0:24

Roochattel Talk , a podcast dedicated to

0:26

everything related to the sport we all love

0:28

. Hi , jephine Racing , I'm

0:30

your host , david Newton , and it's time once again to

0:32

sit back , relax and welcome

0:34

to Roochattel Talk . It

0:44

is August 8th 2023

0:46

, and this is Episode 109

0:49

. Well , racepans in Seattle , it

0:51

feels like summer's over . It's a gray , drizzly

0:54

day outside in the mid-60s and

0:57

seafar is over . Yesterday

0:59

, seafar and Gold Cup

1:02

races in the books , and , growing

1:04

up in the Pacific Northwest , I always felt

1:06

that when seafar ended , so did my

1:08

summer , because just a

1:10

few days away we're going to be going

1:12

back to school . I guess it's the same

1:14

for me now , as I'm a teacher and

1:17

I'm dreading my summer break

1:19

ending . But not

1:21

only does it mark the near end for

1:23

summer , seafar marked the end

1:25

of each one season , as

1:27

it was a short season only four

1:29

races in the whole series this

1:32

year and I

1:34

think the fans finally got the race

1:36

that they've been longing for , that they have

1:38

waited and longed for , as

1:41

almost every heat . Last weekend was deck to

1:43

deck drilling races on the water , and

1:45

I want to talk a little bit more about that . I

1:47

think the fans probably just enjoyed it even

1:49

more after the first two races not

1:51

having a final heat due to weather

1:53

and timing . And then in Tri-Cities

1:56

, unfortunately , three of the boats jumped

1:58

the gun . There were penalties on the water

2:01

which was actually

2:03

, to be honest , really confusing for all the fans

2:05

. I think all the fans I was near on the

2:07

Pasco side had absolutely no idea

2:09

what was going on in the water , but

2:12

it was a fun

2:15

race for the fans in Seattle

2:17

. I just have to say , going into that final

2:19

heat , I did not expect Jim Ackele

2:22

to have the boat to

2:24

win that race . Saw

2:26

early on he was lane two in good position

2:28

, but I really felt that Tate was

2:30

in a better position in lane

2:33

three . Tate had the perfect start

2:35

, the perfect first lap , but

2:37

, as he showed on the weekend , that boat was loose

2:39

. He was handling it . He did a great job

2:42

of flying it and keeping under control , as

2:44

I predicted , running to each one

2:46

last week , that equalizer

2:48

in Seattle , the rough water , it

2:51

prevailed . I think if the water was calmer

2:53

Tate would have won that thing . But

2:55

with that rough water Jim Ackele

2:57

came in clutch , as he always does . When

2:59

it's time final heat time he

3:01

finds a way to win and he did again

3:04

yesterday , winning his second gold cup , winning

3:06

his first national championship as

3:08

a driver winning Strong's first

3:11

national championship just

3:13

a great race for that strong team

3:15

. It was a thrilling final heat and

3:18

I know some of us out there online

3:20

. I saw afterwards and in watching the

3:22

race there were some questionable

3:25

no calls on the water , but

3:27

I think the each one

3:29

probably decided early on it's

3:32

the gold cup , it's the last race of the year

3:34

. Drivers are taking their gloves off and

3:36

they're throwing their punches and

3:39

we got a classic on the water

3:41

. Now , whether , whether

3:44

which side of the fence you are on that , are you

3:46

glad they didn't call ? Make the calls and

3:48

let them race on the water ? I know some

3:50

fans were . Some fans were a little more

3:53

disturbed that they let things go . I

3:55

know two , four boats actually touched one

3:58

another , so there were some damaged

4:00

boats on the water . One

4:02

boat got washed down . I think it was

4:04

the beginning of lap two , home Street Hadling one

4:06

and J

4:09

Michael Kelly actually came over in front of them and

4:11

washed them down there . So I

4:14

don't know , was it better to let them run on the water

4:16

and determine the

4:18

winner that way , or should

4:20

some penalties have been called ? I

4:22

don't know . We did get a

4:25

great show , but I have

4:27

mentioned the driver's name that I

4:29

think everyone talked about all weekend Corey

4:31

Peabody . I think everyone going

4:33

into that final heat thought he was going

4:35

to be the Gold Cup champion . He was going to

4:37

be national high point champion and

4:40

for whatever reason it just didn't

4:42

happen for him in that final heat . He

