Like Mark Twain, news of the demise of the U-37 Miss Beacon Plumbing are greatly exaggerated.

After 19 tries, Steve David finally has a first-place trophy from Tri-Cities to show off.

Jean Theoret jumped to a commanding lead in the 2008 Columbia Cup final, but then U-37 went dead on the exit to turn 4, handing the victory to Steve David in the U-6 Oh Boy! Oberto.

The championship heat results from the 2008 Columbia Cup.

Greg Hopp charged past Paul Becker in the near outside lane to win the Graham Trucking Thunder Cup for Unlimited Lights at the Columbia Cup.

The most promising weekend of the year for Jimmy King and the U-3 Hoss Mortgage Investors Too has ended with a withdrawal.

Dave Villwock in the U-1 Miss E-Lam Plus and Dave Bryant in the surprisingly strong U-10 Miss Ahern Rentals have each tallied 1,100 points in heat racing to lead the field for the 2008 Columbia Cup final heat.

Mike Sadlon played a sure and steady game, drawing several competitors into jumping the gun, and cruised to victory in the Unlimited Lights B main.

David Bryant and the U-10 Miss Ahern Rentals took immediate control of Columbia Cup heat 3B, then used a penalty imposed upon Jeff Bernard to earn another heat victory and a spot in the final heat.

Jean Theoret managed to grab the inside lane in the U-37 Beacon Plumbing and used the position to his advantage to outduel Dave Villwock, who was driving the U-1 Miss E-Lam Plus from lane two.

During the course of heat 2C, Kelly Stocklin gradually reeled in the leaders in his UL-40 King & Bunny’s Appliances, eventually nipping Charles Xaudaro in the UL-98 Atomic Screen Printing at the finish line to win the heat.

Results of the Columbia Cup Heat 3A.

Paul Becker got the early jump in his UL-14 Miss Critical Logic, and held off J. Craig Fletcher to win heat 2B of Unlimited Lights action.

Immediately after finishing heat 2C for unlimited hydroplanes, Greg Hopp jumped into the cockpit of his UL-15 Happy Go Lucky and took it to first place in heat 2A for unlimited lights.

Here are the draws for heats 3A and 3B.

David Bryant grabbed lane 1 as he and the U-10 led the field to a wire-to-wire victory in heat 2C of Columbia Cup action.

Results of the 2008 Columbia Cup Heat 2C.

Steve David was in an ideal place starting heat 2A from lane 1, and he and the U-6 Oh Boy! Oberto held off charges from J. Michael Kelly in the U-13 Graham Trucking and Jean Theoret in the U-37 Beacon Plumbing to win the heat.

Results of the 2008 Columbia Cup Heat 2B.

Dave Villwock used a perfect start from lane 2, then drove around Jeff Bernard in the U-5 FormulaBoats.com to get his second heat victory of Columbia Cup weekend in the U-1 Miss E-Lam Plus.

Here are the results of the 2008 Columbia Cup Heat 2A:

Former Columbia Cup winner Terry Troxell is back in the driver’s seat again, this time in Bob and Kathleen Baker’s UL-8 Numerica Credit Union.

I have gotten word that Ken Muscatel has withdrawn the U-25 Miss Procraft Windows because of steering issues that can’t be corrected. I stopped by the U-25 truck a few minutes ago, but Muscatel and team were in the midst of a team meeting, and he asked that I stop back by later. I’ll try to get more details before the racing commences.

It's sunny, I'm in Tri-Cities, and Andy has "Thunderstruck" cranked up on the main computer. Along the little chunk of river we know as HydroTown, all is right with the world.

J.Michael Kelly had a great Friday with one of the fastest qualifying times. So he was pretty disappointed today when his boat failed to start in Heat 1B.

How bad is that first turn, even with just four boats out there.

Dave Villwock has a different philosophy than most other drivers here.

Asked about the old guys in the pits having the best day, Erick Ellstrom, team manager of the U-1 Ellstrom Elam Plus, said "We tried to figure out the average age of our crew, but we can't count that high."

Steve David, in the U-6 Oh Boy! Oberto, won Heat 1C when he outmaneuvered David Bryant in the U-10 Todd Hoss Mortgage before the start.

There was talk after Heat 1B that Jimmy King might be penalized for hitting a buoy.

Jimmy King took Heat 1B when Jean Theoret, in the U-37 Miss Beacon Plumbing, tried to settle into lane 1 well before the 1-minute mark. On the East end turn, and less than a minute before the start, Theoret lost power to his boat.

Today's heat races were victories for the old guard.

Here's the draw for Sunday's races for the unlimiteds:

Here are the results of the 2008 Columbia Cup Heat 1C.

Here are the results of Heat 1B of the 2008 Columbia Cup.

Here are the results of Heat 1A from Saturday's unlimited hydroplane racing.

There will be no 1-minute buoy this weekend. But all boats must be up on plane 1-minute before the race's start.

Here are the draws for today's unlimited races.

Heat 1A of the Unlimited Lights was black-flagged after a boat went dead just before the race started. The boats were brought back to the pits, refueled, and the race restarted at 2:25 p.m. So we're already 25 minutes behind schedule.

Here are the heat draws for the Unlimited Lights.

Another surprise was the U-3 Todd Hoss Mortgage Too coming up with a 162.074 speed for second-best time on the ladder.

Good morning. Jeff Morrow here. Got a slow start today, mainly because after spending all day Friday in the pits, I finished the night up at the office, helping the staff get the paper out. But mostly I am getting old, and I don't bounce back very well anymore.

Steve David came away with the Dash for Cash victory in the U-6 Oh Boy! Oberto. He stayed ahead of the U-50 Miss Albert Lee and driver Brian Perkins and the U-13 Graham trucking and driver J. Michael Kelly.

Jimmy King brought the U-3 Hoss Mortgage Investors Too into the dock after the boat's manifold pressure dropped quickly after a test run.

Nate Brown, who heads up the U-17 Our Gang Racing team, said his nephew, Kip Brown, still needs 13 more laps to qualify as an unlimited driver this weekend.

Jean Theoret got out on the water twice Friday, clocking a 159.145 for fourth-fastest time of the day. Then he and his team spent the rest of the day dry-docked, which was fine with them.

U-13 Graham Trucking owner Dave Bartush lent Cal Phipps the cockpit for a few laps Friday afternoon. Phipps ripped off a couple of 151 mph laps, much to the pleasant surprise of everyone on the docks. As he stepped out of the boat, he gave the thumbs-up signal and the team clapped in approval.

I’m a firm believer in mass transit, and committed to the idea that people should ditch their gas-guzzling SUV’s and try something more efficient, like a smaller, more economical car, a bike, or some sort of public transportation.

The 5 p.m. Dash for Cash exhibition race, that made-for-TV, just-don't-break-the-damn-boat three-lapper, will have five boats - five! - scheduled to run: the U-3 Hoss Mortgage Investors Too, the U-6 Oh Boy! Oberto, the U-13 Graham Trucking/Spirit of Detroit, the U-48 Albert Lee presents Lakeridge Paving, and the U-50 Miss Albert Lee.

Greg Hopp will pull double-duty this weekend, driving the U-100 Mirageboats.com and the UL-15 Graham Trucking GT-Happy Go Lucky presents Pump Tech of Moses Lake. It's the first time anybody will do that this year.