Get ready for an adrenaline-pumping episode of Roostertail Talk as we welcome back racing aficionado Hydro Dan for the third year in a row! This time, we're diving headfirst into the thrills and challenges of the 2024 H1 Unlimited hydroplane racing season. Listen to our recap of the H1 Spring Testing and listen to some predictions for the upcoming H1 racing season.
Fantasy hydroplane racing enthusiasts won't want to miss our breakdown of the Deck2Deck strategy game, where we offer insider tips and share stories of rivalries and past victories. Buckle up for an episode filled with insights, predictions, and a shared love for the exhilarating world of hydroplane racing!
Deck2Deck Hydroplane Fantasy League
Roostertail Talk Podcast Fantasy League (Within Deck2Deck)
Get ready for an adrenaline-pumping episode of Roostertail Talk as we welcome back racing aficionado Hydro Dan for the third year in a row! This time, we're diving headfirst into the thrills and challenges of the 2024 H1 Unlimited hydroplane racing season. Listen to our recap of the H1 Spring Testing and listen to some predictions for the upcoming H1 racing season.
Fantasy hydroplane racing enthusiasts won't want to miss our breakdown of the Deck2Deck strategy game, where we offer insider tips and share stories of rivalries and past victories. Buckle up for an episode filled with insights, predictions, and a shared love for the exhilarating world of hydroplane racing!
Deck2Deck Hydroplane Fantasy League
Roostertail Talk Podcast Fantasy League (Within Deck2Deck)
Rooster Tail Talk, the podcast dedicated to everything about the sport that we all love, hydroplane racing. I am your host, david Newton, and it's time once again to sit back, relax and welcome. Rooster Tail Talk talk. Hello race fans, this is episode 118 and it is June 11th and we are on the cusp of another hydroplane racing season for H1 Unlimited, and what better way to bring it in with style than to have another season preview with one of the deck-to-deck creators, hydro Dan, and this is going to be the third year in a row that Hydro Dan has joined the show.
Speaker 1:We both went to the spring testing. This is my first time going to spring testing. He's been there, he's a veteran, he's been there many times before and we're going to break down what we saw there at the spring testing and talk about what's going to happen in the 2024 racing season. Now there's a lot of news and rumors and a lot of fun stuff that happened, so let's not wait anymore. Let's break it down and let's get into my interview with HydroDan as we preview the 2024 H1 Unlimited Racing season. Joining me again with the podcast. This is his third year in a row talking with Hydro Dan, one of the creators of the Deck-to-Deck Fantasy Series Hydro Dan. How are you doing?
Speaker 2:I'm great. Thank you so much for having me on again. I really look forward to looking at the season with you and doing some predictions and and, uh, uh, fun things like that. So I'm really looking forward to it and I'm just I want to say I just I'm super grateful to you for everything you're doing for the sport. I think it's really important to kind of have this dialogue going and, you know, document these things, things and the great personalities of the sport and the history and memories. So I think it's really important what you're doing. So thank you very much. Well, thank you, hydro Dan.
Speaker 1:I appreciate that. Yeah, it's one of the reasons I started this is to get the stories out to the fans and unfortunately, some of the stories are being lost right now with some of the sport legends passing on. But uh, it's, it's. It's been fun, so hope you're having fun too, if you're having fun.
Speaker 2:Oh, I love it. Yeah, the the one with doug brow is just amazing. Some of those stories and you know legends like steve david and it's just, it's just awesome to hear kind of that inside um insider's view of the sport and so it's great, keep it up yeah, yeah, we'll do well.
Speaker 1:Um, it's been fun having you come back year and year again. Look forward to doing this more in the future. But we just had spring testing and we're going to talk about what we saw there for those who didn't get to attend, looking forward. But before we can look forward, we've got to look back Last year, almost a year ago now. It's like what. 10 months ago, the season ended Right Beginning of August and it was a very compact, exciting year. What are some reflections you had from the last season?
Speaker 2:Yeah, just looking back on it, obviously way too short with the four races, yeah, and then the first two, of course, you know it's kind of like demolition derby you already have sort of a small fleet and then to lose boats. And 91 turned over at Guntersville and then the 40, 40 got turned over in Madison. So it was just not a great start to this season. The 171 plus lap by the 40 was awesome and and it was so great to see the bucket list and Eccles do that it was. I think it was really exciting for the sport to see a speed like that again in the restricted era. So that was, that was a cool thing.
Speaker 2:And then, you know, coming out to Washington, uh, I think everybody kind of you know, I think the sport there's just not enough seat time for the guys, so they really need a couple of races to get back into it. And so by the time they got to Washington, it was a really good racing and Tate and uh JMK put on a show for the fans at the gold cup in Seattle and that was super exciting. I think they even hit each other touched at one point and you know the uh officials let it go go, but it was just super exciting. I was actually sitting down in that south turn when they came down, deck to deck, as we like to say. So, um, it was great, it was super great, and I have to tell you I've listened, uh, back to the podcast last year that we did.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've got to brag a little bit here, because I predicted jmk would win the national championship and the gold cup and I think you took Andrew Tate. So we were, we did, we were both, we were both right there. I think it was anyone's race, but jmk pulled it out so pretty exciting yeah, I had, I had him going all the way.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you, uh, I wasn't gonna bring it up, you know you would, but yeah, you had it right. That was. That was probably the highlight of the year for me, that that last heat it was like the gloves were off, jmk and tate went at it five, five laps. I wasn't, I can't say clean laps, because they were.