4:44

was out lane four at the start

4:46

and he was uncharacteristically

4:48

behind the field . He

4:50

didn't have a good start . He was well

4:53

back behind Tate

4:55

who had the perfect start , I thought , on the line and

4:58

didn't put himself in a good position . He

5:01

had the boat . He proved it most

5:04

of the weekend that he could win

5:06

from most any lane

5:08

and he proved himself in tri-cities . He won

5:10

, I think , in several different lanes

5:12

on the outside had

5:14

a great boat setup . But

5:16

as

5:20

the announcers were calling all weekend , who's going to solve the

5:22

Peabody puzzle ? And Jay Mocco-Kelly

5:25

solved it in that final heat . But

5:28

going into that final heat , corey Peabody had the

5:30

points advantage for the high points

5:32

race and was odds on favorite

5:34

to win the Gold Cup . Always fun

5:36

to see an underdog win . I'm

5:38

glad to see that happen in style

5:40

in Seattle . But if we take a look

5:43

at the points for the

5:45

end of the year after four races . Of

5:47

course Jay Mocco-Kelly won . He

5:49

had a narrow margin

5:51

of victory over his teammate . He ended

5:54

the year with 5,284 points . Second

5:57

place was Corey Peabody in the beacon plumbing boat

5:59

with 5,200

6:01

points overall . So only 84

6:03

points separated first and second place . Hard

6:06

to recall Final

6:08

heat end of the year where

6:11

the points race was decided in such a small

6:13

margin . Always it's

6:16

fun to see that happen Again with that

6:18

parody in the sport . Just good

6:20

for the sport overall to see it come to the end

6:22

, because there's been so many years in

6:24

the past where we've seen that , where

6:26

we've seen the national championship be decided a

6:28

race early in the year or

6:31

be decided very early in the race , the last race

6:33

of the year , and it not be as

6:35

exciting and thrilling as it was this past weekend . Definitely

6:38

one team that kind of snuck in there . The

6:40

Flavor Pack actually snuck into third

6:42

place overall . They finished the year with

6:44

4,181 points

6:46

. Fourth place going to U11 . Jamie

6:50

Nielsen driving the Legend Yacht Transport , 4,146

6:53

points . And then fifth place with

6:56

4,014 points was the

6:58

U91 Goodman Real Estate . And

7:00

another close battle between third

7:03

and fifth place with only gosh

7:06

less than 100 points , about 150

7:08

points separating third and fifth place

7:10

. So not very much at all

7:12

. So that was interesting that that came

7:15

down to such a close margin from third

7:17

to fifth place there . In

7:20

sixth place unusual for Miss Home Street

7:22

they had a down year this year Finished

7:24

in sixth overall in

7:26

high points with 3,684

7:29

points and then from there

7:31

the points kind of drop off dramatically as there were some

7:33

boats that only show up to a handful

7:35

of races out of the four . Graham

7:38

Trucking they finished in seventh

7:40

place with 1,252 points

7:42

. Next was the Beast Unleashed

7:45

, miss Thriftway only

7:47

running in Seafarer , the Gold Cup . There it was 762

7:50

points for that rookie , gunner O'Farrell

7:52

. Next was the U3 Go3

7:55

Racing with 670

7:57

points and then the 440-point

7:59

Tonneau Homes ended with some points . For the year

8:01

they got 60 points total

8:04

for qualifying in Gunnersville

8:06

and Seattle . Unfortunately

8:09

Brent Hall didn't get his 15 laps

8:11

in . He only needed it . He was one short

8:13

, failed short of

8:15

qualifying as a driver

8:17

in each one and limited in qualifying

8:19

for the first time as an African-American

8:22

in the sport Only

8:25

one lap left to go . It's

8:29

a bummer he couldn't hop in and seat another

8:31

another boat get that lap in

8:33

there . But fortunately

8:35

next year his 14

8:37

laps that he completed this year will

8:40

carry forward to next year . So he only

8:42

needs one lap next year which he

8:44

could possibly get in spring training and become a qualified

8:46

driver . So I'm looking forward to seeing

8:48

that happen in 2024 . It

8:52

was a fun season , a lot of great racing on

8:54

the water . I'm sad it's over . Not

8:57

sure if you saw Chip Hanner's

8:59

interview with Paul Sylvie on King

9:01

5 TV , but in

9:04

a word he kind of said it's

9:07

kind of sad right . Unfortunately

9:09

San Diego was canceled . Don't have that fifth race

9:11

of the year . It's

9:13

