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News Achive July 2004 - June 2005 Welcome To The Little Cracker Hydroplane Racing Website, Catch up on the latest News for the Little Cracker Race Team Here. 2nd April 2005 - Bad Day at the Races 
Things did not go to well for the team at Blue Lake after a strong performance in the first race, Gremlins managed to put a stop to the Team from partaking in further races for the weekend. we will put up some Pictures from the first race shortly. 31st March 2005 - Bay of Plenty Regatta 
Click the Map for a Site that gives you Lots of Links to things to see and do in Rotorua. This weekend 2nd and 3rd of April The Little Cracker Hydroplane Team will head to Blue Lake, Rotorua. For the Final round of the Modified Hydroplane Series. Also on the Program is the V8 Challenge it is a Race open to all Inboard Boats except the Big Grand Prix Hydroplanes. There will be two heats on Saturday with the fastest 5 Boats from each heat going through to a one race Final on Sunday. There is $1000 in Prize money for this event and Alan came a close second in the event in 2001. Alan believes he is a chance for this title and will put the boot in as its the final race of the New Zealand Season. Rotorua is a former home to Alan and he is looking forward to doing well on the Blue Lake Circuit. We should have a brief Update on Saturday Night of how Saturday went. 28th March 2005 Alan Lewis wins New Zealand Championship  On the weekend Alan Won the New Zealand Modified Hydroplane Title comfortably from Brendon Hall in "Armageddon" and Tony Hall in "Tempest". The Little Cracker Team were thankful that the Alfa Romeo Engine proved to be too Strong for the opposition. With the Modified Hydroplane Title in the bag Alan was hoping to do well in the Grand National Hydroplane Championships as well. Despite the bigger boats and bigger engines of the Grand National Boats a good MODH boat can beat them with reliability. So it was that the only two boats to finish the 7 boat first heat were Alan followed by Tony Hall "Tempest". The second heat had to be held on the Sunday due to water conditions and it was going to simply be a battle between Alan and Tony as to which ModH boat would finish in front to see who would to win the Title. It was not important to win so a cautious start was required but alas for Alan he suffered from a broken Throttle and was out of the race before he got to turn two. All that remained was for Tony Hall to cruise to the Finish to take the New Zealand Grand National Title, Alan had to settle for 3rd Equal. The team now have just one more meeting this coming weekend at Blue Lake, Rotorua where they hope to end the MODH & Grand National Series on a winning note.
22nd March 2005 - Engine Update The Team has been hard at work over the last Month trying to making Repairs to the Boat and giving the Alfa Romeo Engine a good check over The Team will be reassembling the Boat and Engine Tonight and making preparations for the New Zealand Championships to be Held in Wellington at the Bottom of the North Island over the Easter Weekend 22nd February 2005 - Wanganui Regatta A few more Pictures from the Wanganui Regatta.
20th February 2005 - Wanganui Regatta A Bad Day at the Races  Racing Today and Alan was keen as Mustard to prove that Little Cracker had something to show on the River Course, but things turned to Custard pretty quickly when in the Second race of the Day the Columbian Cafe King of the River Race Alan Parked the Boat on the River bank. There was only superficial Damage as Alan had Backed off knowing that this was where he would end up. The Incident came about largely from over congestion at the first turn with Alan on an outside grid draw he caught some rollers on the corner that pushed him to far to the right at just the wrong moment and with a narrow course that's not what you need. A little bit of manpower and a tow to shore the boat was in ok shape to go racing in a short period of time thanks to the sterling efforts of the Crew. In the first race of the day Alan was keen to do Battle with Pro Stock Driver Gary Gregory in "Cut Loose" Alan got grid One for this race with Gary on his outside and another super fast Flattie "Plum Crazy" Steve Rosewarne next to him, Alan set about making sure he would be first into the turn and it was an extremely close thing going into turn one which was bound to end in tears. Sure enough has the Spray settled it was "Cut Loose" that got the full blast of Alan's Rooster Tail and left Gary with a very Wet Boat and a Flooded Engine.
