URG’s Scott Raney – Maestro of Repair
JW Myers leqves the Columbia Cup dock in 11 Miss Peters and May. Photo by Chris Denslow - H1
Scott Raney is co-owner and crew chief for the Peters and May entry in the Air National Guard series. It is important to point out he has no musical skills.
“Absolutely none,” said his wife, Shannon, with a laugh. It’s surprising. Scott is one of ten children. His sister Colleen has performed in musical productions on Broadway. He has a brother that is a professional singer and a brother that’s in a band.
“Of the ten kids, eight of them are very musical,” said Shannon,“Scott is one of the other two,” she said.
11 Peters & May owner/crew chief Scott Raney
So while Scott Raney may not be able to read a note of music, he felt like a real maestro scripting the repairs of his boat damaged in a blow over in Detroit, MI. just over two weeks ago.
“I would go into the shop early in the morning and there would be two or three guys working in there,” said Scott. “That was perfect for me because I could work on what I had to work on and get done what I needed to get done. Then by two or three in the afternoon there were so many people in the shop I felt like I was conducting an orchestra.”
And all those people. “Our crew. Family. Friends. Friends of friends. Outboard racers. Relatives. Sponsors. Wives. My parents were there. J.W.‘s parents were there. It was incredible,” said Scott. “Incredible.”
Indeed. Thirty-eight people in all, Shannon counted them. That’s a lot of people when you consider the Peters and May team has a full-time crew of—wait for it—exactly three people; Scott, Shannon and driver co-owner J.W Myers.
“I looked over at the boat one time and there were fifteen people working on it,: said Myers. “It looked like an ant hill. And when you consider what we could pay them, which way nothing, it was amazing.”
Repairs to the Peters and May machine cost more than $100,000.00 and that’s just pieces and parts, not labor (Scott refuses to add up the hours). And those repairs began Sunday afternoon right after the boat was towed back to the pits in Detroit.
“We began to develop a plan,” said Scott
And then they put the plan into motion. Scott drove the truck and trailer carrying the wounded hydroplane home to Washington State. Shannon and daughter Ashley rode with him with Shannon taking dictation and making phone calls.
Myers flew back to Washington and went to work at the shop, lining up crew guys, implementing the plan. The boat got back late Wednesday night and work began in earnest on Thursday morning.
“I never considered for a moment we wouldn’t make (Tri-Cities)”, said Scott. “Never entered my mind. We have created a tremendous support group. We nailed every target I set.”
The new cowling was built with the help of Riv-tech. The people in the shop worked on the damaged hull. The engine was taken apart and rebuilt so it could serve as a back-up in Tri-Cities.
J.W. Myers pulled two all-nighters at the paint shop, supervising and assisting the dedicated process of repainting the boat with Jeff Stoneman at West Coast Collision Center in Mount Lake Terrace.
“There was a bit of a battle there,” said Myers. “It took a while. Jeff is a perfectionist and he wanted it perfect. We’re boat racers, we needed it finished.”
It did get finished, but it took all night.
“Thursday morning (the day the boat left for Tri-Cities) we left the shop at 6:30am and went to breakfast,” said Myers. “I went to bed about 8:30 that morning and got a couple of hours sleep.”
This boat team was in a race on land, a race just to get to the race. But there was more to it than that.
“We wanted to get it fixed but we wanted to get it fixed right,” said Scott. “We wanted to look professional. We wanted to do it right for Peters and May.“
Then he paused. “We wanted to show the Detroit River we know what you did to us but look what we did, too. We wanted the boat to look just like it did when it left the dock in Detroit.”
Peters and May CEO David Holley provided support over the phone from the companies headquarters in England.
“He called everyday, twice a day,” said Scott.
Then Rainey pulled out his cell phone. Look at it, it’s all glued up. I tried not to answer it every time but it just kept ringing. People wanted to help, they wanted to know how we were doing.”
Of course, once they get to the course, Holley has an increased thirst for knowledge.
“Once the weekend gets here he will call or text every thirty minutes,” said Scott.
