Episode 187: HydroDan and Deck2Deck Hydroplane Fantasy League

We jump into our annual pre-season check-in with Hydro Dan and use spring testing to size up the H1 Unlimited field heading into Madison. We also dig into the new assigned-lane starting procedure, talk Grand Prix America’s momentum, and lay out how to play Deck2Deck like a strategist.

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Transcript

Rooster Tails Kickoff

SPEAKER_00 0:24

Rooster Tails dedicated to everything about the support that we all love. I am like Race. I am your host. I was taking it. Roll back. Rooster Tails.

Annual Check-In With Hydro Dan

SPEAKER_00 0:50

Hello, race fans, and welcome back to the podcast. Today is June 30th, and this is episode 187. Now for today's episode, we're doing our yearly check-in with Hydro Dan, one of the creators of Deck to Deck, the Hydroplane Fantasy League. And I think this is the only fantasy league for Hydroplane Racing. And if you haven't done so, check this out online, deck to deck.us. I have a link in the bio below. It's free to sign up. It's fun to do with your friends. I've got a racing league. I'll talk more about that at the end of the episode. But you can join our racing league and join in with the fun. So every year we talk before the season starts, we do some predictions, previews of the season, what's going to happen, our thoughts. So we're going to break down the action that you'll see me seeing this year. This is a great episode to listen to before Madison, which is only a few days away. The season is here. It's upon us. And it's not even days away. I'm going to say it's hours away from starting. So we're going to have H1 Unlimited's on the water. We're going to have GPs with the GP America series. It's going to be a great weekend of racing approaching. And listening to this episode is going to help you to fill in the voids and to know what's happening, who's back, who's not, who's in the driver's seat, and some great predictions along the way. So I'm going to stop rambling and let's get back in and listen to my interview with Hydro Dan. Well, I'm talking here on Zoom. I'm joined once again with our pre-season predictions, preseason logic with deck to deck creator Hydro Dan. Hydro Dan, how are you doing today?

SPEAKER_01 2:34

David, I'm great. I'm excited to be with you. I think this is our fifth straight year, if you can believe that. Is it really? Yep, doing a little pre-season talk. I think we started in 2022. So here we are for our fifth year. All right. Um, it's a joy to geek out, talk hydras, get ready for a H1 season, which I think is going to be an exciting one, and um also kind of get prepared for another fantasy year, and we can talk about that later.

SPEAKER_00 3:03

Fantastic. Yeah, I wasn't doing the math. I just I kind of this every time every year I expect it to happen. I didn't realize we already have five years. So I think when we get to 10, we got to throw a party or something.

SPEAKER_01 3:14

There we go. You can send me my gold watch.

SPEAKER_00 3:16

There we go. And just for those who because it's this audio, so those who don't see us right now, Dan's wearing his uh vintage Miss Pico hat for uh the World Cup and upcoming hydro season. And I've got an old 90s KISW rock hat on, so we're geeking out here. Love it. Yeah.

Spring Testing From The Beach

SPEAKER_00 3:41

Well, I'm you got I'm jealous, you got to experience spring testing. You got uh enjoy the glory of uh hydros on the water before the season started again. Uh I I missed out. My back said no and kept me home. But but how was it? Did you have fun? How was how was the experience over there?

SPEAKER_01 4:02

You know, it was a great day. It was it's a it's a long drive from Seattle, but we made the trek. Um got there early in the morning, arrived probably at 6 30 or so in the morning to secure my spot off turn four on the Kenwick side. It was very breezy in the morning. I was a little bit nervous about the conditions, but the um the wind laid down, and I think promptly at 8 8 30 there were boats on the water, and uh that's always a good feeling to see that that first rooster tail of the season out on uh out on the river. It was uh, I would say generally it was you know again another well-run day of testing, pretty consistent, continuous action, you know, with the eight unlimiteds there. Um, and then you know, some of the more uh smaller limited boats were also on hand. Kind of missed out on museum boats. The last few years they've had museum boats, but I know the museum did that Lake Washington test recently. So um yeah, but it was it was just a beautiful day. It turned out to be an ideal day um on the river. I ended up kind of taking advantage of the lunch break and switched from the Kenwick side over to Pasco off of turn two for the second half of the day. So kind of mixed up the viewpoints and um you know took some photos and all that stuff. So wonderful day. I I highly recommend getting to the river if you can make it um late May, early June for testing in tri-cities, definitely.

SPEAKER_00 5:42

Yeah, it's it's usually always a great time. And uh, like I said, I was jealous. I I slept in a little bit though that morning and I got to watch on streaming. Thankfully, they had a great streaming package going this year, and uh, once again the drones um stole the show with those shots they had. Um, but eight unlimiteds were there. Uh unfortunately, yeah, like you said, the museum wasn't there, only a couple grand prize. Uh, I was hoping there might be more grand prix there for preseason testing, but uh eight unlimiteds.

SPEAKER_01 6:13

Eight unlimiteds, yeah, impressive turnout. And you know, the other thing about the event, too, I'll say is just how accessible it is. Um, you can basically choose any place on the race course that you like and find a spot. It's very easy to get into the pit area and um, you know, see the team, see the drivers, see the boats. Um, it's just a great opportunity to get photos and um get real up close and personal with this sport.

SPEAKER_00 6:46

Yeah, it's ideal. It's a definitely an ideal spot, right? So it's it's a river, it's almost every seat in the house is good. So absolutely, yeah.

Fast Laps And The Boats To Beat

SPEAKER_00 6:56

So let's let's break this down a little bit. Let's talk more about this. There it was eight unlimited there. Um, and some some from familiar faces returned as well. Uh, I guess why don't we just go down the list of uh the preseason testing, the fast laps. So should we go from the bottom up or the top down? What do you think? Let's go uh let's go top down. All right. So Andrew Tate was at the top spot. You'd won BWR Racing. Looks like they they don't have their sponsor from last year. Goodman Real Estate's out, but they have the same colors. Uh they got the gold and white there, and they did a 166.72 or 0.762, 166.762 miles an hour. Was that impressive to see them out there on their fast laps?

SPEAKER_01 7:47

You know, this boat for me is I think at the top of the heap for the unlimited, it's just rarely gets out of shape, it's always um seems well balanced. It gets through the turns, it's in and out of the turns before you can blink. And uh Andrew Tate, I think yet again is gonna be the uh the boat to beat. And I thought an interesting thing about his speed, I went back and looked at the qualifying ladder from the 25 um Tri-Cities event. Yeah, and he he qualified at 164-7. Oh wow. So he was he was actually a couple miles an hour faster in in testing than he was last year at the event. Yeah, so I think that just sh goes to show you how prepared that team is and how ready they were to run some fast laps out there in testing.

