Miniature roostertails will rise on Monroe’s Lake Tye
Published 4:36 am Friday, September 24, 2010
MONROE — They are small but fast. This weekend, one of them will emerge a champion.
The nonprofit Unlimiteds Northwest, a radio-controlled model boat club, will close its season with the Emerald Cup in Monroe.
The race is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. Saturday at Lake Tye, 14964 Fryelands Blvd. The event is free.
About 20 to 30 people are expected to compete with their 1/8th-scale hydroplanes in a race with speeds up to 60 mph. These races can be a spectacle, according to race coordinator Mike Cathey.
“Sometimes it’s better than the real boat races,” he said.
The competitors’ ages range from 8 to 60 and they live all around Western Washington.
Some of them wanted to be involved in boat racing but are unable to buy an expensive hydroplane, Cathey said.
One of them is Brent Edinger of Edmonds, who has been competing for more than five years. He describes the races as fun with tough competition because of the speed and the fact that they’re steering boats from a distance.
“It’s difficult to react,” he said. “Sometimes the boat does things you don’t expect.”
The Emerald Cup will divide the competitors in four sections and each one will run four preliminary heats. The competitors get points for where they place in the heat. Then, the six competitors with the most points will qualify to the finals. The winner gets the cup but because this is the last race of the season, the racer with the most points will also be crowned the High Points Champion.
There are only three racers up for this title. Paul Jackson , of Seattle, is in the lead with 300 points, a difference that can disappear in one heat. Jackson won the Emerald Cup last year but has never won the championship in his 15 years of competing.
“I have been second place two years in a row,” the 42-year old bus driver said. “This is my third shot.”
First, he has to hold off the relative newcomer Joey Caines and the former champion John Hruby , who returned to the races after a long hiatus.
Even though there are only three racers up for the title, the other competitors won’t just be spectators.
They all want to win the race.
Alejandro Dominguez: 425-339-3422; adominguez@heraldnet.com.
