Five boats ready to compete in Madison Regatta
MADISON, Ind. — A field of five of the fastest race boats in the world will compete this weekend on the Ohio River in Madison, Ind., the second stop on the H1 Unlimited Racing Series circuit. During qualifying today, Corey Peabody of Covington, Wash., became the fastest when he circled the racecourse at 156.006 mph in the Beacon Plumbing.
Peabody was the winner of last week’s Southern Cup in Guntersville, Ala., and returned to Madison after having crashed on the river a year ago. His boat flipped during the final heat of last year’s Madison Regatta and was so heavily damaged that it could not compete for the remainder of the season. The boat was completely rebuilt and turned in an average speed for a competition heat that was the fastest in the sport’s history.
Completing the day with the second fastest qualifying time was Dustin Echols of Monroe, Wash., who drove Bucket List Racing to a speed of 155.671 mph. He was the fastest qualifier last weekend with a run of over 171 mph that was the fifth fastest in the history of unlimited hydroplane racing.
Other qualifiers for the Madison Regatta are J. Michael Kelly of Bonney Lake, Wash., who drove Beacon Electric to 154.921 mph; Dylan Runne of Rumson, NJ, who qualified at 154.336 mph in the hometown favorite Miss HomeStreet of the Madison Racing Team; and Jamie Nilsen of Gig Harbor, Wash., who drove Legend Yacht Transport to 149.422 mph.
Missing from the field is Andrew Tate of Canton. Mich., the pilot of Miss Goodman Real Estate of the Madison Racing Team. The boat was caught in the roostertail of another hydro at the start of the final heat in Guntersville, landed upside-down, was hit by another boat, and was damaged enough that it couldn’t be repaired in time for this weekend’s race.
The boats will compete in five, four-boat preliminary heats on Saturday and Sunday and will then wrap up the event with a winner-take-all final heat on Sunday afternoon. The racing gets underway tomorrow at 11 a.m. EDT.
Tickets to the event are available at madisonregatta.com. For those who can’t attend in person, the race also will be streamed live around the world on the H1 Unlimited YouTube Channel. You can find the link at H1Unlimited.com.
MADISON REGATTA
Madison, Ind.
QUALIFYING — 1, Corey Peabody, Beacon Plumbing, 156.006 avg. speed, 100 points; 2, Dustin Echols, Bucket List Racing, 155.671, 80; 3, J. Michael Kelly, Beacon Electric, 154.921, 70; 4, Dylan Runne, Miss HomeStreet, 154.336, 60; 5, Jamie Nilsen, Legend Yacht Transport, 149.422, 50.
Five boats ready to compete in Madison Regatta
MADISON, Ind. — A field of five of the fastest race boats in the world will compete this weekend on the Ohio River in Madison, Ind., the second stop on the H1 Unlimited Racing Series circuit. During qualifying today, Corey Peabody of Covington, Wash., became the fastest when he circled the racecourse at 156.006 mph in the Beacon Plumbing.
Peabody was the winner of last week’s Southern Cup in Guntersville, Ala., and returned to Madison after having crashed on the river a year ago. His boat flipped during the final heat of last year’s Madison Regatta and was so heavily damaged that it could not compete for the remainder of the season. The boat was completely rebuilt and turned in an average speed for a competition heat that was the fastest in the sport’s history.
Completing the day with the second fastest qualifying time was Dustin Echols of Monroe, Wash., who drove Bucket List Racing to a speed of 155.671 mph. He was the fastest qualifier last weekend with a run of over 171 mph that was the fifth fastest in the history of unlimited hydroplane racing.
Other qualifiers for the Madison Regatta are J. Michael Kelly of Bonney Lake, Wash., who drove Beacon Electric to 154.921 mph; Dylan Runne of Rumson, NJ, who qualified at 154.336 mph in the hometown favorite Miss HomeStreet of the Madison Racing Team; and Jamie Nilsen of Gig Harbor, Wash., who drove Legend Yacht Transport to 149.422 mph.
Missing from the field is Andrew Tate of Canton. Mich., the pilot of Miss Goodman Real Estate of the Madison Racing Team. The boat was caught in the roostertail of another hydro at the start of the final heat in Guntersville, landed upside-down, was hit by another boat, and was damaged enough that it couldn’t be repaired in time for this weekend’s race.
The boats will compete in five, four-boat preliminary heats on Saturday and Sunday and will then wrap up the event with a winner-take-all final heat on Sunday afternoon. The racing gets underway tomorrow at 11 a.m. EDT.
Tickets to the event are available at madisonregatta.com. For those who can’t attend in person, the race also will be streamed live around the world on the H1 Unlimited YouTube Channel. You can find the link at H1Unlimited.com.
MADISON REGATTA
Madison, Ind.
QUALIFYING — 1, Corey Peabody, Beacon Plumbing, 156.006 avg. speed, 100 points; 2, Dustin Echols, Bucket List Racing, 155.671, 80; 3, J. Michael Kelly, Beacon Electric, 154.921, 70; 4, Dylan Runne, Miss HomeStreet, 154.336, 60; 5, Jamie Nilsen, Legend Yacht Transport, 149.422, 50.