The postman had nothing on the April 27-28 Hoosier Championship: "Neither wind, nor rain, nor rivers of mud could stay these racers from their appointed rounds." Participants from throughout the US Midwest, and as far away as Canada, Oregon, New York, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Alabama forged out a great weekend despite the deluge of rain.

The media braved the weather to give the event excellent coverage. News teams and photographers were on site throughout race day, sporting fashionable rain gear that included wearing Hefty trash bags and wrapping cameras in Glad freezer bags!

This year's Hoosier Championship played a crucial role as a proving ground for the new WHC2002 site. According to event coordinator, Nick Jokay, the all-day rain was a blessing. "It allowed us to test the world championship site in worst-case weather. We're now set to address any changes needed in the course, in parking, pit and tent location, and our ability to move people in and out.

Several participants discovered Saturday that moving their eqipment in was far easier than moving it out. The mud-bound included Michael Murphy, Terry Chapman, Kent Gano, Bill Zang and Bob Windt, and Graham Spencer and his crew. An advanced technological solution devised in a special meeting after the Saturday night banquet: get as many people as you can to push as hard as they can for as long as they can. Here's how it worked: On Sunday morning, ten people got behind Terry Chapman's RV and pushed like the dickens, then watched him hurtle down the hill and through the mud. Then they hitched Terry's trailer to Bill's 4WD pickup, got behind the trailer and did the pushing technology again until he ended up on the road. After the same newly-developed 'hitch and push' technique freed Kent Gano's large trailer, the remaining trailers were a piece of (slightly soggy) cake!

The Saturday night get together was a welcome dry respite before Sunday's hovercraft mud rescue efforts. Bob Windt's informative and entertaining presentation on the evolution of his homebuilt craft captivated the crowd. His extensive slide presentation reviewed 35 years of building more than 200 craft. Moving from early models with "double trouble" two-cycle engines that "ran once in awhile", to the hovercraft that became a treehouse, to the model that earned him the world speed record showed just how much the homebuilt industry has evolved.

The Hoosier Championship was the first step in the evolution of the World Championship. The next step is the June 13-16 National Rally and Cruise. Don't miss this chance to check out the site, and especially to hear guest speaker, Brian Forstell, lauded by the US Navy as the foremost expert on Landing Craft Air Cushion Performance.