Sunday, July 18

Photos from the Gold Cup Final

Gold Cup Final Results

**After officials reviewed the final heat due to a protest from the U-16, it was determined that the Dave Villwock in the U-1 Miss Budweiser moved over on the U-16. This resulted in a disqualification of the U-1 and the APBA Gold Cup will be awarded to Nate Brown and the U-10 Miss DYC.

The final heat of the 2004 Gold Cup was set to be the hottest heat of the day with the lanes being left up for grabs. The U-8 Llumar with J.W. Myers took lane 1. Dave Villwock and the Miss Bud had lane 2 coming into the backstretch. Terry Troxell seemed to think that he deserved lane 2 and threaded the very narrow needle between the Bud and the Llumar. As a result, the Llumar hit the Elam Plus causing Troxell to hit the Bud. All three boats sustained damage (see photos in the gallery). All the boats were able to stay running and on plane. The U-10 Miss DYC landed lane 4, the U-6 Oh Boy! Oberto took lane 5 and the U-2 Miss Chrysler Jeep was the trailor.

The next 5 laps were the most intense of the day. The Bud took an early lead, with the Llumar giving chase, followed by Elam and Oberto. The boats were all flying high and walking down the straightaways. The Roostertail turn saw every boat up in the air and getting pounded by rollers. The constant pounding caused the tail of the Oberto to collapse, burning much of the fiberglass on the turbine exhaust. On the third lap, the Elam went down but restarted. On the fourth lap, the Llumar lost power somewhere near the first turn, near where the Oberto horizontal tail piece was later picked up by a patrol boat. Also on the fourth lap, Elam hooked the boat coming out of turn 4 and took away the U-10’s lane. Nate Brown and the U-10 flew through Elam’s roostertail but were unscathed and able to continue running.

Villwock was able to pilot the Miss Bud to her last Gold Cup win. Second place went to Brown and the U-10, third to David and the Oberto, fourth to Troxell and Elam, and fifth went to Mark Tate and the U-2. Llumar did not finish.

Total Points Going into the Final

Heat 4B Results

Heat 4B was a battle of attrition, with Steve David and the Oh Boy! Oberto coming out on top. The U-25 pulled out of the race after the last heat. The U-100 Miss Al Deeby Dodge did not finish. The Elam’s steering wheel came off in Troxell’s hands at the start of the heat. Steve David and the U-6 were flawless and ran for a wire to wire victory.

Heat 4A Results

Heat 4A saw the U-8 Llumar assigned to lane 1, the U-2 Miss Chrysler Jeep in lane 2, the U-10 Miss DYC in lane 3, and lane four was given to the U-1 Miss Bud. The Llumar, Miss DYC and the Bud hit the start and ran deck to deck around turn one and into the backstretch. Bud quickly settled back and let the U-8 and the U-10 battle it out for the victory. The next few laps gave fans some of the best racing of the day as the U-10 would catch the Llumar on the straightaways and Llumar would pull ahead in the turns. The U-8 began to pull away, exhibiting some of the awesome speed that we’ve seen from this boat all year. Myers took the Llumar on for the win. Coming out of the last turn the U-10 hooked and lost power. Amazingly enough, the Budweiser somehow managed NOT to catch the Miss DYC and Tate took the 10 on for a second place finish.

Heat 4A

Heat 4B

Heat 3B Results

Heat 3B saw the U-8 Llumar in lane 1, the U-2 in lane 2, the U-6 in lane 3 and the U-100 in lane 4. J.W. Myers was prepared to put the U-8 Llumar through its paces. With the inside lane, all Myers had to do was stick to the buoy line to give his team another heat win. The U-8 jumped out in front and never looked back. That left the U-6 Oh Boy! Oberto and the U-2 Miss Chrysler Jeep to battle it out for second. With Tate on the inside and David and the Oberto on the outside, Tate could just keep the Oberto at bay. Midway through the race, David cut the U-6 to the inside of Tate and the U-2. On the final lap it was a drag race to a photo finish. But it was not to be. Tate held off the U-6 to take second, leaving the Oberto with third and the U-100 fourth.

Heat 3A Results

Heat 3A saw the U-16 Miss Elam Plus with a new air scoop on the cowling that they damaged in Saturday’s flip. Lanes were based on points thus far, giving the 16 lane 1. Muscatel and the U-25 were given lane 2, lane 3 went to the U-10 Miss DYC and lane 4 went to the Bud. Elam was flying high, walking the boat down the backstretch every lap. Both Elam and Bud fought for the lead, but Elam’s inside lane gave them the edge they needed to beat the Miss Bud. By lap 5, Villwock and the Bud had settled in to second leaving the U-10 to take third. Muscatel rounded Roostertail turn on the final lap and went dead in the water, flames lapping out of the turbine. The flames went out promptly but the U-25 failed to finish.