 A Brief Update on Today's Racing at Wanganui, There will be more Pictures up Tomorrow Night. Racing was Held in Great Weather and Excellent Water conditions for a Narrow River. Only "Little Cracker", "Tempo Too" and "Avalanche" were attending from the MOD H Ranks and they were joined for racing by GNH "Renegade" and Pro Stock Boat "Cut Loose". Cut Loose had an advantage on the River with its Turning Ability and managed to get a couple of wins for the day. Alan was left ruing the fact that he didn't have a 3 blade Prop on the Boat as it would have given him better drive through the corners. However Tomorrows another day and Alan has vowed to beat Gary Gregory's "Cut Loose" on the Water Tomorrow In the final race of the day there was a coming together of all Three ModH Boats on the Start which resulted in Colin Gapper "Tempo Too" suffering A hole in his Left Sponson. Hopefully Colin will fix this overnight and be back for more Tomorrow Happy Birthday Whitney 17 Years old Today. (Look For embarrassing Pictures soon) 17th February 2005 - Images from the Lake Karapiro Here are a few more images from Lake Karapiro two weeks ago. The Little Cracker Race Team is racing in Wanganui this weekend so look for more photos soon Click on Image for the full Picture
 This weekend the Little Cracker Hydroplane Race team will descend upon Wanganui for racing on the Wanganui River. The course is narrow although by no means the narrowest course in the country suffers from the incoming tide and has the tendency to have the old bit of driftwood floating down stream. That aside a good field of ModH boats is expected to front up with 4 boats hailing from the neighboring Manawatu club. This is the Webmasters Home event so there should be an update on Saturday night and Sunday night, or Friday Morning and Saturday morning for the American fans out there. Here's a few Wanganui Links to get feel for the Place. Wanganui Wanganui Council Destination Wanganui 10th February 2005 The Little Cracker Hydroplane Race Team will be on Display at Maraetai Beach, east of Auckland, where Round two of the Spa & Pool Factory National Offshore Powerboat Championship will be Held. Its possible The Boat may make a run on the Harbour Front if the conditions are suitable using the course set out for the Thundercats. The little Cracker Team hopes this will help Promote the Sport to the General Public My Apologies to the lateness of the recent News from the weekend due to Work Commitments and a Dodgy Laptop Internet Connection 9th February 2005 - Lake Karapiro  Great Racing in Modified Hydroplane Class The Team Arrived at the Lake in Dribs and Drabs, Alan and Jeff were Driving down in Camper Vans with Alan having a Knackered Tire which slowed him down. Jeff on the other had no troubles with speed apart that is from the local Law Enforcement Officer who duly issued him a Ticket. The Team went to work early in the Morning installing the nice new freshly Painted Pipes by our sponsor  . Sadly during testing on Saturday the Team saw the First of Many Cracks appear in the Headers and they had to call on Nigel Zander and Kevin Ireland to do some Welding work to them on the Saturday NightThe team also did an Oil change over Night The Big event for the weekend was the running of the Marsh Motorsports Trophy for Modified Hydroplanes This Trophy was originally intended as a Prop for an Offshore Powerboat but it was not suitable and since the Maker would not accept returns Tony Marsh decided to use it as a Trophy for the Modified Hydroplanes, and it will also be used next year as part of the World Championships in New Zealand. 11 Boats started the weekends racing with most making the one off big race and it quickly turned into a very spectacular duel between "Little Cracker", "Helter Shelter" and "Midnight" It was a cracking battle that went right to the Wire with Steve Mathieson Taking the new Trophy by just a Boat Length From Alan and third was Nigel Zander in "Helter Skelter" Alan also competed in the AE Baker which is run for all types of Hydroplane Design, Alan managed to finish Second in this Series after the Bigger GP Boats struck Troubles A few of the Pictures from the Weekend click on Image for the full Picture
31st January 2005 - Images from the Masport Cup The Little Cracker Team made only a brief appearance on the water at Mangere due to the Water Conditions and with Racing being Cancelled. The Team were asked to test a TV Camera for the Television Production this was an interesting film and I really hope to have it on site for download in the coming days A few of the Pictures from the Weekend click on Image for the full Picture
