Perkins Hopes to End Gauntlet on High
Note
Last season, Kayleigh
Perkins, helped into the UL-72 Miss Boat Electric by George Greer, used a win
in Silverdale to vault her to the ULHRA title at just 19 years old. (Carolyn J.
Yaschur | Kitsap Sun)
Kayleigh Perkins takes
a swim after winning the Unlimited Lights race in Silverdale last August.
Taking a post-race dip after the first win is a hydroplane racing tradition.
Perkins' win last year was the first by a woman in a major hydroplane race
since before World War II. (Carolyn J. Yaschur | Kitsap Sun)
SILVERDALE
In Unlimited Light Hydroplane Racing
Association circles, it's been dubbed "The Gauntlet."
It's a stretch of five races in five weeks
that wraps up this weekend with Silverdale Thunder on Dyes Inlet.
"There's a plus and a minus," ULHRA
spokesman John Lynch said of this rare clump of races. "The plus is, the
more you do this, the more repetitive you make things, the better at it you
get.
"The other side (there's) more wear and
tear on your boat, on your engines, on your hardware."
Hydroplane racing isn't comparable to NASCAR
where there's big money and plenty of equipment. Weeks of racing can leave
parts trailers pretty bare, and that could become a factor during races.
"You get to the end of a run like this,
you start to see some surprises," Lynch said. "You may see a
first-time winner in Silverdale."
Last year, there was a first-time winner in
Silverdale. A historic first-time winner, in fact.
Kayleigh Perkins, 19 at the time, became the
first female to win a major hydroplane race since before World War II, Lynch
said.
After winning in Silverdale, Perkins went to
claim the ULHRA National High Point Drivers title and, of course, rookie of the
year honors.
"It's unbelievable," said Perkins,
while taking a quick break Sunday in the pits at Seafair, where she took third.
"I wouldn't trade what I'm doing for anything else in the world."
Perkins was brought into the sport because of
her brother, unlimited driver Brian Perkins.
"He was really more hydro nuts than I
ever was," she said. "He got our family (which hails from Black
Diamond) into the racing part of it."
She started racing at 16 and won in
And she started this year looking as though
she would repeat as Lights champ.
She won two of the first three races in the
UL-72 Miss Boat Electric, but she since's been struggling with engine trouble.
"This has been a very tough
gauntlet," she said. "I didn't think it would be. We have a very
successful teams, and I didn't think we'd have any problems. We've had more
problems than anybody."
The Miss Boat Electric has burned through two
engines."Motors, they break," Perkins said. "You run them at
8,000 RPMs and they're going to break."
Still, Perkins is in second place in the
points standings by just over 400 points. It's a slim margin as those points
can be made up in a single heat.
After this weekend, the circuit takes a break
until October when they head to
"I am drained," Perkins said.
"I am very looking forward to the week after Silverdale when I'm going to
be up in the islands with my cell phone off and enjoying being young and doing
anything I want."
But first comes the choppy waters of Dyes
Inlet.
"Silverdale looks very innocent,"
Lynch said. "It's a tough race course. Last year, six unlimited teams got
knocked out."
You won't hear Perkins saying bad things about
the rough waters.
"A lot of people are scared of that race
track," she said. "But I like it."
Silverdale Thunder
At Dyes Inlet
Saturday
10:30 a.m.: Testing and qualifying
12:30 p.m.: Four cylinder Heat 1
12:45 p.m.: Eight cylinder Heat 1
1 p.m.: Unlimited Lights Heat 1A
2:30 p.m.: Four cylinder Heat 2
3 p.m.: Eight cylinder Heat 2
Sunday
12:30 p.m.: Four cylinder hydro final
1 p.m.: Eight cylinder hydro final
1:30 p.m.: Unlimited Lights Heat 2A
2 p.m.: Unlimited Lights Heat 2B
3:30 p.m.: Unlimited Lights B
4:45 p.m.: Unlimited Lights Final