Driver: Steve David

Owner: Citizens - City of Madison, IN

Regatta Victim's Fund
River Valley Bank
P. O. Box 1590
Madison, IN 47250

The latest...
1/9/08
Here are a couple of photos from crew member Cindy of the recent work in the Madison shop!

Pat Furnish evaluating pieces to see if they are usable.



Larry Hanson putting stages together to ship out & have balanced.

12/8/07
I have some sad news to pass along to you all. Longtime crewman and supporter of Miss Madison, Wayne Griffin, passed away last night after being ill for some time.  Most people knew him as Bullwhip or Bull.  He had taken a turn for the worst about 3 weeks ago.  Mike, Larry & Pat had visited with him in the last couple of days and knew he was not doing well.  We do not know any details for the funeral arrangements at this time.  Our heart goes out to Bull's family and friends.
(Photo by Dean Edwards)


12/3/07
With the Hanson brothers out of town Pat Furnish & Cindy Shirley took time over this past weekend to get us the specs on the new boat!  Head over to the Boat page here!

We won the following awards at the 2007 Awards Banquet in Las Vegas:
Crew Chief of the Year - Mike Hanson
Owner of the Year - City of Madison/Miss Madison Inc.
Crew of the Year
Best Sponsor for Boat - Oberto
Even WORX won the Best Radio Coverage!!

11/28/07
Check out the 2008 schedule!
Nashville May 2-4
Evansville June27-29
Madison July 4-6
Detroit July 11-13
TriCities July 25-27
Seattle August 1-3
San Diego September 19-21
Nashville October 2-4 (tentative)

And no folks, you aren't seeing double!  There is the possibility of a 2nd race in Nashville!  Thanks to Rick Bowles of the U-3 Cooper's team for all of his hard work to bring the unlimiteds back to Nashville!

10/29/07
Have you seen the photos from the Golf Tournament, a fundraiser to help pay for our awesome new truck??  Then check here!

Stay tuned for more photos as we continue to update!

The ABRA website has indicated that our boat will be attending the exhibition in Nashville, TN on the weekend of October 27-28.  I cannot yet confirm...

The 37th Annual Miss Madison Golf Tournament, sponsored by Clifty Engineering & Tool Co., Inc. took place today at Sunrise Golf Course in Madison!  It was a hot but beautiful day and the turn out may have been a record!  Larry Oberto, Steve David, and Mike Hanson all made it in for the event and we have photos to prove it.  WORX's Tim Torrence showed up for some interviews.  The sponsors this year were many, and I'd like to take just a moment to thank each of them...without their support we wouldn't have that awesome new truck and boat and a great 2007 season!

Apex Trailer Sales; Broadway Hotel & Tavern; Clifty Engineering & Tool Co., Inc; Craig, Buick, Pontiac, GMC & Toyota; Steven Dean Collision Center; Jason Dyer & Dan Hughes; Farmers Bank of Milton; Freightliner Kentucky Truck Sales; Grote Industries, LLC; Herb Kinman Chevrolet Inc.; Koehler Tires; McCubbin Ford, Inc.; McDonald's; Mason & Mefford, Inc.; Midwest Tube Mills; Morgan & Nay Funeral Centre; Quality Mill Supply ; River Valley Financial Bank; Rotary Lift; S & S Marine & Cycle; and Teton Corporation!!

The annual golf fundraiser is set for tomorrow, Sunday, October 7th!  It starts at 9:30am EST and the proceeds will go to help pay for the new truck that hauls the new boat!  See you there!

While the photo below looks like Steve's winning shot from San Diego, this was really Steve's reaction when he learned that Charlie Grooms was ooing to offer Steve some of his famous Ladder 51 wings!!  For those of you who haven't heard, Charlie Grooms, longtime supporter/worker/what-ever-they-need member of the Miss Madison had launched his own wings company.  These wings are flame broiled and TASTY!!  His big debut will be on QVC's pregame show that airs tomorrow, Monday, October 1st, at 5pm EST!  Make sure to watch and ORDER some wings for your own pregame festivities!! One more time for those of you who missed it...QVC, October 1st, 5pm EST, and don't forget to ORDER!  Just watching won't help out Charlie, so have your wallets & checkbooks ready!!

And when you're finished ordering your wings, check out your favorite driver, Steve David, at www.welw.com. The radio interview with Steve will begin at 8pm EST.  You can also call the show at 888-643-9359!! Support your driver and call in!