SPEAKER_00 8:40

Yeah, yeah. Well, it's yeah, I didn't get a chance to go back and look, and I usually do, but I'm glad you did. So a couple miles an hour faster. And last year, this time they they transferred from Madison over to uh Bruce Ratchford's team, and so I think probably you know, a year experience that team together and uh under the new ownership, and they got they got their act together.

SPEAKER_01 9:06

It seems like they've got uh a lot of equipment, a lot of know-how with the Hansons, and uh yeah, just well prepared. Everything looked good. Um, the boats look beautiful. And as we move down the ladder, you get into their other two boats, right? Their second and third string boats that were just a tick behind Andrew Tate's boat. So it's just embarrassment of riches, I would say, from that team.

SPEAKER_00 9:32

I would say so. Yeah, and they I think they're on the the water the most as well. It it's it seems like every other time a boat was on the water and was watching it was one of the BWR boats, and so yeah, like you said, in second place and fast looking at fast speeds was Jimmy Shane, who's returned to the sport. He's been absent for a handful of years. And I I I watched his first time out, and he had two boats. He had the the old Sharky, which was just painted white, and then he had the old Wiggins, well, not old, but the the Wiggins boat was red, white, and blue with American flag. Um, so that was in third place. So the Sharky got a 164.853 miles an hour, and then the red, white, and blue Wiggins hole uh was 163.220. But his first time out, like it looked like Jimmy just floored it and put his hammer down and said, I'm not, you know, I'm not gonna toast into this, I'm just gonna see what this has and and just hang on, right? Like he it looked like he had had it McGone for for years.

SPEAKER_01 10:35

Absolutely, you know, he I think he's been gone for three years, and his first, you know, I figured his first couple laps would kind of be just more shake down, you know, get a feel for things. And he, like you said, he had it, he had the hammer down. Um looked plenty fast, plenty strong. He's got familiarity with that sharky boat, as you said, and it'll be interesting to see what hole they choose. Um, and just kind of going back, I know he wasn't in the boat, but last year the Apollo, the U-27 Apollo boat that Villak drove qualified at 155. So they were way faster. Yeah, way faster um than they were in Tri-Cities last year for qualifying.

SPEAKER_00 11:21

Well, yeah, I've heard that they've done a lot of work on that pole since it last ran. And last time it ran last year, uh, if I'm not mistaken, was in Gunnersville when they had that wreck. Uh tore the deck off, did some did some damage, and they they took their time, repaired it right, and I think they made a lot of changes to improve it.

SPEAKER_01 11:43

Yeah, and I don't just kind of listening to some of the interviews, it sounded like it's hard to say what boat they're gonna choose, but it sounded like maybe they think there's a little bit more capability in the um in the Wiggins hole, potentially. I know he's got familiarity with uh with the Sharky hole, but so it'll be very interesting to see what boat they choose. I don't right now I think it's a coin flip.

SPEAKER_00 12:10

Yeah, well, I mean, if you're one off off qualifying times or fast time, it's only a mile an hour difference. So um really comes down to what probably Jimmy feels more comfortable with and and thinks that can handle the race water a little better.

SPEAKER_01 12:25

Yeah, now do you know if they're gonna drag um all three boats to the races, or will they just bring the the one and the whatever one they determine will be the 27?

SPEAKER_00 12:35

I believe they're just gonna bring the one boat for each driver to each race. I don't think they're gonna haul all three out. Um, I think they'll decide before they leave which hull they're gonna race. And so, yeah. Which it's I mean, Madison, the first race there, it's you never know how how nice the water will be if there's floating logs or debris or if it's up or down or what the weather will be like. So it's always uh a dice roll. So it'll be yeah, like you said, it'll be interesting to see which hull they choose for the first race. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, but I know I know fans are excited to have Jimmy Chane back, he's a fan favorite, and um he always likes has good interviews. It'll be fun to see him partnered with Andrew Tate. Top-tier equipment, some top tier drivers there.

SPEAKER_01 13:28

He's a great personality for the sport, and I just kind of looking back at his career. Um he has seven national championships, and that's the most of any active of the active drivers. And just um just to kind of look at what uh you know who else is in that category of driver. Panower and Muncie also have seven national titles. So he can he can break that with a title this year. Yeah, um, and then and Vilwak has 10. So he's right up there at the top of the heap for national championships. And I believe he's tied for fourth on the all-time list with Dean Chenowith for wins.

SPEAKER_00 14:13

I was gonna say I was gonna say, yeah, one more victory, and he'll pass Dean Chennowith for that spot. And yeah, he's always had a knack for counting those points and being just a smart driver to save equipment and just do what's necessary for those high point championships. I think that's his special out speciality right there. Yeah, I agree.

SPEAKER_01 14:36

Yeah, I agree. He's he he knows how to um, I think, like you said, collect points and leave the equipment intact.

SPEAKER_00 14:44

Yeah, and I think Andrew is a little bit different from his teammate. I think he's more of a gunslinger, and when it's final heat time, he he lays it all out and uh he gives it everything he has.

SPEAKER_01 14:56

So he certainly does. I think he might be prone to maybe a a mistake or two more, yeah. But he but he's also um in the conversation for uh you know, you look at heat victories, he's got he has set Andrew Tate, he has 72 heat victories, 14th all time. Um the guy wins at a uh percent, you know, heat wins versus heat's finished. He's he wins over 50 of the heats he enters basically. So he's he's just a hard charger. Now Jimmy Shane, I'm looking I'm looking at heat wins versus heat heat's finished. Shane is almost 70. He's got 163 heat wins out of 238 finished, and he's number one all time. Wow, okay. And these these these these uh these great stats I'm getting are from the uh UNJ uh record books. I I always have a fun time kind of looking through that before the year starts to see where the current sort of driver colony you know stacks up with some of the all-time greats, and it's uh it's right up there. I mean, with with Shane, Tate, and JMK, yeah, some serious quality, serious quality. Oh, I mean, I think they've won between those as I said between those three drivers, they've won the last 12 national championships.

SPEAKER_00 16:27

Yeah, that's an excess of talent here we have this year, yes.

