Steamboat Days set for this weekend

[HRTV]

Steamboat Days set for this weekend
By Rick Solem | Winona Daily News
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There is a plethora of sporting events taking place this weekend tied in with Winona’s Steamboat Days.

The most intriguing may be the U.S. Title Series Hydroplane boat race on East Lake that runs today through Sunday.
The races will feature 70 to 100 boats over three days, according to Jim McKean, whose son Sean was the 1100 Hydro national champion in 2007.

“You’ll have the best in the country up there,” said Jim, a Houston, Texas, resident who’s making the trip North for the race. “Winona is considered a top race course. It’s a beautiful area and it’s sheltered from the wind.”

Each race features a maximum of 13 boats. The first races are set to start at 2:30 p.m. today.

A different kind of racing is set for 9 a.m. Saturday around East Lake, not on it.

The BK 5K (5-kilometer) road race and walk is back to raise money for Winona youth athletics.

Last year 284 participants raised more than $60,000.

There is still time to register for the race. Final registration will take place from 7:30-8:30 a.m. Saturday. Cost is $17 for adults and $12 for children under 14 years of age.

The top three overall finishers for men and women will receive a cash prize of $500, $400 or $300. The top two in each age group or corporate challenge will receive a $100 or $50 cash prize.

Other sporting events taking place this weekend as part of Steamboat Days are a tennis tournament — both youth and adult — and men’s and women’s softball tournaments.

There are 17 men’s and six women’s softball teams taking part in the tournament held at Bambenek Fields near East Lake.

The awards for the softball tournament run from $550 to $130 for the top four men’s teams, and the top two women’s teams get $275 and $150.

The tennis tournaments will take place at Cotter High School’s tennis courts, which are across from the SMU Tennis Center on Vila Street. There are 75 entrants.

[David Weaver]

Winona Recap - Part 1

Winona Steamboat Days – 2008


The second annual US Title Series competition in Winona, MN will certainly go down in the history books as a great racing event punctuated by many anxious moments. Nobody can remember seeing so many accidents at a single US Titles Series race. Fortunately, the racing boats took the brunt of the damage and all of our competitors escaped safe and sound. The runabout classes incurred the most damage and wagon full of boats was headed to Krier boat works in Iowa for repairs prior to July’s Constantine race.

The combined efforts of Pete Gryskiewicz, Bruce Johnson and the festival committee resulted in two great days of competition. Winona is such a beautiful town and the lake is provides a wonderful racing venue. Large crowds were in attendance each day, enjoying both boat racing, food vendors, live music and other attractions. Even before the racing was completed on Sunday, discussions were underway regarding a return in 2009.

Mother Nature elected to be a participant in much of the weekend’s activities and who can no to her? Friday and Saturday were beautiful, sunny days. But, the wind blew straight down the racing course, mainly around 5-10 mph, but sometimes gusting-up a bit more. Sunday saw a little less breeze at race time, but periodic showers slowed the program a couple of times.

The first victim of the steady breeze was Lauren Johnson of Vacaville, CA. Along with the Lil Fox racing team, Lauren and family made the long trip to compete against the best PRO drivers in the country. This is Lauren’s first season racing 125cc hydroplane and she is learning in the ins and outs of managing her 125 VRP and Krier boat. Coming up the front stretch during Friday’s test session, Lauren’s boat “puffed” once about midway and came back down. Unfortunately for Lauren, the boat was not as forgiving a few moments later as it blew over backwards and corked screwed. Fortunately, Lauren was thrown from the boat cleanly and landed relatively softly. With only her pride bruised a little, Lauren returned to the pits after getting checked-out by the ambulance team. Her boat was already repaired and prepared for Saturday’s racing.

Other drivers took note of the strong breeze and considerable testing was completed without further incident. Paulie Bosnich likely struck a turtle in his 125cc runabout, damaging the bottom of the boat such that he would be unable to compete in it during the weekend. As testing wound down in the early evening, teams had a chance to relax, catch-up and enjoy the beautiful summer evening.

