2010 Tastin' 'n Racin'



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TASTIN' n RACIN' - JUNE 12-13, 2010
Lake Sammamish - Issaquah, WA.


Miss Thriftway, along with the Museums Oh Boy! Oberto, participated in the 12th Annual Tastin' 'n Racin' Event held at the Lake Sammamish State Park on June 12-13. The weather was just spectacular!

Mother Nature was trying her best to discourage everyone. Lake Sammamish was the highest level ever for the first of June (MY dock is STILL underwater), it had rained so much that the grassy areas were soaked so only parallel parking ON THE ASPHALT was allowed, the hot boat show had to be cancelled because of the soggy display area, and because of the high level of the lake, the pit area was reduced by about 25 feet in depth.

Regardless, the sun came out Friday (setup day) and things started drying out. Saturday, we were scheduled to run at 1:15 and 5:15, but didn't get into the water until around 4:00 for our first run. We had been asked to give the legendary Pat O'Day a ride, but Pat had an engagement Saturday night and informed us he would not be able to go. Chief came up with another idea...what about the newly appointed APBA National Vintage Chairman, Doug Whitley? Well...Doug is a racer...he wanted to DRIVE...we're not in the habit of letting non-crew drive, so we told him he could steer a few laps. That was OK, so Compton took Doug out, showed him the course then turned the wheel over so Doug steered most of the laps.

The 5:15 scheduled time turned into 6:30. Fortunately, the permit allowed racing to go on until 7:00 so Duke Moscrip of the Duke's Chowderhouse chain, showed up and Steve took him around the Lake Sammamish course to give him the experience of riding in the ol' conventionals.

On Sunday, the weather continued to cooperate, and the schedule got back to normal. Around 1:00, Miss T was in the water and Rob had our welder friend, John Farrell, all suited up and ready to take his payback ride. John lives on Vashon, and during our build really helped us out by doing a lot of the aluminum welding we needed.

Later on Sunday, the wind came up and the race officials posponed the start of the 1 liter's and asked if we could go out and run a "few" laps. Well, they also put the U-17 in and Nate Brown went out first. He came in and said it was almost too rough for him, but we were going to go a lot slower so we should be OK. So Rob took Don Mock (1982 Atlas Van Lines Crew Chief and currently the lead on the rebuilding of the 1977 "Blue Blaster") out for a ride. It turns out the green flag didn't go down after the fourth lap so Rob and Don just kept going. Rob turned the driving, both wheel and throttle, over to Don, who had never done it before. Don took it around for a couple of laps in the rough water, then Rob brought Miss T in. Just in time because the wind died down enough for the 1 liters to go!

We would like to exdend our "Thanks" to Jon & Chris Courtright, John O'Brien and the rest of the TnR staff for their wonderful hospitality and putting up with all the challenges they did in order to put on such a successful event.

Once again, Vashon Unlimiteds is very grateful to the generosity of the photographers who help bring us the awesome pictures of not only our boat in action, but all of the rest of the hydros that participate in these events. Chris Denslow, Jim Simpson, Julie Sparrowgrove and Mark Sharley...guys, we can't thank you enough. Please, check out the links below, and go to Smugmug and purchase a couple of pictures from these wonderful artists!


Chris Denslow:                       Day 1      Day 2

Julie Sparrowgrove:                         Both Days

Jim Simpson:                                  Both Days




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Vashon Island, Washington USA All Rights Reserved
E-mail comments or questions to: Steve Compton