By Ben Maki
of the Daily Courier
GRANTS PASS, Ore. — Jeff Lewis proved age is just a number, while the number nine is one of significance.
The Grants Pass resident won three of four legs Monday in the Tom Rice Memorial Whitewater Hydroplane Race on the Rogue River to claim his ninth championship at Boatnik’s most prestigious event.
Lewis’ victory broke his tie with Don Burnison for most all-time wins, but Lewis gave Burnison, his close friend, credit for this triumph, too.
The 007 boat Lewis had planned to race had problems, so Burnison, who served on Lewis’ crew for the event, brought out the old 007 boat and fixed it up in time for race day.
“He put a lot of work into this,” Lewis said. “This is his win, too.”
Even with the overall record, it took the 61-year-old Lewis 43 tries to get to nine victories. Burnison won eight in just 18 attempts.
“He’ll probably hold that over me,” Lewis said jokingly.
This isn’t the first time Lewis resorted to the older version of his boat. When he came out of retirement this past Labor Day at another Cal-Ore Hydroplane River Racers’ event, which also was on the Rogue River, Lewis couldn’t get his new boat ready in time, so he reverted back to the other boat. He won that race as well.
After the first leg of Monday’s race, Lewis was in second place behind Rocky Jones, but Jones struggled to keep his boat in front of the pack and finished last in the next two legs before he bowed out near the final stretch.
Doug Branham of Hoopa, Calif. took second place with 10 points.
Just four of the 14 men who started the race completed it. A couple of the early favorites, Tyler McGinnis and Jeff Laird, broke down on the first leg. McGinnis’ boat caught a gust of wind and flipped near Schroeder Park.
“It was tough,” Branham said. “A lot of rough water. That wind was going pretty tough. I figured I’d just take her easy and bring it home. (I was thinking) ‘Just get home. Just make it home to the finish.’”
Robert Calvosa took third place with 19 points, while Sonnyman Downs took fourth with 20 points. Racers earned points based on their finish in each leg: one point for first place, two for second, three for third and so on.