Parkland Prof and his family ready to run

THE FOLLOWING IS A NEWS-GAZETTE STORY BY JENNIFER BAILEY

DANVILLE — Parkland College instructor and powerboat racer Brian Cafarelli and his family have traveled to racing events all over the world.

Danville’s fraternal organization, Gao Grotto at Lake Vermilion, stands out to them as one of the best host sites, Cafarelli said, and not just because it’s close to his Champaign home.

“It’s a good circuit,” Cafarelli said. “The place, the Grotte de Gao, is probably the best in the world, I could even say. It’s an elevated observation area.

He said the organizers were doing a great job.

“It’s really a first-class show for the spectators,” Cafarelli said.

The Marine Racing Club will return for another Thunder on the Vermilion outboard motorboat racing event Friday through Sunday at Gao’s Cave, 2400 Denmark Road.

Last year, 60 sailors took part in the event. This year there could be 80 to 90, said Buddy Freed of Gao Grotto.

Entrance will be free. Boat trials are scheduled for Friday, while racing will begin around 10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. Live music is scheduled for all three days. Food and drinks will also be available for purchase.

“90 Proof, which is a big draw in Danville, is playing Friday night on a city stage,” Freed said.

He said they will have food trucks this year, as well as pizza and Jocko ice cream.

“We’re looking for a pretty significant number of boats,” Freed said of the points race for the racers.

Runners are expected to come from the region as well as Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin and Iowa.

This is the fourth racing event Gao Cave has hosted in recent years and the third with this sanctioned body.

“It just keeps getting bigger and better. It’s good for Danville and good for the community,” Freed said. He also thanks all of the event’s sponsors.

The profits from the event, in addition to donations, are also donated to good causes with the Gao Cave. For example, funds previously raised helped complete the Grotto’s new handicapped-accessible bathrooms. The renovated bathrooms come in handy when AMBUCS welcomes its summer campers there.

“It went really well and we redid the floor in the banquet hall,” Freed said. “We have a lot of changes in the Grotto.”

Proceeds from the previous event, including those from sponsorships, financed the new Grotto playing field.

The entire Cafarelli family — Brian and his wife Katie, who retired, and their sons Ashten, 18, and Evan, 10, who started this year — have become involved in powerboat racing.

Brian said his late father stopped racing around the time Brian was born. However, after graduating from high school, Brian had to try it after seeing all the equipment in their basement.

Brian said there was nothing like powerboat racing.

“It’s really about community and competition,” he said. “It’s unlike any other race. It’s very user-friendly. »

He said if he had trouble getting a boat out and had technical issues, another rider would help him and not watch him struggle. When you go 500 miles for a race and something breaks, the running community steps up.

“We are very encouraging of newcomers to the sport,” he said.

In the past, Brian said, he had given a trailer to a new driver and loaned engines.

For this weekend’s Danville races, Ashten will compete in four

Classes and families will bring five to six boats in two trailers.

Maximum boat speeds vary from around 40 miles per hour for the beginner class to around just under 100 mph for the more advanced. Each class races twice, which is one heat, with multiple heats during the weekend.

Brian said it was also fun to camp at the races with the family, park the RV and have a great weekend.

After a full day of racing, they have dinner at the Grotto and later pass out from exhaustion in the air conditioning of their RV.

Brian said they enjoy running for a cause, with the event helping the Grotto and AMBUCS children’s camps.

“The Grotto does a fantastic job of providing food and entertainment,” he said.

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