Wreck-filled sprint boat opener thrills St. John crowd

Twenty-six racers went all-out to win the United States Sprint Boat Association’s season-opening race Saturday at St. John, but the winner turned out to be Webb’s Slough with its challenging tight water track.

Racers tried to whip around the narrow-channel course, but ended up not finishing 52 runs with boats flying out of the course with crowd-pleasing regularity. The spinouts kept the Slough Crew rescuers and their tractor busy pulling dented hulls back to the pits.

Driver Tim Cummings of Sequim opened the race day by flipping his Jeepers Creepers boat out of the channel and planting it in t...