SPEAKER_01 16:32

You know, and I'm I'm trying to think of what what's the comparison, you know, is it is it like when you had Hannah, Vilok, and Mark Tate sort of in the late 90s, you know, I think they all overlapped. I don't know, I don't know if that's the perfect comparison, but I think it's sort of in that realm where you have three uber talented drivers that know exactly what they're doing and uh know how to win boat races. And um, you know, I think we'll I think we'll get there later, but this starting procedure is going to be interesting to see how that kind of reflects on the season. Yeah, definitely, definitely.

SPEAKER_00 17:14

Yeah, and and I I'm trying to think back too. Is that like that triage, that trio that you have there? I think that's a good comparison, Vilvock Tate, and Hanow is I mean, most of the years there's always usually like two big guns, you know, to cannot out and everyone else, but um a lot of a lot of talent this year. A lot of talent. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:34

Let David, let me throw this out to you real quick, too.

SPEAKER_00 17:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:38

If you add so those three drivers have the last 12. If you add um Villock and Steven David, I believe that accounts for the last like 20 or something. Yeah, something crazy. So the last the last time someone other than those five guys won a title was 1997.

SPEAKER_00 18:01

Oh do you know who the do you know who the driver was? 1997. Well, the high points driver was Tate. Mark Tate. But it was, yeah, it was wasn't Andrew, it was Mark.

SPEAKER_01 18:13

Yeah, yeah, Mark Tate. Yeah, so he's the last guy out of out of those last guy other than those five to win a national championship in 1997. I thought that was kind of funny looking. That is pretty funny.

SPEAKER_00 18:24

But everyone's been greedy since then. Oh, funny. All right. Well, let's get back to that list. Uh glad to have Jimmy Shane back. I think that'll be uh another X factor. It'll be fun to see this year. But I think everyone's glad. And I know orange you glad that the bucket list racing is back.

SPEAKER_01 18:46

Oh my gosh, I'm

Midfield Teams And Consistency Plays

SPEAKER_01 18:47

so happy to see that orange boat out there.

SPEAKER_00 18:49

Yeah, it just adds another. I would kind of put I had to get that pun in there. Not if you caught that.

SPEAKER_01 18:56

Or I get it, I get it now. I get it now. Nicely done. Yeah, I would I would put them solidly in that sort of dark horse category of uh boats that could definitely come up and and take anybody out at any given time, especially given um the starting procedure, and if they have an inside lane. We all know what that boat is capable of, right? 171 in Gunner'sville a couple years ago. Yeah, fast. Dylan Dylan Runny, you know, didn't have great success in his year in H1. Um, was that 2023? I believe. I believe so, yeah. A couple years ago. Yeah, he he didn't have great success. I think he only had one heat win. Um, so but I know he's well qualified, he's got all the you know chops from limited boats, and so I think once he gets comfortable with that thing, they could be a definite player.

SPEAKER_00 19:58

Yeah, and and and going back to his one season he had um with Home Street a couple years ago. Uh, I mean, it's a shortened season, and it's it's a huge throw uh uh learning curve that he had to go through, right? I mean, not it's not like the 90s when teams were out uh testing, you know, four or five times before the season started, didn't have 10 race seasons, only had five races um to get out there and get used to the equipment. Um, I just feel like it's such a steep learning curve for drivers now to enter the unlimited ranks. Um, and Dylan has a lot of experience in other classes of racing. Uh, and I think he actually surprised me. I mean, did a 162.940 uh in testing. So he's just a tick back from the BWR guys. Um, so he was he was fast on the water, he looked good on the water. I think once he gets more comfortable in that boat out west, he's gonna be a force to reckon with. But like I said, like it's just it's so hard for someone entering this class that doesn't have a lot of time to get used to the nuances of the boat, the team. There's so many nuances that come with this, uh, that it's hard for someone just to jump in and win right away.

SPEAKER_01 21:15

Couldn't agree more, couldn't agree more. Yeah, the the opportunities for seat time are just few and far between.

SPEAKER_02 21:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:21

And um, I think obviously that that is a highly respectable um speed that they put up. And I I can't believe that they would push that hard in testing. I think that there's there's certainly more left there um when when we get into race season. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:42

And it's a fast boat. I think it's gonna do really well. I'm not talking about predictions yet, but I'm gonna say like I think this that boat will do really well in the Columbia Cup and San Diego. It's just a fast, fast boat. All right. Uh well, next on the list, uh the strong racing team. They have a new Look this year. The Beacon Electric Beacon Plumbing sponsorship is no longer here. And they actually have a new sponsor with um uh retro nostalgic look on what you want to call it, the Tahoe Miss U3. This was last year's beacon plumbing boat. Um so it's not white and blue anymore, it's now the the orange and and gray. Um they were the last boat to do a 160 uh mile an hour lap. They did 160.179. And this team had had a struggle last year. They flipped in San Diego, had to rebuild the boat on the offseason. They they they crashed in Seattle and had to repair it from that. So they're looking for some more consistency this year, I think, above all else, and in not breaking equipment as much. But what were your thoughts? I didn't get to see it too much on the streaming, but how did that that team look? How did Corey look on the water?

SPEAKER_01 22:56

First of all, I think the new scheme is is beautiful. I like the I like kind of like that orange and blue look out on the water, really photogenic boat. Um bouncing back from that accident in San Diego, they look solid. I gotta believe that there's more left in that tank. Um, they probably weren't pushing super hard either. Um but yeah, the the boat looked stable, looked good in and out of the corners. And uh, I think Corey again, another one of the gunslingers. I think he's he's got a uh swinger's chance in any any heat he's in. And you know, there was there was some duels last year where he gave Andrew Tate fits, you know, when he had an inside position. Yeah. And um, I think that that's where they're gonna be again. If they're if they're inside of those uh BWR boats, they can definitely challenge. Oh, most definitely, most definitely.

SPEAKER_00 23:55

And you know, and to Corey's credit too. One thing, you know, I think about is uh coming back from those wrecks, is there's been some drivers over the years that have done tremendous jobs, like Hannah or in Villock after a wreck. They put that, they don't even have it in their mind. It's it's out of their system. I think Corey is one of those guys that he he's had some pretty you know dramatic crashes uh in this in his years so far, but he's always come back and it hasn't really needed the the guidance or you know hand holding to to make it back to the top. And he's just he's always there and he's ready in the end. What these teams too, they don't always qualify as fast as some of the other teams, but when they get into racewater, they're their necks are out and they're they're there to to win. Agreed. Yeah, agreed. Uh well, that was the last one over 160. So, yeah, out of the eight boats, we had five hit 160 in Tri-Cities. The next one was JNK with the Maverick, and I think out of the two paint schemes, that's this is my favorite because um that gold and red, and I know it says maverick on there, but every time I see it, it looks like I just think Budweiser, right? With the white pinstriping and whatnot, it looks beautiful out there. But the heated a 158.853.