29th January 2005 - Masport Cup Saturday  Sadly the Masport Cup was once again Cancelled due to the wind and the choppy seas. The Cup will now be competed for on Saturday at Lake Karapiro. The Races will still show a Strong Commitment to the Clubs Sponsors and The Masport Cup will filmed for Television. We also hope to have some small video footage on this site with Alan testing an Inboard Camera on the Saturday. 27th January 2005 - Little Cracker Preparation The team has to split tonight, Jeff & Ants will drive to War worth to join Tom, Raj and Myself will stay in Auckland to finish the machining on the new crank pulley and injection supports. We have really struggled these past two weeks to get on top of the jobs. Tom has also got the hull off the trailer repairing a 3ft long crack in the belly pan. 1. Make new crank pulley 2. Make 4 new injection supports 3. Weld broken alloy inlet manifold 4. Crack test cam belt jockey wheel bracket 5. Replace cam belt tensioner bolt insert 6. Replace cam belt 7. Reset cam timing 8. Engine oil change 9. Replace exhaust headers Here's Hoping Everything goes to plan as the Boat will need to be at its Best to Compete with the big Boys for the Masport Cup 26th January 2005 - MEDIA RELEASE SPEEDBOATS CELEBRATE 80 YEARS OF MASPORT CUP THIS WEEKEND One of New Zealand's longest running powerboat races will mark its 80th year this Saturday (January 29) when 14 of Australasia's fastest boats compete for the Masport Cup on Manukau Harbour. Auckland Anniversary is a fitting occasion for what has been the main feature of the New Zealand powerboat racing calendar since it began in 1925 with the inaugural Masport Cup on Auckland Harbour. The Manukau Auckland Speed Boat Club will host this year's competition after member Graeme Weller won the 2004 title. But with Weller's boat 'Warlord' back in Australia this year, locals' hopes are instead carried by Alan Lewis in 'Little Cracker', Peter Thomas in 'Twister' and Luke Sharp in 'Humminbird'. Other major contenders for this year's honors are Victorian unlimited hydro boat 'Aussie Connection', driven by Peter Taylor, Steve Hughes in 'Total Lubricants' from Wellington, and previous Masport Cup holder Warwick Lupton in 'Annihilator', from Wanganui. With a larger than normal number of challengers this year, there will be an elimination race starting from 11am on Saturday to determine the 10 fastest boats to race for the Masport Cup. After a brief refueling stop, these will go on to compete in two points races - comprising 4 laps of a 2 km circuit - with the highest cumulative total winning the title. Manukau Auckland Speed Boat Club Treasurer John Weller says he expects up to 6,000 spectators to attend the event. "It's always a great day out," says Mr Weller. "There will be a wide range of boats out on the water in fast and furious competition, as well as on shore entertainment for boating enthusiasts and families to enjoy free of charge." The crowd will be treated to world-class racing amongst an international field confirmed for the weekend; and with such a high calibre of entries Mr Weller expects the craft to be pushed to their limits. "These boats are capable of speeds of 180-190 mph, so there will certainly be some high speed, high risk racing." The Masport Cup started out as a testing ground for New Zealand's fledgling engineering companies, and in the early 1920's, Masport - then Mason and Porter Ltd - was better known for its automotive engines than its mowers and barbecues. For them and other boating enthusiasts, powerboat racing was a way to match revolutionary engine designs against rivals' from across the country. 'Miss Masport' was the first New Zealand boat to be specially designed and equipped for speed racing, and reaching a speed of 31 mph, may have even been the fastest boat in the world at the time. The first Masport Cup was held on Auckland Harbour and won by local speedboat, Fleetwing Junior, which achieved a top speed of 35 mph. Since then, the race has attracted a strong rivalry between clubs nationwide and produced a string of legends, such as the long-dominant Knight family from Christchurch, Wellington's Sir Len Southward, and the celebrated boats 'Pelorus Jack Senior' from Picton and 'Miss Wanganui'. The 2005 Masport Cup will be held at Manukau Auckland Speed Boat Club, located under Mangere Bridge on Waterfront Reserve, Waterfront Road.  CAPTION: Running in the Masport Cup this Saturday - 'Little Cracker', driven by Alan Lewis from Auckland. