CCWBRA Nationals 2022 Race Results

August 23, 2022
Zachary Ditmars
Uncategorized

Tohatsu class grows as Kiwi scores hat trick in OMCs and Turtle Club gets a new Turtle

The Weather Gods smiled on Cocktail Racers August 20^th, 2022 for the CCWBRA Nationals at Rock Hall, Maryland. Although some forecasts called for as much as 9 MPH winds from the south, when the day dawned the breeze was soft as a lamb’s breath. For the most part it stayed that way all day provided flat sheltered water for a day’s enthusiastic racing under sunny skies. Twenty-one racers competed in six classes including a Youth Class. Racing was close, especially in Tohatsu class with multiple instances of boats rounding the first mark three abreast with

The day saw a number of firsts. The new rule penalizing boat-to-boat contact was enforced for the first time. The Rule requires that drivers report boat-to-boat contact. Also, all Tohatsu drivers had to ballast up to 200 lb. total.

Thirteen Tohatsu powered boats, a new class record, ran in three preliminary heats. The first heat was dominated by Curt Bluefeld taking two firsts in Todd Steffes’ Hot Toddy, #20. Benji Cantera in Iceman, #113 landed a second behind Bluefeld/Todd and a first when all the other boats were penalized for crossing early. Likewise, in the second Heat John Wagner in Triple Nickel 555 took two second place finishes when boats ahead were penalized in addition to an outright first place finish in the first sprint. In the third heat Fred Allerton in Swamp Rocket, Todd Steffes in Hot Toddy and John Wagner in Triple Nickel swapped the first three places in all three sprints. Todd Steffes took the class title with two wins and a third in the final followed by John Wagner who had one win a hair ahead of Cantera in Iceman, and two hard fought seconds behind Steffes’ wins.

The Tohatsu class had no monopoly on close racing. Three boats, almost perfectly matched for speed thrashed out three sprints for the Early Classic title. Russ Bowler in Flying Kiwi #40, Tom Kerr in Rajic #46 and Fred Keer in Gladiator # 1891 were never far apart. Flying Kiwi did a hat trick for first with Gladiator and Rajic behind.

The Youth Class welcomed two new competitors at the Nationals. Siblings Ella and Marty Humphrey drove Smokin’ Loon #53 and French 75 # 3 with Ella beating Marty three out of three. Marty promises revenge at the next race.

After lunch, racing resumed with a rematch between Bowler in Flying Kiwi and Kerr in Rajic with Zach Ditmars in Molotov # 67 mixing it up for third while carrying a handicap. Ditmar was the only entry in Late Classic Heavy so agreed to race in Late Classic Mixed.

Post ’79 competition saw close infighting often with three boats rounding the second mark simultaneously with two boats right behind. That was more or less the case in the second sprint of the second heat with Tom Kerr in Rajic and Lou Linden in Mrs. Smirnoff #66 jousting for first with Linden squeaking by Kerr at turn two and leading by less than three boat lengths at the finish. But all was for naught. When they throttled down after the finish, they saw Gladiator with its propeller in the air next to the second mark. The race had been red flagged before the leaders had gotten to the third mark. While floating in the starting area waiting while the capsized Gladiator was towed into the pits Linden commented, “I wondered where the hell everybody went!” Ultimately six boats contested the final with Kerr and Linden finishing 1-2 and Frank Cantera in Haul Pass #100 finishing third. John Wagner had Gladiator’s motor cleaned out and running before the end of the day.

Post ’79, Post ’79 Heavy and 8 HP Mixed continue to be popular classes with between 8 and ten entries each. Post ’79 Heavy yielded up a first for Keith Carew in Kerr’s Rajic with second taken by Zach Ditmars in Molotov and Todd Steffes in Hot Toddy. Russ Bowler in Flyin’ Kiwi took line honors in 8 HP for his first hat trick at The Nationals (and a hat trick inside a hat trick in early classic) while Steffes in Hot Toddy beat reigning Commodore Peter Urbani in Shrimp Cocktail #350 for second.

In a departure from past Nationals the Awards Dinner was held outdoors beneath the Yacht Club pavilion, taking advantage of the relatively mild weather, and featured the local Eastern Shore BBQ. Todd Steffes officiated at the presentation as Chief Scorer Gretchen Granbury announced the results with her trademark piquant commentary. Tom Keer was officially inducted into the Ancient and Honorable Order of Testudines, a.k.a. The Turtle Club with a gold leaf cluster for rehabilitating his motor so promptly.

For the first time the Club awarded a new perpetual traveling trophy to the oldest competitor at the Nationals, “The Ancient Mariner.” This years Ancient Mariner is none other than Tom Kerr who, in addition to being older than dirt (he’s just turned 80), walked away from this year’s Nationals with 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd place trophies.

In addition to Todd Steffes, Race Director and Gretchen Granbery, Chief Scorer, Nancy Linden assisted in tallying the race results. Starting and finishing was handled in the morning by Sean Scianna and Lou Linden, and Curt Bluefeld served as pit boss. Our thanks go to them and our hosts, The Rock Hall Yacht Club and to all the racers, their parents, supporters, groupies and hangers-on for making this the highlight of the ’22 season.

~ By Lou Linden