SPEAKER_01 25:14

My only complaint is that it needs more gold on the cowling, yeah. But yeah, no, it's got the the the mobile pegases on the uh on the rear wings. Yeah, it's gorgeous. And this was, I think, maybe one of the bigger surprises for me is that you know, they just they were a little bit down on speed. Um, you know, it it looked like a classic JMK ride where he was flying it, but the top end wasn't there. And I I don't know, it sounded like they were maybe trying a few different things and and combinations and setups that maybe they wouldn't normally do. Um, and looking back to the final in San Diego last year, that was an absolute barn burner. And he beat Andrew Tate from the inside, yeah. And he averaged was something crazy, it was like 157 miles an hour in that final heat. So I think there's plenty more there. I wouldn't get too concerned with that sort of lower speed that they put up in spring training, yeah. Um yeah, you know, and and and and if anything, maybe they're they're uh trying some setups that are more geared towards uh you know Madison, the smaller course. Right. So but I I look for I look for JMK to uh definitely challenge the other top dogs on that ladder. And you know, the one thing with with JMK though is he might uh pay the heaviest price with the new starting procedure because he's so good at nabbing inside lanes, but um, but definitely gonna be a contender this year for sure.

SPEAKER_00 26:54

Yeah, you read my mind because that's what's the one thing I think out of all the people. Well, I think there's two drivers um that but this is the the the one that will I think this is the to his detriment the most is JMK. He's so creative and has always has a strategy or backup and and backup for his backup to get the inside um the master at getting the inside lane. So with assigned lanes, it's gonna be to his detriment. But on the other hand, him and Corey last year had the inside lanes and totally blew the start for the gold cup. It was their race to lose, and they and they did. They they were too early and had the inside and uh lost it right there at the beginning of the race. So it'll be interesting, interesting to see, like you said.

SPEAKER_01 27:40

Yeah, and we'll I think we'll get into into some of that later about the uh the new format.

SPEAKER_00 27:45

So I'll save my other comments for that for later. Okay, all right. Uh well, next on the list is the U11 Flavor Pack driven by Jamie Nielsen, and they did a 155.593. I'm so happy to see it. Flavor Pack is returned again as a sponsor, and they're backing this team. Um, one of the teams that doesn't have as large of a budget, but uh great heart, uh, big family. It's been a huge supporter of the sport. Uh got close to to win the Gold Cup last year, had second place, and um great driver with Jamie Nielsen.

SPEAKER_01 28:19

Formidable team. Um Nielsen's another one that that is has a knack for for inside lanes, so he's gonna pay a little bit of a price too with that procedure. But yes, I think um maybe more conservative in testing than some of the uh more well-heeled teams. Um certainly. But this again, this is a team that like you said, they were a hiccup away from winning the gold cup in Tri-Cities last year. And as a matter of fact, they had, I believe they had four uh podium finishes last season. Yeah, I'll have to double check that, but I think they had as many podium finishes or perhaps more than any than anybody else. Oh wow. I might be lying. I think I think uh no, I take that back. I think Andrew Tate had four, and they were right alongside him with three or four uh podiums.

SPEAKER_00 29:18

Yeah, and Jamie, he was the other guy that I was thinking of. That's gonna the starting procedure is to his detriment because he um usually found a way to be on the inside as well. Uh, and like you said, he's always found a way to get on the podium. Um, and he's one of those drivers that gets the most out of their equipment. They're not a team that's gonna be as high in the order for qualifying, uh, but they're gonna give it their all when it comes to race time.

SPEAKER_01 29:43

Yeah, and I just I just pulled this up. So they had a third in Madison, a second in Tri-Cities, a fifth in Seattle, and then a third in San Diego. So they had three podiums last season, and then you compare that to uh Tate's boat, good the Goodman Real Estate, and they had four podiums. Okay, but they they had more podium finishes than the strong boats did individually. So I think consistency-wise, they're they're right there, they're just kind of looking for another few miles an hour to kind of be one of those top dogs, right?

SPEAKER_00 30:19

Right. Okay,

Who Missed Testing And Why

SPEAKER_00 30:22

and then the last team that was there, the uh the Spirit of America, go faster and left racing with Gunnar O'Farrell, the U-21, they they ran a fast lap of 152.098 miles an hour. Um, I think out of all the teams though, ending the day on was on such a better note than it was last year, because last year he had that blowover down the back stretch, and they had to scramble and do some repairs before the racing started, but they came away unscathed uh from spring trusting, and they're they're ready for a West Coast part of the series for this year.

SPEAKER_01 30:59

Yeah, they I think they accomplished what they wanted to, like you said, take it out a few times and put it back shiny side up on the trailer and get back to Seattle. And now they have a whole nother month and a half to get ready for Tri-Cities while all the other boats have to travel east to Madison. So they can make some tweaks and fine-tune that thing. And I think they will when they when it's time to qualify for Tri-Cities, I bet you they finish at least four or five mile an hour higher um faster in qualifying than they did at testing.

SPEAKER_00 31:33

Yeah, agreed.

SPEAKER_01 31:34

Agree.

SPEAKER_00 31:36

The other H1 team that wasn't there, um, that possibly would have been was the Graham Trucking. Uh, they've done a lot of work on their their hull over the offseason. They made some repairs, I believe. And um, they're getting ready with Jeff Bernard back in the seat. Uh, and that was the team that surprised me a little bit last year. They had they stuck their nose in there at seafair and um they had a heat win and and had quite a lot of points at the end of the day at seafair last year.

SPEAKER_01 32:03

Bernard's a capable driver. Um, that boat has some speed. It it showed flashes, like you said. I was yeah, I was sad that they weren't there. It would have been nice to have a nice boat in the pits. Um, but yeah, I I see them as a as a a potential um dark horse from an inside lane, especially in that first elimination heat from an inside lane. They could uh shoot, they could come away with a first or second place. Definitely and then we can't forget about the E6 Miss Madison, who uh they weren't in track cities, but they did test in Selena, Ohio, and short one short one mile track, and they ran, I think, close to a 150 on a on a short track. Um, so that was impressive, I think. They had a you know their season last year ended abruptly with a right turn towards Kentucky, but uh sounded like they put a lot of work in on that boat over the off season, took some weight out of it, improved some systems, and um they are making the trek west this season, so that's gonna be exciting. I think very exciting for hydroplane fans to see that boat return out west.