Speaker 1:They were pushing each other to like the extremes right they certainly were, yeah, and I think the refs just kind of let it, let it, let him be, let him go, which is something you see in other sports, kind of like in the maybe Super Bowl or the World Series. They might not call things as tight and kind of let it happen, which be good or bad, but that's what happened. But it was a fun and exciting end to the year.
Speaker 2:It was, and I mean I like that the winner was decided of the year it, it it was, and I mean I like that the uh, the winner was decided on the water. That's always the best thing for the sport. Um, I don't like seeing boats hit each other. That's not good. So you know, I think there was the 40 and the nine also kind of collided up in the the night, the I-90 turn. So I don't like seeing boats hit, but I love seeing the close racing. So I can't. You know I'm not going to complain about it and I'm. The fans were really energized and, um, anytime boats hook up side by side, it's just really, really exciting yeah, yeah, and it was, and they were.
Speaker 1:They're both air those out boats out beyond their control, I think, but it was fantastic. Well, ian, you said it was only our four race season. Last year San Diego didn't happen. They postponed it to this year, but we have that back this year, so it's our five race season. Yeah, so hopefully bigger and better things this year. You got to go over there. How many years have you gone over to spring testing now?
Speaker 2:I think this was my fourth or fifth year in a row.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:And it's just, I look forward to it. I usually go by myself, I leave the family at home and jump in my Sprinter van and do a couple nights of camping and take my laptop and do some work to get deck to deck, dust it off for a new season, and so it's just a really fun weekend for me and and it's something I look forward to every year now, and this year they kind of you know it grew a little bit. They had a little bit more organized, there was more food options. I think they did like a kind of a beer garden and had a concert or something in the evening. I didn't stay for that, but I think it's great that they're kind of making it a bigger event. But it's still really accessible. They're still, you know, they charge, I think, a few bucks to park, but there's still tons of places on the course that you can park for free and set up.
Speaker 2:It was a great weekend, perfect day. It was like 80 degrees. There was hardly any wind, if anything. The water maybe was a little too flat, but it was great. Actually, on Friday night when I got into town, the U11 just pulled in right in front of me to the pit area.
Speaker 2:So I pulled in and I got to see Scott back the boat in and saw that the new paint scheme on tilt which was great, and then they had the new sponsor was there, with his friends and family and, I think, employees of the coffee company Mercury Coffee, yeah yeah, and they seem really excited and happy and I'm just really happy for scott rainey and that team. They deserve good things, you know, they they just put in so much effort and keep it going and so now it looks like they really have a dedicated sponsor and it's awesome. They they have a really great social media presence, it seems like.
Speaker 1:so I hope they keep that up and so, yeah, yeah, I was noticing that too, so looked like it was a lot from mercury side too. They were boosting the boat uh, yes, so it's great to see.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, this is my first year I got to go over spring testing. Um, you know, I'm a teacher, so it's a hard time of the year to kind of get out of the classroom right before the end of the school year. But I said F it and just kind of left the class and had to be on their own and it was a really fun day. I brought my son and my father-in-law. When we left, my father-in-law said yeah, sign me up again next year, let's come back to it. And it felt like kind of a mini Columbia cup like with the amount of people there that was. There was a good amount of people on the shoreline, but we were able to get a spot to watch LA three in the morning. There was no, you know, there was plenty of open, open room.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, definitely. Yeah, I sat up off of the court, the I call it the fourth corner or fourth turn, I guess, but I'm on the Kennewick side, so the turn that's the other side from the Blue Bridge, and I was sitting with some of the who's who of hydroplane photographers. Osborne was up there, denslow, steve Connor, I think his name is. So just some great photographers taking shots off of that turn and I I kind of cruised up and down the beach a couple times. I had my bike with me, so it was pretty consistent, you know, just people lined on the uh up and down the shoreline and enjoying the day yeah, yeah, there's definitely a presence this year.
Speaker 1:It was fun to see some food options and there was some merchandise there for sale too. But the one thing I was kind of blown away with was the speeds. The speeds were pretty up there. There were some pretty fast speeds. I think the fastest one was U91 Goodman Real Estate at 165.828 miles an hour, and that's the first time that Tate's actually driven this whole. That's the last year's home street boat. Right, right, yeah, first day in the boat and he's getting 165 plus.
Speaker 2:So yeah, what do you?
Speaker 2:think about that. I, you know, I was anticipating that. I think I think that's definitely probably the top equipment in the fleet right now. Um, that boat's always been super fast. Uh, dylan runny, you know, had his. I think he had his hands full a little bit last year with it and it took him, you know, all of the four races to kind of get comfortable. And Andrew Tate, I think he overachieved in the older hole last year. He was really fast in kind of the second string equipment, if you will. So I wasn't anticipating him running pretty fast like that and mid-16 season testing, that's phenomenal. I've got to say that I think he's got to be the favorite going into the season. The guy wins. Um, you know, his winning percentage is amazing. I think he's like he's won nine finals in like 26 races, something like that, and that's pretty extraordinary. I think he's got uh, so he's got nine wins compared to jam k with 16, and jam k, I believe, is going into his 20th year in unlimited.