Holley is so supportive of the team has been known to call so quickly that following a heat he will be on the phone before the Peters and May hydroplane is even back to the dock.
There were a few bugs in Tri-Cities. While conducting the orchestra Scott forgot to take an intermission to dry the “foam” inserts in the fuel cell that prevent the fuel from sloshing around when at speed. That created a water-in-the-fuel problem first time out.
“I take total blame for that,” said Scott. “I just over-looked it.”
They encountered a small problem with the front wing, too, but worked through that. And J.W. will freely admit he did not have the best weekend in the cockpit either. But those things will not dampen the respect Raney has for his team.
“We have an incredible team at Unlimited Racing Group,” said Scott. The dedication of the members of this organization (read part-time crew members with full-time jobs) and our sponsors is amazing.”
The shop basically ran from 7am to 2am each day. But as the Tri-Cities event got closer, the hours got longer, with crew members staying until 5am.
But while they were working, everyone was, well, very well fed.
“Food. All kinds of food,” said Scott. “I said something that I thought was funny but the crew guys didn’t. I said ‘We oughta wreck more often, we’re eating like we’re the series champions’. It cracked me up.”
People just kept bringing food. People they didn’t know were bringing food. Penne pasta, ribs, meatloaf, tri-tips, spaghetti and the menu goes on and one and on.
“I couldn’t believe it, now we have to work hard all weekend to work off everything we ate!”
This is the second season for the Scott-Shannon-J.W. team taking to the water. The water has been pretty rough. They’re not shaken. So this week?
“We’d like to win a heat,” said Scott. “We want to make the final.”
Scott Raney doesn’t smile much. He just doesn’t have time for it.
Saturday morning, sitting on the back of the team hauler in the pits along the Columbia River in the 95-plus degree heat, Rainey was talking about the work the team did, and, yes, he smiled. It was a lot of work.
How did it feel? “The smile,” he said, “it hurt.” Then he laughed. “The work, it was good.”
No, Scott Raney has absolutely no musical skills. But with a solid run in Seattle we might find out if he can dance.
Bill Weber
URG’s Scott Raney – Maestro of Repair
JW Myers leqves the Columbia Cup dock in 11 Miss Peters and May. Photo by Chris Denslow - H1
Scott Raney is co-owner and crew chief for the Peters and May entry in the Air National Guard series. It is important to point out he has no musical skills.
“Absolutely none,” said his wife, Shannon, with a laugh. It’s surprising. Scott is one of ten children. His sister Colleen has performed in musical productions on Broadway. He has a brother that is a professional singer and a brother that’s in a band.
“Of the ten kids, eight of them are very musical,” said Shannon,“Scott is one of the other two,” she said.
11 Peters & May owner/crew chief Scott Raney
So while Scott Raney may not be able to read a note of music, he felt like a real maestro scripting the repairs of his boat damaged in a blow over in Detroit, MI. just over two weeks ago.
“I would go into the shop early in the morning and there would be two or three guys working in there,” said Scott. “That was perfect for me because I could work on what I had to work on and get done what I needed to get done. Then by two or three in the afternoon there were so many people in the shop I felt like I was conducting an orchestra.”
And all those people. “Our crew. Family. Friends. Friends of friends. Outboard racers. Relatives. Sponsors. Wives. My parents were there. J.W.‘s parents were there. It was incredible,” said Scott. “Incredible.”
Indeed. Thirty-eight people in all, Shannon counted them. That’s a lot of people when you consider the Peters and May team has a full-time crew of—wait for it—exactly three people; Scott, Shannon and driver co-owner J.W Myers.
“I looked over at the boat one time and there were fifteen people working on it,: said Myers. “It looked like an ant hill. And when you consider what we could pay them, which way nothing, it was amazing.”
Repairs to the Peters and May machine cost more than $100,000.00 and that’s just pieces and parts, not labor (Scott refuses to add up the hours). And those repairs began Sunday afternoon right after the boat was towed back to the pits in Detroit.
“We began to develop a plan,” said Scott
And then they put the plan into motion. Scott drove the truck and trailer carrying the wounded hydroplane home to Washington State. Shannon and daughter Ashley rode with him with Shannon taking dictation and making phone calls.
