On a beautiful day on Saturday May 12, the Groupe ABS GP-101 team conducted its first testing session at Larocque Bridge in Valleyfield. Here’s a video of the day.

Precision Performance Engineering, LLC Owner Ted Porter and Graham Trucking, Inc. Owner Rob Graham are pleased to announce the continuation of Graham Trucking sponsorship at U-5 Racing.

 Graham Trucking became the primary sponsor of the PPE, LLC U-7 Unlimited hydroplane in 2009 and celebrated the season finale as the U.I.M. World Champion.  In 2010 Graham Trucking continued on the U-7 with a very respectable season. In 2011 the Graham trucking name switched to the U-5 finishing an impressive 3^rd in National High Points. 

This year, the Miss Graham Trucking name will once again be carried by the U-5 Unlimited hydroplane, driven by Jimmy Shane of Havre de Grace, MD. Jimmy has been a backup driver for PPE for five years and has driven several unlimited heat races during that time. His most recent race was at the 2011 Oryx Cup/UIM World Champion race in Doha, Qatar where he drove the U-57 to an impressive 4^th place finish. Jimmy has also been a champion in other classes of the highly-competitive American Power Boat Association.

PPE, LLC is looking forward to continuing its relationship with Rob Graham and Graham Trucking.

 Rob Graham states that, “Ted Porter and his crew have a proven track record as a first rate team in the past several years, and Graham Trucking is excited to once again be racing with the PPE Team. Graham trucking is thrilled to continue our sponsorship of this extremely talented group of people. Ted and everyone else associated with this Team have continually exceeded our expectations and are consistently at the front of the pack. I am very excited that Ted has chosen the U-5 and Jimmy Shane to represent us.

 Jimmy is one of the best drivers on the limited circuit with a proven record of wins and accomplishments during his career, and Graham Trucking is excited to have him under our sponsorship. Jimmy will be a great representative for Graham Trucking.”

 Some of Jimmy Shane’s hydroplane accomplishments in limited classes are: 3x Hall of Champions Inductee, 3x National High Point Champion, 3x Summer National Champion, 3x World Champion, 2x Canadian High Point Champion, 7x Closed Course UIM World Records, 1x Kilo Straightaway UIM World Record, 4x GP Race Winner, Designed and built 4 outboard hydroplane/runabout boats of which all have set UIM World Records.  Jimmy has been a Qualified Unlimited Hydroplane Driver since 2007, and Finished 4^th 2011 Oryx Cup/UIM National Championship, Doha Qatar.

 Rob added, “I’m really looking forward to watching Jimmy in the U-5 this season. We look forward to another great season with Ted, Jimmy and the people who make this team great. The off season has seen the PPE team making improvements on the boat and I appreciate everything they are doing to get us to the winners circle in the U-5. The Graham Trucking Racing family is really excited to go racing with this first rate team. ”

 Graham Trucking began 28 years ago with a mission to become a company that customers and employees alike could be proud of. Based on industry surveys, Graham Trucking has achieved that goal. Based in South Park and serving the Pacific Northwest, Graham Trucking operates a fleet of 80+ power units and one of the largest super chassis fleets in the state of Washington.  Graham Trucking is also sponsoring F-1 PROP racing at Seafair.

 For more U-5 Racing and Graham Trucking information: On facebook:  “U-5 U-7 U-57 Unlimited Hydroplane Race Team” and on the web at: www.grahamtrucking.com

Here are some pictures of the construction of the new GP-777 Stealer hydroplane at Bert Henderson’s shop.  We can imagine this boat will be an other really fast one.

Thanks to Marc Perrier for the pictures and to Bert Henderson to let him in the shop.

April 21 by Andrew Ritchie

Early Marsh

Last weekend the Stuart Sailfish Regatta was held at the Stuart Causeway in Florida. Inboard hydroplanes, Jersey Speed Skiffs and OPC race boats took to the water in Stuart for the first time in over a decade. The race sadly was held in memory of Florida racers Charles Woodruff, Mark Van Winkle, and Dea Wiseley who all died at the Spring Thunder Regatta vintage event. Just weeks after the accidents that took their lives on Lake Dora in Tavares, Flordia the Stuart race took on added meaning. Woodruff had been a key part of bringing the races back to South Florida and his family was present for event.

GP hydros thrill crowd before Miss Stuart flips from Jack Lowe on Vimeo.

Two GPs made the trip, GP-25 Shameless and the GP-45 Miss Stuart which was to be campaigned by Woodruff this season with Patrick Haworth driving. They ran exhibition heats both days. On Sunday Mike Grendell got behind the wheel of GP-45 for the first time. After running some laps along with Brandon Kennedy in GP-25, Grendell enter turn one and the boat blew over. The boat was damaged badly but luckily Grendell is okay and the boat can be fixed. You can see Jack Lowe’s video of the final exhibition and flip above. Brandon Kennedy’s onboard camera captured the flip in his mirror and that video is below. There are also a number of videos on YouTube of the accident.

Mike G flip from Brandon Kennedy on Vimeo.

Patrick Haworth will be able to make his comeback to the Grand Prix Class.

Denis Bourbonnais – Saint-François Newspaper

Patrick Haworth’s comeback to the Grand Prix class will be in 2012!

