Delightfully retro broadcast, including the commercials (I recall the 19 cent Bic pens well, and still use the equivalent today)...That wreck in the first heat was pretty scary to watch!
Those South turn shots were always so epic, and sometimes tragic!...To see those "first generation" hydros skipping and bouncing from sponson to sponson, was very dramatic. They would have to decelerate from 150+mph, to around 80mph, to negociate those turns...and it made you realize how dangerous those boats really were. The ensuing "pickle fork" designs made for somewhat better stability...but for for uglier boats, too! The first gen boats had a flying saucer-like profile, when cruising down the backstretch at crazy speeds!
Muncey was such an articulate ambassador of the sport, that eventually took his life...here he is casually explaining why the driver's seat in those boats did not have safety belts....being thrown clear was the hope...in Bill's case, he was not thrown far enough. I basically stopped following the sport after the Thriftway folks stopped racing. I knew that Muncey eventually did very well in the Blue Blaster...but something about that "pickle fork" hull design turned me off...and when jet engines showed up, I totally lost interest. The grip the Hydroplane racing had on my hometown of Seattle, in the 1950's and 1960's, was incredibly potent!...For years, it was the highlight of summertime in Seattle, the thunderboats could be heard from 10 miles away...it sent a thrill of anticipation down my spine, as a kid, and as a young adult too! Those days of more simple pleasures will never be with us again...I was lucky to be born and raised in Seattle!
I'm from Guntersville and I have heard my mom talking about muncey oly bardahal shoemaker Bernie little I love seeing the old videos like you my mom hated the turbines she called them vacuum cleaners
Delightfully retro broadcast, including the commercials (I recall the 19 cent Bic pens well, and still use the equivalent today)...That wreck in the first heat was pretty scary to watch!
Those South turn shots were always so epic, and sometimes tragic!...To see those "first generation" hydros skipping and bouncing from sponson to sponson, was very dramatic. They would have to decelerate from 150+mph, to around 80mph, to negociate those turns...and it made you realize how dangerous those boats really were. The ensuing "pickle fork" designs made for somewhat better stability...but for for uglier boats, too! The first gen boats had a flying saucer-like profile, when cruising down the backstretch at crazy speeds!
I was there on the log boom, It was a fun day
Muncey was such an articulate ambassador of the sport, that eventually took his life...here he is casually explaining why the driver's seat in those boats did not have safety belts....being thrown clear was the hope...in Bill's case, he was not thrown far enough. I basically stopped following the sport after the Thriftway folks stopped racing. I knew that Muncey eventually did very well in the Blue Blaster...but something about that "pickle fork" hull design turned me off...and when jet engines showed up, I totally lost interest. The grip the Hydroplane racing had on my hometown of Seattle, in the 1950's and 1960's, was incredibly potent!...For years, it was the highlight of summertime in Seattle, the thunderboats could be heard from 10 miles away...it sent a thrill of anticipation down my spine, as a kid, and as a young adult too! Those days of more simple pleasures will never be with us again...I was lucky to be born and raised in Seattle!
I'm from Guntersville and I have heard my mom talking about muncey oly bardahal shoemaker Bernie little I love seeing the old videos like you my mom hated the turbines she called them vacuum cleaners
67 I was born this year
My mom hated the new bardahal she loved the dragon