Comments
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seen these as a kid in Detroit. gold cup races on the Detroit River. my dad was an ameture racer in the 1950's
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Didn't go faster than this ?
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The piston power echo through the city is sorely missed during seafair.
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To bad we can not race there anymore, to many people complain about "noise"
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I miss the sound of the "Piston Packers"
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When I was in the 8th grade, Tommy Fults, driver of My Gypsy and Lil Buzzard, spoke at a school assembly. When asked if he ever thought about the danger, he said no. "I never touched the water and I never will." Three weeks later, he was dead. We were freaked.
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I thought you might like this 1951 film clip of hydroplane races in Kelowna BC
http://youtu.be/Z6xbicKMOUg -
Fantastic, thanks for sharing!
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"Thriftway." Now that's a name I haven't heard in years.
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nothing like the sound of piston engines flying by you at 150 MPH!! Awesome
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Absolutely beautiful in every way.
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Front engine,no turboes,open zoomie exhaust pipes,no capsules or seat belts . . . . . God I still love them!
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You can keep the so called superior turbines,I love the sound of vintage pistons!
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Wowzers!! I'm 8yrs old watching Miss Bardahl tear it up on the Mississippi near St. Louis MO. Thanks for the post.
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Big problem in the day was connecting those big Merlins to an iddy bitty prop. Getting those gear boxes to live was a problem until ING RAMBERG and DON McVITTIE introduced hardened and ground AGMA class 14+ gears from the Gear Works Seattle to the mix. Not an easy proble until they got the gear mods right.
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I miss the Lake Washington races.
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I hav very fond memories of these boats. Hailing from Seattle, WA the boat races were a summer time ritual for me and my friends in my neighborhood - Rainier Valley.
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man i wanna drive on of these so bad!!!
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@72Z15SS Actually it was in the 70's that I remember going to the races but they date back way earlier then that.
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These were my favorite when I was a kid. There was a local regatta at a place called Port Indian ( A riverside community ) in Northeast Pennsylvania about 20 miles west of Philadelphia back in the 70's. The rooster tails looked like they were a mile long, and the sound was awesome!!!
3m 18sLength
The Miss Thriftway (Replica) and Oh Boy! Oberto (1961) vintage unlimited hydroplanes racing. These big boats are powered by Allison V12 1710 cubic inch World War II era aircraft engines. Tastin 'n' Racin June 7, 2009, Lake Sammamish, Washington. Fun Fact: This Miss Thriftway boat was recently built as the Miss Madison and used for filming of the movie Madison.