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: John Weller Manukau Auckland Speed Boat Club Ph 021 781110 Email: john@rexroth.co.nz Melanie Pohl Lindenberg and Partners PR Ph 09 520 4427 Email: office.l&p@xtra.co.nz ENDS 24th January 2005 Manawatu Gold Cup Meeting  This Past Weekend saw a race meeting in the Lower Half of the North Island at a Place called Foxton its on the West Coast just up from Wellington. Racing was on a River Course only 80 meter's wide Two tracks were used a Short Track at 600 meter's and a Long track at 900 meter's. There were 5 Modified Hydroplanes in Attendance "Midnight", "Armageddon", "Tempo Too", "Avalanche" and "Meridian". "Midnight" and Steve Mathieson proved too quick and nimble for all the other boats winning with ease all his races. This Boat is powered by a Nissan SR20 1998cc. "Armageddon" and Brendan Hall were consistent to finish 2nd. With "Tempo Too", "Avalanche" and "Meridian" fighting over the minor places. A few of the Pictures from the Weekend click on Image for the full Picture
10th January North Island Modified Hydroplane Champion Alan Lewis brought home the first Championship of the season for the Little Cracker Hydroplane Race Team winning the North Island Modified Hydroplane Championship raced at Lake Maraetai, Mangakino  Saturdays Racing 8th January Saturdays weather dawned overcast and breezy but it was expected to improve come race time. Alas though while the sun came out the wind picked up and made the back straight very choppy and rough, too rough for racing but many boats went out for a ride to either test the boats or the conditions. The Little Cracker Hydroplane Race Team went out to test a new 5 Blade prop with mixed results. All hopes of racing were eventually called off at mid afternoon. Sundays Racing 9th January Looking forward to a better day the team was up a bit late due to a hard night at the local Pub, so it was a mad dash to get the boat down to the Lake and prepared in time for the early start to the days racing. The weather was calm but steady rain during setting up wasn't helping things, the rain eventually cleared for an overcast day but perfect water conditions for racing. The Team were in the very first race of the day for Heat 1 of the North Island Modified Hydroplane Champion, the bad news was 3 of the better boats in the series who were here on the Saturday were unable to race "Helter Skelter" and "Macsheen" were unable to fire up and "Midnight" had gone home. Five Boats Started the Championship Heat 1 "Undertaker", "Tempo Too", "Predator", "Howzat" and "Little Cracker". Once again it was "Little Cracker" and "Predator" who jumped out to battle for the Lead with "Little Cracker" eventually pulling away to take the first win from "Predator", "Howzat", "Tempo Too" and "Undertaker" Heat 2 the final run in the North Island Modified Hydroplane Championship and all 5 boats made it back out for the start this time "Predator" had the advantage of an Inside start and made the most of it to take an early lead in the race. Little Cracker was keeping the race Honest and it was going to be a very good Race until "Predator" came to a halt exiting the top turn apparently the Steering wheel came off in pilot Janine White's hands and she quickly relocated it and refired the "Predator" to get back in the race but Alan and Little Cracker were long gone and the race and Championship were as well. Scott Coker in "Howzat" came home third with "Tempo Too" forth and "Undertaker" having a DNF. North Island Modified Hydroplane Championship final Result. 1st - Alan Lewis "Little Cracker" 2nd - Janine White "Predator" 3rd - Scott Coker "Howzat" There followed two more races in Handicap format for the Modified Hydroplane Drivers and with Alan operating a heavy time difference to the rest of the field he did well to come second on the water to "Predator" both times. Afterwards everyone seemed to be of the opinion that it was hard to see the flags in front of the scorers truck from the start line. There was some damage to the "Little Cracker" with this time the Left Hand Exhaust Pipes taking a beating and losing the back half of the Pipes, While it was possible to run in the Master of Mangakino races up against the big GP Hydroplanes it was decided to save the Boat to keep a promise to Alan's Stepson Jason Moughan for his First drive ever in "Little Cracker" something that has been delayed before due to Alan breaking the Boat. Jason Moughan gets his First Drive of Little Cracker Young Jason Moughan 14 years of age got his first drive in the "Little Cracker" boat he was full of confidence having been coached well by Alan, who also had full confidence in Jason's ability to drive the boat capably. Jason's Mother Denise however was a bundle of nerves as she requested the safety Boats to remain on station for Jason's first Test. Jason started out to the course easy and then put the boot in and ran some pretty tidy and fast laps in the boat. When it came time to stop it took the Red Lights on the Safety Boat to bring Jason to a stop. I imagine he thought the Crew on shore were waving him on in encouragement. A few of the Pictures from the Weekend click on Image for the full Picture