Saturday saw continued strong breezes moving steadily down across the course’s straight-away. Drivers realized that they would have use care running into the first turn and right into the steady breeze. Small rollers occasionally worked their way down the lake and added to the challenging conditions. Following a brief practice session and opening ceremonies, the K PRO’s were the first class out to the course. Lauren Johnson grabbed the lead early and enjoyed a start to finish victory in her beautiful C-139. Todd Anderson along with Kurt and Amy Nydahl battled for second and third positions. The breeze increased noticeably as the boats headed out for the second heat. As the drivers completed the first lap, Kurt fell victim to unexpected gust and his boat lifted up and then went over backwards. The heat was called and the K PRO’s were sat on the beach, as the wind was just too strong for these light craft. Based on the first heat, the order of finish was Lauren, Kurt, Todd, Amy, Zach McGuire and Andrew Thirlby.

Jeff Kugler dominated 350cc hydroplane, driving to three consecutive heat victories in the V-100. Those battling for second place included Gary Buskirk, Chris Hellsten, Mark Stahl, Bruce Summers and Ike Yoder. Mark dumped in the upper turn during the second heat, but did return for the final heat. In the final heat, Gary was charging briskly through the field when he fell into a hole and lost power. This actually was a blessing, as Gary was about to lose the skeg on his lower unit, which would have left him in a precarious situation. In the end, Chris prevailed to claim the second position, while “inside lane” Bruce Summers took third overall. Mark Stahl, Gary and Ike Yoder rounded out the top six.

It was the Brian Payn show in 125cc runabout. The reigning USTS high point champion claimed the first spot in each heat with Jay Anderson and Michael Ellison giving chase. During the second heat, Michael was attempting to chase down Brian when a gust of wind caught his Krier runabout. Before he knew what happened, Michael’s boat flew airborne and blew-over backwards. For Michael, the good news was that he suffered no injury. The bad news was that his racing day was over, as the boat suffered some structural damage. Brian finished in the top spot overall, followed by Jay and then Michael.

As they always do, the 500cc runabouts brought much excitement to the show. In heat one, Paul Fuschlin from Dixon California and Mike Thirlby of Fife Lake, Michigan had a great a great battle for the first spot. Mike had just enough of an edge to draw away by a few boat lengths for the win. The scariest moment of the weekend came at the very end of the second heat. Once again, Paul and Mike raced for four laps side-by-side in some wonderful hard and clean racing. As they accelerated toward the finish line and with the race in doubt, Mike’s steering cable broke and sent his boat into a wild spin and flip. Everyone held their breath and then let out a collective sigh of relief, as Mike gave the crossed arm signal that he was OK. Some how, he crossed the finish line in first, just when the steering cable gave way. Mike’s boat was toast, but nobody seemed to care too much sense he was unhurt. In the final heat, Derek Gessler stole the start in his beautiful C-99 and led all four laps. Paul took the overall victory for the weekend, while Derek finished second and Mike earned enough points for third. Jared Gryskiewicz and Brad Burkland were not far behind in fourth and fifth.

The mighty 125cc hydroplane’s continues to prove that the smallest class can put on the best racing. Amy Nydhal prevailed over the strong field by getting clean starts, showing remarkable dexterity and keeping patient on the race course. Following a win in heat one, Amy was bumped in heat two by a competitor and found herself almost thrown from the boat. She held on, righted the boat and continued the chase. Due to several gun jumpers in heat two, the points were very close going into the third heat. The field started abreast and entered the first turn bunched-up. For a moment, everyone again held their breath as Lauren Johnson rode up Paulie Bosnich’s rooster tail. Lauren deftly slid her pipes back, brought the boat back down and chased after the leaders. Kyle Anderson drove very well this heat and took the win as he held-off several challengers. Amy finished in the top position. Brendon Vishoot took second place, enjoying strong back-to-back showings in the 125 hydroplane class. Kyle was rewarded for his efforts with third overall. Paul Bosnich and Kristi Ellison rounded out the top five.

