Thought I had Seen It All?? Inboard Action.

[Matt Dagostino]

With sportsmanship being a recent topic on Hydroracer, i witnessed a incident last weekend that takes the cake. I was at the Clarksville, Virginia inboard race helping Gary Pond and Robin Shane get the J Class pilot program on the water so to speak with all the youngsters.

Well, the inboard event had major year end National High Point ramifications that drew boats from Montana and Washington State and almost outnumbered the Nationals at Hampton. We were pitted with the Shane's whom have been racing friends for years. All Kelly Shane had to do was finish 7th or better in the T-Class out of 12 boats entered and she would clinch the national title over the Kennedy boy (14 years old). Well, Kelly's motor suddenly quit after the start of her heat and when it was lifted by the crane out of the water a fresh batch of silicone was discovered in the water pick up tube ........

In addition we discovered the cap for the silicone was left under the trailer by the perpertraitor along with some other evidence which the police seized.

What ever happened to settling the score on the race course.

Watching the Shane's keep their cool (especially Kelly) was a real testimonial to their professionalism and ultimate commitment to being positive and continuing on. I am sure it will all come around in the end!!

Matt

[Tomtall]

Re-run

I think the matter should have been brought to the race committee attention, the boat repaired and the race should have been re-run. That's absolute Bull Sh*t. Hats off to them keeping their cool but to lose the points race in that manner is just wrong. (there I'm done)

[Bill Huson]

Clarksville, VA . . .

lemme guess, the police do not have a crack TV quality CSI team (which only exists in TV-Land) so I figure less than a 50% chance of fingerprint recovery from the evidence. Then of course, the evil sabotaging perp would have to have his/her prints on a database. Then of course, running aforementioned less than 50% chance of recovery prints through a database on a possible boat racing rule infringement is such low priority it may be 2015 before the job gets done. Or the cops could get lucky.

Sorry this happened to the Shanes. Nice folks. Keeping cool was a class act, but I would love to see the silicone bandit caught. Would we be allowed to waterboard them

[stu_racing]

The inboard division has been having a real problem with this kind of stuff all year. I was at a race in Quebec this year and the inspector had to put inspection stickers on one boat to deter others from measuring or sabotaging the motor and internal set-up of the 5L boat.
It's a shame that something like this happened at the end of the year when championships were on the line. Kelly is a great girl and it should be commended that she did keep her cool.
Hopefully the APBA will rectify this problem over the winter months.

[14-H]

Shane Family

Just so all of you in the outboard community know, Robin and Stu Shane were two of the people who really helped back the effort to undo the SEA-TAC mess. We met Robin and Stu in Buffalo the Friday before the Central Divisionals (SO & J) when the court set a hearing on our motion to invalidate the election. They are die-hard APBA supporters. Like most people in the APBA with whom I have had vigorous arguments in the past, when it came to preserving the Association, all differences were set aside.

This is very difficult to hear! Ed Hearn.

[Mark.Wheeler]

I'm deeply saddened. The Shanes work tirelessly for APBA. They are wonderful people.

[Big Don]

I feel for the Shane’s also. While I have met them only a few times, Don Sr. spoke very highly of them.

Not to take anything away from what happened but maybe it’s the same person who broke the coil wires off of three different families Mercury’s the last time we were in New York for the Nationals. Pretty shameless if you ask me, hopefully those that pull that kind of stuff…get theirs in the end...it’s called karma…

[Andrew 4CE]

Wow! That's nuts! I hope the cops nail the prick(s)!! I started racing in the class this year and the Shane's have been a great help! Super nice family. Really sorry to see something like this happen, especially to them.

[Dave M]

Useless Turds

The kind of people who pull stunts like that should go race cars. It is very rare in boat racing to hear of this. Total losers. Takes zero balls to do something like that.

Lets hope the perp is caught and identified to the public. Should they be allowed to race again ? I would hope not. We don't need that ilk.

