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Being a 55 year old rookie hydro driver.
I promised after it was over I’d write a little post about what my experience as a driver was like, here goes. First, Cullaby. I was driving the older purple boat due to ongoing repairs with the new blue boat. I never really got comfortable with driving that boat, it always felt like it was pulling to the left, and I kept overshooting the exits to the turns, meaning I was always forcing myself to turn right, always a bad proposition. I never really got comfortable with that setup, but I did get some valuable seat time, AND nailed the start my last heat, that was pretty fun.
At Eatonville I was able to drive the newer boat with the 1” wider cockpit, and though I don’t think it had anything to do with it, I really felt way more comfortable in that boat. I decided since the Novice C World Championship was Saturday at Eatonville I would try to give myself a little course familiarization/learn how to drive heat on Saturday. Mike and I both ran C Mod Hydro (500cc I think) on Saturday. I decided in the first heat to try driving a little more inside to see if I could handle it during Novice C, this was almost a REALLY bad decision on my part. I was in lane 3 and a boat length back going into turn 1. I figured this would be perfect, just hang there and let all the fast guys go around my outside. All seemed OK until about halfway through the turn when all of a sudden I have nothing but water in my face. It is at this point that I briefly flash to the idea “this was really a bad idea, I have NO IDEA how to react right now, oh ****”. I decided to chop the throttle and try to head inside hoping no one was there. That’s about the time I hear and feel a big impact behind me. The only thing I could think of to do then is curl up in a ball on the bottom of the boat, I had no idea what else might be coming. Turned out I was rear ended by Bob Wartinger, it took his left picklefork off and embedded the tip in our transom. The next heat we decided to go out and have fun, so Mike and I started in the back and outside and I tried to spend the next few laps following his line around the corners. On the last lap Mike decided to try my outside, and I think was a little surprised when the old guy clamped the throttle the last couple corners and beat him at the line by about a sponson tip, what a blast that was.
In the World Championship heats I finished 3rd in my qualifier to make it to the winner take all final. I think I surprised a couple folks by slipping into lane 1 at the start of the final and getting to the line a tick late but not too bad. After the first couple corners I was able to settle into a comfortable 3rd place position and was just trying to cruise it in on the last lap when my steering tightened up to the point where I couldn’t straighten the boat out any more. I managed to limp it in for a disappointing 7th, though for a rookie even that shouldn’t be too disappointing I suppose.
And that’s it, career over. I would say driving was equal parts fun and scary. The first time I tried driving 11 years ago I was way overweight and out of shape, and got my ass totally kicked. With me being in decent shape and weight for this go round I still was getting muscle cramps from exertion, but besides that it wasn’t bad. The harder part is staying mentally focused at the same time. I have a different perspective on my own drivers and have a slightly better idea what makes them so good. My only regret is that I didn’t start doing this 45 years ago, our kids are so **** lucky. If I was to continue driving the only way I could do it is by trying to win, meaning sticking my nose up there in the mix all the time, and I think my first C mod heat proved that’s not really a great idea. Aside from the fact that I jacked up my neck again in the crash, I don’t want to put other guys in a dangerous position because I don’t know what I’m doing. Besides, spending drivers meeting hanging out with a bunch of drivers sucks, I am reclaiming that as my time with my crew chief boys.
Thanks to everyone that helped make my little adventure possible,
Tony (NC7)
I promised after it was over I’d write a little post about what my experience as a driver was like, here goes. First, Cullaby. I was driving the older purple boat due to ongoing repairs with the new blue boat. I never really got comfortable with driving that boat, it always felt like it was pulling to the left, and I kept overshooting the exits to the turns, meaning I was always forcing myself to turn right, always a bad proposition. I never really got comfortable with that setup, but I did get some valuable seat time, AND nailed the start my last heat, that was pretty fun.
At Eatonville I was able to drive the newer boat with the 1” wider cockpit, and though I don’t think it had anything to do with it, I really felt way more comfortable in that boat. I decided since the Novice C World Championship was Saturday at Eatonville I would try to give myself a little course familiarization/learn how to drive heat on Saturday. Mike and I both ran C Mod Hydro (500cc I think) on Saturday. I decided in the first heat to try driving a little more inside to see if I could handle it during Novice C, this was almost a REALLY bad decision on my part. I was in lane 3 and a boat length back going into turn 1. I figured this would be perfect, just hang there and let all the fast guys go around my outside. All seemed OK until about halfway through the turn when all of a sudden I have nothing but water in my face. It is at this point that I briefly flash to the idea “this was really a bad idea, I have NO IDEA how to react right now, oh ****”. I decided to chop the throttle and try to head inside hoping no one was there. That’s about the time I hear and feel a big impact behind me. The only thing I could think of to do then is curl up in a ball on the bottom of the boat, I had no idea what else might be coming. Turned out I was rear ended by Bob Wartinger, it took his left picklefork off and embedded the tip in our transom. The next heat we decided to go out and have fun, so Mike and I started in the back and outside and I tried to spend the next few laps following his line around the corners. On the last lap Mike decided to try my outside, and I think was a little surprised when the old guy clamped the throttle the last couple corners and beat him at the line by about a sponson tip, what a blast that was.
In the World Championship heats I finished 3rd in my qualifier to make it to the winner take all final. I think I surprised a couple folks by slipping into lane 1 at the start of the final and getting to the line a tick late but not too bad. After the first couple corners I was able to settle into a comfortable 3rd place position and was just trying to cruise it in on the last lap when my steering tightened up to the point where I couldn’t straighten the boat out any more. I managed to limp it in for a disappointing 7th, though for a rookie even that shouldn’t be too disappointing I suppose.
And that’s it, career over. I would say driving was equal parts fun and scary. The first time I tried driving 11 years ago I was way overweight and out of shape, and got my ass totally kicked. With me being in decent shape and weight for this go round I still was getting muscle cramps from exertion, but besides that it wasn’t bad. The harder part is staying mentally focused at the same time. I have a different perspective on my own drivers and have a slightly better idea what makes them so good. My only regret is that I didn’t start doing this 45 years ago, our kids are so **** lucky. If I was to continue driving the only way I could do it is by trying to win, meaning sticking my nose up there in the mix all the time, and I think my first C mod heat proved that’s not really a great idea. Aside from the fact that I jacked up my neck again in the crash, I don’t want to put other guys in a dangerous position because I don’t know what I’m doing. Besides, spending drivers meeting hanging out with a bunch of drivers sucks, I am reclaiming that as my time with my crew chief boys.
Thanks to everyone that helped make my little adventure possible,
Tony (NC7)
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