The 2014 Labor Day weekend had drivers and crews heading west out PA Interstate 80 for the fourth stop on the Mike Cook Northeast Challenge Series. Region 3’s Delaware Valley Outboard Racing Association played host  for the 44th Annual Lock Haven Jaycees Regatta and as expected, many of the top CSR drivers on the east coast were in attendance. Nine drivers participated in the weekend event for races #7 & 8 of the series. The event also brought several new drivers into the series representing the states of Virginia, Maryland, New York and New Jersey. Along with our series regulars from Florida, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Ottawa Canada, it was a true representation of the quality of CSR competition on the East Coast.

Heat one of Saturday’s race saw the tightly packed field come under the bridge to the starting line and off into a mosh pit of turn one. Boats were already bouncing off of each other when Scott Reed and Howie Nichols made contact removing a portion of Reed’s right rear chine. Hanging back just a few boat lengths was the legendary 110-J of Craig Bowman and he rolled through the turn coming out first up the backstretch. While Bowman and Nichols battled for the lead, Reed was engaged in a heated battle with Richmond, Virginia’s Jesse Swain despite the damage to his hull.  A little further back it was previous series winners Mike Akerstrom and Steve Noury fighting for fifth followed by Shawn Breisacher and Canada’s Michael Rorke. In an effort to hold off the challenges of Nichols, Bowman took out a buoy removing himself from the battle. With clear water ahead of him Nichols led to the checkers picking up the heat win and a bonus point. Meanwhile, Swain did all he could to hold off Reed for second but was beaten at the line by the New Yorker and this would be pivotal later in the overall results. Rounding out the field were Akerstrom, Noury, Breisacher and Rorke.

Heat two saw the field reduced by two as Reed’s boat damage was beyond repair for a short term fix and Bowman suffered an injury to his knee that would sideline him for the remainder of the weekend. Iron Mike Akerstrom was the first to cross the starting line but unfortunately the clock had not yet expired and he took himself out of the hunt with a gun jump.  Swain was the first legal boat to turn one and jumped out into the early lead with Nichols in tow. Nichols quickly did the math and realized that he did not have to catch Swain for the overall win but had to hold his position in front of Breisacher and Noury, who were running third and fourth. As those two battled for third, Nichols was able to settle comfortably into second. With Reed on the beach, whoever finished third in the second heat between those two would land on the  podium for overall third. Noury was able to close the gap and finally passed Breisacher on the last lap to finish third behind Swain and Nichols in heat two. Nichols with a first and a second outpointed Swain’s third and a first to take the win with Swain second and Noury third. Swain also picked up a bonus point for his heat two win.

Sunday’s event saw the field reduced by three as Noury headed back to New England, Reeds boat was dry docked and Bowman withdrew due to his balky knee. There was one new addition as Maryland’s Adam Allen joined the series for his first event. Jesse Swain picked up where he left off on Saturday by nailing down the heat one win followed by Nichols and Akerstrom to the checkers. Heat two saw Akerstrom and Breisacher come under the bridge a little early and were recorded as gun jumpers. Swain continued his winning roll as heat won his third consecutive heat of the weekend. Nichols encountered problems as his Fabro fiberglass hull developed a crack along the throttle side of the cockpit and he nursed it around the course. Taking advantage of Nichols misfortune was Allen and Rorke and they moved up to second and third for the heat finish. In addition to his first place points, Swain gathered up two bonus points for his heat wins and now moves into one of the top ten cash paying positions. Allen’s second in the second heat earned him enough points for the overall second and Nichols rounded out the podium.  With two podiums over the weekend Nichols now moves into a top five position in the Series.

The next stop for the series will be Crystal Lake in Redwood, New York. Canadian Eric Armstrong is expected to rejoin the series and newcomers Ron Waterson and Nat Natali are expected expand the field to ten entries.  With the scoring format only counting your best eight races out of the twelve that are scheduled, the quest for the Championship is still wide open and the newcomers could steal some valuable points from the Series regulars. The purse for the series has now grown to over $2,500 with a cash payout of $1,500 ($750 to the winner) and a $1,000 in merchandise awards. Stay tuned for next month’s update in the  SSOA Newsletter and Web Site.

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 #1: 1-Bill Forster, 2-Steve Noury, 3-Tim Noury, 4-Johnny Wlodarski, 5-Bill Walker
Berwick, PA #2: 1-Steve Noury, 2-Bill Forster, 3-Tim Noury, 4-Johnny Wlodarski
Thompson, CT #1: 1-Mike Akerstrom, 2-Steve Noury, 3-Michael Rorke, 4-Tim Noury, 5-Thom Noury
Thompson, CT #2: 1-Mike Akerstrom, 2-Steve Noury, 3-Tim Noury, 4-Thom Noury
Lock Haven, PA #1: 1-Howie Nichols, 2-Jesse Swain, 3-Steve Noury
Lock Haven, PA #2: 1-Jesse Swain, 2-Adam Allen, 3-Howie Nichols
Redwood, NY – September 13-14
Kingston, NH – September 20 (2 races on Saturday)

Point Standings (7/14/14)
Driver, Hometown                              Total Points
Steve Noury, Hampstead, NH                 84
Bill Forster, Wallingford, CT                     57
Tim Noury, Bow, NH                                 56
Mike Akerstrom, Westford, MA                55
Howie Nichols, Coco, Florida                 43
Thom Noury, Lewiston, ME                     34
Michael Rorke, Ottawa, Ontario             30
Jesse Swain, Richmond, VA                   30
Eric Armstrong, Ottawa, Ontario             19
Johnny Wlodarski, Newton, NJ              18
Shawn Breisarcher, Mt Holly, NJ           15
Adam Allen, Harve De Grace, MD         12
Scott Reed, Manlius, NY                           9
Bill Walker, St Augustine, FL                    8
Craig Bowman, Lambertville, NJ             5