7th January 2005 - Boat All Ready to Go  The Team worked on the boat last night at Tom's shop. They Fitted the repaired exhaust, refitted the shaft once we got the stuck prop removed, ran the motor for 10 mins and did a compression test, all is good over 200psi on all six cylinders. Tom will leave Warkworth with the rig at around Midday, he should arrive in Mangakino at approx 5pm. 5th January 2005 - North Island 3 litre Hydroplane Championship at Lake Maraetai, Mangakino January 8th - 9th 2005 This weekend is my old home town race, I was born in Mangakino on 11th September 1963, my Dad was a engineer and was posted in Mangakino to construct two Hydro Electric Dams on the Waikato River from the late 50's through to the late 70's. During construction of the dams the town had the countries biggest secondary school with over 3000 students, I believe now the school has around 80 students and the the town is almost like a ghost town. Our old family house still stands at 46 Rangatira Drive opposite the Pub that my team will stay at this weekend. Boat racing in Mangakino back in the 50's was huge with over 100 boats registered with the Mangakino Speedboat Club, my Dad did his first race on Lake Maraetai driving "Jolly Roger" in 1958, this boat was named after my older brother Roger, Dad soon got the bug for racing and purchased a bigger faster boat which was named "Little Cracker" after 20 or more years of trying Dad never won the "Master of Mangakino Trophy" we will try to win it this weekend. This race is open to all boats and is run over two heats one on Saturday and the final on Sunday. If you are looking for Mangakino on a map it is situated 30kms West of Tokoroa between Hamilton and Taupo.   We will have Pictures and a report on how we did on here early next week. 4th January 2005 First Race Report of the Season The Little Cracker Race Team had there First Run of the Season this past weekend and I travelled up to meet the Team and take Pictures for the Site, I was lucky enough to get out on the water briefly for a few shots. Over the next few days before this weekends meeting I will Add more pictures to the gallery section and updates to all the sections with new photos and various important Information. On to the Meeting and we start with a Photo of Alan in typical Race Poise  It was the first run of the season with the boat and engine hitting the water for the first time. The plan was to use the weekend to set the boat up and Test Props with view to being on form for next weekends North Island Modified Hydroplane Championship. Sundays Racing 2nd January Race 1 was a Grand National Hydroplane Event which Alan runs in as well it was a cracking race with a great battle for the front with Janine White's "Predator", Things however got very Dicey when Janine caught a wave and turned in towards Alan forcing Alan to make a hard right turn on the corner to avoid collision. It was a great duel to the finish with Alan winning that race and it was good to see a battle for First I believe "Tempest" was third and "Renegade" was 4th despite having broken all the bolts that hold his rear prop shaft to the back of the boat. Race two for the day was the first for the Mod H boats and it turned into a bit of a mess with first "Undertaker" breaking down on the way to the start and the officials confusion with the red flag sending all boats back to ramp when they arrived back they were promptly told to get back and start the race. On the way back out Bad luck struck the team with Alan breaking his Steering lucky it broke then and not going into the first turn. The race was run with just the two boats and "Tempest" proves too quick for "Predator" Back on shore and the crew went to work locating the cause of the broken Steering which turned out to be a Broken Linkage at the front of the Boat. After a Brief struggle to remove the linkage it appeared to have been cracked for awhile and its possible that the hard right hand turn in the first race probably finished it off. The issue now was can it be fixed and how quickly. Luckily in the Crowd were local lads Kevin Ireland & Peter