Heat 3A

Heat 3B

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Saturday, July 17

Heat 2B Results

Heat 2B saw the surprising recovery of the U-16 driven by Terry Troxell following their amazing flip in heat 1A. The boat sustained minimal damage with the exception of the cowling and uprights. The U-16 team worked diligently to replace both the motor and gear box, managing to trailor fire just prior to the start of Heat 2B. And it appeared that Troxell was unfazed by his previous run as he managed to grab lane 1. Steve David and the Oh Boy! Oberto took lane 2, the U-100 with Greg Hopp took lane 3, and lane 4 went to Muscatel and the U-25. Again, all of the boats were barely on plane and early. The U-16 jumped out in front of the rest of the field, commanding about a 3 boat lead going in to the backstretch. The field spread out with the U-6 sitting comfortably in 2nd, the U-100 in 3rd, and the U-25 settling in to 4th. Start/finish judges ruled, however, that both the U-16 and the U-6 jumped the gun. This call put the U-100 in first, the U-25, in second, the U-16 third, and the U-6 last. At the end of the heat, the Oberto team protested the call.

**One lap penalty for jumping the gun

Heat 2A Results

In heat 2A the drivers were given the opportunity to jockey for lanes. The U-1 Miss Bud landed lane 1, the U-8 Llumar had lane 2, the U-10 took lane 3, and the U-2 was left with lane 4. All the boats were extremely early on the start and were barely up on plane as they rounded Roostertail turn. The start was good, however, with the Miss Bud jumping out in front. By the last lap, Villwock and the Bud had a quarter of a lap lead on the number 2 finisher, the U-10 Miss DYC with J.W. Myers. The U-8 failed to finish the heat.

Heat 2A (no lane assignments)

Heat 2B (no lane assignments)

Heat 1A Results (Restart)

The restart of Heat 1A went off as the Miss Elam Plus team was working on righting the U-16. The U-8 Miss Llumar was disqualified before the start of the race for going outside the buoy line. J. W. Myers continued to run the heat. Dave Villwock drove the U-1 Miss Budweiser to a victory over the U-10 Miss DYC driven by Nate Brown.

**Disqualifaction reduced to a $300 fine and 3rd place finish with points

Heat 1B Results

Heat 1B began slow as all the boats were early on the start and had to crawl to the start line. The U-6 Oh Boy! Oberto quickly took the lead over the U-100 Al Deeby Dodge. Going in to Roostertail turn, the Oberto caught air under the left sponson causing a unanimous gasp throughout the pits. But a flip was not in the cards for Steve David and he drove the U-6 on to a wire to wire win. A distant second was the U-100 Miss Al Deeby Dodge, followed by the Jim Harvey entrant, the U-2 Miss Chrysler Jeep with driver Mark Tate. Nearly a lap behind, Dr. Ken Muscatel brought the U-25 in for a fourth place finish.

Troxell Flips in Heat 1A

Terry Troxell in the U-16 Miss Elam Plus flipped in the first lap of Heat 1A. Coming around the famous rooster tail turn Troxell was battling J.W. Myers in the U-8 Llumar for the lead. As both boats came around the turn, it was apparent that Troxell could not hold the inside lane. The U-16 went wide, going up and through Myers' roostertail, and landing upside down. Terry Troxell appears to be ok, but the U-16 will likely be done for the weekend.

Heat 1A Lane Assignments

Heat 1B Lane Assignments

Unlimited Hydroplane Schedule

Teams will run 4 lap heats on Saturday and 5 lap heats on Sunday.

Saturday

12:00 pm Unlimited Heat 1A

12:20 pm Unlimited Heat 1B

3:10 pm Unlimited Heat 2A
3:30 pm Unlimited Heat 2B

Sunday

11:20 am Unlimited Heat 3A
11:40 am Unlimited Heat 3B

1:20 pm Unlimited Heat 4A
1:40 pm Unlimited Heat 4B

3:10 pm Gold Cup Final

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Friday, July 16

Testing and Time Trials

Results for today's time trials are as follows:

Will Detroit be the Last Hydro-Prop Race?

Evansville was the first race site to pull away from the Garbrechts and Hydro-Prop. Now Tri-Cities, WA has also dropped out of the H-P circuit, with San Diego still weighing their options. It has been rumored that even Seattle has considered pulling the plug on Gary Garbrecht's wallet.

Hydro-Prop may be putting on one of their last races this weekend in Detroit, the race for the coveted Gold Cup. And after some high speeds and good racing in Madison two weeks ago, it looks like every team is ready to put their best boat forward.

Several boats were in need of repair following the Regatta. The U-8 Llumar had to replace the escape hatch, repair a cracked sponson and repair or replace an upright on the back wing. The U-10, which took a log in the escape hatch in Madison, will have repaired their damaged hatch. The U-16 Elam Plus sheared a strut leaving the dock on Saturday in Madison and were not able to repair it sufficiently in the pits. The U-6 Oh Boy! Oberto sustained damage to the left sponson that was temporarily fixed after their heat win.

Thursday saw high winds for much of the first day of testing. Most teams managed to hit the Detroit River at least once before the high winds shut down the course late in the afternoon.

Check back all weekend for live coverage and photos of the 2004 Gold Cup!

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