WHIPLASH

Larry, Thank you for the kind words. Yes it is the volunteers who make it possible but it would not happen if we did not have great people participate. Ropa is not about the # or quality of boats but the quality of people and our participants are second to none. This year we may have had a few less boats, due to some participants who didn't have a working boat, but the same # of people as they came even without the boats to be part of and help create the fun! A huge thank you to all of you who make it a joy to organize and run this event for 23 years.
I don't believe there are any "gods" smiling on us but instead the spirits of those dedicated ROPA officers who have passed on. Donna Fairchild, Bob Markesteyn and, sadly very recently, Lee D'Amico are looking down on us to keep a perfect 23 years without a rainout. You are all remembered and missed!
I've been blessed over the years to have great staff and volunteers to help me (and sometimes run things while I'm just a figurehead!). This year was no different. I apologize if I forgot anyone but it would not have been possible without Aretha & Todd S., Dave S., Mary O., Tom W., Jeremy S., Larry W., Bill Sestak and family, Matt W., Lee & Ed V, Beth. I have already had people come up to me and say they'd help next year so I will fomally announce there will be a next year
The date will be the same as always- the 3rd weekend in July which I believe to be July 18-20. Mark your calenders and I hope to see next year.
Have a great rest of summer and poker run season and I hope to see many of you at the great Buffalo Poker Run on Aug. 10!

Too Stroked

I'll have my usual full post on how the Battleship Run went up here shortly. Hopefully some folks will post up some pics too. I'd post the ones we shot from my Progression 22 which paced the 55 MPH fleet, but apparently we were going too fast for most of my fleet. Only the 24LD Progression (Laster) and a 26 Velocity stayed with me for the whole run. Then again, maybe a few of the folks in the (much bigger and supposedly faster) boats in my fleet will post in with their explanations for how they couldn't keep up. (If that wasn't a troll for some replies, I don't know what is.)

laster

Maybe it was the smoke from a certain outboard that made them fall back to get into cleaner air.
Or maybe they were afraid they would run out of gas if they pushed too hard? We did seem to have a lot of boats that weren't over supplied with petrol this year.

Scarab28

Pics, Pics, Pics, nobody had a camera?

Too Stroked

Well, the 23rd annual (you read that right) Rochester Offshore Powerboat Association Battleship Run on Seneca Lake in upstate New York is now officially in the record books. And despite it looking like (and the weatherman predicting) rain, the fleets never got water on their decks from the sky. Yes, the threat of rain kept the boat count down to just over 20 boats this year, but not having 80 boats to try to control made for a nice, laid back run with some great people. Of course that’s probably what keeps folks coming back year after your to this particular run. It’s always been one of the safest, least expensive, lowest pressure good times in high performance boating.

Every run has something that makes it special. At this run it’s the people – or maybe more correctly characters – that make it special. For instance, there’s Roger Fisher who comes every year with his 32’ Sea Ray Pachanga. Remember them? Most of them came with the famous big block / Alpha drive combination that blew up the first time you did something stupid – like maybe shifting from forward to reverse. When asked how he was so wise as to order small blocks with his, Roger replied, “What’s a small block?” Roger was also kind enough to present another of his famous Friday Night Lecture series before the run. This year’s (standing room only) topic: “Black Velvet - It’s Not Just for Breakfast Anymore.” Yes, only Roger could pull that one off with a straight face.

There was also ROPA President (for life) Bill Krystan. Bill‘s had a succession of single engine boats over the years but always wanted twins. He picked up a clean 32’ Fountain mere weeks before the run. Then he elected to take a few guests out for a short blast at dusk on Friday night – just before a gale blew up. So Bill got to try to back into his slip at the bar with about a hundred people watching – with about a 30 MPH cross breeze. To say that it didn’t go very well would be an understatement. When he did finally get it in, he got a standing ovation. (I’m thinking he’s going to do some serious practice before his next public appearance though.)

And then there was yours truly with (as usual) the smallest boat at the run. I paced the 55 MPH fleet once again with my trusty son Brandon (who’s now 20 and has attended every year since he was an infant) taking turns driving my Progression 22. With 8 other boats in this particular fleet – all larger than mine – you would think there would be some serious carping about me not going fast enough right? Then how was it that we ran a GPS verified 55 MPH on every leg and showed up at each card stop with – a little drum roll – two other boats? (Everybody else arrived shortly thereafter.) Obviously we were going to fast in the rough stuff.

And finally there was Aretha and Todd Sawyer. They’ve been a critical part of the run and key reason for its continued success year after year. This year was especially difficult for them due to a recent family tragedy. Most folks would have taken a year (or more) off, but not Todd and Aretha. Even though they didn’t bring their wild blown 27’ Fountain, they brought Aretha’s much massaged Subaru WRX and (somehow) managed not to break Aretha’s personal best of 134 MPH while running from stop to stop on land. Although this will probably be the last run in their current capacity, we fully expect them to come (as participants) for many more years to come. But, that opens the door for somebody new to step in and help both the club and a very good cause. Time for some new characters?

So how did the run end up? Everybody wants to know who won. Well, Walker Lee and Dave Maloney (Bonesmalone here) managed to split the Breakdown prize for both running out of gas within a mile of each other on the last leg. Larry Webster (Laster here) managed to win both third and fourth place. (Remember, there are three types of people: Those that can count and those that can’t.) Somebody won second place and the big first place winner was Dave Maloney (Yes, he ran out of gas and still won). To say that these folks and more went home happy would be an understatement.

Since its inception, the run has had one or more charities that the proceeds from the run have gone to. Once again this year, Mercy Flight Central (Emergency Medical Helicopter Service) was the designated recipient. The club donated $500 from the run, plus $250 from the 50/50 raffle. The winner of the raffle then turned around and immediately donated the other 50% back to Mercy Flight. (And that’s pretty typical of ROPA members in general.)

And so, the 23rd annual ROPA Battleship Run goes happily into the record books. For those of you wondering if there will be a 24th annual fear not, President Bill proudly announced that there will be a run next year. Mark your calendars for the weekend of July 19, 2014.

bonesmalon

iTrader: (1)

Great summary to a great run!! The $1050 didn't hurt my perception of the run either! In fact we had a Seneca Lake reunion with my crew just the other week. We switched boats to Mikes new Cig Decathalon and besides having someone hand him$1000 the outcome was the same....yup...the same...just ask him

smckie

iTrader: (1)

It turns out both boats burn more fuel than their owners realize!

bonesmalon

iTrader: (1)

Burn rate and more importantly, shape of the fuel tanks near the bottom really caught me off guard. Since I can't count on my fellow boaters to hand me $1000 everytime I run out I think I'm gonna get in the habit of topping it off sooner rather than later!!

Too Stroked

So you ran out of gas?

bonesmalon

iTrader: (1)

Mike will argue that technically..no but the fact that we had to reroute and get a ride to go get the rig cause there was no way in hell we would have made it...you be the judge! It was a 85 degree night, our coolers didn't have to reroute to get refilled and we had a great ride to the meeting. It doesn't get better than that!