Dudson whom thankfully were able to take the part to nearby workshops and lathe and weld new bits to repair the part. The boat was ready in time for the last event of the day the King of the River raced as a Beach start over a short Triangle course and with 5 F1 Boats as the opposition it was decide that perhaps it would be best to just have a test session on the new steering link and come back and race tomorrow. The Little Cracker Team Would like to Thank Kevin Ireland and Peter Dudson for there tremendous efforts Mondays Racing 3rd January Looking forward to a better day the team was in great spirits for an improved days racing. The team had lent props to the "Predator" boat and also to the "Tempest" Boat and had yet to test its new Top Secret prop out so it was decided to wait and do this next weekend. Race 1 was another great battle this time it was Tony Hall's "Tempest" that took the battle to the Little Cracker Team with "Predator" being a hard charging and close third on the line however in almost a Photo finish "Little Cracker" took the win, "Undertaker" had another DNF. The next race was the same four boats in a Handicap Race "Undertaker" off Go with "Predator" at 53seconds and "Tempest" and "Little Cracker" at 55 Seconds, "Undertaker" would pull out of the race again which left "Predator" to storm away and another great battle between "Little Cracker" and "Tempest" that's how they finished With "Predator" taking full advantage of the clearer water to lead to the finish. Race 3 for the day was another Handicap race and this time I was on the water in a Safety Boat to snap the better Shots on my Camera, "Tempest" started first followed by "Predator" and "Little Cracker" This was going to be a Great Battle and the first few laps proved to be so. Going into the second lap and Alan was right on the outside of "Predator" and the next Lap would provide great shots of Alan passing "Predator" on the outside of the Turn but alas going into the bottom of the Turn Alan pulled the "Little Cracker" into shore with what turned out to be a Broken Exhaust Header, "Tempest" went on to win from "Predator". The Exhaust turned out to be the end to the days racing but enough was learnt to make next weekends an exciting proposition A few of the Pictures from the Weekend
18th December 2004 The Little Cracker Race Team will have there first Race meeting of the Season on the 2nd & 3rd Of January at Lake Karapiro. Round 1 of the Grand National & Modified Hydroplane Series will be up for grabs. I will be at this event as well so look forward to a big Site update in the following days of this event. 14th December 2004 A new picture from Alan's trip to the 2004 UIM World Championship Cambridge Maryland  Sho-nuff Team from left to right John Shewbrooks Jnr, Alan Lewis, Denise Moughan, Jim "The Hog" Hunt and Kathy Sarvis. 1st November 2004 - 2.5 Modified Class News Glenn & Eileen Koutney at Morgan City, Louisiana. Eileen’s hobby is horses. As we all know, Glenn’s hobby is making his 2.5 litre modified hydroplane super fast.  It was fascinating to see our racing friends from the deep South near their homes. We are so used to seeing the Mashburns, the English family, the Allens, and several others at races in Virginia, Ohio, Michigan, Maryland, and other stops along the inboard tour. It is easy to forget how far they travel to race. The Morgan City race served as a vivid reminder to many of us just how far it is down to Louisiana..... Read More Here 20th September 2004 - 2.5 Modified Class News We have some interesting characters in our class. Let me tell you about them. In this newsletter, let’s talk about Tom Newman. I met Tom about 10 years ago. He was active in radio control model boat racing. We met at a model boat event in Columbus, Ohio. I looked at his model carefully. I could see from the work that he did on this model that he was a meticulous person. Every detail of the model was attended to. Parts were polished, painted, and perfectly fit. I made a comment to him that he should be racing big boats.... Read More Here September 1st 2004 - 2.5 Litre Modified Class News My friends from Seattle, Justin Weymouth and team are in Celina, Ohio. Justin called this evening and commented that the water is rough today. The weather will change for the weekend and smooth water will be the case. I can’t wait for the Region 6 folks see this boat go. The A 20 boat will be the class of the field. Read More Here Also sent in by a fan "Thought I would send this to you to put on Alan's website, this is what he does all day to earn money so he can go racing, doesn't look to busy to me." 
