Thunder in the Hills "one of the best we've ever had"
Lead Summary
By
-
The waters of Rocky Fork Lake are finally calm after a weekend of roaring boats and cheering spectators turned out for the annual Thunder in the Hills, and the North American Championships of the American Powerboat Association.
Organizer Dean Davis, of the Southern Ohio Powerboat Association, set that while he didn't have a good view of the crowds from him position in the judge's tower, "Everyone said it was packed."
While there were some close calls with breaking world records on the waters, Davis said there were no official runs that qualified as the world's fastest.
"There were a couple that were within a mile per hour of it, but didn't quite make it," Davis said.
Davis said that he heard good things about the races from spectators, with the only complaint was that the events might not have gone quickly enough. Davis said for people who regularly attend boat races they understand that there are sometimes long periods between the action, but first-time spectators aren't always aware.
nt-size: small;"> Fitting more boats into Rocky Fork Lake would have been difficult, he said.
"Everything seemed to go pretty well," Davis said. "There were 72 boats there. I kind of expected more, but it would have been a real hassle. One of the holdups that we had was that when we were ready to start at 10 a.m. Saturday, we still had a line of boats out on the road waiting to come in. Around 10:30 a.m. they were still lined up. We couldn't start until we got all the boats in the water. But we got an earlier start on Sunday."
Davis said that boats came to Highland County from across North America for the race.
"A lot of people had been driving all night to get there," Davis said. "We had several boats from Canada, and we had boats from New Jersey, New York, Florida, Virginia, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts. It wound up being really good. When you get that many boats there, it's all on the pit boss, and my pit boss - Joe Cheezum - he's a good one. The thing about him, I've got enough going on, and when I turn things over to him, I don't worry, because I know it's going to get done."
There was only one serious accident during the weekend, Davis said, but the driver eventually ended up back in the water.
"One guy flipped his boat and he had to go to the doctor's tent, but two races later he was back in the race again," Davis said.
The Southern Ohio Power Boat Association is already looking toward next year's race, and Davis said of the 2010 event, "I think this is one of the best we've ever done."
The waters of Rocky Fork Lake are finally calm after a weekend of roaring boats and cheering spectators turned out for the annual Thunder in the Hills, and the North American Championships of the American Powerboat Association.
Organizer Dean Davis, of the Southern Ohio Powerboat Association, set that while he didn't have a good view of the crowds from his position in the judge's tower, "Everyone said it was packed."
While there were some close calls with breaking world records on the waters, Davis said there were no official runs that qualified as the world's fastest.
"There were a couple that were within a mile per hour of it, but didn't quite make it," Davis said.
Davis said that he heard good things about the races from spectators, with the only complaint was that the events might not have gone quickly enough. Davis said for people who regularly attend boat races they understand that there are sometimes long periods between the action, but first-time spectators aren't always aware.
Fitting more boats into Rocky Fork Lake would have been difficult, he said.
"Everything seemed to go pretty well," Davis said. "There were 72 boats there. I kind of expected more, but it would have been a real hassle. One of the holdups that we had was that when we were ready to start at 10 a.m. Saturday, we still had a line of boats out on the road waiting to come in. Around 10:30 a.m. they were still lined up. We couldn't start until we got all the boats in the water. But we got an earlier start on Sunday."
Davis said that boats came to Highland County from across North America for the race.
"A lot of people had been driving all night to get there," Davis said. "We had several boats from Canada, and we had boats from New Jersey, New York, Florida, Virginia, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts. It wound up being really good. When you get that many boats there, it's all on the pit boss, and my pit boss - Joe Cheezum - he's a good one. The thing about him, I've got enough going on, and when I turn things over to him, I don't worry, because I know it's going to get done."
There was only one serious accident during the weekend, Davis said, but the driver eventually ended up back in the water.
"One guy flipped his boat and he had to go to the doctor's tent, but two races later he was back in the race again," Davis said.
The Southern Ohio Power Boat Association is already looking toward next year's race, and Davis said of the 2010 event, "I think this is one of the best we've ever done."