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Traffic Light Adventure in Key West thru Dawns eyes!

Dawn , When you get time ,how about a play by play of
the blowover you experienced in the Talon .
I Aplaud you for getting back in .
It's one thing for the Driver ,and the Throttleman to jump rite back . They are in control ,and have their own confidence.
You as a rider do not .

You did evidently have confidence in the crew .
  Dee told me you were ok and ready to race again........my hats off to you and look foward to see you out there many more times.   

Ok ... race day 1

We were freakin in it!!! OMG! What a rush catchin up to OTC and goin into that turn beside them ..... problem was .. when we got there, there was another boat in our line. Ed had to move over to avoid a collision... when we did ... we slid across their wake and the boat caught and hooked ... it stopped for a second and I thought COOL! we are only gonna hook .... and then it started to roll .... I put one hand on the release and plugged my nose with the other (not a fan of water in my face) .. waited for the boat to stop moving and pulled the release .. rolled over inside the boat and there was an air pocket so I took a few breaths and thought I gotta get out of here or Eds gonna kick my ass ... so I walked myself over to the side and pushed down and out and popped up to hear Ed yellin "where the F were you" I told him I was ok and yelled wheres Val ... Val had gone around to the other side of the boat to look for me. The helicopter was over head and the wind from the blades was pushin us down in the water so Ed yelled to inflate my vest so I did and we started swimmin for the rescue boat ... we got to one and they said no go to the one over there and so we swam to the other one .... Got there and a guy started to pull me in and the other guy yelled at him to stop and I said "excuse me?" and he said are you hurt and I said "did you not just see me swim from that boat to this boat of course Im not hurt" So they laughed and pulled us into the boat ...

and let me tell you what ... those SBI guys are serious about their security cuz when we got back over to the crane and got off of the rescue boat, I climbed the ladder and was drippin wet and one of the SBI guys came over and asked me if I had a pass ... I said.. well ok more like yelled "are you f'n kiddin me" .... luckily I didnt loose it in the roll
 Took about 3 hours to get the boat out of the water and we spent the rest of Weds gettin the motors to fire and cleanin stuff up. I cant thank the people who helped us and those that offered to help us enough. OPA rocks! We are a big family and the concern that you guys showed me was overwhelming .... more so than the roll. The roll was easy ... it really was ... slow motion and not a big deal other than what it did to the boat and to our points. Ed had put so much time and money into gettin it ready but OMG those new Scorpion motors kick ass! Frank was there to help and the guys had then goin in no time. The electric was another story .... wow do things get ruined quickly in salt water ... all the gauges and anything electrical was toast

Race Day 2

Came in second to Cintron .... how cool is that! Ok obviously first would have been better but after day 1, day 2 was pretty awesome. I was not nervous at all about gettin into the boat... I actually took a nap on the boat while we were at the cranes waitin for the race to start What can I say ..... KW wears me out
  

Race Day 3 .....

Well ... we had a team pow wow before the race and we knew we had to get the lead from the start to have a shot at winning. So the race starts and guess what .... we got the lead. We were doin 111 on the GPS goin down the straight and we head into the first turn. I can see Motley Crew comin towards us and they kept gettin closer and closer and BOOM! I got an up close and personal view of their port side. The impact sent us into a spin ... almost a full 360 and wow what a wall of water. Somebody asked me later if I was scared and I said no. I was way to pissed to be scared. I really believe we had a shot of placin well, if not winning the Worlds. I really thought we were gonna be the Cinderella story for KW (kinda like Wanted in St Clair) Ed had taken the boat out Saturday and had it set up and flyin. The water was perfect for Traffic Light ....

All I can tell you is that it was violent. I mean teeth shattering, neck flyin violent ... I am sore from head to toe and the bruises just keep comin. Thank God for the 5 point harness ....

The roll was a piece of cake but I will be very happy to never have that kind of impact again.
  

 

Attention Race Teams,
 
I am looking to improve the coverage and efficiency of the photography of the boat races I attend.
 
If you could take a moment and provide some feedback on what you would like to see, that would be greatly appreciated.
 
I have also come up with an idea that I would like to try out for the Cambridge, Md race.
 
That is to offer PRO:  Pre-Race Options
 
The PRO (Pre-Race Options) would be the offering of the photo negatives at a reduced rate.
 
PRO 1:
 
For $100, you would receive via email 1 photograph negative (High Resolution Digital File) of your choice from the race you signed up for that day prior to the race. That is a $50 savings over the regular price.
 
PRO 2:
 
For $200, you would receive via email 2 photograph negatives (High Resolution Digital Files) of your choice from the race your signed up for that day prior to the race. That is a $100 savings over the regular price.
 
 
PRO 3:  BEST VALUE !!!
 
For $300, you would receive a CD of (ALL) the high quality, high resolution photograph negatives of your boat that were taken at the race you had signed up for that day prior to the race. This is almost as if you had hired a professional photographer for the weekend but for substantially alot less.
 
With PRO there are many advantages.
 
1. Unlimited amount of photos can be made with the file.
2. When in need of an immediate print, you can take the file to the printer of your choice.
3. You have control over which lab prints your photos.
4. You now will have a Digital image available to use on your team's website.
5. Shots can be arranged within the assigned pit area for a team photo
 
 
Also by knowing prior to the race which teams I need to cover, it will allow me more time to  spend focusing on those boats rather than lose time and resources on a team that chooses not to be covered.
 
If in the event there is an equipment failure on my end or the boat's and a shot cannot be produced, then either a credit or a refund will be given.
 
To insure to have the PRO coverage, payment must be made in full prior to the start of the race. Checks or Cash will be accepted at the race site. If a credit card is wished to be used, please use the Pay Pal Icon on the website www.SharkeyMarine.com prior to arriving at the event.
 
If you have other suggestions or even a comment as to whether to GO PRO or not, please let me know by sending an email to sharkeymarine@yahoo.com .
 
Thank you in advance for your time and input.
 
Tim Sharkey
 
Photographer
 
Sharkey Advertising  LLC
 
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