12th Annual John Read Memorial Regatta

May 23-25   2008

Pre-Race Article

2008 marks the 12th consecutive Spring Franklin race, one of the most beautiful places to race in the country. This site has everything you could ask for: well protected lake, which is perfect for outboard racing, beach pit area, great food at the concession stand, camping in the pits and other means of lodging nearby.

The competition at Franklin is second to none and this season will be no different. Drivers from all over the Midwest, Northeast, Southeast and Canada will be in attendance. Many of the top drivers in the country are gearing up for their first Northern race of the year.

Fully insured TESTING available Friday afternoon from 2:00 – 6:00. You must be registered beforehand and there is a small testing fee. Last year, this was a big success, especially for the Mod classes where test sites are becoming harder and harder to find.

Coming back this year will be the POT LUCK DINNER Saturday Night!  Christine Brewster is in charge of this venture so please e-mail Christine if you would like to participate.  Her e-mail is:  christinenjeff@yahoo.com

We look forward to everyone coming out to enjoy themselves as TRORA begins it’s 48th year of racing! 

For more information on the 12th Annual John Read Memorial Regatta, contact Asst. Race Director Joe Silvestri at silvestri36s@hotmail.com

Post-Race Article

The 12th annual Spring Franklin, Pennsylvania race is now in the books and what a great race it was.  The weekend did not start off so easily for TRORA as our club van broke down on its way to the race track.  Rick Wagner Sr. (aka: Big Bear) was driving the van and began having problems with the transmission.  Finally, he decided it was best to turn around and take the truck back to head quarters.  Once back in Ravenna, Big Bear hooked the club trailer to his pick-up, filled the back of his pick-up with as many club items as possible and began his journey all over again.  Meanwhile, Jon Brewster and his crew; Jack Brewster, Jonathan Brewster & Justin Brewster put the remaining club items on his boat trailer so they could be brought over to the track later in the day.  Luckily for TRORA, he have very dedicated hard working volunteers who go out of their way to make sure the club succeeds and does its best.  THANK YOU to all members and race committee for assuring a successful Franklin event!

As mentioned, Franklin saw some great racing throughout the weekend.  This in part is due to the nice turnout of boats.  We had roughly 115 entries on Saturday and only a few less on Sunday.  The three largest classes were ASH, CSH and 20SSH.  ASH was the only class with eliminations as there were 13 entries.  Tough battles ensured all four heats between Valerie D’Agustino, Joey Pinner, Amy Sweeney and Jonathan Brewster.  I believe Joey Pinner was the overall winner both days.  That had to make his trip from Florida much more worth while.  Great job Joey!  CSH had a nice number of entries with a total of 9.  Joel Weigel was the winner both days as he had his starts and rig dialed in perfectly.  Battles for second through ninth place were a toss up all four heats between Ian Augutine, Brian Williams, Joe Silvestri, Tom Johnston, Rick Wagner Jr. and Jesse Ward.  The most exciting races on the weekend were in 20SSH.  Anytime I do not race this class I always make sure I am announcing and sure enough I was on the mic.  Saturday saw a total of 8 20SSH’s with two past National Champions; Matt D’Agustino and Dana Holt as well as several other hard chargers.  Saturday’s races were won by A.J. Jennings who showed tremendous speed both heats starting in the middle of the pack and driving his way to the front from the outside.  I’ve never seen a boat fly through the corners so quickly!  A.J.’s dominance over the field of 20’s on Saturday had the rest of the pack scrambling to find more speed for Sunday’s racing.  Dana Holt gambled by raising his engine to the maximum height allowed taking a chance that his engine may not pump water and if this happened he would burn-up the engine.  Luckily for Dana, that height adjustment worked as he picked up the needed speed, got great starts and beat A.J. both heats on Sunday.  Great Racing Gentleman!  The rest of the classes on the weekend had great racing as well.  Great job everyone and THANKS to everyone for coming to the race and making it a great success!

Only one major accident to speak of over the course of the weekend which occurred in 25SSH.  Steve French flipped right in front of Jeff Brewster in turn one leaving Jeff no where to go except through Steve’s boat.  You can imagine that this was not going to have a good outcome.  Unfortunately for Jeff, he suffered the most damage by separating his shoulder.  Steve was fine other than being shook up a bit as we all would have been and the boats are fine other than some minor repair.  We wish Jeff a speedy and full recovery!

TRORA