Show annual melon day regatta proves to be thriller rooster tails were tall and ragged in the six big races held in the ch copped waters of the green river september an exciting one mile oval rather tight on the turns caused a thrilling spill at the lower buoy of dave whitner s tempo 4 6 U many there near accidents occurred such as a large hole in the hull bull of walt dansie s D hydro when he was brushed in a turn by tom my white whites s moab drilling the regatta was sponsored by the american legion and featured top notch drivers from through out region 16 which includes utah wy orning colorado south idaho so uth nth dakota and nebraska star of the day was a tommy white who was in the thick est of jot competition and up against seasoned veterans such as walt dansie of salt lake city who ear her lier this month won the title of na dional champion at the nat locals held at de lake oregon and george walton also of salt lake city who is regional champion this year tommy ran in third place most of the race but was crowding both walton and dansie at every buoy this was tommys tommas first race and he can be proud of driving this being the opinion of both dansie and walton boats were clocked at 68 63 mph in the first event four B hy dro s moved up to the clock and vied for positions at every turn herb ha usman of salt lake city held the lead all the way for first place while herb de weese and roy Ku both from provo fought it out for second with de weese winning by only a small margin on the timers watch L LC C of provo had engine trouble after hitting the rocks on the east shore and was thrown out of the race the second race was the D hy dro with walt densie placing first george walton second and tommy white third a real thriller all the way third event was B racing run about with C E mendenhall of salt lake city second and dave whit ner of grand junction colorado third fourth regatta event was the era cru iser race with bill gwin gwm of grand junction in first place fred turner of moab second place and russel russe grant of grand junction third fifth race was D racing run about with C A feller of grand junction breezing in first john birdseye of salt lake city second and jerry bittle of moab third ken sloan s spare time ran sick and failed to finish in the ladies race only two entries made the start mary walton of salt lake city crossed the finish line in first place only after mar jone jorie sloan s D runaway broke a throttle cable this brought the 1955 regatta to a close until next year when the he t rooster tails will fly again knowing the rules is not enough you have to get in there and play the game A rich man finds he cant salt away much money if he always has a little sugar on the side |