My Dad and I used to watch Seafair on TV and the sound of those Merlins and Allisons still live in my head , and never cease to put a smile on my face. I went to the Reno Air Races with my Dad in 1990 and heard them live and it is a memory I shared with him I cherish.Even drag racing with my friends doesn't move in the way a V-12 Merlin can and did. Rob.
Oh yeah! And you could see the driver sitting way up hi, no belts. bouncing around hangin on WFO! Pretty much lost interest when the turbine boats came around. Pat Oday announcing the races, man I am getting old John
Probably talking about Bob Gilliam (sp). His place was right on the Bothell-Everett highway just north of I-405 in what's now Canyon Park. Used to have several unlimited hulls...trailers, motors ALL OVER the place. Very well known in his day. One of those "for the love of the sport" guys. Always underfunded but always racing. Those were the days. Just like NHRA and Nascar, Unlimited hydro racing died when the big corporate sponsors (read Budweiser) took over. Now they can barely put a full field together for 4 races and have to go to Dubai to do that. Naw, I'm not upset.
The races need the Thunder! The Turbine boats are just not the same. I remember watching a boat last year, and it was a twin turbocharge Allison engine boat and it sounded awesome! If you like the old hydro stuff, check out the Hydroplane Museum in Tukwila, really neat stuff there.
They're aircraft engines damnit... LOL Of course using aircraft engines in boats is traditional... I got a ride behind an Allison OVER the boat races last year tho... Incredible! Come on down this year... http://www.fantasyofflight.com/roar-n-soar/ http://www.fantasyofflight.com/rns/sea/ http://www.fantasyofflight.com/rns/land/ http://www.fantasyofflight.com/rns/air/
I remember those boats sitting in the blackberries. Any of them get saved? Hope so, maybe went to the hydro museum down south. I think there is still one sitting in a storage yard near Lake Stevens. John
Moses, Are you going to restore it? What a crying shame it was left to the elements, those old boats were a thing of beauty just for their craftmenship no less the piston engine driving them. Rob.
unlimited hydroplanes are what taught me that the term "feel it in your bones" wasn't just a figure of speech. I was at the gold cup in Tri-cities Wa. and one of the boats passed by close to the shore,on the throttle. I can still remember the FEEL of that big piston powered hydro going by me! I also remember on Seafair Sunday the local newspaper had about 5x7" color pictures of each of the boats.As I recall those pictures took up nearly two full pages!All of the Seattle TV channels covered the race live. Now they are doing well to field two full heat races with the field of boats they draw.
Cool to see them being saved! There was one at last years Roar and Soar but I have no idea of their history.
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