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Bridge to Bridge
UHPBC - Hawkesbury
River
7th May 2006
This year’s Bridge to Bridge was lining up to be an absolute cracker. The ski racing boat, The Axe was defending champion and up for a potential hat-trick of wins, a feat never accomplished by anyone in the history of the big 100+km race up the Hawkesbury River.
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Rick Howard had 12 months to sort out the issues of his big hydro Hyper Active.
Paul Vella was looking to go one better in Impatient than last year’s 2nd place.
Gary Howard was again piloting (yes, the exact term to describe last years driving technique) the little Paradise Afloat, this year trying his hand at running with the big boys in Superclass.
Mitchell North had dusted off Research again for it’s annual challenge against the river, with last year’s 3rd place the benchmark to better. |
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Certainly strong contenders for the cutest support crew, Travis and Wyatt model the latest in Research team wear |
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Upper Hawkesbury member Steve Maybury prepared the big Karleson hydro Holy Grail for his maiden run in a three point hydro. Steve has previously had a number of trips up the river in his Magnum sterndrive Bat Outa Hell, these boats loosely describes as inboard tunnel boats / KT hydros.
Gerard Hogskins from Butterfly Farm fame again prepared the former Edgar Phipps KT tunnel Rad Cat, with a trusty 253 Holden again pushing the boat.
Bridge to Bridge newcomer, Andrew Petty managed to squeeze enough fuel in to the little hydro, The Bug to hopefully make it to the end. Since he hadn’t yet had a chance to run the course, it was all a bit of a gamble.
Well, as usual, all preparation for the Bridge never goes smoothly. Paul Vella had to pull out of the event just two days before due to engine dramas. Rick Howard even had to pull part of the deck off to repair leaking fuel tanks. The repaired deck easily visible at the end of the race, but what wasn’t as easily visible was all of the other work and effort that went in to getting the orange hydro flying. And I’m sure all of the other contenders had just as much work to do as well.
The scene was set for a big showdown between defending champ The Axe for a potential third in a row and the big potential record breaker of Hyper Active.
The race started well with The Axe and another ski race boat, Carzy Horse taking the early jump over the slightly slower accelerating Hyper Active. Rick was able to go with the two supercharged ski boats without having to stress the motor too much. Rick was beginning to plan the strategy for the long haul to Windsor, but it turns out it wasn’t needed. The Axe soon dropped out to what ended up being a melted piston. Then Crazy Horse fell to the same fate (and same mechanical damage) just bend or two later.
The first real indicator for the race overall was as the boats drove past Graham & Mary Howard’s place at Wisemans Ferry. |
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The helicopters try and keep up with race leader Rick |
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Thumbs up from Mitchell, currently in 2nd place.
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| A slight surprise in that the next boat through was the smallest inboard in the fleet was the third boat through. Gary again had the little hydro sponson walking along the top of the water. |
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Just up the river, right near the first ferry at Wisemans was Andrew Gilchrist . Lucky for us he had his camera with him as well. In such a short time, there wasn’t any real chance for positions to change. |
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The hydro spotting continued for Andrew Gilchrist with Andrew Petty heading up stream after heading out from the Div 2 hydroplane class
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There was a phone report from Dargle Valley Ski Gardens. It had Hyper Active in front - potentially on a record breaking pace, Research in second and Paradise Afloat in third.
Based at the finish line we could see the helicopters on the horizon, zig zagging across the skyline as they
followed the race leader up the river. A lot of people had one eye in air and one eye on their watch. Was this going to be a sub-31minute race time? With the helicopters
getting closer, you could see them follow the river and eventually head up the 2nd last straight from the Butterfly Farm.
With one helicopter hovering barely 20 feet above the water, to get a great finishing shot, The big orange hydro with Ricky at the helm came tearing around the final bend and into the last straight. |
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Although a record race time wasn’t to be, an official race time of 35min 39sec is still certainly a respectable time. Rick headed down to the Windsor Bridge to collect the traditional trophy of a bottle of beer hanging from the bridge. |
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All eyes then headed east again, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the next boat. The last report still had Research in 2nd. It was another hydro that would slide around the final bend, but clearly smaller than a V8. It was Gary Howard in Paradise Afloat that was next across the. A 1-2 for hydros and the Howard family in regards to line honours.
A race time of 41min 03sec was the time recorded for Gary. A sensational time for a boat powered by an engine a quarter of the capacity of the lead boat and even smaller compared other Superclass entrants. |
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| Unfortunately that was where the luck for the hydros ended. No other hydros were even able to make it to the finish, let alone register a good time. Similar story for all other Superclass competitors, with only one other starter making it across the line, although it ended up being 9th outright. |
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Third boat across the line and eventual 2nd place outright was Anarchy, a twin carby tunnel ram big block Chev ski race boat stating from the Unlimited Inboard class. There final race time of 39min 21sec. |
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| So what happened to the mysterious disappearance of Research? It turned out to be a broken battery terminal, and this happened inside the battery, keeping Mitch from finishing. Bugger! |
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Andrew Petty in The Bug almost had the full Bridge to Bridge experience - the only thing missing was a finish. It was about believed to be around Lower Portland when he had to pull up due to the oil pressure gauge indicating something wrong. A closer inspection showed that most of the oil had pumped out into the bilge. Andrew was able to get some assistance from a spectator from a nearby ski park. Andrew was able talk the bloke into ‘lending’ him some more oil. 4litres went into the engine and another bottle between his legs, Andrew set off again. It was only a matter of time that the oil gauge again indicated problems, so he pulled into the bank to top up the level again. Unfortunately this time, the boat was beached by the lowering tide by the time The Bug was ready to head out again. After some time, Andrew headed off up the paddock to get assistance as his mobile phone was no good in that location. Andrew eventually notified the officials of his whereabouts thanks to a local resident. And after a closer inspection once home, the problem only turned out to be a blown sump gasket - at least nothing major. Like a lot of people this year “there’s always next year”.
And I’m sure the majority of the other non-finishers have similar stories to tell. It’s quite a contradiction - It’s the sheer toughness of the race that makes it so special. |
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| While this year was a special moment for the Howard family, it was also a great day for the Kilpatrick and Brown families. This year the Upper Hawkesbury club had invited 80 year old George Kilpatrick and Gordon Brown to recreate their 1964 Bridge winning run. Although the demonstration run began at the Butterfly Farm, the crowd loudly showed their appreciation as the pair came across the line in the exact same boat they won the event over 40 years earlier. Melodee IV was in great shape as the extended Kilpatrick family pulled out all stops to finish the restoration of the boat in time the special occasion. The old Everingham runabout looking every bit the race boat as she did when new. |
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While there was plenty of action on water - including Bob Miller in Longshot, taking out the Gold Cup circuit race after the Bridge - There were a few other displays to keep spectators busy. One of note was a display of vintage speedcars.
Again, well done to Rick and the entire Howard family for showing the river who’s boss. |
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