Deck2Deck.us: Fantasy Unlimited Hydroplane Racing

Hydro Wars Round 4: Seattle’s Albert Lee Cup at Seafair. The thirteen unlimited hydroplanes that raced in the Tri-Cities will be gunning to put their nose out front this weekend as the fleet heads to arguably the most historic and celebrated race on the circuit. Although the Gold Cup in Detroit may be the “Indy 500” of the series, Seattle’s Seafair is raced in front of thousands of “hydro-heads” jamming the shores, pleasure craft clustering around the famous floating log boom, and multitudes more watching live locally on KIRO 7 TV. Many of the unlimited race teams that will fill the Stan Sayers pit area are ported in the Seattle area (U-1, U-9, U-11, U-17, U-18, U-21, U-37, U-88, U-99 and U-100); are driven by Seattle area drivers (U-1, U-9, U-11, U-17, U-18, U-21, U-37, U-99 and U-100); or are backed full-circuit by Seattle-based companies (U-5, U-6, U-17, U-37). Make no mistake: the historic Seafair Cup, and more importantly, home-turf bragging rights will be on the line at the Ted Jones race course at Seafair. Which of these teams will master the rough 2-mile race course and its hazards? Among its challenges are the treacherous parallel rollers deflecting off the log boom and back into the race course, and the southerly breeze hitting the entrance to Turn 1 through the Genesee Park gap. As a fantasy player, you must look deep into your crystal ball. Lets go Deck2Deck boat racing!

HydroDan’s Three to Think About — Seattle

On Tilt:

Not with respect to being towed on the trailer; in this case, poker terminology meaning to play your hand with an agressive and inflamed attitude after suffering defeat. Although good-guy racer Steven David may not be fully capable of this attitude, he will likely be partially “on-tilt” as the U-6 Oh Boy! Oberto has not won a winner-take-all final heat since Seafair 2011. In the Oberto’s last four races since Seafair, David has jumped the one-minute score-up buoy and/or the start finish line in three out of those four attempts. The Oberto had the boat to win at Tri-Cities, but a fraction of a second at score-up took the boat out of contention before the race officially started. Look for David and the Oberto to run all out on the Ted Jones race course this weekend which is located only a few short miles away from the original Oh Boy! Oberto Sausage factory. There is no question the jerky boat can win, but can the wily veteran return to form in time to put Oberto back in the winers circle?

Arrived:

The U-5 Graham Trucking announced its arrival on the H1 tour with authority in Tri-Cities as it beat the U-1, U-6, and edged out another up-and-coming boat, U-37 Miss Beacon Plumbing, in a heart-pounding Deck2Deck duel for the ages. Jimmy Shane shined all weekend in the seat of the former Bud boat (T-6) to capture his first unlimited victory. Shane, much like Steve David, is a humble, good-guy racer that has a penchant for securing inside lanes and mashing the gas. Look for Shane to continue to be a factor in Seattle and for the rest of the H1 Unlimited season.

Snakebitten:

If the U-17 Miss Red Dot did not have bad luck in 2012, it wouldn’t have any luck at all. The highly-touted boat has not been able to capture a podium finish in any of the first three races on this year’s docket. Adding to the team’s woes, Kip Brown hooked the U-17 violently during Friday testing at the Columbia Cup and broke his ankle in the process. Team owner, manager and back-up driver Nate Brown was also unable to turn around the fortunes of the Red Dot as he piloted the craft to an underachieving 7th place finish, missing the final heat altogether. The question is: can the veteran racer return to form and chauffeur the speedy U-17 to respectability at Seafair? We will soon find out.

I am saving the U-6 for the end of the year, trying to decide between the 37 and the 88 for this weekend. I have already used the U-17 and U-5 on the year. I had the U-11 in originally for Seattle but they did not run well last week and not sure if they will be running as good as they did in Madison this weekend or not.

I also have the U-6 left to play. I had high hopes for the 11, but it looks like fantasy players could afford to leave them off their list in 2012 with the short six-race schedule. I think you’re asking the right question: 88 or 37 at Seafair? Or someone else…..