...THE Winning Photo!
Courtesy of Dean Edwards


...from San Diego Thunderboat Regatta 2007!
9/16/07
WE WON! WE WON! WE WON!  Two in a row, what a way to end the season!  Steve David drove his heart out and Mike Hanson and the rest of the team gave him the boat to do it in!  And without the Oberto family, we wouldn't have had the boat to pull off such a great end to the 2007 season! Stay tuned as photos will be coming as soon as I can get them edited and posted!

A HUGE thanks should go out to the fine folks at the Sheraton La Jolla for taking such awesome care of our team!  It is a stunning hotel and the staff were simply wonderful.  And after the win every team member returned to a bottle of champagne! THANK YOU Sheraton La Jolla!  And for the fans of the sport, if you are ever staying in San Diego, stay there and tell them the team sent you!

We took a 2nd in Heat 2B & another second in Heat 3B!  We are headed to the final heat!

We'd like to send out our congratulations to the Miss Elam U-16 team from all of the U-6 Oh Boy! Oberto/Miss Madison team for their high points championship win that they cinched here today! Great racing guys!

We have drawn Heat 2B, set to go off at 12:20pm Pacific time.  Watch it live at www.hydroinsider.com!

9/15/07
We took a second in our heat while holding off the hard charging David Bryant in the U-10 Miss Ahern Rentals!  And since Elam did not finish their heat, we are still in the running for the national high points!

We've drawn Heat 1B, set to start at 4:30 Pacific time!  Go to HydroInsider to watch the race live on the internet!

The boat looks great on the water here in sunny San Diego!  Steve David took the boat out a couple of times this morning, easily hitting the 158+ mark.  We are qualified 3rd at 159.798mph.   Stay tuned!

9/13/07
The boat is in the pits in San Diego!  I will be heading that way on Friday, so look for updates all weekend long!

...from Seatle Seafair 2007!
8/5/07
SEAFAIR IS OURS!!  We won!  We won!  We won!! Thanks should go out to the ENTIRE team, even those not with us on the west coast this weekend, the OBERTO FAMILY, the fine folks of the city of MADISON and of course, our driver, STEVE DAVID!!!  Anyone with photos of our winning team (on the stand or the dock), PLEASE send them to me!
Photo courtesy of Jim Simpson!!


Looks like we are in the final!  Stay tuned for the results!

We took 3rd in Heat 3B!  Stay tuned for the final heat!

ABRA has changed to 2 heats per flight instead of 3...meaning only a Heat 3A & 3B are left to run. We have drawn Heat 3B along with the U-3, U-10, U-16, U-37 & U-21.

We took a second in the closest heat this year!  It was nose to nose as they crossed the finish line in Heat 2B! 

8/4/07
The heats have been drawn for the second flight and we have landed in heat 2B!

Steve won our first heat of the weekend! Way to go!

We have drawn Heat 1A! Go Steve and don't hit that start early!

8/3/07
We have qualified in third place at this point, running 151.681mph!

...from TriCities Columbia Cup 2007!

Photo courtesy of Jim Simpson

Head to the Photo Gallery to see some more photos from TriCities!

7/29/07
Another race over and another bit of terrific driving by Steve!  He managed to secure a lane inside the Elam before the start.  On the first lap Steve was able to pull ahead of the Elam, but could not stay there.  He settled in to a solid second place finish but would've been right there to grab the lead had Elam faltered.  Let's give our team a huge pat on the back for another great race!

We are in the final heat!  That is set to go off at 4:40pm Pacific time.

Steve took 2nd to the FormulaBoats!

We have drawn Heat 3A!  Stay tuned!

To redeem himself from yesterday's heat, Steve drove the boat easily to a first place in Heat 2C!  Way to go Steve!

Don't forget that you can watch all of today's exciting racing action LIVE online at HydroInsider.

7/28/07
After jumping the gun, Steve David drove the boat to a 4th place finish in Heat 1A.  Tomorrow we have drawn Heat 2C, so stay tuned!

The Oberto has drawn Heat 1A, set to go off any time now!  Stay tuned for the results or watch the heat live at HydroInsider!

Check out the new photos, courtesy of Jack Lowe!

7/27/07
What an amazing start to the weekend!  Steve David and the Oh Boy! Oberto took 1st in the Dash for Cash today!  Watch the video online at KNDU HydroInsider now!

