Here's the schedule for this weekend's action...
Representing the UL fleet in Hawaii... The UL-23 Supercuts, UL-72 Pocket Mechanic, UL-110 Miss CompAir and GNH-9 Miss Hyundai of Hawaii will be representing the Unlimited Lights Racing Series in the JN Chevrolet Hydrofest. - 9/24/99 It's all in the number... The GNH-9 has been renumbered UL-9 for this race. Learn more about the UL-9 in David Holmer's story on our news page. Returning sponsor and driver for the UL-23... Over on our news page we detail the return of Supercuts as the UL-23 title sponsor for Hawaii and J W Myers as a part time driver (working on qualifying as a Unlimited Light driver) with the team. What about the UL-15 Miss Graham Trucking? Thanks to word from Doug McIntosh, we've learned that Greg & Michele and Jerry & Dorothy will be attending the Hawaii race, but as of his e-mail from last night they will be there as spectators. Jerry is tentatively scheduled to handle the Hawaii Kai demo runs as Dave Williams is unable to attend the race. Thursday in Hawaii! Some of the boats out on display today included the UL-72 Pocket Mechanic, the UL-23 Supercuts and the UL-110 Miss CompAir. The UL-9 is at the Aloha Hyundai/Kia dealership in Waikiki and will will join the other Lights in the pits tomorrow. Spotted in the pits this afternoon are Eddie Bush (setting up communications), Eric Stielau, Bo Darling and Howard Shaw. The Judges Stand and the Pit Tower are up and ready to race. Winds are coming from the South today and they have created some eight foot ocean swells. We're all hoping that they subside and the weekend will be calm for the racing. (This update was submitted by our reporter in the pits: Anna Leighton) Early word from Friday in Hawaii! The water was good until about 11:00 AM and then it became a windy day. Motors had to be shut down by noon due to the change in command of the Pacific Fleet Admirals. Here are the fastest speeds for the Unlimited Lights:
Bob Larimore's son has been spotted on the web. If you stop by the Hydros results page you can see a great photo of Zak Larimore of the UL-23 Supercuts. This is one of eight photos they've loaded to the site from today's action in Hawaii. Schedule for today's action... Well, we are about a half hour from the start of the day in Hawaii. At this point it is only 7:30 AM out on the islands. The Unlimited and Unlimited Light testing period should begin at 8:00 AM. Here's a summary of what's scheduled for today:
UL-110 team hangs ten... What's missing from the pits of the UL-110 Miss CompAir? Randy Haas' wife Tracey is home in Toledo, Ohio and it's a "boy's weekend" for the race team. We've heard that they took advantage of the short day by surfing! Now there's a great way to enjoy the Hawaiian islands! A very rough start to the morning... During the morning test session, both the UL-72 and the UL-110 were out on the water testing. The session was stopped when Phil Bononcini barrel rolled the UL-72. Early reports indicate he is okay. He's currently under the care of Navy physician Brain Lawenda. Bononcini never lost consciousness and is in the ambulance on his way to the hospital for further examination. More details as we hear them. We are extremely glad to hear that Phil is okay. Early word on the boat indicates that it has been severely damaged. A second update on the UL-72... Just talked to Phil Bononcini (diver of the UL-72 Pocket Mechanic) from Hawaii and he is doing just fine. He was hooked up in the corner and the wind was blowing right at the edge of the right sponson. A gust just lifted it right up and over. He estimated the winds to be gusting 15-20 mph. The boat landed hard on the left side and the hull is not in good shape. What a tough end to a good season. Commenting on the testing up to that point, Phil said had it not been for the wind, speeds from yesterday would have been much faster. More on the morning in Hawaii... We've heard that the UL-72 has considerable damage to the front ends of both sponsons. There is additional damage and, unfortunately, the Pocket Mechanic race team will not be able to repair the hull in order to compete this weekend. At the time of the mishap Bononcini had just finished a testing lap at 103.696 mph and Randy Haas (UL-110 Miss CompAir) was right behind him running a test lap of 98.940 mph. Earlier this morning, testing was delayed while a portion of the race course was re-set and high winds (and white caps) have kept the morning interesting. As for the opening ceremonies, they took center stage more recently as parades, rally girls and drill teams were just a small part of the full entertainment. At the time of this update the the drivers were in the autograph session during the noon break. This update is possible due to Kay King of the U-10 York International team and we thank her for the great information! We have a cam site... Pearl Harbor Cam has been set up to point at the Hydrofest race course. If you download the latest free version of RealPlayer (available here), you can see a streaming video push live from the course! They also have a basic cam that stores photos of the last ten cam captures. If you look in their Real Vid Archive, they have a short video from Hydrofest 98! Saturday wrap-up... First