Speaker 1:So yeah, that's doesn't seem like it's been that long, but yeah, he he started early 2000, like 2003 or 2004.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he's still still a young guy, still a young guy and a lot of tread left on the tire, and he's, you know, he's, he's doing great things, he's, you know, probably one of my favorite drivers of all time, and uh, but then you throw andrew tate in the mix and he's, you know, he'll be a force to be reckoned with this season. And then you've got, uh, you know, the. The 40 obviously is a fast boat and I think eccles, you know, is still getting comfortable in um, in heat, racing, um, you know, with traffic out out on the, on the water. You know, he's, he's still learning, think. But the 40 and the nine, and then even the 11 through, I think, a upper one, 50 speed, which was a improvement over what they did last year.
Speaker 1:So yeah, I think they got a couple more miles an hour. They did a one 58.5, three seven. They were the fastest boats not hit one 60.
Speaker 2:Wow, yeah, they were moving, they were moving.
Speaker 1:Four of the boats actually went over 160. The nine Beacon Plumbing, the Beacon Electric you won, did a 162. The Bucket List went over 160. And of course, the Goodman yeah, I didn't even mention the one.
Speaker 2:The one was super quick and it didn't even look like JMK was really flying it. He was pretty stuck to the water. So I think they have more where that came from. They've probably got a little bit more speed in there and he's always just in race conditions. He's always a force and he's always great at nabbing lanes. He did have a little trouble, I think, last year with a couple gun jumps and things in the finals. I think what we're seeing is a lot of these guys you know, with the boat count kind of low. You have these, you know, three boat preliminary heats.
Speaker 2:And then all of a sudden, you're in a final with six or seven boats and it's, I think these guys are. You know, it's just a lot of traffic in these final heats and so you know, I think it's you're going to see some mistakes and some things, unfortunately in final heats, just because of the traffic and all the speed.
Speaker 1:you know it's like you got to get to that first corner first or else you're in trouble. Yeah, no, that makes a little sense, like I wasn't really thinking about. About it that way, because it's such a short season right now and it's hard for drivers to get acclimated to everything, all the nuances. Um, you think 20 years ago they had 9, 10, 11 races to. You know, keep building their program throughout the season. But it's even harder now when you're running freelance heats with two other boats. Right, there's not. You know you got a lot of room to give out there and then all of a sudden you're in the final heat but the the water was rough as an ocean, seven boats out there. It's totally different, uh feeling than to be out there with two other boats.
Speaker 2:Yep, exactly, I think it's just almost a different type of race A couple years ago when they were doing kind of the shootout with two boats at a time. I mean it's a totally different race than when there's a whole bunch of traffic. So hopefully these guys leave each other a little bit more room this year and everybody stays shiny side up. But I, I think you know in one word the, the fee. I would describe the field as quality.
Speaker 2:It's not, it's not a huge field, but it's really top heavy. I think, and even looking back at last year I think there was at Seafair, maybe it was, I think there was six or seven boats that were within five mile an hour of each other and qualifying.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:It's amazing to see um the competitiveness and and how close these boats are, and it really, I think it comes down to driver. You know, when you have equipment that's really um, even then you're the driver makes all the difference, oh for sure, for sure.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there was several boats that could have won that. You know that Gold Cup in Seattle, right, but a couple you know Tate and JMK emerged there in the final.
Speaker 2:Right, I think Eccles was the top qualifier at Seafair.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah so there's just.
Speaker 2:it's just super competitive and fun to watch as a fan. You never quite know who's going to win, so that's the way it should be.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Well, with this new year there's some votes that have some new looks to them. I'm sure you noticed that over in spring testing. Some familiar faces like the Graham truck he has the same paint scheme on there have some new looks to them. Yeah, I'm sure you noticed that over in spring testing. Uh, some familiar faces like the gram trucking has the same paint scheme on there. But there's some some new tweaks to the boats. I want to hear from you what for the paint schemes. Which one's your favorite of the new ones we got? What's what's got the freshest uh scheme going?
Speaker 2:yeah, yeah. Well, I think, seeing that uh u11 decked out in their new library, it looked great. There's probably a few too many red boats. I like to see a little bit of variety, but it looked really sharp. I think the strong team, the kind of tweaks they made in adding a little more color to the boats, looked good. The one looks great. I think the nine adding a little bit more of that cool like reflective blue, uh looked really sharp. So, yeah, it's as a fan. It's fun to see the new paint schemes and I like that they're. It seems like they're getting back to you know paint schemes and not just like a solid color. So for a few years there was just kind of like solid colors and now it's getting back to more nuanced, um, you know multi-color paint scheme.
