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I suspect many of you are not so engaged in the history of the hydroplanes and their contribution to some of the things we take for granted these days. Believe me, if not for the Hydros and Seafair, our once small backwater "town" likely would never have hosted a Worlds Fair, much less attracted the sports teams we enjoy today.
So with that excuse for posting yet another Hydroplane thread on this forum I was at the museum/shop today working on the "Squire Shop" restoration and noticed the recently restored "Pay n' Pak" sitting on the jig awaiting only mounting of the wings and completion of he trailer restoration.
It's beautiful and so I thought I'd share a couple snapshots I took as I was leaving... I can;t wait to hear that Merlin V-12 again.
The old Allison and Rolls-Royce Merlin powered boats will always be the best! I can still "hear" them on Lake Washington during Seafair and the Gold Cup.
Boats like the Pay 'n Pak, Miss Thriftway, Miss Bardahl all of the Slo-Mo boats and their drivers were what made the races so much fun. Sure, the current crop of Unlimited boats are fast and there is some good competition, but I miss the days of the noise, the black puffs of nitrous, and the excitement.
Here's some pics I took at an event at the Tacoma Dome in 2008. Wonder if these boats are still around? And ever been back in the water?
Yep, they are still around. The Hurricane IV was sold to Lake Tahoe a year or two ago. One of the few Thunderboats to be featured in a major motion picture (Magnificent Obsession with Rock Hudson) although some of the others were used to film the more recent film, "Madison"
The Sl0 Mo 3 is in he Hydroplane Museum in Kent and a replica of the Slo-mo-shun 2 was recently completed and ran this fall at Lake Chelan, complete with its old Lycoming engine.
Indeed, since your excellent photos were taken we have several other boats under restoration and running.
Back when hydros were piston driven, Seattle had gusto.
Turbine engines now, and Seattle is San Francisco North.
I blame the turbines.....
I share your passion for the piston-engined days. To my mind, the turbines actually provided better racing and more reliability. Or, vice-versa. Those turbines though are Viet-Nam era helicopter engines and are becoming a bit scarce themselves. I agree it would be fun to hear that "thunder" on Lake Washington again, but except for the occasional "exhibition laps" we run at Seafair, I don't think we're going to hear that noise anytime soon.
We live now in a world class city, with far too many diversions to draw people back to the hydroplanes. Noise or no noise. Far be it for me to place blame on the major league sports teams we enjoy today. Seattle used to be the Boating Capital of the World. The hydroplane races were a part and parcel of that image. Now we're likely to be considered the home of Microsoft, Starbucks and Boeing.
The golden age of the Thunderboats is long past. I'm old enough to remember those days and am grateful to the Hydroplane Museum for allowing me the chance to have such a touchstone to my youth.
I'm having a great time down there and, clearly, love to share it.
11-29-2016, 06:21 PM
Recent Hydroplane Project
I would love to see this in person some time!