early August . I think the

9:17

last time the H1

9:19

season ended in Seattle in Seafarer

9:21

was back in 1972

9:24

. And since then we've had races

9:26

go past

9:28

Seafarer and go past August

9:30

, into September and even into October

9:32

. Unfortunately this was

9:34

a short year , but let's think about some

9:37

positives here . What are some takeaways from the season

9:39

? Probably the biggest

9:41

positive of the year has to be

9:43

the live footage that each one has

9:45

going for it right now . They've

9:48

really dedicated their time and efforts

9:50

into putting a good show online

9:52

live for the fans and

9:55

it's really shown itself as a great

9:57

tool for the sport and I'm hoping this is going

10:00

to be something that can save the sport because

10:02

they're getting such awesome shots from the drones

10:04

. I've talked about that almost every

10:06

episode I think this year and

10:09

into last year as well , but

10:11

that team has such great shots with those drones

10:13

footage They've been throwing

10:16

in some old races for the downtime

10:18

so to keep the fans alive and

10:20

to be motivated to watch the

10:22

race go on , and I

10:25

loved that . This last race they brought

10:27

on . John Walters , a

10:29

legend in the sport , won

10:32

the first race as a running

10:34

a turbine hydroplane in just

10:36

a wealth of knowledge because

10:38

he's set up boats , he's worked on boats , he's driven

10:41

boats , he knows the insides and

10:43

outs of those holes of

10:45

hydroplane racing in general and he was

10:47

able to give such a great insight

10:49

to what the drivers were going through

10:52

but also what the boats were going through , and

10:54

that's something that we haven't had as much in

10:57

the narrating side of the sport lately

11:00

and it was great

11:02

to hear some of those technical aspects of

11:05

how the motors are performing , what

11:07

the crews are going to be doing to the props and setups

11:10

. It was really

11:12

refreshing to hear that in the announcing

11:14

side and I'm just hopeful that he can

11:16

come back next year and do some more announcing

11:18

or find some other drivers

11:21

, crew members that can

11:23

give those insights with announcing

11:25

for the races . But

11:27

all the fans I've talked to just really

11:29

love what they've done with that live stream

11:31

, the footage , the drone shots

11:34

and it's been a

11:36

really , I think , a great tool for marketing

11:38

for the sport . Hopefully that will

11:41

show next year , hopefully get some more interest

11:43

in insight in the sport and

11:45

just help see it grow back to what it should

11:48

be right . The

11:50

second takeaway I got from the season is the parody

11:52

in the sport . A lot

11:55

of the heats on the water you

11:57

couldn't tell who was going to win or

12:00

if you thought you knew who was going to win , they

12:02

didn't win right . There was a heat where

12:04

I thought on Saturday

12:06

the flavor pack was , had it down , had

12:09

the rest of the field covered and

12:11

Jamie Nielsen in the legend yacht

12:14

transport got a perfect

12:16

start and won the heat . So that's

12:18

just an example of you

12:20

don't always know who's going to win in the sport . Going

12:23

into that final heat , I think everyone threw

12:25

out the beacon electric and in Jamie Kokeli

12:27

, because we had we

12:29

thought it was a two-ball race Tate versus

12:31

Peabody and Jamie Kokeli

12:33

found a way to win . So parodies on

12:36

the sport . Out of the 10 teams

12:38

that entered races this year I

12:41

think we had six different drivers

12:43

win heats , so a

12:45

lot of parry in the sport , which is something that

12:48

hasn't always been there , but

12:50

lately we've seen it happen again and

12:52

again . So a great positive

12:54

for the sport . And then

12:56

my third takeaway , I see , is just the quality

12:58

of the drivers . The

13:01

drivers , weekend and week out , have

13:04

really proven that they earned their seat time going

13:08

through the list . Jamie Nielsen just really

13:10

impressed me over in Tri-Cities in Seattle

13:12

, making great starts , putting the boat

13:14

into a position where he could possibly

13:17

win or take advantage of any other drivers

13:19

mishaps , which he did in

13:21

Tri-Cities in Seattle . A

13:24

great driver there , and

13:26

if he had just

13:28

a little bit more speed we'd see him on the podium

13:30