Myers flew back to Washington and went to work at the shop, lining up crew guys, implementing the plan. The boat got back late Wednesday night and work began in earnest on Thursday morning.
“I never considered for a moment we wouldn’t make (Tri-Cities)”, said Scott. “Never entered my mind. We have created a tremendous support group. We nailed every target I set.”
The new cowling was built with the help of Riv-tech. The people in the shop worked on the damaged hull. The engine was taken apart and rebuilt so it could serve as a back-up in Tri-Cities.
J.W. Myers pulled two all-nighters at the paint shop, supervising and assisting the dedicated process of repainting the boat with Jeff Stoneman at West Coast Collision Center in Mount Lake Terrace.
“There was a bit of a battle there,” said Myers. “It took a while. Jeff is a perfectionist and he wanted it perfect. We’re boat racers, we needed it finished.”
It did get finished, but it took all night.
“Thursday morning (the day the boat left for Tri-Cities) we left the shop at 6:30am and went to breakfast,” said Myers. “I went to bed about 8:30 that morning and got a couple of hours sleep.”
This boat team was in a race on land, a race just to get to the race. But there was more to it than that.
“We wanted to get it fixed but we wanted to get it fixed right,” said Scott. “We wanted to look professional. We wanted to do it right for Peters and May.“
Then he paused. “We wanted to show the Detroit River we know what you did to us but look what we did, too. We wanted the boat to look just like it did when it left the dock in Detroit.”
Peters and May CEO David Holley provided support over the phone from the companies headquarters in England.
“He called everyday, twice a day,” said Scott.
Then Rainey pulled out his cell phone. Look at it, it’s all glued up. I tried not to answer it every time but it just kept ringing. People wanted to help, they wanted to know how we were doing.”
Of course, once they get to the course, Holley has an increased thirst for knowledge.
“Once the weekend gets here he will call or text every thirty minutes,” said Scott.
Holley is so supportive of the team has been known to call so quickly that following a heat he will be on the phone before the Peters and May hydroplane is even back to the dock.
There were a few bugs in Tri-Cities. While conducting the orchestra Scott forgot to take an intermission to dry the “foam” inserts in the fuel cell that prevent the fuel from sloshing around when at speed. That created a water-in-the-fuel problem first time out.
“I take total blame for that,” said Scott. “I just over-looked it.”
They encountered a small problem with the front wing, too, but worked through that. And J.W. will freely admit he did not have the best weekend in the cockpit either. But those things will not dampen the respect Raney has for his team.
“We have an incredible team at Unlimited Racing Group,” said Scott. The dedication of the members of this organization (read part-time crew members with full-time jobs) and our sponsors is amazing.”
The shop basically ran from 7am to 2am each day. But as the Tri-Cities event got closer, the hours got longer, with crew members staying until 5am.
But while they were working, everyone was, well, very well fed.
“Food. All kinds of food,” said Scott. “I said something that I thought was funny but the crew guys didn’t. I said ‘We oughta wreck more often, we’re eating like we’re the series champions’. It cracked me up.”
People just kept bringing food. People they didn’t know were bringing food. Penne pasta, ribs, meatloaf, tri-tips, spaghetti and the menu goes on and one and on.
“I couldn’t believe it, now we have to work hard all weekend to work off everything we ate!”
This is the second season for the Scott-Shannon-J.W. team taking to the water. The water has been pretty rough. They’re not shaken. So this week?
“We’d like to win a heat,” said Scott. “We want to make the final.”
Scott Raney doesn’t smile much. He just doesn’t have time for it.
Saturday morning, sitting on the back of the team hauler in the pits along the Columbia River in the 95-plus degree heat, Rainey was talking about the work the team did, and, yes, he smiled. It was a lot of work.
How did it feel? “The smile,” he said, “it hurt.” Then he laughed. “The work, it was good.”
No, Scott Raney has absolutely no musical skills. But with a solid run in Seattle we might find out if he can dance.
Bill Weber