After a few months of negotiations due to circumstances out of his control, the Valleyfield resident pilote is now set for the upcoming (ACHA) American Canadian Hydroplane Association season.  The 40 year old will be the driver and owner of the former GP-46 in which Pierre Maheu won the 2011 High Points Championship. The former ADF Diesel was Patrick Haworth’s target since the beginning of the winter but Haworth has not been able to put the necessary sponsorship together to meet the financial requirements inherent to the operations of a Grand Prix team.

The multiple hydroplane champion had instead reached an agreement with Charles “Chuck” Woodruff to drive the boat that was to campaign under the name of Miss Stuart GP-45 this year.

Following the tragic death of the legendary “Rookie” on March 18th, during a Vintage demonstration race in Tavares, Florida, Patrick lost his ride when the Woodruff’s family decided to give the boat back to the Valleyfield Regatta organization.  Decisions had to be made quickly and the result of negotiations, it was decided Patrick Haworth was to become the heir of the GP-46.

The popular racer re-established his relations with former financial partners and his wish finally became true last week. Haworth found a major sponsorship partner that will be announced in the next few days and he will be at the wheel of the 2011 Champion boat when the season starts in Long Sault, Ontario on June 2^nd.

“We worked hard to find funding and our efforts paid off” said Patrick Haworth.  “There is not a lot of time left before the first race and we will have to work fast to build our engines” he added.

The boat will sport number GP-57 and will be named per the main sponsor.

Haworth is looking at different options for his engine program and he will make a decision shortly.  Marty Wolfe and a St-Hilaire engine builder will be approached but Pierre Maheu’s engines are still a possibility.

Goal: Top 3

For his first season as an owner, Patrick Haworth would be satisfied to be in the top 3 contending for the championship.  “We have a small budget and everything will be bought brand new.  We will have to be careful while staying competitive.  It will be important to bring the team together”. Patrick will count on the expertise of his dad Warren Haworth and of Dany Lafrance. Philippe Groleau, a retired military serviceman will be the handyman and another crew member will join the team shortly.

Patrick Haworth thinks that three boats will dominate this year: Daniel Mercier and Ghislain Marcoux’s GP-101 Groupe ABS; Bert Henderson’s new GP-777 Steeler and Jimmy Shane’s GP-10 The Charger.  “I will study the boat and see what can be done to make it better.  I’d like to finish in the top 3.  I may have to take advantage of the failures of my opponents” said Haworth.

When he announced his comeback as a driver in October, Patrick Haworth was originally supposed to drive in the H-350 class before coming back to the Grand Prix class.  He already had taken the ex El Diablo H-666 of Ghislain Marcoux following his decision to go Grand Prix.

Now that Patrick Haworth is going back to Grand Prix, the H-350 champion hull is available.  As per the latest information obtained by LE Journal St. François, Marco Poirier would be the front runner to get this boat and graduate to the H-350 class.

The Grand Prix boat fleet is complete.

Denis Bourbonnais – Journal Saint-François

The Grand Prix class will have a full field of 12 boats on the race course for the Canadian Hydroplane Association in 2012.

Director of Les Régates de Valleyfield, Michel Poirier confirmed that the last available boat for next season, the Miss Stuart GP-45, has found a home South of the Canadian border.

Michael Grendell becomes the new owner and co-driver of Mike Weber’s old GP-55 MyWay. A few days after the death of Charles “Chuck” Woodruff who was suppose to campaign the boat this year as the GP-45 Miss Stuart, the racer from Lebanon, Connecticut was invited by Huey Newport to take the boat.

Grendell, who has a lot of experience in powerboat racing will team up with another experienced driver, Joe Sovie. The resident of Ogdensburg,NY will be the crew chief and will share the driving duties with the owner. Grendell hesitated between two names for his new acquisition, GP-79 Bad Influence or the GP-77 Miss America.

“I have not driven in the last 14 years and when Huey (Newport) called me to get the GP-45, I was immediately interested. It is a nice challenge to get back into action driving a Grand Prix boat” said the Acadian who comes from Moncton, New Brunswick during a phone conversation.

 The last time the 46 year old driver was behind the wheel of an hydroplane was in 1997 aboard the GP-47 Molson Canadian (the former Miss Aylmer) in the Grand Prix class. Michael Grendell will be testing his new boat at the Stuart, FL Regatta on April 14 and 15 when a tribute will be done for Chuck Woodruff, who died in an accident during a Vintage accident on March 18^th.

 The boat will then have its home base in Joe Sovie’s hometown of Ogdensburg, NY.  The new team will have two engines built by Huey Newport and will race at all the GP events.

It’s a bit of changes for Michael Grendell who was suppose to drive the H-777 Crush Jr. in the Hydro 350 class after he got the CE-45 in which Paul Hewitt won the5 litres finales in Saint-Félicien and Beauharnois in 2011. Boats will keep changing hands and there is many candidates on the list to get the hull Grendell will return to the Les Régates de Valleyfield. An agreement was made between the ACHA and Grendell, who invested $5,000 in repair on the 2000 Henderson built hull.

Michael Grendell remains the owner of the CS-79 Bad Influence in the  2.5 litres class, in which Bert Henderson won the 73th Régates de Valleyfield last July. The boat built by Henderson in 2010 will be driven by Douglas Rapp, Bert Henderson and at a few occasions by his 23 years old son Mike Jr. who will make his debut in racing in 2012.