Williamsport 2005 Photos from Mark 72@E Coming Soon

[Mark 72@E]

I’ll have the best of Williamsport 2005 posted in about a week, but I have to admit that they won’t get any better than the photo below of Shanon Bowman’s fly-by. He had just won the heat in CSH.

I don’t think Shanon spends much time on hydroracer.net, so would someone please let him know to come take a look at his pic?

I’ll follow the “best of” with the “rest of” Williamsport. What I’ve learned in the last two weeks is that drivers like to study photos of themselves. Not because of ego (well, not for most of you) but because they like to look at how their boat is running, how high or low they are riding in the boat, how deep the fin is in the water (or not) and so on.

Thanks to all who purchased one of our photos this weekend. We hope it makes you smile at every glance.

Photos by Austin Ritchie and Mark Ritchie, 72@E, highpoint@championhotrod.com


P.S. If you like the photo below, download it sooner rather than later. Eventually it will be removed to conserve server space.

[Mark 72@E]

Honorable Mention

Our Best of Williamsport 2005 photos have been posted. You can view them at

http://www.highpoint.photoreflect.com

Remember if you create a free user account you can select all the photos to run as a slide show.

I’ll follow up later this week and post the “Rest of Williamsport 2005” which will include average racing shots from the weekend.

My biggest disappointment is that I don't have any photos of Chuck Renner's first win in CSH on Saturday which won him the Brandt Hilsen Performance Award. From time to time we have to put the camera down so I can race!

Honorable Mention

I take a lot of bad photos to get a few good ones. When I complained to a professional photographer about this he just laughed. Evidently this problem happens with amateurs and professionals alike.

So below are two of my bad shots that deserve an honorable mention.

I had my attention on Ross Webster, 12CE, whose team was beside me in the pits. After 41-P flipped Gary Pond, who was driving the boat I was in, asked if I got the shot.

I said “No, I didn’t”. It wasn’t until after we towed 41-P to shore and I was setting up to shoot the next heat that I realized the camera had caught something.

I talked to the driver of 41-P after the races were over Saturday. He was uninjured and in good spirits. His boat suffered minor damage where apparently his helmet met with the cowling. You can almost see this happening in the second photo.

Photos by Austin Ritchie and Mark Ritchie, 72@E, highpoint@championhotrod.com

Eventually these photos will be deleted to conserve server space. Download them sooner rather than later if you want them.

[wetrider]

Man does that look Familiar!!!

[Mike 41P]

My wife Janet finally got to a race and then I went and did that right in front of her!!! Luckily all ended OK. With the rain delay I was able to dry it out, duct tape the hole I made with my head and run the heat. The question is, will I ever get Janet to another race after this.

Mike T

[Mark 72@E]

210 More Photos from Williamsport 2005

We’ve posted another 210 photos called “More Williamsport 2005” on our website at

http://www.highpoint.photoreflect.com

These were not previously published under the “Best of Williamsport 2005”. Do you see any that you think should have been included in the “Best of”?

Remember if you set up a free account at the site, you can create an album and then run a slideshow of the photos.

Photos by Austin Ritchie, 13E, and Mark Ritchie, 72@E, highpoint@championhotrod.com

[David_L6]

#108 is a good shot!

[Mark 72@E]

The odd thing about this photo...

#108 is a good shot!

The odd thing about this photo...

When boat racers look at it, they probably think, “He’s not gonna win any races driving that way. He needs to keep the nose down.”

When five billion other people look at the same photo they probably think, “Wow, great photo!”



Photo by Austin Ritchie, 13E. Eventually this photo will be removed to save on server space. Download it sooner rather than later if you like it.


P.S. Did anyone mention how rough it was in Williamsport, PA during the CSR race with ten boats????

[TPLACE31]

How Rough was it?

Actually there were eleven boats on Sunday and it was rough enough that the old school roll ups finished 1st and 3rd! (Not so rough on Saturday, they only finished 2nd & 3rd in the ten boat field). Great shot on Hydroracer home page.

31-A

[Mark 72@E]

Photo Credit To My Son

The photo credit for the CSR pic on hydroracer’s home page actually goes to my son Austin since I was in that race….in the rougher water.

How rough was it? It was so rough I spun out in the last turn of the last lap of the last heat of CSR when I had no reason to be pushing it. Austin snapped a “before” picture. Then he heard my engine rev up.

He missed the shot of me leaning over the steering wheel hanging on for dear life as the back of the boat skipped sideways on top of the water. I consciously took my hand off the throttle and I was waiting for the horizon to tilt.

His next photo (included in the “More Williamsport” photo web site) shows me peacefully kneeling in the boat, facing the wrong way.

Afterwards, the thought occurred to me to do a Travis Pond and paddle to the finish line but when I saw how far away it was I realized there wasn’t enough daylight left for me to make it. And there were other heats still to run.