Rookie Moves in Key West, Part III: Gremlins Arise in Race No. 1

Five boats took the start in our race in the Manufacturer 4 Class yesterday. The Crazy Chicken team—the defending world champs in the class—jumped out to an early lead with Two Cruel and Christie’s Photography right on their tail.

We were deck to deck in Maxed Out with No Vacancy in the first turn, but as we exited we fell behind. By the time we hit turn No. 3, we were about a boat length behind back.

Yowaiski: “I was really happy with how we did.” Photo courtesy/copyright Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.

Coming back in the harbor is when we saw our best speed, but we were unable to make up the needed ground. On the third lap Christie’s Photography spun out in the harbor turn ejecting the throttleman Robert Christie. I talked to them after the race, and both were OK.

It’s a long course. I remember telling Jim that on our second lap.

Toward the end of the race we started to lose power, but still managed to finish fourth. As we got back to the crane we found a broken water pump housing cause a pretty significant amount of water to accumulate in the bilge. We think this may have caused the running issues. We’ll have to address that issue before Friday’s race, that’s for sure.

The race was awesome and I felt the best I have felt yet. And I was really happy with how we did. We have a lot more racing to do.

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