Steve battles J Mike for the lead! Courtesy of Jack Lowe

Below Steve checks out the U-21...courtesy of Jack Lowe!


New photos have been posted from the Gold Cup!  Click here!

TriCities is coming up fast!  The boat is headed west and I think it has the new truck pulling it!  What an awesome set up!  So keep checking back as I get more and more photos up from our previous races.  And full coverage will start on Friday of the Columbia Cup!

...from Detroit Gold Cup 2007!
7/15/07
The final is over and did Steve David drive the Oberto!!  He lead the Miss Elam some and pushed them hard after they overtook us! Way to go Steve and team!  Everyone worked so hard to get this boat running...Mike, Larry, Matt, Cindy, Randy, John, Travis, Richard, Bob, Jimmy...you guys are awesome!

Steve drove the boat to a close second after fending off the U-3 boat for the entire heat. We are IN the final!

The draw for Heats 3A & B has been posted.  We have drawn Heat 3A!  Stay tuned!

We took a first in Heat 2A!  Steve was able to get lane 1 and drove an awesome race!

Steve David set the Oh Boy! Oberto up for a beautiful start, but ended up being a tad early and jumped the gun.  After being penalized a lap, he looked like he would finish 4th.  The U-3 went dead on the final lap, moving us into 3rd.  After the race a fuel violation was discovered on another boat, moving the beef jerky powered boat into a second place finish!

We have drawn Heat 2A, set to run at 11:40. Stay tuned!

For additional coverage, check out Hydropage!

Yesterday was completely blown out and we never hit the water again after that first testing session.  Thank goodness we had the offshore boats here to keep us all entertained!  Today looks like a beautiful day with a better forecast.  The first heats will go off around 9:40, so look for updates soon!

7/14/07
The boat looked great in this morning's testing session!  We have a new gearbox that may help us get our straightaway speed!

7/13/07
The team is dialing in the boat more and more everyday. Steve took the boat out this morning and turned a fast lap of 158.976. The time did not stand as we had an N2 violation. The next time out Steve ran 156.925! That puts us in 3rd overall at this point!

7/12/07
The boat is in Detroit!  Coverage will begin tomorrow, Friday 7/12, for the Detroit Gold Cup!  Go Oh Boy! Oberto/Miss Madison!!

Also stay tuned as more and more photos are updated in our Photo Gallery!

Want to follow the racing action this weekend? Go to Hydropage for all of the racing details, including links to sites streaming the racing action!

...from Madison Regatta 2007!
7/8/07
The final heat was a great race! Steve David pushed the Oberto hard, even pushin ahead of the Miss Elam up the backstretch. But they had a bit more straightaway speed than we did and they went on to the win. After 3 wins today, we took a second in the final and were happy!

What an unbelievable day for the Madison/Oberto team!  Heat 3A saw another win! We are headed to the final!

A HUGE thanks goes out to Ponderosa here in Madison for taking such great care of our team this weekend!  They brought us tons of food and COLD drinks all weekend long. 

Heat 2A was another great win for the new boat!  Steve drove to another win over the U-3 & the U-1!  We'll face the U-16 & the U-37 in Heat 3A!

Steve David drove an awesome race in Heat 1A!  The Oberto beat the U-16, U-5, & U-1 for the win!  Way to go team!

Race Day looks to be better than Saturday.  The Ohio River has dropped and the debris seems to have moved on through.  The Oberto as the slings on her in hopes of doing some testing laps with the new gearbox.  Hopefully Steve will be able to guide her to a lap faster than the 150mph turned on Friday morning!  I'll keep you posted!

We haven't had a lot of action thus far this weekend, but check out the new photos in the Photo Gallery!

7/7/07
The ABRA has canceled the scheduled events for today, Saturday. Hopefully the debris will move on through the area tonight allowing the boats to hit the water and race tomorrow! Thanks for staying with us!

The ABRA took a run around the course and there was still too much debris for the boats to go out. 

The Ohio River has not cooperated with us this morning!  It is raised and full of debris so we are in a holding pattern until further notice.  Stay tuned!

7/6/07
Steve David took the Oh Boy! Oberto out early today and turneda lap at 150mph!  Larry Hanson is working on the gear box back at the shop to see if they can get her some more straightaway speed.

Did you know that no new Miss Madison hull has ever made it to the hometown Madison Regatta?  Well it looks like this team broke the curse!

