Salmon Cup Entries Set

A field of ten has entered the final race of the Unlimited Light Hydroplane Racing Season, on October 2nd & 3rd. The Salmon Cup Regatta will feature a full slate of APBA classes over three days on Lake Sammamish at Issaquah WA, near Seattle with the APBA classes racing on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The Unlimited Lights will test on Friday and race on Saturday & Sunday.

Paul Becker goes into the Salmon Cup with a 675 point margin over Kayleigh Perkins in the battle for the 2010 series championship. Close behind Perkins and looking to move up are Wil Muncey, 80 points behind Perkins, and Kevin Eacret, 41 points behind Muncey.
 
One time points leader Bob Smets, who lost ground when his race craft failed to start the Final at Seattle in early August and later was unable to attend the wind shortened race at Polson MT, holds down fifth place and is less than 400 points behind Eacret.
 
Rod Bourke had a strong pair of races at Tri Cities and Seattle, finishing in 3rd place at both events and he enters the Sammamish race sixth in the point standings. Rounding out the field will be Vince Xaudaro and Joe Souza, both working on getting their substantially reworked race craft in full competitive shape. Xaudaro showed his ride was getting close at both Seattle and Polson while Souza's newly converted supercharged engine program has had some issues, most recently with the propeller shaft system but his team is also getting close. Rounding out the field will be Austin Eacret who earned his first ever UL heat win at Polson and has made some impressive starts, and Chris Grant in the tandem wing hull that's had some real performance challenges in 2010 but the team believes they are on the right track.
 
ULHRA Video will have live coverage of the Unlimited Lights competing at Issaquah WA on October 2nd and 3rd. Check the home page of this website for details on when to log on for the webcast.
 
Three weeks after the race on Saturday October 23rd the Unlimited Light Hydroplane Racing Association awards banquet will be held in Sequim WA at the 7 Cedars Casino.
 
John Lynch
"Voice" of ULHRA Racing

 "It ain't over, till it's over" 

Photo Credit: Julie parrowgrove, Mark Sharley
 
With apologies to Hall of Fame baseball player Yogi Berra, the 
Unlimited Light Hydroplane Racing Series for 2010 is not over. 
 
Paul Becker and his UL-14 Sammamish Mortgage-GO NAVY entry leads the 
points race going into the final event with 3400 markers. Becker's performance 
has been solid all year including winning at Seattle and tying for most 
points at Polson, Montana before the race was called due to high winds. 
Becker also was leading the Final at Tri Cities but suffered a parts failure on 
the last lap and did not finish (DNF). 

 
Second place in the points race is held by Kayleigh Perkins in 
the UL-72 Foster Care-TRIAD Racing Technologies with 2725 while Wil Muncey 
at 2645 in the UL-00 John Howie Steak, and Kevin Eacret with 2604 if the 
UL-11 Power Punch-ROXY Radio 94.5-K&N Engineering are close behind. 
 
Each heat victory is worth 400 points so all four teams have a mathematical 
chance at winning the 2010 series title. The Unlimited Lights will compete at 
Issaquah WA on Lake Sammamish, October 2nd & 3rd. The UL series is being 
featured at the annual Salmon Cup. Weather in the Seattle suburb in early 
October certainly can play a factor with the schedule of two preliminary 
heats on Saturday the 2nd, plus a third preliminary heat on Sunday followed 
by the Final. The B-Main would also be held on Sunday as a "last chance 
qualifier" to set the lineup for the six boat Final. 

 
For any of the challengers to overcome Becker's lead they'll likely have 
to "run the table" and hope that all four point scoring heats can be run. 
Back in 2005 Michael Flaherty did "run the table" in the 
final race of the year in 2005. He won all three preliminary heats at Port 
Angeles plus the Final. Points leader Greg Hopp could not afford one DNF but 
also couldn't afford a mediocre weekend. With one victory and three second place 
finishes, Hopp wound up winning the championship by 83 points! 
 
John Lynch
"Voice" of ULHRA Racing

                                           Our ULHRA family wishes the Alan Lagerval family our heartfelt condolence on the loss of his Mother.  We hope your many wonderful memories of her will soften your grieving, and give you peace. 

Lucille Losey Lagervall joined her family in Heaven on 9/1/10. She was born in Yakima on 9/13/32 and graduated from Highland High School in 1950. She was married to Jim Lagervall, originally of Zillah. She is survived by brothers Jim Losey of Newbury Park, CA and Art Losey of Olympia, WA. Her children are Dawn Winchell (of Federal Way, with her husband Dan and children Kristene and Kara); Mike (of Deming, with his wife Melody and children Mitch and Jake) and Alan (of Pacific, with his wife Kelly and children AJ, Maryssa and Josh). She will be remembered for devotion to family, creativity in finding a way to make things work, and the wonderful homemade treats everyone enjoyed. She will be missed by all. Memorial will be held Saturday, 9/18/10 at 2:00 p.m., at Taproot Church located at 20400 1st Avenue South in Des Moines. In lieu of flowers, donations to the North Highline Fire District Aid Car fund are appreciated.

Published in The Seattle Times on September 11, 2010

2010 ULHRA Awards Banquet 

 That's right... The banquet is just around the corner and you are cordially invited to be a part of the festivities...

This year's banquet is being held at 7 Cedars Casino, The Official Casino of the ULHRA, in Sequim, WA. on Saturday, October 23, 2010.  The Banquet will begin at 5:00pm with an exciting night of Awards, Announcements, Dining and Entertainment. (Banquet Flyer) 

As most of you know, this has been a wild and crazy year and sure that there are lots of stories to share between the "Sand Storms" in Phoenix, to the "Floods" in South Dakota. Pre-Registration is through October 18th...    But for a lifetime of memories, never to be forgotten, you can purchase DVD's  for something to lookback on.

If you need accomodations, we can help you out there too...  And it is never to early to become a member of the ULHRA for 2011 as we would love to include you in our ULHRA family.

We look forward to seeing you there!