11-23-12
I miss the U-17 Miss Red Dot/ Silver Cloud Inns. She is on the slow boat to Doha. I bet a few other drivers miss their rides, too, but I decided to do something about it. I happen to know a chef aboard the freighter (met through facebook) and he smuggled a cell phone out to the deck so I could touch base with the boat. It went a little something like this:
U17: Hello?
Me: Hey, It’s Kip.
U17: Kip who? Haha, just kidding.
Me: Funny. How is the trek coming?
U17: Pretty OK. Rocking and rolling a little.
Me: Oh. Rough ride?
U17: No, pretty smooth. They set me next to the U-100 and there is a Def Leppard CD playing on loop. If I hear “Pour Some Sugar On Me” one more time, I am gonna drop my strut.
Me: Oh, I get it. Sorry about that. Hey, I wanted to touch base with you and make sure we are on the same page about Doha. We have really stunk up the series this year, and this is our chance to turn it around.
U17: You are not blaming that on me, are you?
Me: Don’t get an attitude. I am not pointing fingers. I just want to make sure you are ready to rock. I have an axe to grind with Old Smiley (Steve David) and he has been a little cocky, if you haven’t noticed.
U17: I am always ready to rock. If you guys would get your act together, we would be fine. And quit changing drivers. It confuses me. You know that your butt is the only one I want to feel in my cockpit. Of course I am going to throw a fit when someone else comes around. I felt so used.
Me: I apologize again, sweet pea. Believe me, if I could have driven, I would have. Thanks again for not tipping over when the steering broke.
U17: You’re welcome. I will take care of you. I always will. I love you.
Me: I love you too, U17. Try to tune out that butt- rock and get some sleep. We are gonna flog those guys when I get to Doha.
U17: Promise?
Me: I promise.
So, it started out a little rocky, but I think we are on the same page. I might call again, if my chef buddy will help me out. I will be sure to post the conversation if it happens.
Kip Brown
Friday, November 23, 2012
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
7-17-12
The Detroit River grew a leg over the past weekend and kicked me repeatedly in the balls. Well, not just me. Actually, the Mr. River kicked a few other guys harder. Allow me to digress...
I flew on a red-eye to Detroit on Thursday night. My trusty crew chief, Dave Bell, happens to be a borderline insomniac, and picked me up at the crack of dawn. We took the scenic route to the pits, and the crew had asssembled our "moisture missile" in fine form. Testing went OK. I actually waited until a couple boats were on the water to chop it up, for two reasons. First, I knew that the water was gonna be junk, 'cause it's the Gold Cup. Second, 'cause I am a bad-ass. As qualifying rolled around, we watched some guys running and putting up some stout numbers. After sizing up the competition, I figured the old 17 had about a 156- 157 mph chambered. All I had to do was pull the trigger. Instead of a bullet, I fired a boomerang, in the form of a pretty nasty hook in the Roostertail Turn on my WARM UP lap. Who crashes during a warm up lap? Oh yeah... Super Dave did...
As it turns out, the hook was due to loose steering cables. The cable actually spun on the drum at the bottom of the steering shaft. After the spin, the steering wheel was 180 degrees out. So, the trusty crew went to work tightening the cable, and I went to work trusting that the hook was a fluke. We made it out for qualifying, and during the warm up lap the steering shifted a bit again. After learning a valuable lession the previous time out, I tip-toed through with a 154. something lap, which qualified us in the middle of the pack.
Friday evening was spent disassembling the steering, then reinstalling the cable properly and putting some extra "oomph" on the cables. Saturday morning we went out and had a good test. I was excited for the first heat. I was confident that we were on our way to a good weekend. So confident, in fact, that I figured I would give the ENTIRE REST OF THE FIELD a six second head start in the first heat. To be fair, that bone head move was caused because of another bone head move: I put the fire out right before the score up. So, I watched a pretty good race in front of me that I should have won, or at least finished well. As it turns out, I got last.
That's OK. It's the Gold Cup, and you are allowed a bad heat (there are four qualifiers in Detroit.) I went to score up in the second heat, and pulled a pretty nice leapfrog. J Dub pulled one, too, and came over on me into lane 1. I had to choose to eat his tail and put the fire out again, or do a donut in the infield. That donut tasted like crap, and I was a few seconds late for the start on the outside, playing catch up again. This time I was pissed, and legged out the U-17 and beat her up pretty good. Passed J Dub (the cheater got called for the lane infraction) and Hopp, and was chasing down Mark Evans when I ran out of time. Well, that was better: second place points would make the team forget about the morning screw up. BUT NO!!! We were cheaters too, and were called for an N2 violation (basically too high RPM). So now we are last in points. Sweet.
Then Mikey Webster blew over. I don't know how the boat flipped, because the weight of his giant balls should have kept it down. Hopp was on the inside. Mike was in the middle. Old Man Chelan was on the outside in the U-57. They went BOMBING into the Roostertail Turn, about 5 feet apart, and nobody was going to give an inch. Mike had boat speed, but was in a bad position due to a marginal start. Just before entering the turn, the U22 took off and never looked back. Mikey is fine, but the boat is badly damaged. The only saving grace is that the boat was really rolling, and the team seems to have foun the speed they have been looking for.