Speaker 1:So it's really cool yeah yeah, no, it is like when I was a kid growing up watching the sports in the early 90s, like I just remember. All the different boats had different schemes and colors and patterns so each one was like recognizable and like distinguished from one another. So it's it's nice to see them get away from those solid color schemes. Like you're saying, I I wasn't a fan of the mercury's paint scheme, to be honest, when I saw the concept, but uh, seeing it on the water in person, actually it's pretty sharp. I like that one.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's reminiscent of I think it's kind of reminiscent of, maybe the Alberto back a few years ago, and you swap out the black for the green. Yeah, yeah, it's sharp. It's a sharp-looking boat and the team looked good. They had all their new duds on, so I'm looking forward to seeing their merchandise. I'll have to pick something up.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I was thinking the same thing about their birdo, like the 2001 birdo or something like that. Right, it reminded me of that. Coming around the corner, I saw some people wearing some like red shirts with the boat logo on there.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:I think that's kind of was just a tease of what they'll be selling this year, cause they weren't selling any merch.
Speaker 2:Um, I like when the merch has the boat on it. You know like I think strong the strong team has a lot of cool stuff, but they don't have include the boat in in a lot of their designs. So I I like seeing the boat on the incorporated in there in the logos. Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's the strong stuff. It's pretty clean, looking right, it's like which is which is cool. But the bucket list racing I don't know if you saw some of the stuff they had out, but they had some new stuff and they had a really cool poster. I don't know if you ever saw that early 90s t-plus poster. It was like a ufo, right, it's like a boat kind of flying off into the sunset, um, they kind of did an homage to that poster and they have a bucket list racing poster, um. So I got one for my son.
Speaker 2:So oh cool, I missed that. I'll to check. I'll have to look that up. Yeah, and try cities.
Speaker 1:Oh for sure, yeah, yeah, well, it was. It was a fun day. I don't want to talk about the day after because I got food poisoned the next day, but it was a. That was a. That was a fun experience to go to. I'm looking forward to doing that again, hopefully, hopefully they can keep building on it. Um, but the people, the local people I talked to, said it was there's more representation this year. That was them stepping up and having, you know, more facilities and and food options and more people just were showing up.
Speaker 2:So it's that was cool to see yeah, it's great, um, and also, I don't think they've announced gold cup yet. So as a washington guy, seattle guy, I would love to see it back in either tri-cities or seattle. Um, just selfishly, but I I do believe that, uh, with san diego back, I mean that would be a a nice thing too to maybe run the gold cup in san diego as a a little carrot for coming back.
Speaker 1:But yeah, well, each one hasn't announced yet for sure, like it's not official posts, but I did see some rumor posts that, um, it's leaning towards san diego this year. So maybe by the time it's uh, because it's saturday maybe by tuesday when this airs, it'll uh, they'll have official announcement on the location this year yeah, that might be a good excuse to head back down to san diego.
Speaker 2:I haven't been in a probably 10 years, but uh, always a super fun place to go to to watch a race, oh yeah it is always great weather and, uh, nothing like sitting on a white sandy beach and watching hydroplanes.
Speaker 1:It's probably the easiest race to me to for me to convince my wife to go to, I'll say that no doubt about that. Yeah, no doubt about that um, but so I didn't realize that the next year is the 60th anniversary of the col cup. Oh, wow, oh, I think that would be the great time to have the gold cup there next year. Yeah, I'll just call that. I'll just call that now. I'll I'll announce that they should do that. I'm sure that'll just happen, right.
Speaker 2:There you go, and isn't it? Is it it's seafarers 75th? I, Is it Seafarer's?
Speaker 1:75th.
Speaker 2:I think Is that this year?
Speaker 1:I think so. Okay, was it 50 or 51, the first one, yeah. All these anniversaries.
Speaker 2:I could be making that up, but in their logo I thought they had it 75.
Speaker 1:It could be. Well, maybe it might be 75 for Seafair, because they had one year. It's the organization formed one year before Hydro's race there. So maybe it's the 75th anniversary for Seafair, right, right.
Speaker 2:Maybe not the race, and then they took a couple of years off during the pandemic, so I can't do the math. You're the school teacher. I'm going to rely on you to do the math on that.
Speaker 1:I taught math last year. I don't teach that anymore, so I can't help you. We'll just say this anniversary is going on all over the place.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it's great, and those are probably the two races I'll make this year, unless, like I I said, unless somehow I can uh get down to san diego.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, that would be great. It's a, it's just a fun place to go visit. It's a bonus to have the hydros there. For sure, and they're, and they're they're working really hard to make that a big event down there. It's not like they're they're focused on getting a lot of people packed in there to watch the races, but also to have a lot of fun on the shoreline in between. Right.
Speaker 2:And you know they lost the Chargers. So there's no excuse. If you're down in San Diego, you've got to get to the race site and go support that race. I mean there's no Charger game that Sunday to go to, so get to Mission Bay, that's right.
Speaker 1:Well, other news that I can confirm is true, I guess, that they weren't there at the test session. We had seven boats there. We actually didn't even actually you know what. We didn't even really talk about the Karam or the go faster lift boats at all Right, they were at all Right, they were both there.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:At spring testing they didn't do quite as fast of lap times. They were ram trucking at 152, go faster and left at 151.
Speaker 2:But they were there as well, yeah, and I think both teams have kind of announced they're only going to run in Washington. Yeah, so I think you know there are two programs that run a little bit more conservatively. I know they. I'm pretty sure they had more in the tank, but you know they don't want to break things up and testing, so they both put down. You know, I think in the was it low 150s.
Speaker 1:Yeah, 151, 152. Those are quickest.
