proper United Stated customs stamps on the import papers there was literally no way that Estonian customs could legally release the container. The only other option was for the Estonian Racing Federation to post a bond equaling the value of the shipment which was thousands of euros. The U.S. A-Team now headed 20 miles through traffic back to the Estonian Racing Club where Algo had an office. Algo now tabled his duties as Race Director for the benefit of The U.S. A-Team and all the Americans could do was once again sit and wait. Tick tock.
Finally, at 5pm on Friday, a weary Algo Kuus emerged from his office and stated to the Americans, “I think we can go and get your boats now”. With trepidation combined with renewed hope, the U.S. A-Team once again piled into their rental car and followed Algo, now traveling in a van equipped with a trailer hitch, the 20 miles back to the container unloading facility, where, after another 20 minute wait, the truck carrying the container, which had left Cool Air Creations six weeks prior, pulled into the unloading facility and was hastily unloaded by the frazzled Americans. Stop the clock.
As the van towing the three American boats pulled into the pits at 6:30 on Friday evening, a round of applause went up inside the big enclosed tent where an open UIM Meeting was now taking place. Unbeknownst to The Americans, the plight of their shipping and customs clearance woes had been circulating throughout the pits for the entire day and most everyone was relieved to see the trailer carrying the red, white and blue hydros finally arrive. The U.S. A-Team then went to work with a renewed sense of urgency, unpacking plastic bins, erecting ez-ups and boat dollies, unloading boats, assembling engines and of course, hoisting the long awaited American Flags in their pit area.
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