Sunday morning- a new day. We had a good heat, finally, and raced Jimmy Shane in the Graham Trucking to a secnd place finish. That was a good step forward, but our chances were very slim for makiing the final, unless lots of bad things happened to other boats.
Then lots of bad things started to happen. J Dub blew over the Miss Peters and May, continuing his horrible streak of luck at the D. He was fine, but the boat was a little banged up. The U11 guys and gals are an awesome crew, and they will be ready, and yellow, for Tri Cities. Then the wind REALLY started blowing. We nearly did not go out for the fourth heat, as it made no sence to break up the boat, knowing we were unlikely to make the final. I decided to run outside, because I figured if the other guys raced, one would probably crash. Scott Liddycoat crashed the 88 Degree Men in front of me. He popped right out the bottom hatch and was pissed, but unhurt.
While the broken boats were put back on their trailers, it gave us time to let the wind calm down. We got in for the restart and I went to take off at about 5:30 on the countdown clock. The turbine started to spool, then... nothing. Nothing, that is, except people yelling, "Fire!" I'll have you know I can get out of the cockpit in about .8 seconds. A battery cable melted at a quick connect fitting, and our weekend was over.
Super Dave won the final for the Qatar team, and brought the boat back from an impossible angle (how it did not blow over, I will never know). Congratulations to the entire 96 team, and also to Dave for his TENTH Gold Cup.
The Detroit River grew a leg over the past weekend and kicked me repeatedly in the balls. Well, not just me. Actually, the Mr. River kicked a few other guys harder. Allow me to digress...
I flew on a red-eye to Detroit on Thursday night. My trusty crew chief, Dave Bell, happens to be a borderline insomniac, and picked me up at the crack of dawn. We took the scenic route to the pits, and the crew had asssembled our "moisture missile" in fine form. Testing went OK. I actually waited until a couple boats were on the water to chop it up, for two reasons. First, I knew that the water was gonna be junk, 'cause it's the Gold Cup. Second, 'cause I am a bad-ass. As qualifying rolled around, we watched some guys running and putting up some stout numbers. After sizing up the competition, I figured the old 17 had about a 156- 157 mph chambered. All I had to do was pull the trigger. Instead of a bullet, I fired a boomerang, in the form of a pretty nasty hook in the Roostertail Turn on my WARM UP lap. Who crashes during a warm up lap? Oh yeah... Super Dave did...
As it turns out, the hook was due to loose steering cables. The cable actually spun on the drum at the bottom of the steering shaft. After the spin, the steering wheel was 180 degrees out. So, the trusty crew went to work tightening the cable, and I went to work trusting that the hook was a fluke. We made it out for qualifying, and during the warm up lap the steering shifted a bit again. After learning a valuable lession the previous time out, I tip-toed through with a 154. something lap, which qualified us in the middle of the pack.
Friday evening was spent disassembling the steering, then reinstalling the cable properly and putting some extra "oomph" on the cables. Saturday morning we went out and had a good test. I was excited for the first heat. I was confident that we were on our way to a good weekend. So confident, in fact, that I figured I would give the ENTIRE REST OF THE FIELD a six second head start in the first heat. To be fair, that bone head move was caused because of another bone head move: I put the fire out right before the score up. So, I watched a pretty good race in front of me that I should have won, or at least finished well. As it turns out, I got last.
That's OK. It's the Gold Cup, and you are allowed a bad heat (there are four qualifiers in Detroit.) I went to score up in the second heat, and pulled a pretty nice leapfrog. J Dub pulled one, too, and came over on me into lane 1. I had to choose to eat his tail and put the fire out again, or do a donut in the infield. That donut tasted like crap, and I was a few seconds late for the start on the outside, playing catch up again. This time I was pissed, and legged out the U-17 and beat her up pretty good. Passed J Dub (the cheater got called for the lane infraction) and Hopp, and was chasing down Mark Evans when I ran out of time. Well, that was better: second place points would make the team forget about the morning screw up. BUT NO!!! We were cheaters too, and were called for an N2 violation (basically too high RPM). So now we are last in points. Sweet.
Then Mikey Webster blew over. I don't know how the boat flipped, because the weight of his giant balls should have kept it down. Hopp was on the inside. Mike was in the middle. Old Man Chelan was on the outside in the U-57. They went BOMBING into the Roostertail Turn, about 5 feet apart, and nobody was going to give an inch. Mike had boat speed, but was in a bad position due to a marginal start. Just before entering the turn, the U22 took off and never looked back. Mikey is fine, but the boat is badly damaged. The only saving grace is that the boat was really rolling, and the team seems to have foun the speed they have been looking for.
Sunday morning- a new day. We had a good heat, finally, and raced Jimmy Shane in the Graham Trucking to a secnd place finish. That was a good step forward, but our chances were very slim for makiing the final, unless lots of bad things happened to other boats.
