SeaFair review –
Wednesday:
We
got the gearbox back as well as a new conical spacer for the prop late in the
afternoon (much thanks to Machinists Inc. and RT). Bolted the gearbox back to
the engine and put the engine back in the boat – we are ready to rock.
Thursday:
Packed
the truck and headed down to the Stan Sayers pits. Put the boat on the south
west side and unpacked the truck. We’re setup and ready to go in the morning.
Friday:
Arrived
at the course at 07:00am and prepared for the day. We decided to run the new
prop first. Went out on-course at 10:30 and came around turn 1 – no RPM, I had
to come back to the pits. We swapped props and went back out – no RPM. I am
starting to cry in my soup. What exactly did we do coming down from 12 feet in
the air over at TriCities? We have 4 hours to
afternoon testing/qualifying. We look at the floats in the carb
to make sure we didn’t bend them – no. We look at the stone in-feed filters –
OMG! One of the filters is passing no (zero) fuel, we have been running on the
left bank of 4 cylinders only! Take all the fuel lines off, the pump filter
off, the carb apart and thoroughly clean everything
(we had already done this back in April when we rebuilt the engine…). Afternoon
session I leave the cove and come around right onto the course – now we have
RPM. Run conservatively at about 5000rpm to build heat and the start a fast
lap. The water is lumpy and halfway down the front chute we get some lift – I
am all over the canard and dropping RPM. Something about being 12 feet in the
air less than a week ago hasn’t left my consciousness… Decide that I’ll live with a slow time and
just tool the course at 6000 rpm. Not what I had hoped to do – but Van has to
be happy that the RPM Gremlin is off our back. I decide we are done for the day
and change out of my driving suit. Evidently many UL teams decided they were
done for the day and are not going out for the afternoon session which still
had 20 minutes to go. We decide to improve on the time, so back in the suit and
out on course I turn a couple bit more respectable laps – we improve 8mph.
Still have more work to do – both on my nerves and driving skills. Tomorrow is
a new day with the sun shining brightly as evening now sets in
Saturday:
We
took all the lift out of the canard before we left Friday evening. Saturday
morning after the physical (I can breathe therefore I race) and drivers meeting
we head out onto the course for testing. Away to the course with the big prop –
can’t get lift. Now that there is no “wing” up front we can’t build the RPM to
lift off the water. Back to the pits we switch to the small prop. Back out on
course we build RPM and lift but get pushed down hard going into turn 3. We need
to split the difference. Before Heat 1 I open up the decks and adjust the
canard to a “light lift” position and we prepare for racing. Heat 1B I am in
the cockpit and ready – 1 to the 5, no wait we have a hold and after about
three minutes we are 1 to the 5 and wait we have another hold. Let’s try one
more time, it is now 1 to the 5 and – the Blue Angels have left Boeing field –
stand down. I guess we’ll run Heat 1B this afternoon at 14:30pm. In Heat 1B we
are out with five very fast boats – in fact they are standing 1 through 5 in
the national high points standings, not likely we can really run with these
dogs. Never the less we see the green flag, see the checkered flag and come
back to the dock under power – fifth place, a successful Heat for the unqualified
rookie. Then the air-show takes over in earnest and eventually a boat race
occurred at SeaFair (can you imagine?) Heat 2A we are ready and only need three
tries at 1 to the 5 to get started (we are well practiced at 1 to the 5 now,
think I may actually have it down…). Going into turn 1 on the second lap of the
mill my radio goes dead – I have no idea how many boats are on course and I
have to depend on my countdown timer in the cockpit (bouncing all the way down
the back straight next to the log boom) to get to the line. We take third and
just miss a direct seating into the final. We’ll run in the B-Main tomorrow
afternoon and see if we can’t make it into the show for the second time this
season.
Sunday:
Megan
and Bryn shoved me out the door to head to the course alone and hosted a Blue
Angels party at home without me. Go figure, we are slotted in between gaps in
the air-show all day Saturday and now I am abandoned by my family so they can
have a party to watch the Blue Angels with a group of friends at home. Oh well
what can I say, before I got into the ULHRA we had hosted a Blue Angels party
the past six years and Sunday in the pits at Stan Sayers is an absolute zoo – I
can’t blame them (in fact I more or less insisted).
Well
the day didn’t go as well as we had hoped. Ran a test run in the morning and
couldn’t lift the boat with the big prop – can’t figure out why. We were flying
last week in TriCities (literally). We sit back and
wait for the BMain. The BMain
starts more or less on-time at 14:45pm, we are second out on course right
behind Paul Becker. I’ve been cleared to run on the front line and fight for
lanes. I pace Paul for a lap and a half then Wil Muncey jumps in between us. No problem I’ll start in three.
Down the front straight we run slowing down so that we don’t hit the score up
buoy before the one minute gun. Suddenly the UL-929 screams up between Wil and me – there isn’t a lane there and when we enter
turn 1 I am pinned by the UL-33 on the right and being washed down by the
UL-929 on the left. I have to back out – by the time we exit turn 2 I’m 10
seconds off the pace, game over. Never the less we soldier on and try to catch
the field. Then middle of lap two the boat dies and won’t refire.
Turns out we hadn’t resolved all the fuel flow Gremlins, our fuel pump
cratered. No gas – no go. So unfortunately we didn’t make the final. However on
the plus side we have one more weak link resolved (now…) and did get a fair bit
of setup testing/modification done. Think we have the right amount of lift now
and shouldn’t be so flighty. In addition
the referees have removed the “unqualified” label and I am now free to race
from the front line. Looking forward to Silverdale in two weeks.
Many
thanks to Dean, Van, Christopher, Kathy and Lary. We
fought with fuel issues all weekend long and got bit one last time in the end.
But we learned a few more things about the boat. The new hatch panel system held together and
we didn’t lose any more panels (the tally was already up to five this
season). I learned a whole lot more
about piloting the boat… and as
