Hydrobowl 2002 human powered boat (hpb) racing pictures

2002 WISIL Hydrobowl HPB Racing Pictures Held Saturday, 9/7/02 at the Rock Cut state park, in Rockford, IL Race report Thanks to everyone that helped with the timing and organization of the races. Pictures by Rich. Click on any picture for higher resolution. Click here to see the results!
HPBers take a picnic lunch break under the oak trees
	Sidewinder HPB Parts are scattered on the ground while Warren gets it put together. Three U-joints are visible in this picture. The largest of the three is the current model, the other were found to be too weak. Also in the picture is the keyed shaft collar used to hold the prop onto the drive shaft.
Paul Neidermann works on his drive unit, while Bill Murphy steadies the boat. Paul uses the fast prop from the SeaSaber for his catamaran.
	Here's Paul cat from the top. Paul added the cargo netting for this year. Paul has a new HPB in the works, and has completed the carbon fiber hulls, but is still working on the complex articulated drive fin.
Len Brunkalla puts together his folding hull catamaran HPB. This boat was originally designed for his daughter, and Len spent part of the race day trying to modify it to fit himself. Len worked late into the night the day before the race working on the new twisted chain drive unit for Bob Buerger's new boat, but both Bob and Len ran out of time and Bob's new boat never saw the water. Next year!
	Bill Murphy pedals his new catamaran. Bill did finish his new catamaran in time for the races (barely!), and spent some time tweaking it during the races. This design allows him to easily raise the drive unit to clean the prop and for beaching. Bill plans on tweaking it further for next years races.
Left to right, Len, Bill, and Bob get ready for the next race.
	Jake Free backs the OP1 Proa away from the shore.
Jake pedals over to the starting line for the next race. Jake says he has a new boat in the works for next year.
	Bob Buerger on his old boat. Bob's new catamaran for next year features longer and skinnier hulls, and a very slick drive unit built by Len Brunkalla.
Aaron Stiles moves out in the latest version of his Kawak pedal powered dual counter-rotating prop Kayak. This years model looks very near to production, and everything looks quite professional.
	Bill Murphy cranking away during the Bollard pull.
Dan Grow paddles his Surf-Ski kayak during the Ballard pull. Dan paddled so hard he launched himself out of the slippery fiberglass seat twice. Dan says he will be working on a foam and carbon fiber kayak of his own design for next year.
	Bob cranks away during the bollard pull.
Uh Oh. I'm spinning but I'm not going anywhere...
	Bob discovers the spun shaft collar and attempts a quick fix before trying the Bollard pull again.
One of the Canadian spectators takes Jakes catamaran for a test spin. (Ok, what were their names?)
	The racing is over, and Len starts taking apart his HPB. Len's boat suffered the only massive frame failure I have seen. One of the pontoons broke free and Len went for a swim just before the drag races. I guess that's what happens when you spend all your time working on somebody else's boat. Next year he'll be using an aluminum frame for sure!
Hydrobowl2002 Race Report The WISIL HPVers sponsored this event for the 6th year in a row at this location. In addition Len Brunkalla brought lots of food as this was also the 10th anniversary of the WISIL HPVers. This year we had 9 racers, including two racing kayaks (surf-skis), a Proa, and a mess of catamarans. Between time spent as assistant-acting race director, I My boat went a bunch faster this year due to the new WaveBike prop, but still had turning issues. I was able to do a 26.something second 100 meter sprint which was the fastest I've ever gone. Richard in his Surf-ski went the fastest at about 24 seconds for the 100 meter. The 2K criterion was great fun as well with Jake, Richard and me battling it out for top position. Both Richard and I took many runs at trying to pass Jake's huge Pro, but he'd kick it up a notch and neither of us was able to get around him in time for the next corner. Jake came in first, with me second and Richard third, all separated by about a second. Total time was around 14:20, which Jake thinks is a course record. Jake assures me that he was working very hard to keep the dogs who were nipping at his heels at bay. People came from amazing distances to see this race. Two gentlemen came from Brantford Ontario, and New Zealand native Brian came all the way from Maine to scope out the boat designs up close and personal. The Canadians are planning on building an HPB for next year's HPB races, and the Nor'easter was looking for ideas to build a boat to replace the dingy that he currently rows to the mainland to get groceries from his island home. It was a long day, and by the time the bollard pull was completed it was getting near dark. After packing up the boats, and battling the mosquitoes, we retired to the usual Tai restaurant for refueling, and post-race banter. -Warren Beauchamp