SPEAKER_00 33:18

Yeah, definitely. It's I'm glad to see them hit the full circuit. Um, they have a sponsor this year. I think just things are looking so much better for them this year than it was last year. Last year they didn't even get the test before Gunnersville. Um, went there as a team with a boat they haven't driven before, someone hasn't run unlimited class before. That was just a huge unknown, but this year built up so much confidence. Like you said, they've built worked on the boat so much over the offseason, improving it. They had testing that went very successful. They're ready to go for Madison and the Gold Cup and and hopefully turn some heads this year.

SPEAKER_01 33:58

Yeah, and you talk about a driver that's decorated from the uh limited ranks, you know. Brandon Kennedy absolutely knows what he's what he's doing. And again, I think a lot like the uh sort of the Dylan Runny category just needs the time to get comfortable, yeah, to learn that boat, to get used to having other boats going 180 miles an hour around you and inside of you and outside of you. So yeah, I think as the year goes on and he gets more seat time, again, they're gonna be a contender for uh heat wins, I think, with with good, you know, when they have good main position. Yeah, and um I think that's kind of the word that sums up the fleet this year is just quality. You know, yes, there, yes, there are some hot dogs that have um top end, but I think all the way through this field you you've got some capable teams that can at any moment can jump up and take out um their competitors.

SPEAKER_00 35:02

Oh, definitely, definitely. It's it's gonna be fun to watch, and um it's gonna be, I think, chaos for a little bit in Madison at the Gold Cup with the new starting format, teams trying to figure out what the best strategies are for it. Um, I know they've been talking a uh a lot this offseason on their what they will choose to do, but uh it's gonna be fun. It's gonna be fun.

The New Assigned Lane Start

SPEAKER_00 35:27

Well, should we jump in and talk about this new starting procedure format? Let's do it. All right. So, yeah, you know, it's it's always been fun to watch them fight for lanes, but they're trying something different this year. It's a it's only a four four race season. They're gonna try something a little bit different, and they've I think the organizing body for H1 has looked at what uh HRL and other um GP Grand Prix America has done for their starting procedures to try and save equipment and save confusion for fans. They're gonna have assigned lanes for heats this year, and they're gonna have points awarded for qualifying, which they always do. It's gonna be half of a heat points point as points as far as points go. So starting at 200 for top qualifier, 180, 160, and all the way down um for um qualifying order, we'll get points, and then they're gonna uh continue watching the points, and as heats go on, they're gonna be placed into um order to figure out a lane assignments, and so there's not gonna be any fighting for lanes anymore. I'm not gonna go into each detail for this as it goes, but uh it's still a winner take all final. They will get their choice of lanes as far as points go throughout the day. So whoever has the most points when it comes time for the final will get to choose the lane. But the twist for the final is that a team can only choose lane one and lane two uh once throughout the season for the final heat. So if you choose lane one and tri-cities, you're not you're not gonna be able to get it in in Seattle or San Diego. So let's let's put it back over to you. What's what are your thoughts on on the new starting procedures?

SPEAKER_01 37:17

Number one, I think uh personally I'm a traditionalist. I like the fight for lanes, but what I don't like is when half the field takes themselves out before a race starts, right? Right. And I think you said it. Uh it's going to be uh I think uh simpler for the fan on the beach to understand when the start occurs to the race. They're not gonna be racing to a score-up buoy. They just need to hit uh starting line at zero in the and in their uh lane that they choose, right? It's it's a it's kind of a chosen lane system rather than assigned. So uh by inverse points, like you said, in the elimination heats, it's all by inverse. So what that means is it's uh there's gonna be slower boats generally inside of faster boats, and that means the faster boats are gonna have to run around a number of boats to win heats, and I think it's gonna make for very exciting heat races racing. And um yeah, is it is it sort of managed competition? Maybe, but what's happening on the water is the real deal. They're gonna have to race for wins. Andrew Tate's gonna have to run around three or four very fast boats to finish first in his elimination heats. Yep. And it's gonna make a very for a very exciting and close uh points battle. I think it's gonna come all the way down to the wire in San Diego. Obviously, with the only four races, you know, you cannot have a DNS or DNF or end a a weekend prematurely and um get away with it as easily. You're not gonna be able to make up points, I think, as fast and as and as easily as in the past. And so, you know, like like the chief referee said on your program, uh, this is the year to try it. I think it's time to try something different. We've we've the sport has kind of tried everything under the sun to create uh a fight for lanes that would include uh uh no trolling, and they haven't been able to be super successful at that. Right um, because at some at some point in the on the race course you're gonna end up with trolling with with the rules as they were. So I'm all for it. Uh it's it's um ideally there would be a fight for lanes, but uh hey, I'm I'm for trying something new, and if it makes more sense to the fan on the beach, then I'm all for it because right now the sport just needs to uh grow in in any number of ways, and and number one is uh fan interest and um participation. So I think if that if that is the uh byproduct of this change, then that's wonderful. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:06

And I think so as well. I I really enjoyed the fight for lanes. It's it was so fun to be able to watch them, uh, listen to some radios on the in my radio scanner and hear their drama and see the drama unfold before the start. But with the trolling that they had going, it it took a lot of that fun out of it. And there were several races where I would watch on the beach and the casual fan would be by me, and they would, um, especially in Seattle, where they were they were basically stopped on the the north side of the course before the score-up. And people near me thought the race was over or got stopped or they missed the race. That there's really it was confusing for the people that didn't know the sport like we do. And I think this is gonna help that. So there's the boats will be bunched together, it's much more obvious when the race starts and it's happening. Um, so it's gonna be great for the casual fan. But like you said, also for the it's gonna save equipment because they're not going to be as hard on the equipment. It's it's not easy on those boats to troll uh and go slow and then to mash the gas and accelerate. It's hard on the equipment, it's hard on the motors, the props and um, or the engines and the props. But we've seen it also before like was it a couple years ago when Andrew Tate went through Rosertale in the final heat in the in the the warm-up period, lost to Canard before the race started uh and was out of it. Um so it's gonna eliminate some of those things. So we'll we'll see those heavy hitters in the finals more often.

