Thousands turn out for sprint boat racing
Dylan Hatch and Dani Finely roll the Blew Bayou (Pelican Fueling) boat onto an island after missing a hairpin turn. The team would settle from the crash and come back out in the 2nd round of qualifying.
Darrin Swindahl and Ashley Swindahl make their first qualifying run of the day in the Gold Rush boat. They took the 1st place prize in the 400 Class.
ST. JOHN – Several thousand race fans turned out Saturday for the second installment of Sprint Boat racing at Webb's Slough.
The fastest time was posted by the No. 69 boat, Overkill, piloted by Dennis Hughes and navigated by his daughter, Samantha Hughes, both of Greenacres.
Sprint boat racing pits a driver and navigator against a maze of channels and the clock. At speeds reaching more than 80 mph, the driver concentrates on making turns as the navigator memorizes the course and directs the driver using hand motions.
Overkill posted a time of 36.63 seconds, nearly a second faster than the time the duo posted en route to an easy win here in June.
In that race, Hughes and Hughes completed the course in 37.46 seconds.
The Stars and Stripes took second with a time of 36.66 seconds. That vessel was piloted by Burt Roberts of Star, Idaho, and navigated by Amanda Vestal of Meridian, Idaho.
In the Modified Class, the No. 208 Jolly Rogers boat of Dustin Springer of Spirit Lake, Idaho, and Dawn Davis of Ketchikan, Alaska, edged the No. 29B Hammertime boat of Rick Phillips and Jennifer McClelland, both of Spokane Valley.
The Jolly Rogers vessel won the class with a time of 40.72 seconds; Hammertime was just off that mark at 40.81 seconds.
Like Overkill, the No. 47 Gold Rush boat was also a repeat winner here this summer.
Piloted by Darrin Swindahl and navigated by Ashley Swindahl, both of Graham, the vessel posted a time of 40.07 seconds in the 400 Class.
In June, the couple won the class with a slightly faster time of 39.80 seconds.
Here are the final results for the Aug. 28 Webb's Slough races:
Modified
1. 208 Jolly Rogers, 40.72 seconds, Dustin Springer of Spirit Lake, Idaho, and Dawn Davis of Ketchikan, Alaska. 2. 29B Hammertime, 40.81, Rick Phillips and navigator Jennifer McClelland, both of Spokane Valley. 3. 86 Juggernaut, 41.47, Jason Christ and navigator Samantha Christ of Burley, Idaho.
400
47 Gold Rush Time, 40.07, Darrin Swindahl and navigated by Ashley Swindahl, both of Graham. 2. 146B Jolly Rogers, 40.46, Eric Werner of Arlington and nagivator Tina Huff of Renton. 3. 5 Black Magic, 40.35, Kelly Stevenson and Dennis Robertson, both of Sherwood, Ore.
Unlimited
69 Overkill, 36.63, Dennis Hughes and navigator Samantha Huges, both of Spokane Valley. 2. 96 Stars & Stripes, 36.66, Burt Roberts of Star, Idaho, and Amanda Vestal of Meridian, Idaho. 3. 411 Ballz Out, 40.85, Dean Lautenshlager and Jack Bringman, both of Lewiston, Idaho.
Roger Harnack is the owner/publisher of Free Press Publishing. Having grown up Benton City, Roger is an award-winning journalist, columnist, photographer, editor and publisher. He's one of only two editorial/commentary writers from Washington state to ever receive the international Golden Quill. Roger is dedicated to the preservation of local media, and the voice it retains for Eastern Washington.
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