New photos are up as promised! Click here!

New photos from the Evansville race should be posted tomorrow! Sorry for the delay, but you can't begin to imagine how many awesome photos were taken of our beautiful new boat!

...from Evansville's Thunder on the Ohio 2007!
7/1/07
The final set up to be a great race! The our boat was penalized a lap after hitting a buoy, leaving us to take 7th place in the final. But it was an awesome weekend with a heat victory and a boat that ran like a top straight out of the box!  Way to go team!!

Steve David was driving one heck of a race in Heat 2A, right up to the time that the U-5 FormulaBoats flipped.  Fortunately, driver Jeff Bernard was ok and the Oberto was awarded a 2nd place finish.

Heat 3A saw the Oberto facing the U-3 Master Tire and U-1 FormulaBoats. As they battled over positions, the U-1 barrel rolled and stopped the heat. We were awarded 1st place since we were leading at the time of the accident.  Again, the driver of the Formula was ok.

We have drawn for the second flight of heats today... and we will face the U-5 FormulaBoats, U-13 Spirit of Detroit, U-16 Miss Elam, and the U-25 Superior Racing in Heat 2A!  Stay tuned for the results!  Let's go racing!!

6/30/07
Looks like, after a harrowing heat including a collision with the U-13, we took a 4th in our first heat!  Not bad for straight out of the box!

We have drawn Heat 1B along with the Elam, Formula and Master Tire.  Check back to see how we finish!

Check out the Photo Gallery from new photos from Evansville!

6/29/07
The first run on the Ohio for the Thunder on the Ohio went well!  We are going out for our second run of the day momentarily!

The debut of the new boat saw a huge turnout by the owners, the city of Madison!  Also in attendance were the Obertos...Art, Dorothy & Larry.  The mayor thanked all involved in the building of the new boat and gave a key to the city to the Oberto family.  The boat looks awesome!  She came in a little under weight, so the team was adding some weight last night (Wed.) and making the final touches to head to Evansville today.  Here are a few pics to tide you over til this evening, when the full gallery of yesterday will be available!



Oberto has requested no new photos of the boat be published until the official introduction of the new boat to the community on Wednesday, June 27.  Come out and show your support for the hometown team!  The Media Day is scheduled to start at 3pm in the pit area of the riverfront!  The team, as well as driver Steve David, will be on hand!  See you there!

More new photos of the new boat!  The entire thing has been primered now.  We flipped the boat and on Saturday raised it up & coverd her with plastic & paper so that Steve Deans could come in and spray the engine area with primer. The bottom was also given another sanding. Bob Hughes drove the new truck over for the team to see while Mike Hanson headed home to Seattle for a much-needed break.  But have no fear!  He'll be back in a couple of days and be hard at making sure the new boat will be ready for Evansville!  Larry has been keeping the team focused in the meantime! 

As promised...long awaiting NEW photos of the NEW boat!!  Check them out!

Paul Scurlock passed away on Friday, April 27, 2007 of a heart attack.  For those who may not have known Paul, he was deeply dedicated to the sport and the media coverage of it.  He often teased me when we were working at the same time at the sites. Please join me in extended our deepest sympathy to Paul's family and friends. 

I have photos of the new boat!  They will be posted here Tuesday, May 1!  Also, Larry Hanson took the time to update me on the latest.  The boat will be flipped over this week for some fine tuning of the hull.  Also, the top inside sections (which you will see in the photos) are taped off so the insides can be painted.  It will still be a couple of weeks til the decking gets attached to the hull.  The decking is in 6 pieces, with deck hatches in them.  After that, then the pieces and parts that the crew has been working on, such as the fairings, the wing, the canopy top & the cowling will all need to be fitting to the boat.  Stay tuned for more!!

The new boat is headed to Madison!  It was scheduled to leave Seattle on Saturday, April 7th and should arrive in Madison on Wednesday, April 11th!! 

The latest word from the Hanson brothers indicates the new hull should be headed back to Madison some time in early April.  The city has planned quite a celebration, including a stop at City Hall to present a deed to the mayor!  We will keep you posted as more details come available.

The crew in Madison completed a set of bullnoses. While they may not be working on the hull with the guys in Seattle, they are still working hard to make sure all the necessary parts are ready to be installed when the new hull arrives!

And for one weekend, several of our team stopped working and made it out to Seattle for the annual awards banquet! In addition to some new photos from the banquet we also have some new boat photos brought to us by Dan Walters. 