SPEAKER_01 41:44

I think it should eliminate a lot of gun jumps, it should eliminate any boats going through DMZ zones. We should have you know every participant on the water should should there's no excuse to not make a good start now, right? Which I think is great. You know, I think it's I think that's good. I think if we have a four-boat heat, let's see them all hit that start line at zero. And um and with the faster boats um generally having to be on the outside in the uh elimination heats. You know, passing passing in H1 racing is rare. Well, not this season. I think this season we're gonna see a lot of passing. Yeah, uh we're gonna see a lot of a lot of deck to deck racing, uh, which uh which people love. And and that's the sort of thing that brings fans back and creates new fans.

SPEAKER_00 42:43

Yes, definitely, definitely. I think it's just gonna all it's gonna do is just create a better package for of racing on the water for fans, which is what the sport needs, and it needs to evolve and change. It's a different world today than it was in 1995 or 1965 for hydroplane racing. And uh, we don't have Detroit in the schedule, we don't have um some other race sites, which it probably won't ever get back because it's a different world today. And um, for for boat racing to continue, it has to to look at the fan audience and and look at the sport and what they can do to make it uh a better package for for the media, for the fans, and for marketing.

SPEAKER_01 43:24

And you know what, you know what I thought the one of the first things I thought of when I saw the proceed the new procedure is hey Ed Cooper, are you are you seeing this? This is like perfect for your boat, right?

SPEAKER_00 43:37

Yeah, it is, it is, it is.

SPEAKER_01 43:38

I mean, you they don't have to troll, they can just keep that thing wound up. They'll probably end up with some pretty decent lanes. Um, it would be an absolute perfect package, perfect scenario for a a piston boat. Yeah. Um, you know, a boat like the Coopers Express, I think they could definitely um benefit from. From from these rules. Oh, definitely.

SPEAKER_00 44:02

It'll be great to see him back out there. Maybe, maybe they'll watch with some uh more curiosity this year and see how it goes. And maybe we'll see him again. Yeah. All right.

Grand Prix America Growth On Weekends

SPEAKER_00 44:13

Um, well, I I don't want to be reminiscent, I want to talk about we're talking all about H1, but I want to talk more about another series that is, I think, just really complimenting H1. It's I think growing more with a fan base uh over here on the West Side, but the Grand Prix America Hydroplane series. Uh they only had a couple boats there in Tri-Cities at spring testing, but there was also some other teams doing some testing, and there's there's some changes going on in the offseason uh that I'm I'm pretty excited about what what but I wasn't there. So what you saw Richards racing on the water. Uh do they look like they were they're getting their package together? How do they look?

SPEAKER_01 44:52

Yeah, they looked uh they look like they're sorting things out. Um, you know, I I think that's a series that has a lot of um potential. I think I think there's a lot of room for growth there. And I think it's it's a the more racing we can put on the water during these race weekends, the better. And that is a a wonderful class, a wonderful support class. And you see guys like Brent Hall, and you see some of the personalities that they're adding to that um classification, and it's it's just wonderful to see. And uh, and these, you know, a lot of these guys, there's no ambition to move to the bigger boats. This is where they want to be, and this is the big time for them, and they put on a heck of a show when they can get you know five or six boats out there, and and uh they're all pretty equally matched up and they put on great racing.

SPEAKER_00 45:50

Yeah, no, they definitely do. And um, one team that's just I think been huge with fans this last year is a Cool Cat Racing, Cool Kat Motorsports. Uh that that racing team is has a bright paint job on there. It's uh kind of reminiscent a little bit of the 90s stuff people were doing, right? But uh they have two boats now, and like you said, Brent Hall is gonna be in their their their second boat. Um John Shaw's returning and have the the their new hull for the from Bad Influence Racing. And they they tested out east earlier this year, I think out in Maryland. I didn't get to watch footage of it, but I love that there's a picture of them side by side on the water together. So it's gonna be cool to see that that that team, two boats out there, and Brent Hall on the water once again.

SPEAKER_01 46:35

Yeah, there's a super happy, super happy for Brent. You know, what a great guy, great personality, uh, just a tremendous um asset to the sport. And you know, that Grand Prix series, they bring the noise, and a lot of people like it. Yeah, and um, and so it just adds it adds to the show. Uh it's it's great to see that fleet um growing and growing in popularity, and they will be running in Seattle this year, correct? Yes, yes, they are. Yeah, yeah, perfect, which is fantastic. I think that's that's one thing Seafair's kind of you know, over the years, there's there's years where they have uh uh more races, and then there's years where they've had less racing, and um, so to get back to more racing is is better for us boat fans.

SPEAKER_00 47:28

Yes, yeah. And like you said, they uh they bring the noise, they bring the funk. So it'll be fun, it'll be fun to see what they they got going on this

Deck To Deck Fantasy League Strategy

SPEAKER_00 47:36

year. Yeah, I'm excited for it. All right, well, I think I think we need to talk about deck to deck because I have some questions. I want some insight. Four race season. No, we don't have Gunnersville this year, but I know deck to deck's ready to go. What what's what's going on with deck to deck and what can we expect this year?

SPEAKER_01 47:56

Well, first of all, I've got to say, David, you beat me for a second year in a row. You beat me by 13 points. Um it was a very thin margin, but congratulations, you did it again. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 48:09

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 48:09

I've got to get back on top this year. It's my mission.

SPEAKER_00 48:13

So um we're not gonna share too much more information on my end then.

SPEAKER_01 48:19

The uh the way we're gonna do this year with the four races is we're gonna have um two picks for the Madison Gold Cup, okay, two picks uh for Tri-Cities, two picks for Seattle. So there's six boats deep, and then we're gonna go one pick for the finale in San Diego. Okay, so you've got to go seven boats, seven boats deep this year, which is uh entirely possible because we're gonna have you know eight uh eight to nine boats, um, right? Give or take. So if you if you I I think what I would suggest is kind of uh plan your season from San Diego and work uh uh work to the front of the year. So pick a boat for San Diego that you know will be in San Diego, yeah. Um and then kind of fill out the rest of it. Um, you know, Seattle Tri-Cities and Masson because you'll need two boats for each of those races. Right. So that's that's the format, the deck-to-deck format. But otherwise, we're gonna score it, we're gonna score everything just like H1, all the all the qualifying points, all the uh the heat points and final points will be the exact same as the uh H1 series.