and in the winter circle a

13:32

bit more , of course . Corey

13:34

Peabody we talked about him having

13:36

a perfect weekend over in Tri-Cities , having

13:40

, I think , three heat wins in

13:42

Seattle , putting the boat where

13:44

it needs to be to win . And Jamie McAkelly

13:46

coming in clutch in that final heat , coming away

13:49

with a victory with a boat

13:51

that we didn't think would be in the winter circle on

13:53

Sunday . Andrew Tate I

13:56

can't count how many times we

13:58

saw the underside of that boat in seattle

14:00

. He was flying , that he

14:02

was in control but it didn't look

14:04

like it because it was on the edge almost

14:07

every heat , almost every lap . But

14:11

he is another great driver that

14:14

can get the most out of the boat

14:16

. He actually was top qualifier getting

14:19

his second qualifying run in on

14:21

saturday morning when over 154

14:23

on the two mile race course . Uh

14:25

, and Really surprised some people

14:27

that he was able to get the goodman , that older

14:29

boat out of the madison team , to

14:32

be top qualifier once again . Dustin

14:34

eckles , he can qualify Really

14:38

fast and he can . He can air it out as well

14:40

like tate he . I don't know

14:42

how many times I saw the underside of that boat , but he was able to

14:44

keep it down Uh

14:46

and keep it safe for the weekend and

14:49

, which I'm really glad that team can walk away

14:51

without Uh . Major damage

14:53

to their hull got a little bit dinged in

14:55

the final when when p body slid out into

14:57

them , but Overall

15:00

I'm glad that they came away

15:02

with the , the hull intact . Uh

15:05

, and then another person actually

15:07

, so a couple rookies turned into some heads dylan

15:10

runny and bobby king . Uh , dylan

15:12

runny , he , he was able to get lane one

15:14

multiple times and try cities and seafar

15:16

Uh , surprised , surprised

15:19

me that he was able to get in there and steal

15:21

lane , the lane one , away from drivers

15:23

like tate and p body , neilson

15:26

and j mackle , kelly . So , uh

15:29

, and then bobby king only coming

15:31

through two races under his belt in the unlimited

15:33

ranks . He snuck up there

15:35

and p body I think that was the

15:38

second or third heat . He had the inside

15:40

lane and on lap two he

15:42

was able to make a perfect corner and come

15:44

even with p body and the beacon

15:46

plumbing um out of out

15:48

of nowhere . So , um

15:51

, some great driving skills there . And

15:53

Unfortunately , with the short season

15:55

, only four races , uh , bobby

15:57

king only getting the two of those four . If

16:00

you think back to the late 90s when there

16:02

was eight or nine races

16:04

on the circuit that

16:06

gave the drivers so much more seat time

16:08

on the water . And

16:11

unfortunately for rickies coming to the sport

16:13

with four races , it's

16:16

really hard for them to get enough laps to

16:18

be 100 comfortable with

16:20

the whole , to learn the new race

16:23

courses , uh , to learn

16:25

the different nuances from tri

16:27

cities to seafar in seattle

16:29

, from madison and

16:31

gunnersville . It's hard for them to

16:33

to really learn

16:36

on the fly and um

16:38

, you know , match wits

16:40

on the water with those veterans . Uh

16:43

, not saying that those rookies are are

16:45

bad drivers at all . They're phenomenal drivers

16:47

. But to get more time

16:50

on the water , have a longer

16:52

season , have more time for them to

16:54

get comfortable and to really um

16:56

, you know , put

16:58

the put their equipment out there it's

17:00

hard to expect that from a rookie with

17:03

such a short season , but Dylan

17:05

runny and bobby king really showed

17:07

Um some great skill and

17:09

I'm excited to see them Uh expand

17:11

on that in years to come and where

17:13

they can go in the sport All

17:17

right . So where do we go from here ? Off seasons

17:19

here it's early august , so it's going to be a

17:21

long off season and we have a long wait until

17:24

we see h1 unlimited back on the water . I'm

17:27

excited for the next season , what it could

17:29

bring . But with this long off season

17:31

Is in any sport

17:33

, in anything in life really , we always want

17:35

to improve upon ourselves and I'm hoping that this

17:38

can be some time for h1 to improve upon

17:40

themselves , because there's so many positives in the

17:42

