Event: Chattanooga Miller Industries U.S. Championship
Dates: October 10 -14, 2007
Place: Lake Chickamauga at the TVA Dam, Chattanooga, Tennessee
Contact Person: Steve Gronka, Advance America Foundation and Sea Quest Kids Fearless Leader; E-mail: sgronka@cs.com
Web for Sea Quest Kids: www.seaquestkids.org
Sea Quest Kids have best event in 19 years! The overall event was the U.S. National Championship offshore powerboat races. Led by Jim Poplin, aka Pop, Executive Director of Stars Rescue, sanctioned by OPA (Offshore Performance Association), and teamed with AMF/Geico this was an offshore championship race which surpasses any other. For their part Sea Quest Kids built two boats on Saturday, raced their boats on Sunday, and covered the entire event as KBN Sea Action News. Sea Quest Kids were also booked for the Wheeling, West Virginia Vintage Race Boat Regatta for five days at Labor Day 2008.
Sea Quest Kids were on sight first thing Wednesday morning to set up camp. The Sea Quest Kids trailer looked mighty good sitting by Lake Chickamauga and was clearly visible from Rt. 153 as it crosses the Chickamauga Dam. On hand as well to open the gate were Teams AMF, Miss Geico, and Geico Caveman. KBN Sea Action News swung into action as soon as the Sea Quest Kids trailer was in place. During the three days prior to actually building Sea Quest 100 boats, KBN Sea Action News got a close up look at the very elite specialty boats of the powerboat racing world.
Ken Warby of Australia was at the Chattanooga U.S. Championship with his world record holding 317.6 mile an hour jet turbine hydroplane. The record has stood for 30 years. Warby ran the boat for a couple of laps and thrilled the fans. Eliminator Boats had two incredible one of a kind racers on site. There was the 27 foot Daytona 500 Boat celebrating 50 years of the Daytona 500. The second boat belongs to Daryl Waltrip and is the 28 foot Mountain Dew Boat. Both boats are museum pieces and are only available for a limited number of rides before they are put in the NASCAR museum. KBN Sea Action News was able to test ride both boats.
Teams AMF/Miss Geico, and Geico Caveman had their incredible jet turbine boats at the Chattanooga U.S. Nationals. Once again KBN Sea Action News got incredible rides and unbelievable footage of the performance of the boats. The jet turbines are outfitted in the boats by Turbine Marine in Pompano, Florida. John Arruda of Turbine Marine is going to team up with Sea Quest Kids to build a surprise Sea Quest 100. Look for the space age advance of Sea Quest Kids sometime in 2008. Thanks to the boundless hospitality of Team AMF/Miss Geico owner John Haggin and his crew Sea Quest Kids got the first hand scoop on the hottest boats.
Sea Quest Kids built two great Sea Quest 100s at the Chattanooga U.S. Championships. In keeping with a weekend that was all about the need for speed, the two boats were built and completely finish painted all in one day. Boat building commenced at 9:30 AM on Saturday and ended at 5:00 PM. One boat was painted green and logoed for Miss Geico and the other boat was painted red and named Bama. Great volunteer help was given to Sea Quest Kids by the Meyer family and the Morgan family both from Cleveland, Tennessee.
The Great Sea Quest Kids Paddle Race pitted Team Geico and Kids (Geico Boat) against Team Simmons and Kids (Bama Boat). Race time was 10:00 AM on Sunday morning. Tension mounted as teams scrambled to get their racing gear together. Naturally the Offshore teams had to get their official team colors and life jackets. After safety training for the Kids the teams assembled to race. Sea Quest boat winner Tyler Zolecki and Chris Meyer paired up with Marc Granet, driver of Miss Geico. The second team was the Bama boat and had Timmy and Tommy Morgan partnered with Dad, Jason Zolecki. The way the teams were drawn up, Jason Zolecki of Team Simmons Racing was paddling the opposition boat against son Tyler.
The first race was a barnstormer. There was a wide gap at the start but, as the teams broke in and got used to each other, the gap narrowed and it looked to be a photo finish over the last 20 yards of the race. Within 15 feet of the finish Team Geico forged ahead with a finishing burst that brought them in a foot and a half ahead of Team Bama. A fitting end since the finish line was at the AMF/Geico compound. Sea Quest Kids Team Geico LT (Low Tech) went three for three on the days paddle race championship.
After an exciting three rounds of paddle racing, Sea Action News was given the honor of riding in the Baja pace boat for the offshore races. KBN Sea Action News got a close up look at the beauty and performance of the 2008 35 Outlaw powered by twin 425 Mercruiser engines. Depending on the class we paced the boats at speeds of 45 - 55 mph. The maximum speed for the day was 75 mph. Baja is the world's leading manufacturer of performance race boats. Many thanks go to Jay Prestwood, the Regional Sales Manager of Baja Marine Corporation. It was a bodacious ride which produced phenomenal racing video.
An added bonus to the weekend of Sea Quest Kids boat building, Jersey skiff racing, Garvey racing, and offshore power boat racing was that the Sea Quest Kids were booked to be at the Wheeling Vintage Raceboat Regatta August 27 - 31, 2008 in Wheeling, West Virginia.
The year 2008 will take Sea Quest Kids from Space Age to Classic and Vintage. Join the fun and don't miss out
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Sea Quest Kids give resounding thank you to 3M and Mr. Russ. |
Sea Quest Kids learn to drive screws as taught by Sea Quest Kids Fearless Leader Steve Gronka. |
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Timothy Morgan of Cleveland Tennessee puts on the tuck plate of the Sea Quest 100. He and brother Tommy were eventual winners of the Bama Sea Quest 100.
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