Larry Hanson is pulling the empty boat trailor from Madison to Seattle as I type.  The progress on the boat is a little behind, but Mike Hanson says they will be ready for the season opener in Evansville.  Currently, the boat is slated to be taken back to Madison in mid-April.  Both Hansons will be staying in Seattle until the hull is complete.  Stay tuned!

Want to see your name in lights?  Ok, well maybe not lights, but how about in type?  The awards banquet takes place in Seattle this weekend and I'd love to have some photos of Steve & the team sent in! Check out the contact info at the left to send yours in!  If we use your photo then you'll get to see your name in type!

We have some new photos of the construction of the new Madison hull!  Thanks to Trevor Hanson for taking the photos and sending them to us!

In their 2nd annual awards, over 200 people voted the Miss Madison/Oh Boy! Oberto the Best Team!  And who else but our own Steve David won Best Driver!  And to top it all off, Mike Hanson won the votes for Best Crew Chief! Thanks to all who voted for us!!  See the other results at HydroInsider.com.

I've made some link updates and added new pics to the Photo Galleries from 2006!  Relive the 2006 season now!!

We have some new photos of the new boat straight from Seattle!
Click here to see them!

The folks in Seattle, including Mike Hanson, are working hard on the new hull for 2007.  The team back home in Madison is working hard on making new parts, working on the gear boxes, and making sure everything there will be ready for the new boat!

MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT!!
(10/20/06)
Yes eager fans, it is now official! The U-6 Miss Madison/Oh Boy! Oberto unlimited racing team is building a new boat!  It is not clear at this point as to when the boat will be ready.  Speculation points to the 2008 season.  Our thanks to all who helped make this possible, including Larry and all of our supporters at Oberto!!

San Diego
(9/17/06)
CONGRATULATIONS STEVE on taking the Driver's High Point championship for the second year in a row!!  And we took second for the boat championship!!  What a great year!

Steve took the Oberto on to a 2nd place finish in the final heat of the day. We took 3rd in the final!

We took another 4th in Heat 3A.  Currently, if our points are accurate, the U-7 has a 24 point lead on us.  We will meet the U-7 again in Heat 4B!  Let's go team!!

So far we've taken a 4th and a 2nd in racing in San Diego! We drew Heat 3A for this morning, along with the U-10, U-37, & U-1!

Don't forget to catch updates streaming from WORX!

(9/16/06)
The heat draws have been posted for 1A & 1B...we have drawn Heat 1B along with the U-7, U-37, & U-1. Go Steve!!

(9/15/06)
We have turned a qualifying lap of 157.502 for the final race of 2006!  That puts us in 6th on the qualifying ladder.  Stay tuned all weekend as the favorite goes for the High Points title!!  GO U-6!!  Let's bring that title home to Madison!

San Diego, here we come!
San Diego is on and we are set to defind Steve's driver high point championship!  And ready to secure the first ever National High Points win for Madison!!

Seattle!
The Oh Boy! Oberto took second in the final at Seattle!  And it looks like we've held on to the High Points lead!

Repairs for Seattle
(8/2/06)
The team has finished repairs from the damage acquired at TriCities!  Let's go racing!  And keep the High Points lead!!

(7/31/06)
The team is working hard to make repairs to the boat after Tri-Cities.  It is believed that at least 2 boats hit the Oberto during racing and then there's the U-13 flip that took out our tail.  If you haven't seen the footage of that yet, then check it out here!

                

High Points Leader Again!
Steve David must really like that Driver's High Points trophy, so much so that he is in the lead for the 2006 National High Points Championship!!  GO OBERTO!!!!

TriCities
Steve David and the Madison team took 3rd in the final of the Atomic Cup!

The team is getting settled in to the pits.  We'll keep you posted throughout the weekend!  And if you are at the race, shoot us any "small" photos you'd like!  Send to the email address under "Contact".

Regatta Fund Donations!
River Valley bank has provided us with some information for all of you folks out there that would like to donate to the victims of the Regatta tragedy.  Make checks payable to "Regatta Relief Fund" and send to:
River Valley Financial Bank
P. O. Box 1590
Madison, IN 47250

Donations will go to help the victims like Jennifer & Jean!!  Special thanks to Barbara at River Valley for this info!

More Detroit Photos!
Even more pics of the Beef Jerky powered boat!  And one shot of the cracked prop!

