Vintage Hydroplanes

[historiceng]

[model murdering]

Thunderboats? OOOOh man, many many, memories and stories. Happy to talk some boating!

Western Washington Native here. As kiddos (Early 60's) we carved and modeled hydros from 2X12 scrap boards and bits then dragged them behind our bikes. We also whittled H0 boats from balsa blocks for our T-jets. A catwisker wire was used to hang cotton out back for a wagging rooster tail. Mom took pity and gave us a an old blue picnic cloth for realism LOL.

Spent much of my bachelor 20's on Lake Washington. Had a 12 ft 2 point, and a 12 ft 3 point, out board limiteds, and couple of other radical pleasure craft. Lived 1 block off the Rainier Beach boat launch, and frequently launched at Stan Sayers pits too (Seward Park). Always scheduled my vacation time to coincide with the Sea Fair race and the log boom. Skiied, wakeboarded, tubed, para-sailed, hobiecatted, fished, explored, and generally partied that Lake from Kenmore to Renton. Other peoples kids ... LOL

I love all the eras of and genres of boat racing, from Gar Wood to the Present.

Bill

[chris]

I remember reading an article in a U.S. slot car magazine many, many moons ago about slot car drag boats.
The speed boats were sitting in water, maybe rainwater guttering, with the slot running parallel and a simple arm screwed at 90 degrees to the deck ran the wires to the guide blade.

With summer arriving down here could be a fun project...…

Chris.

[buspor63]

Model Murdering,

What's your name? Did you ever race outboards nationally ?

I'm Eric Pugh of Pugh Boat Works. Mostly we concentrated on PRO outboard and OPC tunnel boats in the east coast. However, in the early 90's, I took a trip to Lake Lawrence in Yelm Wa. to break the existing 1-2/3 X 5 mile 250cc world record. I broke it, but not by enough to make it official. Oh well, just a 6000 mile joy ride......

As far as boats for slots, your missing the real challenge of any boat competition. Even though the the corners are in the same place, the water conditions are never the same.

[model murdering]

Hi Eric, it's a small world indeed.

My name is Bill Hall, my buddy was Mark McClellan. Just a coupla enthusiastic amateurs with no coin. Yelm is just down the road from where I live now, over on the peninsula. We ran up near Everett a lot. (North of Seattle) We were never particularly focused on the actual sport. Nationals? LOL, was there a Beer chugging skirt chasing class in 1980?

Agreed, the course conditions are always changing, and unbeknownst to most, "speed" takes on an entirely different aspect on the water, especially when the bottom drops out. To this day, it's the part of boat racing that I watch with great intrigue.

Congratulations on your world record. I know how much work and dedication it took.

Regards, Bill

[Courtney s]

Eric

I was just talking about getting my kids into SportC or SST 45 but there is just not enough events, but living in Chattanooga we could do Knoxville , Nashville and I would for sure do Springfield with Dana Potts that just looks cool. The sport seems just to be so fragmented to make a real commitment ,but I would love to own a Pugh Tunnel!

And with all your wood skills do you have a routed track?

[btaylor]

Small world Guy's! My grandfather built and raced Hydro's in the 50's and sixties. they were the 8ft kind with a 10 hp Mercury lightning for power. he did all the engine work and at that time, the canvas covering of the marine plywood. They ran them right in front of his house on the Rock River in Illinois, some times on the ol Miss. He had made a mold for the casting of the exhaust megaphone that netted some serious power out of those little motors, and man would they scream! Somewhere, I have pictures of the Lucky Lady that my dad drove. It was a cool looking little thing, with tons of 50's era pinstriping, and of course, Lady Luck.

Bob

[buspor63]

[historiceng]