Tri-City Water Follies is more than just racing for generations of these families

Three generations of the Putich family took their love of hydroplanes to a different body of water in Columbia Park on Friday.

Jim, his son, Adam, and grandson Brad, spent the early hours of opening day adjusting their radio-controlled hydroplanes for RC Unlimiteds’ Columbia Cup race in the Columbia Park Family Fishing Pond.

The family had come from Western Washington to participate in the event, which would bring dozens of racers to the Tri-Cities Water Follies over the course of the weekend.

The radio-controlled boat races are just one of ways that hydro fans were expressing their love of the sport.

The Tri-Cities Water Follies and Columbia Cup on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, brings thousands of people to Columbia Park each year.

Jim Putich taps one of their boats, which were dressed up like their full-sized counterparts, and says he modeled it after his favorite boat.

“Part of the fun is getting outside, going to the lake and hanging out with friends and families,” Adam Putich said. “I’ve been doing this with my dad for over 20 years. ... It’s a win. I feel like I get to be part of it. Get some of that racing out.”

Jim Putich said he’d spent thousands of hours on the boats tweaking and modifying them to give him a shot at winning. At the moment, he’s second place for the season.

They are trying to balance power with maneuverability to make sure they can stay in control.

“They’re just like the big boats,” Adam Putich said. “You might have Andrew Tate running the Goodman, he’s got one of the fastest boats, but J. Michael Kelly or one of the other guys gets on the inside, they’ve got a shot at it.”

Wooden boats

Another family at Water Follies had ties to the radio-controlled boat race. Richland native Chester “Chet the Jet” Lepinski was given his nickname during an RC boat race.

He has been coming to Water Follies for 55 years. On Friday, he sat wearing a straw hat with a name tag with “Chet the Jet” stuck on it, showing off a different kind of boat.

He and his son, Brian Lepinski, are fans of the races. They had set up a table where Brian was selling laser-etched wooden cutouts showing various hydroplanes.

Brian Lepinski had spent the last week preparing the cutouts after a friend drew up the designs for the laser etching machine.

“I was making them for around the house for myself and I wanted to bring them here to sell,” he said.

He wanted to share his love of the sport that they follow online. He said the camaraderie of the community of race fans is what makes the event special for him.

Pie Bar

Another family was at the event for the first time as vendors. They came in a pink van emblazoned with the name Pie Bar. Dax Delucchi leaned on the counter watching the Over-the-River Air Show on Friday.

“This plane is going crazy,” he said as the plane appeared to stall out in the air and fall toward the ground only to restart.

Delucchi, the son of founder Natalie Bliefuss, said they were always looking for new places to expand their Ballard-based business to events around the state, so they decided to bring it to Water Follies this year.

Delucchi was enjoying his first trip to the races, and was hoping that people would be more interested in pie as the day went on.

“This was on our radar,” he said.

The races continue Saturday, with testing starting at 8 a.m. The H1 Unlimited qualifiers were pushed back to Saturday due to low water levels.

The air show is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

For more information, check out our Water Follies Mega Guide.