The kickoff of the Mike Cook Northeast Challenge Series took place in Standish, Maine on May 17th and 18th and the conditions would have been to Mike’s liking, windy nasty rough. Eight drivers from Florida, New England and Canada answered at roll call and the excitement was building as the green flag flew for race #1 of the series. Heat one saw gun jumpers, a spin out, one driver getting hit in the head with the bow of another boat resulting in the other boat losing a turn fin and inside chine and a blow over on the backstretch. And that was just after the first half lap.

Somehow avoiding all of this mayhem was Cocoa Beach, Florida’s Howie Nichols and he cruised his Fabro fiberglass CSR to the heat #1 win. Wild Bill Forster followed Nichols across the finish line for second with Ottawa, Canada’s Eric Armstrong finishing third. Heat #2 saw the field dwindle by two as Mike Akerstrom, no turn fin, and Michael Rorke, drying out his rig from the aforementioned blow over, were left on the beach.

After inspecting his helmet and verifying that he was in Standish and could count to three, Tim Noury was okayed to return to racing. Nichols nailed the start and lead the field into turn one and broke out front up the backstretch. Quite a battle ensued for second as Wild Bill, Armstrong and first heat gun jumper Steve Noury went three wide through the turn. Noury edged ahead through the rollers up the backstretch and entered turn two just behind Nichols. Meanwhile, Forster had disposed of Armstrong who had Thom Noury now on his tail. Nichols stretched out his lead through the rough stuff as Forster had reeled in Steve Noury as they took the white flag. At the checkers it was Nichols, Forster and Steve Noury with Armstrong and Thom Noury rounding out the field while Tim Noury was dealt the news that he had jumped the gun. Making the podium for race #1 of the series was 1. Nichols, 2. Forster and 3. Armstrong. Nichols added two bonus points to his first place finish by earning a single bonus point for each heat won.

If Saturday’s conditions were tough, Sunday was downright nasty. There was a crosswind blowing and the water was just short of white cap conditions. With this in mind, the drivers were making adjustments to their boats or in a couple of cases putting them on the trailer, when a guest appearance was made by Mike’s brother Mark Cook. As difficult as it may seem to believe, Mark had never been to Standish and he took the time to meet the drivers and thank them for all that they were doing in Mike’s memory. Mark informed us that two of Mike’s daughters were in attendance on Saturday and although flying under the radar, they too were most appreciative of the tribute that was being made to their father. Mark announced that in excess of $500.00 in L.L. Bean Gift Certificates have been added to the overall purse for the Series.

Heat one of race #2 saw the driver’s test their skills in even more challenging conditions than the previous day. Bill Forster and Steve Noury were up to the task as they drag raced side by side to turn one. With his inside positioning, Forster exited turn one with the boat length lead heading up the backstretch into the Lake Watchic Jetty. All of the drivers “tip toed” over the rollers and upon completion of lap one it became a matter of survival as all of the drivers held their positions throughout the remainder of the race.

At the checkers is it was Forster, Steve Noury, Tim Noury, Armstrong and Thom Noury rounding out the top five. Heat two was much the same as the drivers held position for two laps just for survival with Forster once again in the lead. While Steve and Tim were battling for second, Forster was suddenly slowed going into the rougher than rough turn two. Showing his disregard for the rough stuff, Steve Noury moved to the inside on the final turn to take the lead. At the finish line it was Steve Noury, Forster, Tim Noury, Armstrong and Tom Noury. Foster was awarded the overall win on time with Steve Noury second and Tim Noury third to round out the podium.

With a first and second over the weekend, Wild Bill Forster takes the early lead in the Mike Cook Northeast Challenge Series point standings. Earning a bonus point with his heat win, Steve Noury is second and Howie Nichols is third. The twelve race series is structured so that only your best eight races will be counted. So for those that did not finish the event, had a bad outing or missed the event entirely, they still have ten more opportunities to accumulate their eight race total.

The combination of cash and merchandise awards now exceeds $2,500.00 in value with a minimum of $750.00 cash going to the winner. The next event is scheduled for Berwick, PA on June 28 and 29.

Series Finishes:

Standish, ME #1: 1-Howie Nichols, 2-Bill Forster, 3-Eric Armstrong, 4-Thom Noury, 5-Steve Noury
Standish, ME #2: 1-Bill Forster, 2-Steve Noury, 3-Tim Noury, 4-Eric Armstrong, 5-Thom Noury
Berwick, PA – June 28 – 29
Thompson, CT – July 12-13
Lock Haven, PA – August 30- 31
Redwood, NY – September 13-14
Kingston, NH – September 20 (2 races on Saturday)