Regatta Update
According to WHAS11 news in Louisville, Ky, 18 year old Michael Bowen has been arrested and is being held in the Madison jail on $10,000 bond.  As many recall, he was the driver of the car that crashed through the crowd at the Madison Regatta.  There have been 7 counts filed against him, with 6 of those being felonies. 

The story is also on the Madison Courier.

Detroit Gold Cup!
Editing photos like mad! We will have new ones up soon!

As I am sure many of you have heard, we cracked a prop at the beginning of the final heat, so Steve David just held on and tried to bring her back in one piece.  The amazing part of this story is that the prop was cracked ALL THE WAY through but did not break!  No one has seen a prop like this before.  Unfortunately, I was updating the site when this was discovered and returned in time to have John, our prop guy, remove it.  Being a busy man, he was not able to stop long enough for me to grab a photo for all of you!  But I know there are some out there!  So any of you that were able to get a photo of our prop, please send it to me!  I'd like to post it, with credit to the photographer of course.

(7/16/06)
Oh Boy! Oberto and Steve David took third in the final!  Great job guys!!

The Oberto was powered to another win for Heat 4A!!  We are IN the final heat for the Gold Cup!  Let's go!!

Steve and the Oberto literally smoked the competition for a first place win in Heat 3B! The gear box was leaking and caused the "smoke screen".  Photos coming soon!

Oberto drew Heat 3B along with the U-1 Elam, U-2.25 Michigan Mortgage, U-5 FormulaBoats, and the U-21 Lucky 21.  Good luck Steve!

Check out the latest photos from the Gold Cup!

(7/15/06)
We got caught up in a lot of wakes and ended with a 4th place for Heat 2B. We'll post our draw for Heats 3A or B as soon as possible.

Oberto drew Heat 2B!

Heat 1B saw Steve David pilot the Oberto to a third place behind both FormulaBoats!

(7/14/06)
Detroit has become hot & humid just in time for us!  Steve took the Oberto out several times today averaging laps of 151.  Mike & the crew have this boat screaming around the course!  We'll have 2 flights of heats tomorrow, so stay tuned for the line up and finish results of your favorite unlimited hydroplan team!

Valleyfield Update...
(7/9/06)
Steve David drove the Oh Boy! Oberto to an awesome second place after finishing first in all of his duels for the weekend!  Great job guys!!

Looks like the Oberto will face the U-7 FormulaBoats for the final duel!!  Go Steve and U-6 team!!

(7/8/06)
This weekend is the Valleyfield race!  This will be the first time this century that we've had a points race in Canada.  So far so good for the Oberto!  Steve David drove the boat to a first in the 2nd Duel!

Check out these sites for more information!
Hydropage
ABRA

(7/4/06) Happy 4th of July!!
Looks like the repairs are finished!! The hole behind the skid fin has been fiberglassed and painted and the rudder has been replaced.  The team worked so hard that one of the items on the "to do list", under "Need:" was SLEEP!!  Way to go team!  They will be heading out for Valleyfield tomorrow. Wave and honk if you see them!

(7/2/06)
Tragedy has struck our racing family today.  Our fans are as much a part of our racing family as all of the team members, officials, and rescue personnel.  Without our fans, we have no reason to race.  Today an 18 year old male broke through the gates of the Regatta, driving through the crowd and ending in the river.  Some of our amazing fans jumped into the Ohio River and saved the driver and a younger passenger.  Ten people, including the driver, were injured, with 4 of those 10 being StatFlighted to Louisville hospitals.  We do not know what the condition or state of the driver was prior to the accident.  We only know that the police have indicated that he was "slumped over the wheel" when he broke through the gates.

Please join me and the entire Oberto and Madison familes as we pray for the speedy recovery of all involved in today's incident.  Thank God for the rescue personnel, police and bystanders that saved the lives of these victims.  You are all in our thoughts and our hearts. 
 
RACE DAY!
Steve David took the Oberto out for Heat 2A against the U-3 Master Tire & U-1 Elam.  Right at the start of the race the Oberto hit debris in the water with the rudder.  This caused the boat to jerk to the left, through the roostertail of the 3 and near the start/finish boat.  The severity of the turn ripped a bracket of the skid fin out of the hull and bent the skid fin.  Steve had his "bell rung" and is sore, but otherwise ok.  The boat, unfortunately, is out for the day.  We'll be ready for Valleyfield!!