SPEAKER_00 49:31

Cool, yeah. Uh I always I always enjoy doing it, I always have fun doing it, and uh we'll have our Richel Talk group do it again. I'm looking to do a hat trick and get my third year in a row. Going for three feet. Do I get a crown if I do that again? Next year I can wear a testing or something. You know, we could we could probably come up with something.

SPEAKER_01 49:52

I like that idea.

SPEAKER_00 49:54

I really appreciate doing you guys doing the deck to deck. Uh it's really fun. I know takes some time to get a website and figure all this the stuff out behind the scenes. Someone uh you and your friends are smarter than I am on that, but uh it's been fun to see this grow. And how many years have you been doing deck to deck now? Like when did this start?

SPEAKER_01 50:14

Yeah, David, if you can believe it, we've been um this is our 17th year. We started in 2009, so um it's been a pleasurable experience on our end. We we love doing it for the fans. Um, we love trying to create a little bit of extra excitement for boat fans. Um, you know, we even have there's team members uh that play the game, there's hardcore boat fans that play the game. And really the reason I started it was to just get my inner circle of friends to get to learn the boat names and drivers and things like that, and it worked. Um we start we started playing the game, and then pretty soon I had buddies coming up to me and say, you know, saying, Oh gosh, I took the U6 this weekend, but I should have took the U3. And um, you know, and and next week in in Seattle, I've I'm I'm thinking about taking um the U11. What do you think about that? You know, and it's just it gives uh the the the fan something else to talk about other than the results on the water. Uh you get a little competition going between friends and um you know, friendly wagers and things like that, you know, crowns and and t-shirts and and and things like that that you have to make your friends when they beat you. So it's uh it's all it's all fun, it's all good. And I want to shout out my friend Josh Polanski that helps me run the website, uh, and Pierre Mariani that set everything up and keeps us going on the technical side. And I usually just get to do fun things like write up boat bios and take photos and and make wild predictions, but um uh all the all my friends that helped me run it, thank you so much, and all the people out there that play the game. Um, much appreciated. I usually we have between three and five hundred people that make picks, um, just depending on the season. There's there's hundreds more of more people than that that are registered that just you know, for whatever reason they forget to make a pick or yeah, or or signed up for a season and then dropped it. But come back, play deck to deck with us. It's it's free of charge. It's fairly easy to register, you know, choose a fun name to name your team and and go racing with us.

SPEAKER_00 52:37

Yeah, I always had fun doing it. And it it's that's happened quite a few times where I talk to friends and they they forget to put their picks in, uh, and then it's the race day and they're they're they're out of it. But it's fun to do and like a banter with your friends. Uh I really enjoy it. I remember it must have been the first year he did it, or one of the first years. I don't know if it was you or Josh or Pierre, but I was down in the pits and you guys were handing out the deck-to-deck cards trying to get advertisements out for it at Seattle at Seafair. Um, I just remember getting a card like, what the heck is this? But logged on, and it's it's a lot of fun. I really enjoy doing it. And I hope everyone listening to this podcast can can sign up and and join this year.

SPEAKER_01 53:18

Yeah, and I guess uh like H1, we have a little bit of a wrinkle too. Um, you know, where they they get to choose lane one only once a season. You get to only choose any given boat once a season. So you if you're a U6 Madison fan, you can take them one time and then you've got to mix it up and take some other boats. It's a it's a strategy game. And um much like fantasy football, you're you're taking boats and you're collecting their points. So you've got to play strategy. I always say make your full season picks up front, and you can tweak that along the way if you want, but at least you have picks plugged in so that you'll never be you'll never DNS, you'll always have uh a boat in the mix and and you'll be collecting points one way or the other. Yeah, don't not DNS.

SPEAKER_00 54:08

Let's show you your slip. Uh well, I I got a question though for you. I mean, thinking about the future of this, how can we get uh the Grand Prix, how can we get the GPA series on there as well? Throwing a little bit more fun.

SPEAKER_01 54:24

That's a yeah, that's something we considered. Um I think it's for us, it's just a matter of time. And um, I certainly think that's a possibility. Definitely a possibility, and um, you know, maybe maybe we chat a little bit more this offseason and figure out a way to do it. But yeah, I think that's you know, anything that engages the fan and brings fans um, you know, another way to enjoy the sport, I'm all for it.

SPEAKER_00 54:53

Yeah, because you could have the H1 side and the GPA side, whoever gets the most of that, and then you could combine them to high points, so whoever gets the highest out of both combined. So you could have three champions, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 55:06

Love it.

SPEAKER_00 55:06

So I could beat you three times next year.

SPEAKER_01 55:12

Sorry, it's gonna be like a constructor's championship where you have combine the two. Yeah, no, I I like it. I like where your head's at.

SPEAKER_00 55:19

Yeah, all right, excellent. Excellent.

Season Predictions And Gold Cup Picks

SPEAKER_00 55:24

All right, well, we always do our predictions for the season. Are you ready? You have your predictions down? I'm ready. I'm ready.

SPEAKER_01 55:32

But you know, with this starting procedure, it's it kind of it's a huge wrinkle in the whole thing, right? It's not as easy as it used to be.

SPEAKER_00 55:41

Curveball. Yep. So do you want me to go first or you want to go first? Uh are we so are we talking about national champion for the season? I think we always talk about national champion, but I also want to talk about gold cup champion as well. Okay. Because I think that's that's got very prestigious.

SPEAKER_01 56:00

I'm gonna throw a little bit of a surprise at you. All right, I'm ready. And I'm gonna say national champion for his eighth all time, Jimmy Shane in the U-27. I thought you were gonna go there. You did?

SPEAKER_00 56:18

I thought you were gonna go there.

SPEAKER_02 56:19

All right, okay.

SPEAKER_00 56:21

All right. I mean, I can see that. I mean, he's he's a king at that, getting those high point championships. Uh he he has a way. He does it.

SPEAKER_01 56:33

Yeah, I just think, you know, like we talked about before, I think he has a knack for staying out of trouble, and I think that's gonna be vitally important this season to stay out of trouble and continuously collect points. And as we saw in spring training, they've got plenty of speed, they've got plenty of equipment, and I there's just a gut feeling that I think you know, so it's kind of out of a storybook, right? But I think I think he can do it. I think he can do it. So I'm gonna stick with that. U27, Jimmy Shane.

