March Madness at the Dana Point to Avalon Sprint
America's premiere PWC offshore racing commenced today with one dominant factor, that being a Macc Racing 'Yamaha'.
Dana Point to Avalon PWC Offshore Race 2010 from Hypnotic Films on Vimeo.
Post Race: Chris Macclugage kicks off the 1st race of the Triple Crown of Offshore with the Overall win and the Pro/Am Class title on March 28th, 2010 at Dana Point California. Here’s a ‘talk story’ session after the APBA RPM Racing Enterprises race with the 13 time IJSBA World Champion. Macc Racings #30 Boat devours a 38 mile race track through the open waters between Catalina Island and the California mainland, with a pack of racers working for the same finish. The top riders are matching a mile per minute in open water crossings or less.
Checking in with Macc ‘post race’ with the Liquid Militia crew:
Thoughts?
"It was a good starting point for this Offshore TCO series. I know what I'm up against and we still have more potential to unleash from the SHO, we have a great base. Our setup has been race proven. I was happy with my MoTeC ignition, it worked good in this ocean race, we programmed it and it did what it's supposed to do. I'm happy with the combination R&D, MoTEc and Macc Racing parts, we did well on this first event. For the LB2CAT we can step it up to a faster boat. We had a strong reliable package, but I know there is still more to come.”
Liquid Militia Team Gathering
"Liquid Militia is great! One thing coming into this relationship with Macc Racing, we asked for support with publicity and Liquid Militia and Bryant Lambert are doing such a great job! Also for guiding us to step up our marketing outreach 2010 program. It helps us; it helps our entire PWC community. All the support, staying at the Liquid Militia home, the great people, we had fun and we are enthused by the positive community vibe. Liquid Militia exemplifies what is good about our sport, the people, what they do and who they are. I loved Ahmed’s chicken dinner BTW.”
The Conditions?
''It was a typical southern California day it was beautiful, blue waters, dolphins, warm air and fast boats.”
The Future of Offshore PWC Racing?
“I think a lot of the racers wanted rough water but at the same time, many didn't. With the fast water the race is safer; some racers aren't rough water riders. There is great opportunity in class structure and selection for the newer riders to earn the ocean awareness of rough water conditions. When it's too rough people get scared, these races have a historic fast track, making it a great venue for all caliber of riders. Mark Gerner from PWCOFFSHORE won't back down on rough conditions, Shawn won't, I won't. Mark is an excellent rough water racer, he can handle open water, but not everyone can, he sets a strong pace. There are two levels of competitors. Choose your class and you can excel on the track in any seasonal conditions. A lot of racers had fun and got to ‘the other side’ and enjoyed it, this is what makes offshore racing great.”
Sportsman Class
“The Sportsman Class is the entry level division. It's great to see new people getting involved in offshore racing. "I had a new racer come up to me this morning and said, 'Hey are you racing in the Sportsman class'? (I think that's awesome!) I responded 'My name is Chris; no I'm racing Pro/am'. He said 'Oh this is my first time!' I think it's great that these new riders are stepping up! Good for them!”
Did you expect to win today?
“I was worried the boat wasn't fast enough, it was barely on top. I wanted to finish the race. I was expected to win by a lot of people. I knew I could personally. But I had so many problems at the Mark Hahn and with testing prior to this race, I was nervous. It's for two reasons, myself riding which isn't that bad, normally that’s all I have to worry about that. Then when building the boat, it’s a totally different aspect of the racing side because I built the boat. That boosted my confidence to build my own boat. Bill Chapin from R&D helps me with what to put on it, but I basically put the engine together and go over it myself. I had a lot of pride in this race boat; it’s going to be a good year for Macc Racing.”
Podium
“That kid from Texas, Tyler White #3, his TAD Racing team had fast boats! I didn't know much about him, but he's a really good rider, he was on target with his GPS, stuck to the right track. Lee Phan #8 and I kept getting pushing South. I had to backtrack North and Tyler was on track, heading for the Sea Tow finish line. I was trying to push Lee a little bit. I figured he would look at his GPS and jump behind me and come around, correcting his trackline, but he didn't. We kept going off track. Tyler straight lined it, catching up a little bit. Lee was very impressive, a very good strong rider. He let Rachel ride his Sea Doo yesterday on our practice run; Lee was very kind and helpful.”
Racers on the Track
“The Dana Point 2 Avalon Sprint had 4 Yamahas racing. A rider on a #169 FCS (Andrew Meyers), the husband and wife team Dawn and David Fekete and myself were on the Yamaha Waverunner track. David is a Challenged Athlete racer along with PWCoffshore’s Warren Frank. It's good to see the product line and racers bringing out their Waverunners and pushing their limits'. Tom Pham #35 (4th) he was really happy with his placing. It seemed like he didn't expect it and had a positive attitude about the sport. I really enjoyed being around this group of racers, it was refreshing, and fun. 34 racers on the track, good to see how much potential exists. It will only go up, I’m counting on it.”
Do People Always Expect you to Win?
"It's interesting sometimes I think people do have that perspective. I was more nervous about my boat, since I've had down luck on it the past few weeks. If I'm on a good machine, I'm going to win. I was going from checking the error, filter, follow the whole engine in my head, every hose clamp, backwards, forwards... it's nerve racking, did I miss anything? There are three things maybe I didn't check, so I dwell on what I didn't get, and will there be a chain reaction? This is as much a part of racing, as racing is itself. The combination go race boat and rider, well, first it takes the boat to perform. The rider just needs to let the boat do it's magic. But first, you need it to run fast, hard and across the finish line. Now along with my sponsors, I'm the mechanic, and the rider, lots of pride in owning the full package, great partnerships create great wins.” 'Looking forward to the LB2CAT. Are you going to be there?'
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Please check out the Dana Point to Av Race Page for further information:
http://pwcoffshore.com/Dana_Point_2_Avalon_Race.
The 2010 Macc Racing Team is backed with the support of Yamaha, Alpina, Monster Energy, R&D, HT Moto, MoTeC, Liquid Militia, Oakley, quakysense, Race Deck, RonnyMac Photography, Strawrubby, JE Pistons
Macc Racing Homepagewww.MaccRacing.com
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Liquid Militiawww.LiquidMiltia.com
