PORT ANGELES — Local commerce and the waters of Port Angeles Harbor will both be calmer than expected during the weekend of Sept. 26-27 because of the loss of Strait Thunder hydroplane races, says the executive director of the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce.
“When you lose an event it’s always significant,” said Russ Veenema.
“We will lose business because of that cancellation for that week.”
The Unlimited Light Hydroplane Racing Association announced Monday night that it had canceled what would have been the seventh annual event in Port Angeles over financial troubles.
Unexpected news
For the management of the Red Lion Hotel — which hosts the crews, officials and volunteers for the event — the news was completely unexpected.
“We are very disappointed that it has been canceled,” said hotel General Manager Joseph Mollerus.
Donya Alward, hotel sales director, said about 100 rooms are booked each year during the event just for drivers and staff alone.
And the cancellation comes at a time when hotel and motel stays already appear to be lower than expected.
As of June 30, lodging tax revenue in Port Angeles was $117,705 lower than the city had projected.
But not just one business is affected.
The loss of the event — along with the spectators it pulls in — has a spillover effect, Alward said.
“It will affect gas stations, groceries and Wal-Mart,” she said
“It brings traffic to local restaurants,” Mollerus added.
Lack of support cited
The racing association blamed a lack of support at the corporate and local levels for canceling the race.
On the local side, Veenema said the support from the chamber, which included the race in a recent TV advertisement, hasn’t subsided.
The organization pulled the commercial from TV channels in Seattle today and replaced it with a version that doesn’t include the three seconds of hydroplane footage.
The latest commercial will run through the first half of October, when the $98,452 TV ad campaign was scheduled to finish.
The campaign to bring visitors from the Puget Sound region to Port Angeles began in May.
The Red Lion Hotel also ran in ad — in a hydroplane magazine, Alward said.
“It’s not a complete lost,” she said, adding that it still showcased the hotel and the city.
Victoria Express
Victoria Express, the main sponsor, will remain the presenting sponsor of Silverdale Thunder in Silverdale this weekend.
It will also have a “major presence” at Bayfair, a hydroplane event on Mission Bay in San Diego on Sept. 18-20, a written statement from the racing association said.
The Port Angeles race would have been the next event after San Diego — and the final one of the racing circuit’s season.
While he didn’t know of the details, Veenema said he was aware that the racing association was running into trouble this year in putting on its eight-stop circuit.
“I had been somewhat aware that the event was going through some difficult times this year,” he said.
“I wasn’t overly surprised, but I, like everyone else, was surprised by that decision. . . . When you get that decision it’s always surprising.”
And next year?
But whether the hydroplanes once again roar through the harbor next year is still up in the air.
The association said in its written statement that its corporate sponsors “have expressed hope to bring the event to the Port Angeles Harbor next year.”
Veenema said it’s always harder to bring an event back after a hiatus.
“Once you lose something, it always takes extra effort to ramp up next year,” he said.
“You lose momentum. That’s true for everything.”
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
