C_Spray

iTrader: (2)

The difference is that your team's reaction to that incident was world-class, and made you champions in most people's minds (including mine, although I like Charlie, too).

skygod

looks like a paralax (spelling?)

Hauling Trash

This has to stay at the top.

Reindl Powerboats

Yahoo,

I must agree with C_Spray, that was class you guys showed in the worlds a few years back. I can't imagine the dissapointment, you guys ran awesome!

Steve 1

I cannot be reading this right ! A DQ over 10 Pounds??

TulsaLarry

Steve 1:

Yes, DQ because Yahoo was ten pounds light but that is not the whole story. There was a restart of the race which burned extra gas and then on the last lap the officials did not wave the checkered flag so Team Yahoo made an extra lap to make sure they did not miscount the laps.

As a Team Yahoo fan I must say that I did not handle it near as nicely as Curtis and the rest of the team.

THEJOKER

Curtis was not at the throttles , I believe it was Hurley Stepp and Jamin Jones driving - Curtis is a 1st class act and always had the coldest beer. APBA Offshore racing has not been quite the same since Curtis retired. I'll never forget Curtis taking the time to talk to me in Ft Myers in 1999 - I knew everything and he just shook his head - haha - Yahoo and Hollis Motorsports shared a huge tent in Sarasota in 1999 and we both won our races. Curtis took us to a awesome sushi bar and picked up the entire bill. Damn that was the best time of my life - YYYAAAAAAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOO!

BH


Anybody remember Curtis smoking the field in Daytona 2001 - Super Cat? Curtis hurt his back and had to pull over - Yahoo was a half lap ahead of the closest boat - Drambuie -

TulsaLarry

Mike, I'm not questioning you, I was just stating published reports, which could be wrong:

Full Text:
Copyright Times Publishing Co. Nov 20, 2000

Charlie Haimes and Russ Wilkin lost the world title. Then, after a short weight, they won it.

It all came down to Turn 3 of the last lap - the race, the season and the worlds. All Charlie Haimes and Russ Wilkin had to do was slip by Billy Mauff's Super Cat and the checkered flag was theirs.

"The lane was open, and we were ready to make our move," said Haimes, whose boat Relief Band won the first half of the American Power Boat Association World Championships on Thursday. "But they slammed the door shut on us, and we had to settle for third place."

The race didn't mean anything to Mauff's WHM Motorsports team. It took eighth Thursday and was out of the running for the title. But for Relief Band, a second-place finish, combined with the previous win, would have given it the world title.

But Jamin Jones and Hurley Stepp of Yahoo, the team that finished 40 seconds behind Relief Band on Thursday, won Sunday's race.

But victory was short-lived.

Hours after taking the checkered flag, Team Yahoo was penalized and dropped to third place because its boat weighed 10 pounds less than it was supposed to during a post-race inspection. Mauff's boat, WHM, was moved into first and Relief Band into second, giving it the world title.

Ten pounds equals about 1 1/2 gallons of gas. The 40-foot Skater burned at least that much fuel going back to the starting line after being forced to restart with the rest of the fleet.

Calculating fuel consumption and boat weight is as important as deciding what propeller to use on race day.

Haimes, a veteran throttleman who turned in his best performances of the year in St. Petersburg, said his boat would have performed better if its ballast tanks had been working properly.

"I'm ecstatic and stoked to win our fifth world championship," Haimes said. "We finally made it to the top."

The field of 15 Super Cats, the association's premier racing class, was the most evenly matched of the season.

Clearwater's Hugh Fuller took an early lead in his new Marine Technology 40-footer, Hydrogen Media, but he was quickly challenged by Rick Bowling's Jelly Belly. But coming around Turn 3, Bowling lost control and barrel-rolled his 37-foot Talon, narrowly missing Fuller.

"For a second there, I thought he was going to hit me," Fuller said. "It seemed like he missed me by inches."

Bowling and his navigator were not hurt, and Fuller and throttleman Johnny Tomlinson widened their lead. But as the water laid down, other boats gained ground, and Hydrogen Media found itself chasing another new Marine Tech boat, Tommy Bahama.

For several laps it looked like Tommy Bahama would walk away with the title. It had a commanding lead, as it did Thursday, when it led the field at one point by 45 seconds. But just like Thursday, the boat broke before it could finish the race.

"We were carrying a lot more speed on the outside turns - my guess at least 10 to 15 miles per hour faster," said Paul Nemschoff, the driver of Tommy Bahama. "But unfortunately, we broke again. We feel like we gave the championship away."

In the end, Yahoo finished first and Mauff's WHM second, followed by Relief Band and Hydrogen Media. But because Yahoo was penalized, Relief Band moved up to second. And that was enough for the world title.

TulsaLarry

Mike, I wish you were back at APBA also, I have always heard good things about the way you operate. I am not complaining about you, the rules, APBA or Team Yahoo, everyone followed the rules. I and others were upset, because of a fluke or miscalculation, that our favorite team lost when we thought they had won.

yahoo

I still miss racing, Im in the 10th stage of my 12 stage process.


What killed Yahoo at the worlds, was the extra lap. 15lbs is right around 2 gallons of fuel.

Im going to the worlds in Key West, hope to see you all there.

Curtis