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Hello Team,

The Konrad / Fountain of Youth race boat completed another successful event at the Lake Erie Offshore Performance Association's (LEOPA) Summer Thunderfest out of Put-In-Bay, OH this past weekend.

Friday evening's weather looked questionable, with a strong thunderstorm cell pushing it's way across lower Michigan, heading for Lake Erie... due to arrive at the same time of our planned departure from Gibraltar, MI. After studying the radar maps, we finally departed an hour and a half later with dark skies in front of us, but sunny skies following us along.

We made the 35 mile pass across Lake Erie in good time, with our Konrad 540's tearing up the 4 foot chop left behind from the storm. It was a fun (but busy) 30-minute ride. Arriving at B-Dock in Put-In-Bay was quite a sight, as the majority of the 70+ boat fleet had already arrived, rafting 3, 4, even 5 wide off the dock. The boats and crews were wet, but the excitement was in full swing. Many thanked us for bring the sunshine along with us.

We awoke Saturday morning to a brisk wind blowing in from the Southwest. Another busy ride was in store for the day. Following the drivers meeting, LEOPA Commodore, Dave Powell gave the fleet a "Gentlemen, start your engines" command, and 73 boats rumbled to life at 10:00am sharp. We soon found that Lake Erie had grown to 4-6 footers, but it would be following seas over the first 25 mile leg to Vermillion, OH. Skies were overcast, but the sun was trying to peak through. Busy as it was at the helm, we were able to maintain a steady 65mph pace.

Vermillion was a lunch stop, so the downtime allowed the sun to fully break through. When we departed at 1:00, the clouds were gone completely, and the temps were well on their way to the 95 degrees forecast for the day. Best of all, the winds had died almost completely.

Next stop was Huron, OH. Lake Erie was lying down considerably, with only 3 footers coming at us. Plenty of opportunities to make speed, and get some airtime. Pictures will follow. :)

Last leg was a run back to Put-In-Bay for the festivities. Coming into the bay, we came across one of the poker run participants waving their arms at us. He had broken a fuel filter fitting and had a lot of fuel in the bilge. His first concern was getting his wife off of the boat, so once we accomplished that, we called the Coast Guard for assistance. After they arrived onsite, he gave us the go-ahead to return to port.

All in all, the Konrad boat logged about 60 miles for the day, plus another 70 miles for the round-trip cruise from Gibraltar and back. We received quite a bit of attention during the run, as we were consistently the first of the smaller boats arriving at each of the card stops. Our Konrad 540 stern drive hardware was the key to keeping the hammers down, making short work of difficult sea conditions.

Next stop is the joint OPA/OSS race in St. Clair, MI on July 29-30. This is shaping up to be a huge event, with upwards of 80 race boats on hand, and 70,000 spectators there to witness the event. The Konrad / Fountain of Youth will be there defending last years victory. With a freshly tuned set of props, we'll be giving it our all!

See you guys there.

Thanks,
Brian

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