Speaker 2:So those are, those are respectable times, and and, and you know two young drivers you know, new to the sport, um, relatively, you know, I think. I think they're both only in their second season, so, right, I'm still learning on the job, and. But but good equipment, you know both. Obviously, the Graham's an old bud hole and then the 21 was kind of a new boat, just what four or five years ago. That's hasn't run very much at all, so they're kind of learning.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think that boat's only. It ran once before the pandemic, at Seafair I think, and then only a handful of times since then. I think it sat out a couple seasons and raced once or twice maybe since then. So it's still a brand-new boat essentially.
Speaker 2:Right, but it's great to have add those two to the boat count. You always need boat count to put on a good race. So, um, I feel bad for the east coast fans that get little, you know they're. They kind of have smaller fields typically, um, and we're kind of spoiled out here in washington with usually a couple boats adding to the fleet. So, um, I hoping that and isn't it pretty interesting that it sounds like the Wiggins team will be back.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they're. Yeah, they announced they got a a sponsor. Apollo mechanical is sponsoring a lot this year. They're sponsoring the Columbia cup, seafair and the the return for the Wiggins U27 racing. Did you have you seen the picture of the boat being painted?
Speaker 2:I did. Yeah, Kind of reminiscent of the old Pico boats. Right yeah, the American flag paint scheme.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, I think the color is probably a little bit more towards Apollo's color scheme. Okay, but yeah, it's like an American flag. So it's like an american flag, um. So it's like, well, we, it's because dave villawalk's coming back and he's driving it. So it's, it's like he's driving the pico again, right, yeah yeah, pretty amazing, right?
Speaker 2:um, obviously I have a ton of respect for dave villawalk. He's the winningest driver. He's definitely on the Mount Rushmore of the sport. He not only is a great driver, but he's a mechanic and an engineer, you know, so he can work on the boat, set them up. But I think he's 70, and I just hope his reflexes and things like that are with him still to stay safe out there and hopefully not bump into too many other guys.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, it'll be fun to see him back out there and I think I heard not confirmed, but I heard rumors they'll be in Guntersville and then they'll come out to Tri-Cities in Seattle. But hopefully they'll have a safe season. I'm sure the boat will be fast if you set it up right. There's going to be a huge advantage for him because he's probably the best driver to understand what's needed to be done to make the boats go fast, right that mechanic side of them. But it'll be interesting to see because if he wins a race I know he'll be the oldest driver to ever win a race. Yeah Right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that boat correct me if I'm mistaken, but that started off as the red dot Nate Brown's boat and then they had that devastating flip in Seattle and I think it was 2018 or something like that is the oberto pre-covid right, and then it took them, you know, all of four or five years to put it back together and but it's pretty much a brand new boat. I think they salvaged the cockpit. So, and from what I understand, um, you know it's a lot of, you know, exotic materials and state-of-the-art stuff. So I think they'll be fast out of the box and, like you said, with Vilwok setting it up, there's no reason not to believe that they'll be in contention right out of the box if he's still on top of his game.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and I hope he is, and I wish him the best with it. I'm excited to see a big name in the sport again, but we'll see how that goes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean it's definitely in terms of fantasy. It's something to think about. Maybe not in Guntersville, they'll probably just be feeling it out, but definitely something to consider when they get to Washington State. They'll definitely be in the mix.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's just yeah. It's interesting to see how much longer he wants to go for Cause that 70, you know how much longer you want to race, race for and I think John Forrest huge, you know funny car racer, drag car racer I think he's 65. Right now he's still racing, but he said he's near his end, he's about ready to hang it up.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I sort of feel like he wants to win one more race and then call it a career. He's got that one more in the tank that he wants. So yeah, we'll see. I don't know, he, he, he could get it, he might get it here in washington yeah, yeah, he very well could.
Speaker 1:Yeah, maybe, maybe it's like uh peyton manning wanting to come back for one last season, the one super super bowl and right, and then hang it up. So go out on top.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it would be a nice capper on his illustrious career, that's for sure.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. So lots of big names swinging for it this year. But at testing in spring testing, did you hear any other news or rumors? There's always lots of buzz going around?
Speaker 2:Yeah, not too. I mean mean, with social media these days it's there's not too many secrets anymore, it seems like, but I think that was the big buzz on the beach was, um, you know, vilwax return, and then also a lot of people were talking about where the gold cup would be held.
Speaker 2:You, know, and a lot of the tri cities fans that I talked to, of course they want the race, but, and a lot of the tri-cities fans that I talked to, of course they want the race, but there was a lot of sentiment that you know. Hey, maybe San Diego would be a good. You know, you put the gold cup at the last race of the season and everything's riding on it, you know, just like last year was in Seattle. I mean it was pretty exciting and I mean the points championship came down to the final heat, the gold in seattle, which you know arguably is the biggest race on the circuit in terms of media attention and things like that. So I think it would be good for the sport to kind of have the gold cup as the finale, um, and hopefully we get another uh, final, that where everything's riding on that on heat for the national championship.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that was fun last year, the national championship coming down to that last heat, because it wasn't the boat that entered the weekend's leading points that won it. Right, I think the weekend electric came from behind to beat their sister ship.