Hats off to Kelly for keeping her cool. I would have most likley been vocal over the deal.....

That situation is worse then cheating............. ban em, and hang em.

[roperz111]

Banishment

I agree with Dave. Something this serious and despicable should warrant banning for life. Unbelievable.

Chris Johnson
111-Z

[swheeler]

Sad new indeed. Hats off to Kelley and her family on a great season and for dealing with this incident with class.
I hope the person responsible reads this post because they have some severe mental problems. I urge you to get the help you need.

[Andrew 4CE]

Since it sounds like a few of you were there...

Posting by Stuart Shane, Kelly's father, on inboard forum...

"A Dark Day for T-Class, Inboard Category and the American Power Boat Association

The 2007 season for the T-class ended on a sad note when Kelly Shane's T-1 Boat was sabotaged sometime Saturday night / early Sunday morning while parked in the lower pit area at the Clarksville, VA event.

Her boat was completely covered with a Tyvec cover and straps. Someone removed a portion of the Tyvec cover and reached below the trailer deck and packed her water pick up tube with red silicone and re-installed the cover.

All that remained of the 2007 season was the final heat Sunday for the World Championship. Kelly needed only to finish 7th place to win the 2007 High Point Championship. The whole season came down to this one final heat.

Kelly has placed in the top three positions all season with the exception of a couple of breakdowns and seasonal mishaps. On Saturday, she drove very conservatively placing third in both qualifiers. Kelly started the final heat of the season on Sunday and tried to make a finish but by the first lap her engine failed by having no water to cool the engine. The engine is a total loss. Luckily, there was not a fire and Kelly suffered no physical injury.

The monetary loss is approximately $3000.00. However, that is not as significant as compared to the cost of attending the majority of the races all season in campaigning for the championship. The real cost is the realization that this actually occurred in the racing community. The other cost is that our trust and faith in others is gone for the rest of our racing lives. Sadly, we were parked next to the J Boats. We had at least fifteen new kids under the age of 16 there to drive the J Boats for the weekend. A few of the kids and their families expressed interest in getting involved in the T Class. We are wondering what effect this will have on those potential new members after having to witness such an event.

Race Officials were notified and the Police Department of the area. An investigation started. Beside the rudder cooling tube being completely packed with silicone, other evidence was left near her boat. This evidence is being tested. Early tests indicate that this was most liking done by a left-handed male.

Team Shane is offering a $1000.00 cash reward for information that would lead to identifying and convicting this criminal."

[Tony Staron]

With sportsmanship being a recent topic on Hydroracer, i witnessed a incident last weekend that takes the cake. I was at the Clarksville, Virginia inboard race helping Gary Pond and Robin Shane get the J Class pilot program on the water so to speak with all the youngsters.

Well, the inboard event had major year end National High Point ramifications that drew boats from Montana and Washington State and almost outnumbered the Nationals at Hampton. We were pitted with the Shane's whom have been racing friends for years. All Kelly Shane had to do was finish 7th or better in the T-Class out of 12 boats entered and she would clinch the national title over the Kennedy boy (14 years old). Well, Kelly's motor suddenly quit after the start of her heat and when it was lifted by the crane out of the water a fresh batch of silicone was discovered in the water pick up tube ......
In addition we discovered the cap for the silicone was left under the trailer by the perpertraitor along with some other evidence which the police seized.

What ever happened to settling the score on the race course.

Watching the Shane's keep their cool (especially Kelly) was a real testimonial to their professionalism and ultimate commitment to being positive and continuing on. I am sure it will all come around in the end!!

Matt

That's just WRONG. It would take alot to bite my tongue in that instance. The Shane's are better than that!!! Now I know why my Dad made me take the motors off the boats nightly at a race.
Tony Staron

[Andrew 4CE]

This reward is now up to $1850 or so by other racers contributing... see the yahoo inboard forum for more info.

[mbowers]

That really sux, I hate cheaters. I wish Robin & Gary the best in the future.