sport , as we talked about With the live stream

17:44

, the parody , the great driving Um

17:46

, the racing on the water . It's a great product

17:48

on the water right now . But how can we

17:50

improve on that ? Because , as

17:53

in anything in life . Like I said , we want to get better , we

17:55

want to make it better it . What can be better

17:57

for the fans and have a better experience for

18:00

next season ? And I don't have any

18:02

answers . I just have questions and I'm curious

18:04

, as other fans what would you want to

18:06

see for next year ? I

18:08

know we don't have much power , but maybe

18:10

get our voices heard and

18:13

there's always so many different corners

18:15

and avenues that need to be worked on

18:17

. But what could

18:19

h1 prioritize for the next year ? I

18:23

see three big things here as

18:25

race sites , uh , the 80 mile

18:27

an hour per roll and Engagement

18:30

for fans on the beach . So

18:32

, with race sites , as I said , it was a four race

18:34

season and I know each

18:37

one has been working on this and trying to get more

18:40

races on the circuit . They've

18:42

been having a push to get down to Vancouver , washington

18:44

, on the other side of the Columbia River , down

18:48

from Tri-Cities right , they

18:50

had their Exhibition there last

18:52

year , so they're trying to get back and

18:54

more races on the circuit . And I've heard

18:56

rumors about other possible

18:59

race sites , which are Rumors

19:01

, and I said again in this show I don't want to exploit

19:04

rumors and give false hope or

19:06

Even

19:09

gossip about what could

19:11

be with that . But Hopefully

19:14

they we can get some more races next year . Well

19:17

, loves to see us get back Even

19:19

into some old circuits like Evansville

19:21

, as there's a lot of fans there that would love

19:23

to see the race come back in Detroit . Thinking

19:26

about with races Right

19:28

now we have a three-day race product

19:31

on the field or on the water . Maybe

19:33

to get more races on the circuit

19:36

, maybe they need to narrow it down to a two-day event

19:38

or even a one-day event

19:40

just to get more Possible

19:43

race sites out there . So I'm hoping

19:45

that next year we could see a Return

19:48

to San Diego to be at five races and

19:51

then bump it up to six or seven , maybe get back

19:53

to Detroit , hopefully

19:55

find another race to add to the

19:57

circuit . I Mentioned

19:59

the 80 mile an hour rule as because

20:01

it seems to be a topic

20:03

every year . Right , they've

20:06

been improving upon it . They have the strobe lights , they're

20:09

they're getting , they have the technology now that when

20:11

the boats come back they know

20:13

precisely when they were below 80 mile

20:15

an hour or not . But it

20:18

does cause some controversy and confusion If after

20:21

the race or if the boat drops

20:23

below 80 miles an hour and then

20:25

appellancy has assessed after

20:27

the race . I love seeing

20:29

the fight for lanes , but I think in tri-cities

20:32

when three

20:34

boats jumped the gun were too way too early

20:36

, couldn't drop below 80 miles

20:38

an hour and

20:40

fans are confused and don't understand

20:43

what's going on . Maybe do

20:45

we talk , maybe should there be talk about

20:47

changing that , or are

20:49

we happy with what the product is in place ? It

20:51

would be awesome to see the 80 mile an hour

20:53

rule still be in effect but have the technology

20:56

to be instantaneous so you

20:58

know right away . But that's

21:00

got to be a huge cost To get that equipment

21:02

and get that in place . So at

21:05

least for now we know the

21:07

truth , that each one's been very open

21:10

and honest about the calls . They've been very

21:13

clear and transparent with that . They show all

21:15

the data and all the proof online . But

21:17

all other fans

21:19

and other sports and other race

21:22

boats shifted and gone to and

21:26

shifted and gone to a sign lanes

21:28

based on qualifying . They keep

21:30

the starting clock , but they have the

21:32

boats assigned to lanes so it kind of throws out

21:34

that 80 mile an hour rule . So you

21:37

got a product with all the boats coming up to start and

21:39

then it's clear if the boats over behind the line and

21:42

the penalties made within the first lap

21:44

Doesn't need to change or stay the same

21:46

. I don't know , but I'm sure they're gonna

21:48

be talking about that this season . And

