Monday, August 28th, 2006
Delay due to rainy weather reduced regatta crowd
By William Kincaid
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard
Dan Kanfoush thrusts his 1 Litre boat into the victory lane and captures the 2006 Ohio Govenor's Cup at the regatta on Grand Lake over the weekend.
After an intense weekend of boat racing at the 2006 Govenor's Cup Regatta, driver Dan Kanfoush of Niagara Falls, N.Y. won the cup championship in his 1 Litre YMCA/Fast Eddie Too boat.
Kanfoush and boat owner Jim Sechler were presented with the 2006 Govenor's Cup by Carl Day of WDTN-TV2 and this year's event co-chairman Tom Saddler and Lou Schiavone. This is the 13th year of Governor's Cup racing on Grand Lake.
Although both day's events were well attended, estimated at about 30,000 over the weekend, a spout of incoming bad weather forced race officials to temporarily stop action Saturday afternoon.
Shiavone told The Daily Standard on Monday morning, that because of the unfavorable weather - which he added was hardly a storm - the races had to be delayed for about 90 minutes simply as a precaution.
After announcing the delay, Schiavone said about two-thirds of the crowd left for the day. However, racing resumed later in the day and finished at 8 p.m. Schiavone said race officials were able to get all of the day's scheduled races in, in addition to three scheduled rock-and-roll bands.
Saddler officially released the following race results, in which the following top three positions in each class were calculated from the combined points of Saturday and Sunday:
• 1.5 Litre Stock - Brandon Kennedy came in first, Alexis Weber came in second and Shane Hueston came in third.
• 1 Litre - Dan Kanfoush came in first, Jeff Sankuer came in second and Paige Taff and Allen Hammond came in third.
• 2.5 Litre Stock - J.P. Squires came in first, Bobby Kennedy came in second and Mike Monohan came in third.
• 2.5 Litre Modified - Steve Linn came in first, Jimmy Shane came in second and Dean Armstrong came in third.
• 5 Litre -Joe Less came in first, Eric LaBelle came in second and Scott Blackwell came in third.
• National Modified - Darryl Monette came in first, Marty Wolfe came in second and Scott Blackwell came in third.
• Grand National Hydroplane - Randy Hurst came in first, Steve Kuhr came in second and Cal Phipps came in third.
Race fans were also treated to multiple performances on both Saturday and Sunday from the jet-turbine-engine powered Unlimited Hydroplane boat - one of two U-5 boats purchased by Formula Boats, Decatur, Ind. from the Miss Budweiser racing team.
Driver Mike Webber demonstrated its prowess as he reached speeds of over 115 miles an hour while venturing around the race course.
The 2006 event brought in top professional hydroplane drivers from both coasts of the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand on what has become one of the most popular stops on the American Power Boat Association (APBA) tour.
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard
Boats are lowered onto the Grand Lake during the weekend with the help of three cranes.
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard
A racer runs into trouble Saturday afternoon and flips his hydroplane boat while driving into turn one of the course near West Bank, Celina.
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard
Above, Driver Dan Kanfoush and boat owner Jim Sechler (in orange shirts) are presented with the 2006 Ohio Governor's Cup for the regatta by event chairmen Tom Saddler and Lou Schiavone (white shirts) and Carl Day of WDTN- TV2.
