Rum Run Boat Races from Long Beach to Catalina Island and Back Action Packed
- Jul 24, 2008
The endurance race pits high-performance boaters on the Rum Run, a race from Long Beach to Catalina Island and back. The Worthy Risk Team faced challenges from the start.
Worthy Risk Team on the way to Catalina Island for the Rum Run, photo courtesy of Rawin Lekhakui
High performance boaters were about to face five foot swells on the open ocean, photo courtesy of Rawin Lekhakui
At their home base in Lake Tahoe, California they had to fix a valve on their Mercury 525 Racing Engine. “We ended up installing our backup engine from last year’s racing season,” said Jack Crouse of Worthy Racing. “Our backup engine had a cracked cylinder and Brad had to borrow his wife’s motor, which was only half-built.”
Team Worthy Racing uses K&N Engineering Oil Filters on its boats
Worthy Racing Team boat on the hook as its set into the water at Long Beach, photo courtesy of Rawin Lekhakui
Johnson and Crouse finished the motor in hours and retrofit it to the engine on the day they had to drive to Long Beach. They took their 2007 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD truck equipped with a K&N air intake system to the race. “We drove all night, and the good news was our K&N air intake kit gave us better gas mileage and additional tow power,” said Johnson. “The bad news was we had zero sleep and when we hit Long Beach, they rented our hotel rooms to someone else. We spent the next several hours setting up shop at the dry pits.”
Worthy Racing took its new motor in the Catalina Channel for test runs the next morning. “Everything worked great,” said Crouse. “Our pits were on a nice strip of lawn overlooking Long Beach Harbor. We decorated it with a K&N Engineering banner and passed out K&N product brochures and K&N decals.”
On race day Team Worthy Risk lined up behind the pace boats. The green flag came down and it was time to drag race. “The turn one marker came up fast and we were tied with three boats for the lead,” said Johnson. “We backed off at the marker because there was no room. We were squeezed out by bigger boats. We continued through the chop. Our K&N oil filter (HP-6002) worked great. It did its job as always.”
Five foot swells came in sets when they hit the open ocean. “We hit the first swell at 95 mph and slammed down hard,” said Johnson. “Our GPS system flew out of the cradle and hit the firewall behind our heads. It disappeared, and along with it went our navigation system.”
As Catalina Island came into view Worthy Risk went dead in the water due to ignition failure. “We were victim to a tiny electromechanical device, but it was a wild seven minutes,” said Johnson. “All three boats in our class broke down and we ended up in third place. Everyone came home a winner.”
Follow the Worthy Racing Team throughout the racing season at the K&N news site. Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world.
Worthy Risk Team on the way to Catalina Island for the Rum Run, photo courtesy of Rawin Lekhakui
High performance boaters were about to face five foot swells on the open ocean, photo courtesy of Rawin Lekhakui
Team Worthy Racing uses K&N Engineering Oil Filters on its boats
Worthy Racing Team boat on the hook as its set into the water at Long Beach, photo courtesy of Rawin Lekhakui
Johnson and Crouse finished the motor in hours and retrofit it to the engine on the day they had to drive to Long Beach. They took their 2007 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD truck equipped with a K&N air intake system to the race. “We drove all night, and the good news was our K&N air intake kit gave us better gas mileage and additional tow power,” said Johnson. “The bad news was we had zero sleep and when we hit Long Beach, they rented our hotel rooms to someone else. We spent the next several hours setting up shop at the dry pits.”
Worthy Racing took its new motor in the Catalina Channel for test runs the next morning. “Everything worked great,” said Crouse. “Our pits were on a nice strip of lawn overlooking Long Beach Harbor. We decorated it with a K&N Engineering banner and passed out K&N product brochures and K&N decals.”
On race day Team Worthy Risk lined up behind the pace boats. The green flag came down and it was time to drag race. “The turn one marker came up fast and we were tied with three boats for the lead,” said Johnson. “We backed off at the marker because there was no room. We were squeezed out by bigger boats. We continued through the chop. Our K&N oil filter (HP-6002) worked great. It did its job as always.”
Five foot swells came in sets when they hit the open ocean. “We hit the first swell at 95 mph and slammed down hard,” said Johnson. “Our GPS system flew out of the cradle and hit the firewall behind our heads. It disappeared, and along with it went our navigation system.”
As Catalina Island came into view Worthy Risk went dead in the water due to ignition failure. “We were victim to a tiny electromechanical device, but it was a wild seven minutes,” said Johnson. “All three boats in our class broke down and we ended up in third place. Everyone came home a winner.”
Follow the Worthy Racing Team throughout the racing season at the K&N news site. Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world.
