Another great weekend spent in New England. For those who have never attended a South Shore Outboard Association race, I highly recommend looking at the 2020 schedule and planning on making a trip to one of the several premier race sites in the country and Kingston is by far one of the coolest sites in the country.
For the 12th consecutive year, racers from all over have flocked to Greenwood Pond to see what the hype is about. Furthest traveled was Jeff and Christine Brewster from Ohio, but the pits were littered with boats from New Jersey, New York, Canada, and the usual suspects from Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Saturday’s racing kicked off just after 11:30am, with a quick stoppage as Dan Shaver tipped over his CSR milling. A group effort got Dan back out or the second heat but it was Iron Mike Akerstrom who would take home the win. ASH was another great race to watch, with Rachel Warnock bringing home the win with Erin Woodle close behind in second and David Woodle in third. CSH was full of some close racing, but it was the 16B of Billy Allen who found himself in the winners circle adding on to his record high of 40 wins at Kingston.
BSH has really taken off in Region One, with twelve boats registered and only two boats coming from out of region. Due to the size of the pond, the race officials limited the amount of boats on the course to eight, so eliminations had to be held. Two heats of six, and the fastest four in each heat move onto the final. The one heat final saw some hard fought racing throughout the field but the 1US of Wlodarski would take home the win, with Bobby Howe and Nick Nowak close behind. Mike Akerstrom showed the spectators why he earned the nickname “Iron Man”, taking home the win in 25SSR, with Dan Shaver in second and Tim Noury in third. AXH is always a great class to watch, as this is where the future of the sport hone in on their skills and David Woodle broke out front both heats and couldn’t be caught. Quinn Roberts and Matthew Mead battled it out for the second and third position. 20SSH would be broke up due to having twelve boats registered, fastest four in each heat would on to the one heat final. Some great battles took place in the elims but it was Bobby Howe who would take home the victory, with Jeff Sherwin and Bobby Cronin in second and third place. The first heat of ASR would go to the 4A of Pete Nichols but plagued with motor issues the second heat, with a second and a first the overall win would go to the 7J of Johnny Wlodarski driving a boat built the same year he was born. David Woodle second and Pete Nichols taking home third.
Another large class in Region One is OSY-400, highly competitive every weekend, Kingston was were the season highpoints for SSOA would be decided and it was Smokin Joe O’Connor who would take home the win at Kingston followed by Billy Allen and Bobby Cronin. AXR had only three entries which meant they would get one heat of four laps, with was Quinn Roberts who stole the start and maintained his lead all four laps but on the third lap Eden Deware, who is still mastering the art of the runabout had a mishap and fell out in turn two. Quinn would take home the win followers by Jack Lyons. JSH was Eden Deware showing the boys around the course followed by Quinn Roberts and Matthew Shaver. 300SSH is always a treat to watch and this weekend Moses no exception. Colleen Tweedy driving the 229A would capture the win with Dave Campbell and Chris Stager following closely behind. Racing was concluded for the day around 3:45 as there was a wedding taking place at the Church, and Steve promised the bride that we would be off the water by 4pm. Once racing was all wrapped up and everyone had a chance to relax, there was a potluck held in the Masonic lodge in the pits, which was followed by the awards presentation. First through third received tool bags of different sizes filled with various things such as flashlights, tape measures and shear pins. What more could a boat racer ask for, huge shout out to Steve Noury for hand making the plaques and gathering all of prizes. He is an asset to the sport of boat racing.
Sundays racing was kicked off right after church let out and the first race of the day was the Kingston Sprint Cup Challenge, this years class was ASR. The rules of the challenge are as follows. A crew of two people is allowed, one roper and one holder. When the air horn sounds, it is a lemans start and drivers must one complete lap and then are scored, after the last boat crosses the finish line. With all boats still on the course, the white flag is up and the clock is in motion, drivers will jockey for
position and begin the second heat as the clock strikes zero. One lap and they will take the checkered flag and again once the last place boat crosses the line the white flag is up and drivers again attempt to hit a flying start. Three laps, all scored separately as three heats. Driver with the most points wins. As the six A runabouts lined the Shore, the drivers anticipating the horn with their ropers ready to pull. A few seconds passed and the horn went off and it was the 7J of Johnny Wlodarski on plane first would take the first heat win. For the first and second clock start, it would David Woodle who would nail both starts and not look back. When the water settled and points were counted. Wlodarski would be named the winner of the 2019
Kingston Sprint Cup.
Listed below are the results from Saturday and Sunday. Steve does a great job getting the out of region drivers on the road early, so I wasn't able to watch much of the racing after we were done racing since we were packing up.
Kingston Saturday Results
Saturday
J Hydro – Eden Deware 6B, Quin Roberts 9A, Matthew Shaver 18N
AXR – Quin Roberts 9A, Jack Lyons 6A
AXH – David Woodle 43B, Quin Roberts 9A, Matthew Mead 17N
ASR - Johnny Wlodarski 7J, David Woodle 20B, Pete Nichols 4A
ASH – Rachel Warnock 22B, Erin Woodle 44B, David Woodle 43B
BSH – Johnny Wlodarski 1US, Bobby Howe 4F, Nick Nowack 81B
CSR – Mike Akerstrom 8B Bill Forster 96D, Tim Noury 33A
CSH – Billy Allen 16B, Bobby Howe 2A, Joe O’Connor 28A
20SSH – Bobby Howe 4F, Jeff Sherwin 229A, Bobby Cronin 26A
25SSR – Mike Akerstrom 8B, Dan Shaver 13N, Tim Noury 33A
300SSH – Colleen Tweedy 229A, Dave Campbell 66A, Chris Stager 78B
OSY400 – Joe O’Connor 28A, Billy Allen 16B, Bobby Cronin 26A
Sunday
J Hydro – Eden Deware 6B, Quin Roberts 9A, Matthew Shaver 18N
AXH – David Woodle 43B, Matthew Mead 17N, Quin Roberts 9A
ASR - Johnny Wlodarski 7J, Eli Campbell 42A, Aaron Churchill 18A
ASH – Erin Woodle 44B, Rachel Warnock 22B, Aaron Churchill 18A
BSH – Johnny Wlodarski 1US, Bobby Howe 4F, Nick Nowack 81B
CSR – Dan Shaver 13N, Mike Akerstrom 8B Bill Forster 96D,
CSH – Billy Allen 16B, Chris Stager 78B, Joe O’Connor 28A
20SSH – Jeff Sherwin 229A, Billy Allen 16B, Bobby Cronin 26A
25SSR – Mike Akerstrom 8B, Dan Shaver 13N, Tim Noury 33A
300SSH – Chris Stager 78B, Jeff Brewster 59S, Greg Hamilton, 77A
OSY400 – Billy Allen 16B, Bobby Cronin 26A, Jeff Main 21A