SPEAKER_00 57:08

All right, all right, excellent. Well, I can't, I'm not gonna pick the same guy because that's not fun. Um, so I'm gonna pick a different one. Uh, I think Andrew Tate's gonna do it again with the BWR racing. Um, because he he's been there more recent than Jimmy, doesn't have to relearn anything. I think he's just gonna hit the ground running uh and get the high point championships for this year. And I noticed something is I don't think he got a chance to go to Hydra Fever over the weekend down at the museum, but uh they brought the Goodman, um, not the Goodman, they brought the BWR U1 boat down there on display. And I noticed they had uh Batman logo on the boat, and so and so I think uh I think you know Andrew Tate's gonna be Batman, and this year um Jimmy Shane's gonna be Robin to Batman and be second place runner up.

SPEAKER_01 58:02

You know, if if Andrew Tate wins it, I would not be shocked. I'll say that. I think he he obviously has the boat to beat. He's um incredibly gifted driver, it's in his lineage, he's proven it before. Yeah, I would not be surprised. I think that's a very solid pick, David.

SPEAKER_00 58:22

All right, all right. How about Gold Cup win? Who's gonna be a gold cup victor this year? It's not gonna we're not gonna have a repeat winner because Villock's not gonna come out from one race and uh and try to you know get that again. So it's gonna be somewhat different this year.

SPEAKER_01 58:39

Yeah, this one's tougher. I think I think I'm gonna go with J. Michael Kelly, U double zero maverick. That's still a mouthful, it's still hard to say, but yeah, U double zero maver Maverick. Um I think he's due for a big one. And I think I think they were kind of uh keeping some cards close to the vest in training in uh spring training. Yeah. So I look for them to kind of come out and maybe pick up where they left off in San Diego. And I think he's gonna end up with some heats uh inside of Tate and Shane and be able to collect points where he gets a pretty good lane choice for the final, and I think he'll pull a rabbit out of his hat for the uh gold cup.

SPEAKER_00 59:36

Okay, okay. Um that'd be fun to see. That would be really fun to see and see JMK get get a gold cup victory there. No, this is this is tough for me because if it was at a different location, I would pick someone different. But um I keep jumping back and forth. But that you know, that Madison, that river there in Madison, it's a it's a crapshoot. You don't know what you're gonna get for water conditions, you don't know if there's gonna be logs or refrigerators floating down the river, you don't know what the weather's gonna be truly like for that race. But I'm gonna go first race back. I think Jimmy Shane's gonna win it. I think that that that river's been good to him. He knows that river very well, and I think that they're gonna come away the victor. I wanted to to pick a couple other guys there, but I've got a feeling Corey Peabody's gonna be up there, but he's notoriously had challenges on that river, and so I I think they'll be I I wouldn't be surprised if he he has a good strong podium finish there, but I'm gonna go Jimmy Shane, first race race back. He's gonna be a Gold Cup champion in Madison, Indiana.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:45

I like that pick too. Um he's had success there, right? He that was his home waters for a long time. If they do choose the Sharky boat, that would be kind of fitting to see Sharky win in Madison with Jimmy Shane behind the wheel. So yeah, I can't argue with that with that pick. That'd be uh, I think wonderful for the sport. And um, you know, all these drivers and all these teams are very fun to root for. You know, there's no um there's really no villains in the sport anymore. And um, so I'm gonna be I I just hope that everybody can run clean and um and stay out of trouble and and may the best driver and boat combination win.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:34

Exactly. Yeah, I hope we have a safe year this year. There was quite a few blowovers last year on that short season. Hopefully, I'm gonna cross my fingers, knock on whether we don't have any this year. Everyone's safe, and we should have some great, fast, clean racing. You're here. Yeah. Well, I think that wraps up our our yearly show. Um, I think we gotta I think maybe next year we should ramp this up and and do a little bit more or something, but but if not, next year we'll definitely for our 10th, we'll do something, have a big blowout for it.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:07

If we can uh get you back on the river, maybe we can we do some riverside chat, uh a riverside chat to go along with our three season. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:17

Um I like that.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:20

Yeah, well, we're we're going for the six pack next year. So yeah, we gotta we gotta do something something big.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:26

Yes. The six pack, I like it. Excellent. All right. Well, thanks for being on here, Dan. I appreciate it. Great talking hydros with you.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:36

Yeah, I look forward to it every year. I appreciate everything you do for the sport. You're uh these these recent interviews you're doing with the referees and with uh teams and with former drivers. I love it. Uh look forward to Tuesday morning every every Tuesday to see what um you're throwing at us, boat fans. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:55

Keep it on. Yeah, I will. I'm enjoying it. I'm having fun. So as long as I'm having fun, I'll keep doing it. Awesome. Love it. Thank you.

How To Join The League

SPEAKER_00 1:03:04

Well, Knuckleheads, once again, that's all the time we have for this week. If you haven't done so, please go to deck to deck.us, and that's with the number two, deck to deck.us, and join the Hydro Fantasy Racing League. It's a lot of fun to keep track of the racing season, to banter with your buddies, and um just be more involved. In the bio below, you'll see there's a link to the website. I'm also gonna have a link to the Richotel Tot group within Deck to Deck and see if you can best your friends in that league as well. Uh, quick shout-out for last year's winner. Actually, Jeff Bernard was the race winner within our league. Um, I'm assuming that's the real Jeff Bernard that's in the league, and he won. Um he probably had some little bit of insider info there with with winning, but he won by a pretty substantial lead there. I didn't do as well. I got fifth place uh behind uh Miss Chrysler Crew fan, the handsome transome motorsports, and Bill Strahill, uh as well as Jeff Bernard. So I did get a chance to beat uh the creator, Hydro Dan, but didn't do as well in my own racing league. But we'll love to see you join the league and join in with the fun on that because it's it is a lot of fun to track the racing that way. I'll have Hydro Dan on again next year, and I'm really hoping that he'll expand the series to include the GPA, the Grand Prix of American Hydroplane series, because that would be a lot of fun to combine both efforts and track that series as well as it's growing and they're gonna have more boats out this year and again next year. Uh so it'll be a lot of fun to track as well. Well, we got a racist weekend. I want to I want to hear your thoughts, who's gonna win the Gold Cup for 2026. Make sure you comment on the links below. I'm gonna put another, I'll put up another post here asking your thoughts on who the race winner will be. Um it's gonna be exciting to see the racing on the water this weekend. Don't forget you can check us out online. Our our website is ruchatelltalk.com. We're on our social media pages to Facebook, Instagram. But that's all I got for you. So until next time, I hope to see you at the race.