Long Sault, Ontario

May 29-30, 2010

J and Fae Report

 

    Well well well, J and Fae started the 2010 Hydro season with a proverbial bang as wild action descended on Long Sault, Ontario. The Valleyfield officials headed down the 401 to help wake up this sleepy village with noise, chaos and blinding speed. This racing group has poured vast resources into building the CBF circuit, not the least of which is the actual execution if these Canadian Regattas. It shows in a very efficient show that screams professionalism. (mini-Valleyfields) This week's venue was a beautiful wooded park with generally great water and this year the water was bath tub like. The scene is reminiscent of Raleigh, North Carolina for you East Coast folks. Many new teams created plenty of intrigue to start the season. Unfortunately, the gals and guys got a little antsy creating numerous penalties (30) and a flippathon (4) broke out. All in all the action was awesome from a deep field of quality vessels.

 

    Here is the J and Fae boat totals: (T-10) (S-16) (E-14) Can Am/PS-3) (GP-10) Total-53

 

    Can Am/PS boats seem to show up in force only for Valleyfield. This weekend was no exception as three boats appeared. After the Zapody (PS-555) Showboat expired early, Dominic Cournoyer (PS-122) Blue Thunder and Derek Anderson (PS-103) Illusion ran three lap exhibition heats. Derek, a fine 2.5 Stock driver, got some much needed seat time and looked very smooth. Dominic is always fast and it is a shame that some of the great hulls did not show and give him some competition.

 

    T boats are a growing in the CBF. There are several new teams with colorful paint jobs like a mini five liter group. Steve Armstrong (CT-11) Total Chaos and Jonathan Abbott (CT-10) Flyin Eagle had some fine duels in every heat. John Shaw (T-125) Shameless My Mistake and Kevin Smith (T-26) Dream Weaver also looked speedy. The final saw Steve (CT-11) nail the start with Jonathan (CT-10) following closely for three plus laps. John (T-125) and Kevin (T-26) duked it out for third until Kevin caught too much air in turn one of lap four. He was ok and the race was scored after three laps with Steve (CT-11), Jonathan (CT-10) and John (T-125) taking honors. The T's put on a fine show.

 

    S boats presented a mega-strong field with a few boats changing hands during the off season. This made for an unpredictable first event. Glen/Rob Stephenson (CS-10) Wet Spot and Nicolas Rousse (CS-225) Rousse Racing dominated the qualifiers winning three each. Eric Langivin (CS-12) Long Shot showed up Sunday taking a second in heat 3A and winning the consolation heat to sneak into the final. Tommy Bergeron (CS-007) Napa Racing, Sylvain Maheu (CS-19) Top Gun (formerly Miss Virgo), Brandon Kennedy (S-25) Shameless Say What, David Metivier (CS-43) Metivier Racing and Donald Leduc (CS-48) Cannonball all showed plenty of speed this weekend. Dominic Billette (CS-22) All In also looked a lot lighter and speedier until he caught a little air in a back flip in heat 2b. Like all the flippers he was ok. The final saw a mad dash to the starting line. Uh oh, Nicolas (CS-225) and Tommy (CS-007) got there a tick too soon. Eric (CS-12) blasted away in his bomb to the victory holding off a charging Glen/Rob (CS-10). Sylvain (CS-19) took third in his maiden voyage. The Stockers were cool.

 

    E boats in the CBF are fast, colorful and the guys are totally ruthless. Trolling starts, first turn mania and general nonsense prevails. Did we mention penalties? How about 16 of em? These guys and gals are insane.......in a good kinda way. A top notch field was led by Norm Ensbury (CE-99) Ocr Racing, Jean Francois Lupien (CE-27) FBL Special, Ghislain Marcoux (CE-666) El Diablo, Francois Campeau (CE-5) Shortfuse, Richard Heinault (CE-2) Miss Beauhornois and Jimmy/Kelly Shane (E-77) Shane Racing. Also Martin Rochon (CE-73) Bo looked fast until he flipped during the final warm-up. Alright, the final was going to be wild. After catching several bass, eight boats hurtled into turn one. Jean Francois (CE-27) took the lead with Stormin Normin Ensbury (CE-99) chasing on the inside. As the race developed Norm (CE-99) turned faster but Jean (CE-27) out accelerated him back to the line. Richard (CE-2) was third. That is how they finished physically. Oh no, Jean (CE-27) and Richard (CE-2) totaled 5 penalties. (jail time?) Norm (CE-99), Jimmy Shane (E-77) and Jean Pierre Morin (CE-149) Cargo Tec took the podium. The Morin family is diving in big time in the last two years. They also have the (CE-16) Cargo Tec 2 being driven by Samuel Morin. This is Wally Johnson's last boat. Wow, the 5's were wild.

 

    GP boats arrived with a nine boat field. However, excitement grew as word spread that Bert Henderson was putting the finishing touches on Huey Newport's new (GP-77) Crush 2 on the highway approaching town. They arrived Saturday just before the race. With no paint job yet and probably no testing, would the boat even start? More on that later. Qualifiers showed the usual first race engine gremlins. Ken Brodie (GP-50) Intensity, Marc Lecompte (GP-1001) Dynomytes, Tom Pakradooni (GP-88) Rolling Thunder and Pierre Maheu (GP-46) Adf Diesel won them. Pierre (GP-46) looked great returning from last year's accident. Heat 3a was nullified because of an incident in heat 3b. Five boats barreled into turn one in the ill fated heat. The field seemed to compress into a wall of water causing Ken (GP-50) to spin out into the path of Marty Wolfe (GP-93) Renegade. Marty (GP-93) ramped over Ken (GP-50) causing a violent flip leaving the (GP-93) upside down. Thank goodness, both drivers were ok but the hulls are definitely injured. Here's hoping we see these teams racing again soon. Alright, let's get to the final. Perfect water greeted the combatants as they roared out. This was going to be fun. The start saw 5 boats thunder through turn one. Someone kited up a tail but videos do not show it well. Bert (GP-77) jumped out to the lead with Pierre (GP-46) chasing up the backstretch. Through turn two Bert (GP-77) turned violently off the corner. I don't know how he did not barrel roll it but Bert is an amazing driver. He yanked the wheel and took off at ridiculous speed to hold off Pierre (GP-46) all the way home. Patrick Haworth (GP-777) Crush came home a distant third. Welcome back Pierre but this day belonged to Bert in the ugly duckling (GP-77). This just in, Bert is a pretty stout builder and driver!

 

    Phew, the noise died down and the crowd stood stupefied as usual. The GP's are roaring and 2010 is gonna rock! Long Sault was a cool venue and the race committee and volunteers were spectacular. Yes, it was a penalty fest and a flippathon, but the action was terrific. Put this one on your race calendars for 2011.     See ya at Walled Lake.   J and Fae