On a sun-splashed afternoon, Dustin Echols raced across the finish line in first place at the Black Lake Regatta on Saturday, confident he had broken a world record in the Grand Prix class.
Echols, driving Shockwave Racing, a hydroplane owned by Rick Bridgeman of Olympia, came into the weekend optimistic about breaking the world record he set last year in the same race.
“We made a lot of changes to the boat and it’s a lot faster,” Echols said. “We felt that if everything went right we’d break the record.”
They were even told they were record breakers.
After winning by nearly 30 seconds, Echols and his crew were told they had indeed broken the world record of 116.129 mph. But their celebration was short lived. About an hour later, they were told that they didn’t get the record after all.
“They said they had a timing malfunction and it wasn’t a record,” Echols said.
Unfortunately for Echols and his team, they didn’t get a second chance at that record because two of the five boats entered in their classification broke down and the second heat was then scratched.
“You need a minimum of four boats in your heat anyway to officially break a record,” Echols said.
Black Lake’s 1 ¼-mile course is ideal for breaking world records. There were four records broken over the weekend, two boats breaking its classification record twice. In the Cracker Box class, Ron Lund of Valley Central, Calif., broke a world record twice driving Cremesicle, going 83.845 mph on Saturday and then 85.461 on Sunday.
In the Competition Jet class, Scott Schatz, went 76.969 driving Miss Suncoast to break a world record. Schatz then came back in his next heat and went 77.693 to break his own record.
There were 63 boats entered in the Black Lake Regatta.
“It was one of our bigger regattas,” said Pat Yarno, a race official. “It’s an ideal place for a race. There are more inboard records on this lake than any other lake. The water is perfect.”
However, tragedy struck the regatta when Ryan Butler of Buckley was killed after his boat flipped while racing on Black Lake Saturday morning. It was reported to be the first fatality in the regatta since the 1970s.
Echols knew Butler.
“We all know about the risks that can happen,” Echols said. “I think it’s harder on the wives than on the racers. We accept the risks when we enter the sport. We just hope it doesn’t happen.”
Echols, a two-time national champ, has been in several accidents himself that have sent him to the hospital. Echols started driving for Bridgeman six years ago after Bridgeman was injured when his boat flipped while racing on Columbia River in the Tri-Cities. The next year, Echols flipped in the same boat on the same river.
But Echols said drivers accept that risk.
Echols’ father raced hydroplanes and Echols began racing himself as age 10 on smaller outboard, kneel-down hydroplanes. He’s been racing for 21 years.
“It’s a passion,” Echols said. “We love doing it. It’s a team thing. We win as a team.”
In two regattas, the Shockwave team is undefeated. Their next race is at the end of the month in the Tri-Cities.
Black Lake Regatta results
GP class
- Shockwave Racing, Rick Bridgeman (owner), Dustin Echols (driver), Olympia
- Fleury Auto Parts, Mike Flaherty (owner)
- Belevue Fireplace, Larry Garcia (owner), Snohomish
Vintage class
- Annie’s Dodge, Dave Danclanich (owner/driver), Tacoma
- Water Scamp, Steve Kramer (owner/driver), Gig Harbor
- Sunup, Jim Desuler (owner/driver), Tacoma
SS class
- Simple Too, Carlie Marquard (driver), Puyallup
- Aquollic, Lenny Baker (owner/driver), Edmonds
- Soaring Eagle, Jeff Gibson (owner, driver), Kent
1L class
- Corey Peabody (owner), Fife
- Mallory Racing, Kayleigh Perkins (owner), Black Diamond
- Pile Contractors, Kyle Bahl (driver)
2.5 stock class
1. Megabucks, Dutch Squires (owner/driver), Lakewood, Colorado
2. Watch Me Go, David Solway (owner/driver), Tumwater
3. Tsunami, Austin Eacret (owner), Seattle
SE class
- Bad Boy, Levi Weber (driver), Spokane
- Emotion, David Weber (owner/driver), Spokane
- Moonraker, Marisa Stone (owner), Clayton
GPS 95 class
- GPS95, Robert Yaeger (owner), Spokane
- Solid Gold, Don Doidge (owner), Calif.
CI class
- Cremesicle, Ron Lund (owner/driver), Valley Center, Calif.
- Wild Fire, Don Moyle (owner/driver), Burley, Idaho
- CI-169, Mark Yunker (owner/driver), Sun City, Calif.
CB class
- Miss Suncoast, Ed Sois (owner), Calif.
- High Maintenance, Charles Doidge (owner), Calif.
- Grnadpa’s Cracker, Dan Doidge (owner), Anneheim, Calif.
2.5 class
- Knelleken Co, Jared Knelleken (owner/driver), Eatonville
5L class
- Peter & May, Kip Brown (driver), Maple Valley
- Silver Cloud Inns, Wally Jones (driver), Helena, Mont.
- Mauldins Well Service, Jim Mauldin (owner/driver), Friday Harbor
NM class
1. Mr. Jiggs, Brent Harnack (owner/driver), Spokane
2. Hey Jude, Chris Bertram (driver), Eatonville
3. Wild Child, Bill Strain (owner/driver), Auburn
Added Photos By: McGregor Photography