August 19th - New Images from the Trip to the USA The images below have also been added to the Gallery Section. Click on Thumbnail to view larger image
August 18th - New Images from the Trip to the USA The images below have also been added to the Gallery Section. Click on Thumbnail to view larger image
August 11th - 2.5 Litre Modified Class News There is no finer boat racing experience than to come to Kent Island Maryland for their early August event. I spent time with Larry Lauterbach at his shop in the area. He has built a beautiful 2 seat vintage hydroplane! It is between the size of a Grand Prix and an Unlimited. This will be a hit with everyone who has ever been bitten with the hydroplane bug. Read More Here August 1st 2004 Another Image from the Recent World Championships in Cambridge, Maryland. Featuring the winning boat "In Cahoots Again" and some of the Kiwis who were there at the time Click on the Thumbnail to see the full size Image with Details 
World Championships Event July 27th 2004 Alan did send in an E-mail on the Saturday from the Event however it didn't arrive for some unknown reason and it was only today that I received an update of that E-mail with the Final Result. My apologies. Friday was qualifying day 102 entries at the UIM World Inboard Championships . An amazing turn out of boats But quite normal for America to have this many entries at their events. 8 entries in the 2.5 Modified Hydroplane Class which Alan was the only overseas competitor at this World Event. Alan Finished 4th in his qualifying heat. In Rough conditions Alan took the Shewbrooks Race Team boat "Sho nuff" out to Test props , he tried the three blade dewald prop , after testing decided to change to 4 blade prop for next heat. Due to conditions Alan had to work the wing around the race track to keep the boat down. Alan didn’t get to run again that day because the event was called off due to water conditions. Saturdays racing did not happen and the event was officially called off at 3pm. Strong winds and extremely choppy Conditions again plagued the event. The UIM Championships will now be held over to Sunday. Racing will start at 10am and Alan will hopefully get his chance at his World Championship Event, scheduled for race 22 on the program. We did not race again on Sunday, the world championship results were decided on the first qualifying heat on Friday, which gives us a fourth, a real shame as we were so confidant of finding more speed and having a good final result. 2.5 Modified Class Results 1st: A-33 "In Cahoots Again" Jim Aid 2nd: A-600 "Mr. Bud Too" Tom Thompson 3rd: A-54 "Whoopee" Chuck Miller 4th: A-3 "Sho nuff" Alan Lewis Here we have Alan driving the "Sho nuff" Boat from John Shewbrooks Racing on the Saturday shortly before the Days Racing was Cancelled. You Can see just how Choppy the Conditions were. Click on the Picture to see the Full Image  Results at Inboard Racing Page Cambridge Newspaper Story 1 Cambridge Newspaper Story 2 World Championships July 23rd - 25th 2004 John Shewbrooks and the "Sho nuff" Racing Team put it some hard days working on repairing the damaged Bottom of the Boat, This was completed on Monday Night and the following Day Team Transport driver Jim Hunt Started on the 14 hour drive from Waverly, Ohio to Cambridge, Maryland. The Rest of the Team will Meet up with Jim and the Boat on Thursday for the UIM World Championship Registration, Friday the Qualifying heats will be run to decide the Finalists for Saturdays UIM World Championship Hydroplane Race.(this will be Sunday morning Kiwi time), Sundays Racing in Cambridge will see the running of Two Heats in the USA Hydroplane Series. We plan to have an update of each days events over the next Three days. Below are a Few relevant Links to websites for more Information on Cambridge and the World Hydroplane Champs World Championship Host Website Cambridge City Website Cambridge Newspaper Website July 15th 2004 - Black Rock Pictures The first Pictures from Alan's Tour in America have arrived these four shots were from the Black Lake Meeting, Olympia, Seattle 10-11th July. Click the Thumbnail Image to view the full picture(I did reduce these in size to make downloading quicker) First up is a shot of Alan and Shonuff team Member Jim "Hog" Hunt waiting in the rain 
Second shot is of Alan and John Shewbrook doing a Radio Check prior to racing 
Third shot is the remains of Fast Freddy driven by Harold Mills. The boat reached 40ft off the water before barrel rolling twice and coming to a halt, He escaped Injury thanks to a Protected Safety Cell 
Forth shot is of Don Mashburn and his Boat Mr Bud driven by Nicki Pellerin, which won the final Race 
