Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Fans at Webb's Slough brought out the coats and caps Saturday to watch the full day of racing in cool weather and occasional rain.
Skylar Smith and Colton Schultz in the Wavedigger II from St. John make a run for hometown fans.
Dennis Hughes in the Overkill boat, seen here making a timing run, booked the fastest speed of the day to take the unlimited class. His navigator is daughter Samantha.
Toughest assignment for the day went to Slough Crew members who had to wade out in the cold water to help stalled or stuck boats.
Despite cool weather and occasional rain, boat racers and fans made a strong showing in the opening session of the races at Webb's Slough in St. John.
Race fans in coats and caps filled the terraces at the slough to watch boats compete in timing rounds and eliminations.
A total of 33 boats were on the race card.
Toughest assignment of the day went to the Slough Crew helpers on the course who were called on numerous times to wade in to help with boats which had jumped the course track or stalled out.
Dennis Hughes of Spokane booked the fastest time Saturday with a 45.34 second run to take the unlimited class. Samantha Hughes serves as the navigator for her dad in their Overkill boat.
The Hughes duo returned to the Slough Saturday after wrapping up the season's sprint championship last August. They rolled out three elimination runs in under 46 seconds to win the championship rounds which were conducted at St. John after Extreme Sports Park at Port Angeles dropped out of the circuit.
Second-fastest time of the day was booked by Patrick and Amanda Vestill in their Psycho Racing boat from Oregon at 46.49, also in the unlimited class.
Phil Miller and Sharon Heuser with the Fat Buddy racers from British Columbia topped the 400 class with a 48.47, and Scott and Brittany Jensen topped the modified class with a 48.02.
Second place in the modifieds went to Jesse and Kalyn Miller from the Fat Buddy team with a 49.25.
Second in the 400 class went to Brain and Aubrey Swindahl with a 51.9 in their Bandit Black boat, one of two the Swindahls raced in the class.
The race chart for the timed runs featured a run over 33 lengths of the slough course which extended the timed runs similar to the ones logged in the championship round last August.
The race order chart left a center island on the course one of the hazard points with the Oregon-based Jolly Rogers team sticking two of their entries at that point in the course.
The second round of races at St. John has been scheduled for Aug. 24.
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