let's talk about Phil Bonocini's condition once again. According to Dr. Brian Lawanda, Phil suffered only a minor abrasion and a bruise to his left shoulder. We can't say how pleased we are to hear that he made it safely through this incident. The Pocket Mechanic boat, however did not fare as well. There's a photo over on Hydros showing the damage. As you will see it suffered damage to the left sponson, canard and both uprights. The team is finished for the weekend. The three remaining Unlimited Lights were able to run one heat before wind and water conditions deteriorated. Poor racing conditions forced officials to shorten UL Heat 1 to only two laps. UL-110 Miss CompAir's Randy Haas won the heat by a narrow margin over rookie J.W. Myers in the UL-23 Miss Supercuts and veteran Paul Droullard in the Aloha Hyundai. "My little boat had a really hard time out there," said Paul Droullard. Droullard is campaigning a National Modified hull at this race. "They (Haas and Myers) have about 300 more horse power than I do. But they pack about 300 to 400 pounds more than I do and that's the equalizer." Droullard has commissioned a new Ron Jones, Jr. Unlimited Light for the 2000 season. This update is possible due to David Holmer of Hydros and we thank him for the great information! A few additional details... We've heard a little more on the Navy's great opening show. Admiral John Townes and Captain Henry Sanford welcomed the boat camps and spectators to this tenth annual Hydrofest. Several entertaining acts followed the welcome. They included the Hawaii Pacific University Cheerleading team, "Drill Team Hawaii" (ages 5-22 years of age) and several bands. Today's Unlimited Light three boat shoot out will be followed by an additional second shoot-out tentatively scheduled for 12:30 PM tomorrow. The Unlimited Light Final is set for 3:30 PM In terms of theUL-72, both tails are off, the canard is off, the left front sponson is half gone and there is a 10 inch hole in the right. Gratefully, early indications are that the bottom looks intact, as does the canopy. The boat was supported by an inflatable raft and towed slowly back in after today's incident. Getting a little more detail from Dr. Brian Lawenda, USN doctor in charge of Hydrofest, Phil was confirmed stable very quickly after the accident and has only minor abrasions and contusions of his left shoulder. His only complaints were of his left shoulder and some elbow pain. He was examined in the ambulance, then released back to his boat. As for Unlimited Light Heat 1, the Lights lined up for a flag start with J.W. Myers in the UL-23 Supercuts as the pace boat. As leads changed between he and Randy Haas in the UL-110 Miss CompAir, Paul Droullard in the Miss Aloha Hyundai/Kia kept close in Lane One. Coming around the last turn, JW was ahead, but Randy passed him just before the finish to collect the 400 points. JW was second for 300 points and Paul garnered a respectable 225 points. Winds and waves were marginal for holding this race at all but the fleet managed to run safely and put on quite a show. Also, the Hawaii Kai did go out with Jerry Hopp (of the UL-15 Graham Trucking team) at the helm with guests riding along at his side. The Hawaii Kai made it out twice during the day. Schedule for today's action... We're about four hours from the start of today's action in Hawaii. At this point it is only 5:00 AM out on the islands. The final testing session should begin at 9:00 AM. Here's a summary of what's scheduled for today:
Friday morning in Hawaii... Once again, high winds plague the course but the UL's are out testing. After suffering from a coupler that came loose yesterday, Randy's UL-110 Miss CompAir is fixed. At one point this morning, the Light drivers offered to run their races on Jet Skis if needed!! Anything to please the fans. Chapel services were shared by Reverend Jim Riley along with US Navy Protestant and Roman Catholic Navy Chaplains. The Hawaii Kai is out again this morning. They suffered a dead battery (due to attempts to start) yesterday afternoon. Today's Unlimited Light heat results... We just heard these results from Hawaii! UL Heat 3 Results The UL final... Here are the results of the UL final. Randy Haas in the UL-110 Miss CompAir took off and never looked back, securing his second win of the season. The boats behind him had some problems, though. The GNH-9 Aloha Hyundai, with Paul Droullard, had to shut down after the first lap due to the rough water. The UL-72 (alias 23) had serious problems as JW Myers shut the boat down and then it started sinking. They did get the boat back to the dock and when it was lifted out of the water, there was a hole about 18 inches wide and 5 feet long in the bottom of the hull. JW is fine.
A word with the winner... In speaking with Randy Haas after the race, he said that the boat was a series of patchworks as they continually worked to keep the boat together throughout the weekend. Since it had to be put immediately on the ship after the San Diego race, the team didn't have a chance to repair the hull after the flip. The hull will now be rebuilt in the off season.
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Congratulations to Randy and the entire UL-110 team on the win!