America 13th July 2004 Alan competed this weekend at Black Lake, Olympia Seattle 10-11th July, in a round of the American 2.5 Litre Championship series. Finishing 4th overall in perfect water conditions, nine boats running deck to deck the big six buoy turns got choppy after a few laps. The A60 radical "Mr. Bud" driven by Nicky Pellerin won the final running at way over 125 mph, Harold Mills (Unlimited Driver) driving "Fast Freddie" while leading the first lap blew over and completely destroyed the boat, only parts recovered was safety cell, fuel cell and motor. The boat reached 40ft off the water before barrel rolling twice and coming to a halt, thanks to the safety cell Harold walked away unhurt. In the third heat we split the left side after plane back to the transom. After a quick team meeting we decided to bring the boat back to Ohio and make the repairs ready for the Worlds 23rd 24th July. Jim Hunt team transport driver left Seattle at 3.30am Monday morning for the 3600km 40 hour drive back to the John Shewbrooks Racing workshop in Waverley Ohio where the hull will be repaired ready for the World Champs. Here is a part of a Newspaper report on the event from The Olympian News paper. Many of the boats at the regatta were based in Washington, but a significant number of racers came from much further away, from places like Oregon, California and British Columbia. No one traveled further though than Alan Lewis, who came all the way from Auckland, New Zealand to drive "Sho Nuff", a 2.5 liter modified inboard hydroplane for Ohio-based John Shewbrooks Racing. This was the second race in the state for Lewis, who flew into the country Wednesday, and he seemed to find himself at home in this part of the world. "This is a great venue, it's fantastic," Lewis said. "A lot like back home, really. Green trees, blue sky, cool weather, good water -- a lot different than the east coast." Click Me for the rest of the Story. America July 2004 I will again drive John Shewbrooks boat Shonuff for the 2004 World 2.5 Hydroplane Champs to be held at Cambridge Maryland USA on 23-25th July. We will also race on 11-12th July at Black Lake Olympia WA, as a warm up for the Worlds. Rumour has it that Shonuff may have a red motor this time with a little bit more grunt. We will keep you all updated with a battle report via email direct from the USA on race day. Safety Cell The boat is now in Warkworth with Tom Needham he will be fitting the boat with a fully enclosed safety cell over the winter. The boat is going a lot faster now and safety is a big issue, Should make the boat a lot safer. We are also looking at Air Systems in the USA. New Zealand Nationals April Lake Karapiro the venue for the 2004 NZ Nationals held over Easter Weekend. We entered everything we could, NZGP, Mod H, Grand National and the AE Baker, we won the NZ Modified Hydroplane Championship winning both heats to take the title. A few nervous moments as we developed an electrical problem in the first heat and had to be towed in after we crossed the finish line. The team was able to get it fixed for the last heat. The Grand National heat was next again we raced side by side with Hang On for the lead until the last lap we were forced to withdraw, the boat was getting hot, and I guess pushing it at 9000 rpm was the limit. We tried again for the second heat but came back to shore before the race started the engine dropped oil pressure so think we will be rebuilding the engine over the winter. Lake Kainui We used this as a test day before the Nationals to make sure the boat was all okay, and also to flush out the salt water from the previous race meeting. The boat is a little too big for this small lake, which year ago was a regular venue for racing. March We traveled to Wellington for the North Island Mod H and Grand National titles. Unfortunately we did not have a very good start to the weekend, someone broke into the Truck at the Motel we stayed at and stole the tool box, two cans of fuel and the brief case with the technical equipment in it. This was also the first time we had been to a race meeting without Jeff, He was away on holiday in Australia. Denise, Jason and Tom Needham ran around all weekend trying to be Jeff and did an okay job. An exciting North Island Grand National title came down to the wire when Alan Lewis with Little Cracker a 3 Litre Hydroplane won the first heat from Rex Henderson Hang on a 6 Litre Hydroplane. Rex won the second heat, both having the same points it came down to race times. Hang On won the Grand National title by six seconds Little Cracker was second. Alan Lewis took out his own class championship the Modified Hydroplane Championship from Brian Cardiff driving Miss Riff Raff and Tempo Too Colin Gaper in third. Mangere February Only managed to get a few races in on the Saturday before the day was called off due to bad weather. Sunday was good for awhile; we managed to pull off top points in both Mod H & Grand National Series for the weekend. Lake Karapiro World Champs January Excellent weekend for boat racing, a huge crowd and some good racing. Some close racing with Rex Henderson driving Hang On, so close that we were side by side on one corner and Rex had to cut in close and he was thrown out of his boat, luckily he was a bit bruised but okay. We took top points for Grand National & Mod H over the weekend.  
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