21:51

the last thing I've just thought about since being

21:53

in Tri-Cities and Seafar this year , I did

21:55

spend some time on the beach watching some of the races

21:57

and Some of the some

22:00

of the areas I've gone to have had a PA system

22:02

. Some of them have not and

22:04

actually in fact most of the areas I've gone to to

22:07

watch races did not have a PA system . I've

22:09

been fortunate . This past year or

22:12

past couple years . I purchased a radio scanner

22:14

and On

22:17

Facebook they've posted the

22:19

each one officials Radio

22:21

and they've posted other Race

22:24

teams frequencies so you can hear and

22:26

listen into the chatter of what's going on in the race course

22:28

, which is awesome as a fan because you

22:30

can hear what penalties are called right away and

22:32

you know the order . You know exactly

22:34

what's happening on the water . But

22:37

very few fans have

22:39

radio scanners and

22:42

In Tri-Cities

22:44

on Sunday I watched on the Pasco side . There

22:47

was no PA system over there but

22:49

the most part the fans kind of saw

22:51

who won . You could see them out

22:53

in the front at the end , but

22:55

especially in that final heat , fans

22:57

had no idea what was going on . People were confused

22:59

and Just

23:02

kind of left in the in the days as

23:05

they didn't understand who won . And

23:07

it makes me think about that casual fan that doesn't really know

23:10

the rules and the nuances of the sport

23:12

. They see the boats going fast , they

23:14

love the excitement and the thrill of

23:17

the boats Dancing across the water and

23:19

that close deck-to-deck racing . But how

23:21

do we teach and explain the sport to casual

23:24

fans so they can understand what's going on ? It

23:27

makes it hard when there's , you know

23:29

, different rules that we

23:32

don't see on the beach . Right

23:34

, you see that have the M2 violation , the fuel flow

23:37

, 80 mile an hour rule , gun

23:39

jumpers what were the penalties being called

23:41

? How do you make that more ? How

23:45

do you connect the fans to understand what's

23:47

happening on the water ? Again , there's

23:49

a lot of areas in Seattle I had no PA system

23:52

as well and the areas

23:54

I went to with that , the , the

23:56

fans were very more laid back and

23:58

just kind of watched the boats run around the

24:00

water and didn't really know

24:03

what's happening . So they

24:06

definitely have it set on the live stream . It's

24:09

easy to tell what's happening when you watch the live stream

24:11

, but for those fans that go to the race and

24:13

watch it in person , I don't know how

24:16

you would connect them to make

24:18

it more Engaging but

24:20

also just to get a better understanding for them

24:22

who was who's

24:24

doing what on the water . But

24:26

how do you , how do you connect the fans to the sport more

24:29

that are in person ? I don't

24:31

know . I'm sure there are ways out there and

24:33

the things that we can talk about this . But

24:36

Again , long off season

24:38

ahead of us , hopefully a

24:40

lot of time to spend in

24:42

growing the sport to be coming back

24:45

to what it was in the glory days and to be Just

24:48

a better overall product

24:50

for us . Race fans . All

24:53

right , fans . What did you think of the year ? Did you enjoy it

24:55

? What aspects did you like ? What

24:57

was positive for you ? What

24:59

do you want to share with me ? I would love to see your comments on

25:02

Facebook , instagram , love

25:04

to see your posts and and share

25:06

with me your thoughts . You can find us

25:08

on Facebook , at Rochetel talk and on

25:10

Instagram as well . At Rochetel talk

25:12

, we'll love if you could follow and

25:14

subscribe on Facebook and Instagram

25:16

. And don't forget to check our website out

25:18

at wwwRochetelTalkcom

25:22

, and I'll

25:24

post updates as we go along this off

25:26

season . I'm gonna continue my broadcast

25:28

Furlurence the off season this year . I

25:31

won't have an episode next week , but

25:33

Be sure you stay tuned as

25:35

I'll be returning to the airwaves on the 22nd

25:37

of August . We'll take one week off . We'll come

25:39

back . We'll have our next episode . I've

25:41

got a few interviews lined up . I'm excited

25:43

to see what I can get on the podcast coming

25:45

up here for you . But

25:48

until next time I hope to see you

25:50

at the reason

25:52

.