Then lots of bad things started to happen. J Dub blew over the Miss Peters and May, continuing his horrible streak of luck at the D. He was fine, but the boat was a little banged up. The U11 guys and gals are an awesome crew, and they will be ready, and yellow, for Tri Cities. Then the wind REALLY started blowing. We nearly did not go out for the fourth heat, as it made no sence to break up the boat, knowing we were unlikely to make the final. I decided to run outside, because I figured if the other guys raced, one would probably crash. Scott Liddycoat crashed the 88 Degree Men in front of me. He popped right out the bottom hatch and was pissed, but unhurt.
While the broken boats were put back on their trailers, it gave us time to let the wind calm down. We got in for the restart and I went to take off at about 5:30 on the countdown clock. The turbine started to spool, then... nothing. Nothing, that is, except people yelling, "Fire!" I'll have you know I can get out of the cockpit in about .8 seconds. A battery cable melted at a quick connect fitting, and our weekend was over.
Super Dave won the final for the Qatar team, and brought the boat back from an impossible angle (how it did not blow over, I will never know). Congratulations to the entire 96 team, and also to Dave for his TENTH Gold Cup.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Monday, June 4, 2012
Friday, June 1, 2012
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Friday, April 6, 2012
March 27, 2012
Our first video version of Today at the Shop, enjoy...
(Takes a second to load, if it doesn't show up roll mouse over icons at bottom, usually fixes)
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
3-7-12
We had a good crew day last Saturday, and got the 17 all scrubbed up and shiny, and put her back in her stall for some pre-season work. Then, Tuesday night five of us got together and tackled the truck. We got an engine and geabox put in the machine shop. The spare cowling came out next, followed by a ton of tools, odds, and ends. The truck is now ready for a little clean up and maintenance, but it's in pretty good shape for going around the world. The boat is in GREAT shape, and we are so happy that we worked so hard in Doha to get all of the salt cleaned up. I was expecting bad things when I popped off the deck hatches, but it is clean enough for Nate to eat out of (I will sit at the table, thanks.) Next step is to pull out the steering cable (new one to come.) All of the pulleys will be disassembled and will likely get new bearings. The cockpit latch is going to be slightly redesigned, with a delrin bushing to help keep it happy. More fun to come...
Kip Brown
We had a good crew day last Saturday, and got the 17 all scrubbed up and shiny, and put her back in her stall for some pre-season work. Then, Tuesday night five of us got together and tackled the truck. We got an engine and geabox put in the machine shop. The spare cowling came out next, followed by a ton of tools, odds, and ends. The truck is now ready for a little clean up and maintenance, but it's in pretty good shape for going around the world. The boat is in GREAT shape, and we are so happy that we worked so hard in Doha to get all of the salt cleaned up. I was expecting bad things when I popped off the deck hatches, but it is clean enough for Nate to eat out of (I will sit at the table, thanks.) Next step is to pull out the steering cable (new one to come.) All of the pulleys will be disassembled and will likely get new bearings. The cockpit latch is going to be slightly redesigned, with a delrin bushing to help keep it happy. More fun to come...
Kip Brown
Sunday, February 26, 2012
There has not been a lot going on at the U-17 shop over the winter, as the boat has been half way around the world. One notewothy item is that we are manufacturing our own gearbox gear sets now, which is exciting. A third gearbox is coming together, which will hopefully help us be a little more competitive against the heavy hitters in Unlimited. Nate rebuilt a big Bayliner as a winter project, and it is moored on Lake Washington now. The boat should be home tomorrow, and after a big clean up we will slide her back into her bay and get back to work. Honestly, I can't wait! I am SO looking forward to starting some projects on the old Red Dot and getting the Gang back together.
I enjoyed the H-1 meetings over the weekend, and we had some interesting marketing meetings. As a result of these meetings, I have a new facebook fan page, Kip Brown Motorsports. Please like my page, and I will post updates on the U-17 and the E-1, Miss Peters and May five liter. Also, this year I will be driving Justin and Stephanie Weymouth's 2.5 Liter Modified Hydro, and I will keep you updated on the facebook page.
The H-1 Air National Guard Series banquet was a huge success. The video and audio were top notch, and Steve Montgomery and Brad Luce were great MC's. I was pleased to see the U-11 earn Owners of the Year, and I thought that the recognition that Air National Guard and Peters and May received was well deserved. Best of all, our own Nate Brown earned Best Crew Chief, and he presented the award to the U-17 Crew Chief, Dave Bell. I am so proud of our guys, and this award was well deserved.
I enjoyed the H-1 meetings over the weekend, and we had some interesting marketing meetings. As a result of these meetings, I have a new facebook fan page, Kip Brown Motorsports. Please like my page, and I will post updates on the U-17 and the E-1, Miss Peters and May five liter. Also, this year I will be driving Justin and Stephanie Weymouth's 2.5 Liter Modified Hydro, and I will keep you updated on the facebook page.
The H-1 Air National Guard Series banquet was a huge success. The video and audio were top notch, and Steve Montgomery and Brad Luce were great MC's. I was pleased to see the U-11 earn Owners of the Year, and I thought that the recognition that Air National Guard and Peters and May received was well deserved. Best of all, our own Nate Brown earned Best Crew Chief, and he presented the award to the U-17 Crew Chief, Dave Bell. I am so proud of our guys, and this award was well deserved.
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