The battles were fierce in 250cc runabout, as several drivers had rigs capable of winning the weekend’s races. Tim Small got the better of things in heats 1 and 2, but Brian Payn stayed close to Tim, just waiting for slip-up that never came. JP Jedwabny, Rich Krier, Brandon Thirlby, Chuck Zolkoske, and Jay Anderson gave chase as well. Going into the first turn following the start of the third heat, the spray was thick at the middle turn and Jay found himself running into a wall of water. With no where to go, he backed-off and lost power. Unfortunately Rich Krier was close-by and found himself headed towards Jay. Rich managed to dodge a direct collision, but did strike a glancing blow that flipped both boats. Again, we were fortunate that neither driver was injured. In the end Tim Small prevailed in first place, JP finished in second and Brian took the third spot followed by Brandon and Chuck.

With only three entries the 500cc hydroplanes put on a good show with Brandon Thirlby and Sean McKean running side-by-side for two heats. In the end, Brandon prevailed. Sean finished second and Ike Yoder followed in third, after overcoming an ignition problem that plagued him all weekend.

[David Weaver]

Winona Recap - Part 2

Saturday’s racing was followed with a pig roast. Thanks to the G-Spec racing team for providing the great feed!! Sunday’s events started later than normal, as the town held its annual Steamboat Days parade. Several USTS boats and drivers participated in the parade. The delay actually was a blessing, as the wind eased considerably during the afternoon and provided favorable racing conditions.

Brandon Thirlby and Chris Hellsten had a great duel in 250cc hydro. These two drivers chased one another and battled side-by-side for much of the 3 heats of racing. Each gave his all in the turns, as the turn fins strained mightily to hold the boats in the water during the speed turns. Chris had a small advantage accelerating out of the turn and Brandon had some top-end from the middle straight to the turn. Brandon came away with a hard earned victory and Chris finished second. Bruce Summers stayed just behind the leaders and worked the inside lane hard these two front runners pushed wide in the turns. Bruce’s efforts resulted in a third overall. JP was in the hunt, but spun out in the second heat and Bruce “nudged” JP’s boat aside causing some damage to JP’s boat. Tony Judd appeared to have thrown a shear pin in back to back heats.

350cc runabouts have been battling tough in the USTS for the past 5 years and this weekend was no exception. Mike Thirlby jumped out to the lead in heat one and held off the hard charging field. Tim Small continued to a great year, as he pursued the front runner. Rich Krier bounced back from Saturday’s 250 accident by taking a third in heat one using Brian Payn’s boat. Paul Fuchslin, Mark Stahl and Jared Gryzkiewicz chased closely behind the leaders. In heat two, the battle raged again with Joe Johnson joining the fray after losing a coil in heat one. Paul Fuschlin made an inspired move on the inside as the field swept wide in turn one, only to lose “grip” and spin out. Tim Small held-off the challengers for the heat win. In the final heat, Joe stole the start and held-off the pack until his engine decided to quit running coming out of turn one. Tim Small gratefully accepted the lead and never looked back. In the end, the top three finishers were Tim Small, Mike Thirlby and Jared Gryskiewicz. The top three overall finishers were Tim, Mike and Rich.

The big “Top Hydro’s” were only able to muster 3 entries for the weekend, but they nevertheless put an entertaining show. Brandon Thirlby roared away at the start of heat one and looked very impressive turning fast laps in the Thirbly Automotive capsule boat. Sean McKean finished second, but his engine sounded flat. Ike Yoder just gave-up too many cc’s in his 500 powered boat. Between heats, Sean discovered a lose header and made the necessary repair. At the start of heat 2, it was Sean stealing the start and never looking back in State of Texas Pugh-built hydroplane. This time it was Brandon’s engine sounding a little down on horse power. The final outcome was Sean, Brandon and Ike.

With the treat of late afternoon storms looming, teams packed away their equipment and volunteers disassembled the race course, judge’s stand and packed the safety boat. We give a huge thank you to everyone on the “Stand” and to John Krob for towing the safety and working all weekend on jet ski. Fred Mason manned the safety all three days and we appreciate his continued contributions. Connie Payn served as our referee, while Shirley Summers was the chief scorer. Additional thanks are extended to Whoosker, Bev Krier and the balance of the scoring crew for a long weekend of service.