pieces of itself into the engine causing extensive damage to both pieces of equipment. Both boats withdrew due to the damage done during qualifying. The U-9 would also be forced to retire from the weekend after a crash during one of the preliminaries. One witness saw the boat flip end over end one-and-a-half times, before eventually rolling over after it met water again.
The winner-takes-all final also saw controversy when the U-1 was called for being too early to the score-up buoy, a marker in turn one the all boat must be behind one minute prior to the start of the race. The call resulted in the removal of the score-up rule from the rule book and driver, Jimmy Shane, winning the Gold Cup.
The Columbia Cup, in Kennewick Washington, saw its fair share of carnage as well. During the second to last preliminary of the weekend, the U-37 Beacon Plumbing,
driven by Dave Villwock, cut too close to the course
markers in turn two and when
he corrected the boat, he slid
out a lane into the left front
tip of the U-6 causing damage
to his and Shane’s boats.
the U-37 Beacon Plumbing, driven by Dave Villwock, cut too close to the course markers in turn two and when he corrected the boat, he slid out into the of lane of the U-6, hitting the front end, and causing some minor damage
to his and Shane’s boat. The U-6 was able to finish the weekend but the U-37 had to withdraw from the contact.
In the final, the U-21 driven by Jamie Nilsen flipped over in turn two going end over end and finishing with a splash down that caused his boat to roll over multiple times leading to season ending damage to the hull. Jimmy Shane was able to win the final and pull out a sizable points lead over second J. Michael Kelly.
The fourth race of the season, the Albert Lee Seafair Cup brought the championship back within the reach of J. Michael Kelly. During the second prelim of the weekend
the weekend Villwock and Shane once again collided; the two drivers were deck to
deck in turn two before the start of the heat when Villwock failed to turn tight
enough and bounced off the side of the U-6 sending the U-37 in a 360 spin and
causing enough damage to the U-37 forcing the team to withdraw from the
weekend. H1 also placed Villwock on a one race suspension
Villwock and Shane once again collided; the two drivers were deck to deck in turn two before the start of the heat when Villwock failed to turn tight enough and bounced off the side of the U-6 sending the U-37 in a 360 spin, and causing enough damage to the U-37 forcing the team to withdraw from the weekend.
H1 also placed Villwock on a one race suspension for his “aggressive” style of driving that lead to two accidents in two straight weeks.
During the next prelim, the U-96 Spirit of Qatar driven by Kip Brown went for a lazy flip on lap one, turn one. The U-96 was inside of another boat when he hit a wave, and bounced out a lane into the roostertail of the other boat causing the boat’s front tip to lift up, and roll the boat over on its side, finally resulting in the boat up-side down in the water and ultimately forcing the team withdraw. In the final,
J. Michael Kelly was able to hold Jimmy Shane at bay and win the race thus closing
the gap between himself and Shane in the championship points standings.