Slipstream - August 2016

Mavericks in Vermont: 2016 Porsche Parade
By Carey Spreen
Photos courtesy of the Parade Staff
ne of the many nice
O
things about living in
North Texas is that one
can drive to any location
in the Lower 48 in three days or
less. OK, if you want to drive from
here to Olympic National Park in
Washington, you’ll be on the road
for about 33 hours, which is three
11-hour days plus rest stops, but my
point is that you could get there in
half a week if you had a good reason
to do it.
By comparison, Jay Peak Resort,
a remote ski area in northeastern
Vermont, is “only” about 1800
miles from North Texas, or three
9-1/2 hour days, again, if you had
a good reason to do it. Believe it
or not, over 30 Maverick Region
members thought that attending
the Porsche Parade at Jay Peak was
a good enough reason to make that
drive, myself included. If you have
attended a Parade, you probably
don’t need more justification; if
you haven’t attended one, perhaps
knowing that these folks chose to
spend at least three days driving
each way, plus a full week at the
Parade, might convince you to try
one sometime. As it so happens –
hint, hint – the 2018 Parade will be
at the Tan-Tar-A Resort in Osage
Beach, Missouri, a mere 500 or so
miles away, and you have two years
to plan for it. But I digress -- this
story is about the 2016 Parade.
As you may know, the Porsche
Parade is PCA’s annual national
18 August
convention, held in a different
part of North America each year
(and yes, there has been a Parade
in Canada). The event runs seven
days and contains four traditional
competitive Porsche-related events,
as well as several more events that
are less Porsche-centered but just
as competitive. But the competition
is not the main reason to go;
many entrants don’t compete at all.
There are driving tours, banquets,
an art show, goodie store, hospitality,
technical seminars, driving
tours, a golf tournament, wine and
beer tastings, RC car races (for
kids of all ages), and did I mention
driving tours? So if you are not the
competitive type, there is still a lot
to keep you and your Porsche busy.
However, much of the Maverick
contingent did turn out to be of
the competitive variety. As I mentioned,
there are four traditional
competitive events: the Concours
d’Elegance, the Time-Speed-Distance
(TSD) Rally, the Autocross,
and the Technical Quiz. Maverick
Region had competitors in each of
these events, as well as in the Gimmick
Rally.
The Concours is a car show
in which a group of experienced
judges examine the cars for cleanliness
and originality. There is also
often a display of historic Porsches,
and this year was no exception.
Normally, Maverick Region has
several entrants in the Concours,
but this year we had only one: Mark
Roberts. Mark represented us very
well, though, with a first place in
Mark Robert’s 2016 Boxster S
class PP10S (Street Preparation,
2013-on Boxster/Cayman) with his
2016 Boxster S. Mark drove his car
2100 miles and then spent 14 hours
preparing it for the Concours. Class
PP10S is very competitive, and this
was Mark’s first Parade! Congratulations
Mark!
Don and Carey at the TSD Rally
As anyone who has entered a
Rally can attest, a TSD Rally is not
a race. It is a competition based on
precision timing and navigation.
Each car, which must contain a
driver and navigator, is given a set
of instructions that give them as
little information as possible as to
where to go and when to get there.
There are usually several Mavericks
in the TSD rally, but this year there
was just one team: Don Breithaupt
(driver) and yours truly (navigator).
But again, Don and I represented
Maverick Region pretty well,
taking third place in Class R04 (Unequipped
Plus) and 11th overall in
Don’s Boxster.
Much less stressful than the TSD
Rally is the Gimmick Rally, in which
time, speed, and distance are not
nearly as important as finding certain
signs and landmarks along the
way. There are two Gimmick Rally
classes: one for cars containing two
participants, and one for cars with
more than two participants. Mavericks
participated in the former
class, with Bob and Linda Knight
taking home a ninth place trophy.