Speaker 2:Right, and it wasn't only by 82 points. Yeah, it was something ridiculous like that. Yeah, it had to be one of the closest points races in, uh, the history of the sport.
Speaker 1:I've got to believe yeah, yeah, I'm hard to recall. I think there was one season, late 80s, that it came down to the final heat, like that, but outside of that, I'm having a hard time remembering anything that that close right, I know there was one in uh in san diego with steve david and jimmy shane in the gram.
Speaker 2:That was down to the final heat. Okay, yeah, not quite sure what the you know what the uh disparity was in points, but I know they were both racing for the championship in the final heat at San Diego. I think Steve David jumped the gun in that race. It ended the excitement a little prematurely. It's always good to have everything riding on that last heat.
Speaker 1:Definitely, if the Gold Cup is there in San Diego with with the last race, that'll be. That'll make it, uh that much more exciting. Um, well, I was thinking about about this on the ride home a little bit and there's from spring testing and there's a lot of boats out there that just are not racing. Uh, right now you've got the I don't know how many boats in detroit in his warehouse I think three or four holes there, detroit, that you're racing. Um, madison has another another boat, the u6, the, the number two. That was a goodman last year, uh, the schumacher hall, which was, uh, it's in storage in seattle here somewhere that billy and jane were trying to get that back together and race again, but he passed away right, unfortunately, this past year. Um, the graham trekking has another second boat, the u98. Uh, last ran. When did that last run, last ran?
Speaker 1:was more strong racing, because that was, yeah, e-body exactly. Yep, yeah, so that's a few years ago. The 440 bucket list racing's not out there. Uh, in the cooper's mu3 ace, griggs is uh sitting in a shop in evansville a lot of boats for sale right now because I think cooper's selling his boat. I think the madison team said they're selling their backup boat, right um it. I think Cooper's selling his boat. I think the Madison team said they're selling their backup boat.
Speaker 2:Right, it's a buyer's market right now. It sounds like it is. Yeah. Yeah, I mean it would be tremendous for the sport to get even just half of those boats you mentioned back right. We'd go from six or seven boats to 10 or 11 boats back right, we'd go from six or seven boats to 10 or 11 boats, and I think between between 10 and 12 is where you want to be. So you have, you know, five boat heats and and if there's some damage, you don't get too thin on the roster yeah, but yeah, it's just.
Speaker 2:I mean, obviously it's all about money and these teams need need to find sponsorship and I think if there was more money in the sport, you know, a few of those teams would be back on the water, and so it's. You know, it's a chicken or the egg thing. You, you gotta have race teams to put on a good show, but you need the money to get the teams out on the water. So we need a few more guys like strong and and out on the water.
Speaker 2:so yeah, we need a few more guys like strong and uh, yeah, kelly stockland right, yeah, that's the group super dedicated people that love the sport and um and keep it going yeah, yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1:Well, I mean hopefully you know some new sponsors coming to the sport Apollo is entering in Mercury's Coffee. Hopefully the group can get some more exposure this year and hopefully we can see that moving forward. It seems like the group running the show right now is trying really hard with a media approach. Right, yeah, I don't know if you saw, I'm sure you went over to the pits on that friday right, they had a little, um.
Speaker 1:I noticed there's a little media center they had, so like they could interview drivers or people right there, um in front of the waterfront there. So I'm excited. It'd be interesting to see, uh, where that goes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's an exciting time for the sport. I think the sport needed a little bit of a shot in the arm and maybe just a different approach, and I know it's always a struggle with people, with sort of insiders and team owners also doubling as kind of you know overseeing the organization. But that's just the way it is and and you always got to hope for the best and and hopefully, like you said, the kind of you know putting an emphasis on media and social media and spreading the sport to more eyeballs.
Speaker 1:Yeah, definitely All right. Well, I don't really have any other rumors either At least no rumors that are verified I want to share at this time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly I did. Actually. One other little nugget is just you know I had some conversations with people, you know I mean that's one thing about the sport, it's really accessible and people are are really friendly. And so just chatting with, uh, andrew tate a little bit in the morning, he seemed really excited to be in that um, sort of first string equipment for the madison team. So you could just see it on his face, he was couldn't wait to get in. It was before they went on the water and he just could not wait to get in that boat. Um, and I had to tease him a little bit. He had his red wings, uh sweatshirt on, so I told him I'd have to buy him a kraken shirt uh, yeah, that'd be something if he get that on them.
Speaker 1:They're pretty funny, all right. Well, that's awesome, that's awesome. Well, we haven't really talked about deck to deck at all. Let's talk deck to deck. The fantasy is going to have another year. This year, what, what? Uh, what year are we on for deck to deck?
Speaker 2:I think we're on 15 okay, all right, with uh racing and we've got. You know, there's about 300 people that are signed up and make picks, and it's always the more the merrier. So if people want to sign up to play, just go to deck2deckus, the number two, and then there's a register button. You just plug in your email and a password and then you can set up your team name and then it's free to play. There's no charge or anything like that. So free to play, just for fun. Bragging rights, um, and then from that point you can set up we have it. So there's a pub, you know, public leagues and then you can also set up private leagues where, if you want to race with friends and family, um, you can do that. It's kind of fun.
