The biggest winners at “The Worlds” were Brit Lilly and his dad, Art, and throttleman Ron Umlandt. They were named World Champions for their racing efforts in the Super Vee Lite category for the 2014 season. Their single engine 525-horsepower Mercury Marine Racing stern drive 29-foot Extreme brand race boat,
LSB Racing, is home-based within their Lilly Sport Boats business in Arnold, MD.
Their boat racing efforts are an extended family affair within their team; thus the large crowd at the trophy ceremony, but the boisterous joy from the entire ballroom room crowd of racers at the awards ceremony as their win was announced October 5 at the Solomons Holiday Inn was overwhelming.
But, #422
Erie Monster, a Class 4 Great American Concept brand race boat, driven by Ceric Ide (Medina, OH) and throttled by George Cervoski was the absolute public crowd pleaser. Whether one was along the sea wall boardwalk or within the paid-for inside or deck seating at Stoney’s Solomons Pier, their practice lap before each race was greeted with a roar from the shore-side crowd. Their sense of fun, adrenaline within the boat’s cockpit, and racing spirit set the crowd of spectators on fire.
Richard Chaney (Lothian, MD) was named the World Champion Boat Racer in the top-ranked Extreme Race Boat Class. Richard is the owner/driver of
Miss Mary Mac a 47’ MTI, powered by two1900 HP Turbine engines and Marine Drives.
Ed (driver) with Shawn (throttleman) Smith from St. Clair, MI, won the World Champion in the Super Cat class. Their 388 Skater racer is named
Cleveland Construction.
Additional World Champions:
Class 1—Frank Nania and Dave Wesseldyk, #179
Skater
Class 2—Eliot Gray and Shawa Vinson, #211,
MTI
Class 3—Louie Giancontieni and Erik Vohrer, # V6,
Fountain
Class 4—Johnny Saris, Jason Saris, and Verne French, #441
Cobra
Class 5—John Coen and Eddie Simmons, #505,
Superboat
Class 6—Lee Ann Peluso and Chris Reindl, #602
Reindl One Design
Class 7—Kyle Miller and Jay Wohltman, # 732
Activator
What it is like to drive a Super Vee Lite Race Boat?
You are driving a 90-plus miles per hour Super Vee Lite race boat just offshore at Solomons, near the mouth of the Patuxent River off the Chesapeake Bay. Your throttleman has your boat trimmed to be at the very edge of control. It is your job to feel the wakes, wind, and chop that the boat is driving through and keep it in control. Your tools are the steering wheel and your senses. Nothing else, but it is your efforts that make for a win or an also ran finish.
The boat moves, tilts, leaps, and twists, and you have to use your steering wheel movements to keep it going in your path around the course for a fast, winning position. Some are small movements, others fairly large. There are many movements; continuous steering wheel movements on your part put you in the best position to score a win.
Your boat builder designed your racer to get more “boat” running in the air than in the water, as water is thicker and slower. Thus your boat runs at break neck speed in what is best described as highly aerated water. Then your riggers set the Mercury Marine Racing 525-horsepower engine, outdrive, and trim tabs in the boat to do the same loose running. If you are one of the fastest boats, your shop modified your fiberglass hull to cram even more air under the boat with NACA (a form of low-drag air inlet design) inlets and other tubes, channels, and shaped edges to handle the air under the running surface. The boat is set-up to “dance” around the race course.
It is up to you via your steering wheel inputs to keep her right-side up. Oh, and not to swap ends (spin out), when the thrust of that propeller changes. Your race boat wants to do that all the time, all at high speed.
In fact, the fastest boats have deliberately modified their boat bottoms to be too loose to control and then go backwards slightly in speed to adjust or widen a bottom strake or two to allow the driver to be able to keep the boat under control.
by Chris "Seabuddy" Brown
The biggest winners at “The Worlds” were Brit Lilly and his dad, Art, and throttleman Ron Umlandt. They were named World Champions for their racing efforts in the Super Vee Lite category for the 2014 season. Their single engine 525-horsepower Mercury Marine Racing stern drive 29-foot Extreme brand race boat, LSB Racing, is home-based within their Lilly Sport Boats business in Arnold, MD.
Their boat racing efforts are an extended family affair within their team; thus the large crowd at the trophy ceremony, but the boisterous joy from the entire ballroom room crowd of racers at the awards ceremony as their win was announced October 5 at the Solomons Holiday Inn was overwhelming.
But, #422 Erie Monster, a Class 4 Great American Concept brand race boat, driven by Ceric Ide (Medina, OH) and throttled by George Cervoski was the absolute public crowd pleaser. Whether one was along the sea wall boardwalk or within the paid-for inside or deck seating at Stoney’s Solomons Pier, their practice lap before each race was greeted with a roar from the shore-side crowd. Their sense of fun, adrenaline within the boat’s cockpit, and racing spirit set the crowd of spectators on fire.
Richard Chaney (Lothian, MD) was named the World Champion Boat Racer in the top-ranked Extreme Race Boat Class. Richard is the owner/driver of Miss Mary Mac a 47’ MTI, powered by two1900 HP Turbine engines and Marine Drives.
Ed (driver) with Shawn (throttleman) Smith from St. Clair, MI, won the World Champion in the Super Cat class. Their 388 Skater racer is named Cleveland Construction.