Boats have finally hit the water!  Oberto drew Heats 1A, 2C & 3C.  We'll face Elam and FormulaBoats in 1A.

Check out some new photos in the Gallery!

Looks like the battle for Madison is currently over the Ohio River. Water levels upstream have begun effecting the Ohio, racing it by as much as 6 feet in the last day or so.  Boats were put into the pits, but only tomorrow will we know if Mother Nature will let us race!  Stay tuned!!!

We'd also like to thank one of our local, hometown sponsors, Ponderosa!  They have brought a ton of great food to our team since Thursday!  Thanks Ponderosa!!

Evansville Update...
Check out the new photos from Evansville!!

The final was exciting with 6 boats on the front line and 1 trailer.  Two boats did not finish, the 10 & 100.  Elam took 1st, U-5 Formula took 2nd, 3rd went to Master Tire, 4th to the U-7 Formula, and 5th to the Evansville defending champ, Oberto/Miss Madison.  Look forward to seeing you all at our hometown race next weekend, the Madison Regatta!!

Sunday in Evansville did not start quite the way that we would've liked.  A problem with the ignitors kept the Oh Boy! Oberto out of Heat 2B.   That left the Elam to take the win.

Oberto drew Heat 3A along with the U-5 FormulaBoats, U-37 Schumacher Racing, U-10 Emcor, and U-1 Elam.  Elam pulled to an early lead over the Oberto and the 37, driven by Jean Theoret, and the Formula with Mike Weber.  Emcor failed to start.  As the boats went into turn 1 of the final lap, the U-37 did an apparent barrel roll, ending the heat.  Theoret was ok, thankfully, but the boat sustained significant damage to the sponsons and the stern of the boat. Crew Chief Scott Rainey said they will work feverishly to repair the boat in time for the Madison Regatta.  Join us in wishing the U-37 crew all the best!  The heat was called with Elam finishing first, Oberto 2nd, Formula 3rd & the U-37 fourth.

Results for Heat 3B: U-3, Master Tire, Jummy King, 1st; U-100 Leland Racing, Greg Hopp, 2nd; U-7, FormulaBoats II, Mike Allen, 3rd and a DNS for U-2.25, Michigan Mortgage, Ken Muscatel.

Oh Boy! Oberto drew Heat 1A along with Miss Elam, Michigan Mortgage, FormulaBoats U-5, and Miss Emcor.  Steve grabbed lane one before the start, and went on to take second place to Miss Elam and just holding off the FormulaBoats U-5.  Way to start the racing season!!

Steve took the Oberto out Friday afternoon and turned a qualifying lap of just over 148mph which left us in second for qualifying on Friday.

Today several other teams have qualified moving the Oberto to the middle of the pack.  Stay tuned for more information as we will be running Heats 1A & 1B later this afternoon!  And don't forget to check the photo gallery for new photos direct from Evansville!

2006 Race Season Coming Soon!
While many of us have been bored to tears during this winter, the hardworking Miss Madison team has been going at it nonstop.  Mike Hanson returns as crew chief bringing his plethora of knowledge that makes him a force to be reckoned with back for the 2006 season.  Larry Hanson, our gear-box guru, will also return.  Other returning crew include Bob Hudson, Pat Furnish, Richard Dunn, Cindy Shirley, John Leschinski, Trevor Hanson, and Jimmy Gilbert.

2005-2006 Off-Season
The crew had a ton of plans for the offseason, many of which resulted from damage incurred during the 2005 season.

The largest undertaking was replacing a large section of the right side.  Recurrent problems on this section of the boat led to the need to replace the entire section.

One of the gear boxes was damaged last season. That one has been rebuilt.

The bottom rear of the hull had to be replaced also. This was the section that was damaged when the prop lost a blade during the San Diego final.

Some of the routine maintenance included the tearing down and inspection of the motors.

2005 Award Ceremony
Check out our Photo Gallery to see photos of Steve David accepting the National Driver High Points award in Indianapolis this winter.  Steve also received an award from team owner rep Bob Hughes and team manager Charlie Grooms.  Much of our team represented the great town of Madison at the ceremony as well.

Steve David takes National Driver High Points!!!!!!!
Congratulations to our driver, Steve David, for taking the 2005 National Driver High Points championship!!!!!  Way to go Steve!  I have heard tell that one Art Oberto doused our man Steve in champagne during the post-San Diego race celebrations!.

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