Speaker 2:I know you have a rooster tail talk, yeah, yeah, I got one. Yeah, and I've got a brag again. I think I, I think, well, I was in the top three in that league and I, I, I think I was top 10 overall. So I was, uh, I had a good year last season, yeah, I I don't.
Speaker 1:I always think I'm making the right picks, but maybe I'm bad luck to some of the teams. Some of the picks I do are just dead, so I didn't do as well again this year or last year, but it's a new year.
Speaker 2:Shout out to Jeff Bernard. Jeff Bernard was there was a tie for first place and Jeff Bernard was at the top of the ladder this past year. So it's cool to see people that are involved in the sport. We have drivers in there from time to time. We have crew people, so it's really neat to see you know a name in the sport finish at the top of the ladder.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, that's awesome, although you might say it might not be fair. It's might have some insider information. That's very true?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's very true.
Speaker 1:I mean, it's like he knows what's going on, you know so no, that's cool, that's fun, that's cool, thanks, yeah, so he um, he won last year and he got the prestigious digital trophy right exactly yeah, he'll be in our, our hall of champions page now.
Speaker 2:So quite a feather in the cap for jeff bernard yeah, cool.
Speaker 1:Well, yeah, I know you did well on your picks last season yeah, I think I beat you by about 600 points, david rubbing in there, yeah.
Speaker 2:We've got to come up with some sort of gentleman's wager this season.
Speaker 1:We should. Yeah, we're both Huskies, so that's no problem there.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we'll think of something here.
Speaker 2:Let's think of something.
Speaker 1:We'll say breaking rates for next year.
Speaker 2:For sure something here. Let's think of something with, say, breaking rates for next year, for sure. But the approach this year, um, with deck to deck, which is a strategy game. It's not a, it's not a video game or simulator, it's a strategy game, yeah. And so you pick a boat for each race of the season and then you collect points for that boat, and you can only take any given boat once a season. So you've got to mix it up and use strategy and figure out when each team's going to have their best week of the year, and so it keeps it interesting. Um, and then we will do, uh, two picks for the gold cup. So when they announce what race the gold cup will be, we're gonna have two boat picks for that okay, yeah, that'll be well.
Speaker 1:It should be more fun this year with an extra race, so um yeah, hopefully.
Speaker 2:And and then you know, I think there's rumblings that detroit will return um next year, and then there's also a rumor that might be. One rumor is that there may be a um, a race up in canada that they're working on.
Speaker 1:So yeah, yeah, I heard we haven't talked about it much but at penticton, which I probably said that wrong again and if I did, um I I know, I know my friends in canada will will, uh, remind me right, it's sort of. It's sort of area right, I think it's just south of colonna there on that lake, right? Yeah, so hopefully that'd be great to to go back up there. Did you ever? Did you ever go to the colonna races?
Speaker 2:I did not. Yeah, I wish, I wish I would have. But how about you?
Speaker 1:I did. Yeah, I was in the mid 90s so I but it was fun. It was a fun area to go up. It was very family friendly area.
Speaker 2:Yeah, did it seem like the folks up there embraced it and got into it?
Speaker 1:It seemed like they did. Yeah, back then there was a decent crowd. It wasn't the best viewing area where it went to, because it was. There was like one point at the center of the course where people could go and watch, but if you went to either side you were like you couldn't see the other half of the course. So it was kind of similar to seattle, but worse than that. Um, but it was, it was. It was well received. When we're up there, that was. That was fun. It was just the problem up there was the winds. The winds would pick up in the afternoon and then the race got canceled, I think, a couple times in the afternoon because of the wind. Oh gosh, but that's not good. Yeah, but if you had the race early enough, or you know, follow the the natives, uh, you know playing with that I think that would be pretty, pretty fun spot to go to it would be great, yeah, and, and, to get, uh, get back up to six or seven races.
Speaker 2:I think would be, pretty good then. I think at that point you can start building back your boat count hopefully and more sponsors get back involved.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, for sure. Well, should we talk about picks for this year? Let's do it. Yeah, who do you got? Who do you got winning the high points and the Gold Cup? Okay, well, we'll assume the Gold Cup is going to be in Seattle or San Diego. Okay, okay, or San Diego.
Speaker 2:Okay. Well, last year I took JMK and he proved me right and I think this year I have to lean towards Andrew Tate in the 91. I think they just have they've got top end on the fleet, it looks like, and obviously Tate is an aggressive driver. I think he can tango with jmk and get some inside lanes and he may not need the inside in every heat. He might be able to win from an outside position. So I look for him to take the crown this year. I don't know that, you know, I don't know that he wins the gold cup. I think, um, you know, a guy like jmk could rise to the occasion and do and win that, especially if it's in seattle. Seems to run really well here and um. But there's this, you know, the nine, the 40, the 11, I mean they're all. They're all fast enough to win. So it's really hard to pick. But if you put me on the spot, I've got to go. 91, andrew Tate. Okay, all right.
Speaker 1:How about you? What do you think? Well, if I pick the same one, I can't be wrong. I want to pick 91, andrew Tate. I think that's like the premium package that the sport has right now One of the best boats with the best driver. I think they'll go far in the season, as long as they can stay safe and keep their boat from breaking, unlike last year. I can see them winning everything. Boat from breaking like unlike last year. Right, I could see them winning everything. But I just have a feeling for the gold cup, if, if tate doesn't win it, I got a dark horse, I'll say right now okay, I think I think with speed, I think the 40 will shock everyone in san diego on the fast, fast water down there yes so actually.
