Beauharnois, Quebec

September 12-13, 2009

J and Fae Report

Forward ho to the north again!  J and Fae headed up I-71, I-90, I-81 and 401 to Beauharnois, Quebec to find some more CBF action. Two trips to Valleyfield, how cool is that? This site is about twenty miles from Valleyfield in a crook of the St. Lawrence Seaway. The course is very wide and gigantic laker boats steam by through the channel beyond turn one, going to and from the Great Lakes. Montreal can be seen in the distance. The Valleyfield leaders have added their expertise and dollars to promote many CBF races this year. A couple of these guys we would like to mention are Denis Bourbonnais and Claude Comeau. Denis is a great announcer and Claude did a fine job arranging the pit area. Throw in another deep field and you have a cool regatta to enjoy.

 Here are the J and Fae boat totals: (T-7) (PS-8) (S-16) (E-13) (GP-8) Total-52

CBF T boats have been dominated by Steve Armstrong (CT-11) Total Chaos and Jonathan Abbott (CT-10) Flyin Eagle this season. This race was no different as they battled it out at impressive speeds in the good and bad water. Steve (CT-11) prevailed to win the race and (CT-1) for 2009. Steve and his beautiful rig are silly fast. Jonathan (CT-10) and Derek Anderson (CT-824) Patriot completed the podium. This class is improving each year.

PS boats had a nice, deep field. These guys are seldom invited to races anymore so they took advantage of this chance to show some great speed. Dale

Hernandez (PS-4) Widow Maker and Dominic Cournoyer (PS-122) Blue Thunder ran strong just like in Valleyfield. Dale (PS-4) prevailed to hold off Dominic (PS-122) for the win as well as (CPS-1). Brian Goodwin (PS-521) Plum Crazy roared home third. The flatbottoms are a worthy class for all you 2010 race directors.

CBF S boats were an impressive group this season. Leading the way was Marc Theoret (CS-444) Miss Virgo. This team piled up wins and points by the boat load. Marc (CS-444) battled for the win every race in Canada and the USA and he clinched (CS-1) a while ago. However, this weekend the rest of the field conceded nothing to this superboat. Qualifier winners included Rob Stevenson (CS-10) Wet Spot, Donald Leduc (CS-48) Cannonball, Tommy Bergeron (CS-007) Napa Racing, Eric Langivin (CS-12) Long Shot, Mike Monahan (S-9) Rewinder, Nicolas Rousse (CS-225) Oiseau Bleu and Marc (CS-444). The final was going to be a blast and it did not disappoint. Marc (CS-444), Tommy (CS-007) and Rob (CS-10) ran side by side by side for close to two laps at ridiculous speeds in the rough water. Alas, Tommy broke down in turn two lap two. Marc (CS-444) held off Rob (CS-10) and Donald (CS-48) to take the win. Donald was not carrying any no parking signs this week. The stockers were a site to behold as there was speed everywhere.

CBF E boats came in with a razor thin margin separating the top dawgs for high points. Sylvain Campeau (CE-20) Dynomites, Norm Ensbury (CE-99) OCR Racing, Marc Lecompte (CE-104) Willy's Pub and Ghislain Marcoux (CE-666) El Diablo were still in range. Ghislain (CE-666) broke after two heats leaving the top three to slug it out. Marc (CE-104) did his part taking the inside to win three qualifiers. Sylvain (CE-20) ran consistently to hang in there while Norm (CE-99) had some bad luck in traffic. Now, in the final Marc (CE-104) or Norm (CE-99) had to win with Sylvain finishing way back to make it close. Prior to the start Francois Campeau (CE-5) Canadian Tire/Short Fuse caught a gust of wind and back flipped. Both Francois and his boat sustained bruises as he appeared to hurt his leg. On the restart Marc (CE-104) got the inside and blasted down to turn one in a mass of hydros. Fur was flyin as Marc escaped and ran away to the checkers at tremendous speed. How about Sylvain? He pushed extremely hard and took second clinching (CE-1) for 2009. That is quite an accomplishment this year in a fantastic field. Norm (CE-99) came home third to edge Marc (CE-104) for second in high points. Suffice to say, anyone who saw this bunch in 2009 walked away in amazement. Competition babeee!

GP boats presented several story lines coming in. Hootie Wolfe (GP-93) Trafficade Renegade had fairly secure high points lead as long as he finished every heat. Uh oh, after running a great speed to lead heat 2b, Hootie came to an abrupt halt within site of the finish line with a broken coupler. The Wolfe family faced a long work night on Saturday but if any team knows motors, this one does. They answered the bell on Sunday. Bert Henderson (GP-77) Steeler and Patrick Haworth (GP-777) Crush still had high hopes for (GP-1) going into Sunday. Claude Bergeron (GP-444) GP Valleyfield looked quick in the qualifiers. Could he match his hometown Valleyfield victory? Jimmy Shane (GP-7) Long Gone was fresh off a win at Tonowanda. Ken Brodie (GP-50) Intensity showed improved speed lately and Tom Pakradooni (GP-88) Rolling Thunder has been fast all year. Norm Shannon (GP-1001) was an unknown quantity due to rookie gremlins. After six great qualifiers the field roared out for the final. Three boats were out as Jimmy (GP-7) and Tom (GP-88) had engine problems and Bert (GP-77) withdrew as the Steeler had a cracked bottom. Ken (GP-50) made a great start and led up the backstretch but he was later penalized for a lane change. Claude (GP-444) took over and it looked like Valleyfield revisited. But wait a minute, another Bergeron hull joined the chase. Norm Shannon (GP-1001) caught fire and chased Claude all the way to the checkers finishing a micro second behind. Hootie (GP-93) was another second back in third. A great final heat was enjoyed by all. Congratulations to the Wolfe family and Dennis Johnson on a tremendous job taking (GP-1) in this super competitive class.

The roostertails died down and another fine regatta became history. There have been plenty of comments about the water on Sunday so here is our take on it. Conditions appeared to be pretty good on Saturday and the boats ran great. On Sunday a strong wind blew across the course creating rollers. Frankly, we were afraid of another unfinished event just like so many races this year. The drivers did a spectacular job putting on a super show in tough conditions. As fans, we sure appreciated their courage and talents. The racing was fast and clean. All in all this was a fine event to culminate the CBF season. The show was cool.    See ya in the pits. J & Fae.