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St George Spectacular
February 2008
Wet and wild! That is about the only way to describe the February edition of StGeorge Aquatic Club’s two annual spectacular events. And when I say ‘wet and wild’, I don’t mean the good kind. Even though the weather left a lot to be desired, the hydros turned on a pretty good show, with 5 boats making up the class. This might not sound like much, but when traditional StGeorge classes such as 5litre Displacement only have two entrants, we did pretty good. The boats unofficially fell into two sub-classes, with the 6litre modern boats of Longshot and Loose Unit expected out front, and the Classic Hydros of The Bug, The Baron and Miss September to battle out the minor placings.
Intermittent rain throughout the day saw the race programme thrown into havoc, with the hydro class mucked around on the ramp a couple of times, causing much frustration with the drivers. That explains some of the wet. Now for the ‘wild’. It was bloody rough! I can’t emphasise that point enough. So much so that Miss September ended up with some hull damage at the end of the day.
The first race saw all competitors struggle to stay in one line for the start of the race, courtesy of the rough conditions. The flag was held up for seemed an eternity before the go pedals were sent to floor. Loose Unit appeared to suffer from the slow start speed and bogged down, unable to show much speed. Longshot had the big fuel injected 350 Chev humming and took complete advantage of the bigger hull in the rough conditions. Miss September slotted into second position up the bumpy back straight. The race ending with Longshot out front, Miss September holding on to second form a late charging Loose Unit, and The Baron and The Bug rounding out the field.
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On the way back to the ramp, Miss September was on the receiving end of a big wave of water up and over the deck, courtesy of a log boat heading out of the channel. It wasn’t realised until later, that the water caused an electrical problem.
The boats headed out for the second race later in the day (after a couple of visits to the ramp). On the way to the course, it was evident that the previous race was still underway. The hydro drivers had to wait in the channel for some time until the course was clear.
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The second race got underway with one boat down, as Miss September couldn’t pull up onto the plane, so headed back to the pits - only to have Nathan slip and fall into the water when pushing off another cruise boat, just to rub some salt (water) into the wounds. The electrical problem was later found.
The remaining competitors hit the course to again battle the elements of the Kogarah Bay course. Longshot again hit the lead early, not to be caught.
The third hydro race of the day ended in a similar fashion with Longshot out front, Loose Unit still having problems pulling the boat off the line and out of the corners. The Bug and The Baron having plenty of action in the rough conditions.
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