Speaker 2:Actually, and you know what? That's one thing I noticed. They were running their test session in Tri-Cities with the saltwater scoop on it. So I don't know if they're going to run the whole season like that or if they were sort of getting ready for San Diego, but that was kind of interesting.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they were the only team that had that on there. I wanted to ask about that. But, of interesting, yeah, they were the only team that had that on there. I wanted to ask about that. But yeah, I never heard why. But but yeah, they're. They're ready for the gold cup, I guess, I guess. So yeah, most salty water in San Diego, right?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then the one other note I guess from testing was that I think Andrew Tate was maybe one of the only guys that was like it was the final run of the day. He was kind of practicing some starts, it looked like okay. He might have a little leg up on the on the field for that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, yeah, he makes the most out of every, every boat run Right, so why not get some some practices on starts with a new boat?
Speaker 2:Yeah, for sure?
Speaker 1:Well, I guess we both say Tate, we're both right or wrong.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's okay to agree on this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but who knows what this year will give us? Yeah.
Speaker 2:I think maybe picking second place might be more difficult.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, I'll go. I'll go for the gold cup Second place. I'll go the 40. Okay, okay, and who's your second?
Speaker 2:I think I've got a. I think it'll come down to jam K and Tate again. Yeah, so either one of those two will win it and the other one will finish second, probably.
Speaker 1:All right, all right, we, you heard it here. All right, well, um, I'm definitely going to try. Susan, seattle, I'll see you there, wait here. Well, the gold cup maybe, uh, a spurt.
Speaker 2:Uh, you know, a little trip down there to san diego might be in place, looking forward to it. Can't wait for the races. We're actually we're shoehorning a trip to new york in between tri-cities and seafair oh, wow yeah, um. So anyway, it's going to be a hectic nine days, I guess, but uh really looking forward to it. We were sort of on the verge of maybe missing one or both, but it turns out we're going to make both races. Cool, can't wait.
Speaker 1:Alright. Well, I can't wait to see you there at the race. I'll be on deck-to-deck here getting my picks. When can people start picking their boats on deck-to getting my picks? When can people start picking their boats on deck to deck?
Speaker 2:So we're in the midst of updating everything. We should be live. I would say this will air Tuesday, we should be live within a week or so, okay, and we have Facebook and Instagram, so we'll be posting on that and we'll be emailing people that are already registered to remind them to make a pick. I think a good way to do it is go in there, register and, once the season is live, go in there and make your full season picks, kind of lay it out, and then after the fact, you can definitely go in and edit that and change things around, but it's it's good just to have a pick in there, because some people will forget. Summer gets busy and you're doing things and you might forget to make a pick. So go in there and make your picks preseason and just lay it out, and then you can always change it up if you need to.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. No, that's good. That's good advice, because I know some friends that were doing race to race and they missed the deadline to get a pick in, so then they were out of the out of the race for the season.
Speaker 2:You can't miss a race. When there's only five races, you gotta get them all. So don't, don't DNS. No, we don't want any DNS this year? Yeah, but all the hydroplane fans out there come race with us on deck to deck. It's fun and, you know, for bragging rights. And then, who knows, maybe you have a little side wager with your friends and family and I'll put a, put a soda pop on it or something you know.
Speaker 1:So all right. Well, I can't wait, looking forward to this summer, more deck-to-deck racing awesome. Thank you so much for having me yeah, always and uh, we'll have you again next year. How about that? Sounds good all right. Looking forward to it all right, thank you, hydra dan okay, thank you well, race fans.
Speaker 1:That's all the time we have for today. It was great talking with hydra dan, looking forward to this upcoming breaking down the action we saw at spring testings. That was such a fun, incredible day. And, don't worry, we figured out our bet. Next year, whoever lost the bet at the Gold Cup, they're going to have to wear the opposing forces logo and saying that they lost to uh and they lost in our bet, um, in the previous year. So, uh, I anticipate Hydro Dan having to wear my name across his chest and saying that he lost to me, um, at the gold cup, and have a big Roostertail talk logo, um, there, um, that's, that's my plan, at least. All right, well, hope you enjoyed the episode. It was a great talk and look forward to many more.
Speaker 1:With that, I have been teasing my interview with Jerry Shaneth. That is the next one out. I wanted to get a preview for the season, but I had a great talk with Jerry Shaneth not too long ago. You're going to be hearing that in probably a three-parter coming up and until then, keep looking for us on social media. We're on Instagram. We're on Facebook. You can check us out online.
Speaker 1:We've got a great website with all of our episodes at richardtaltalkcom and thanks for the many emails and messages I got this past month or so. With the season coming back up, I appreciate hearing from you and I look forward to talking with you more and chatting with you more about racing and having conversations at the lake. Actually, there was quite a few people that stopped by my booth at the spring testing and said hello and had a quick, quick chat, and I really appreciate hearing from the fans, love hearing from the fans, so please keep that up and keep in contact and keep watching our hydroplanes go round and round. But until next time, I hope to see you at the races.