Seafair spreads the wealth with six winners in six classes; Crazy finish in 1/10 vintage final

Six different club members won each of the six classes at the Seafair Trophy Race presented by Spartacus Boatworks in Lacey.

And the day was a blast.

David Newton delivered the 20th Anniversary t-shirts and hoodies that guys ordered. The 50-50 raffle brought in $155, and two Spartacus Boatworks motors were awarded at the end of the day.

But the story of the day may have been the “exciting” 1/10 vintage final heat in which the only boat that finished was DQd.

After four 1/10 vintage boats had either blown over, gone dead on their own, or didn’t start, two boats were left – Jay Fonville’s 1963 Tahoe Miss and David Heilbrunn’s 1963 Blue Chip. Just past start-finish at the end of the second lap, the Tahoe Miss bore out and hit the Blue Chip, leaving it dead in the water. Within a half lap later, and the Blue Chip unable to restart despite persistent attempts, officials made the decision to disqualify the Tahoe Miss and end the battle.

All that meant that Blue Chip, as the last boat to DNF, was the race winner. Second went to Bill Mowatt’s 1968 Miss Bardahl, which was the second to last DNF and third was Jerry Dunlap driving Paul’s Miss Exide as the third to last DNF. A wild scene indeed, but it was handled correctly.

The 1/10 scale modern final, while more predictable, was a calmer affair. Mike Hughes repeated as Seafair champion with his 1991 Winston Eagle. Second went to Nelson Holmberg’s rapidly improving 2022 Beacon Plumbing while David Newton was third with the tailfeather-less 2003 Miss Budweiser (T-6).

In 1/10 scale classic, most of the field was penalized within the first lap, leaving Jay Fonville, who won the connie with his 1976 Spirit of Dayton Walther as the race leader, and eventual winner. Second went to Chuck Murray’s 1983 Miss Houston and third to David Heilbrunn’s 1984 Executone.

A lighter turnout in 1/7 scale modern and classic meant two boat shootouts all day, but even those didn’t disappoint. Great racing occurred between Jim McKeon (1980 Miss Budweiser) and Craig Mullen (1975 Pay ‘n Pak) all day long. Mullen ended up winning the race, but it was fun to watch both boats race together all day.

Same was true for 1/7 scale modern where David Heilbrunn (2021 Goodman Real Estate presents Homestreet Bank) scored the most points of the day, but Nelson Holmberg (2021 Graham Trucking) took home the win.

The biggest turnout of the year for 1/7 scale vintage also provided good competition throughout the day, and the win – and the only perfect day for the Seafair event – went to David Newton with the 1958 Hawaii Kai III. Second place was Dennis Caines with the 1968 Eagle Electric and third was Rob Edwards with the 1969 Pride of Pay ‘n Pak. One of the big highlights for 1/7 vintage was the debut of Bob Van den Akker’s gorgeous 1962 $ Bill, which won a heat and finished fourth in the final. It was nice to have Bob back in the drivers area with us.