Seafair commemorates its 75th Anniversary as the biggest summer celebration in the Pacific Northwest; spanning 10 weeks, featuring 40+ events, and reaching more than two million people each year!
It was always glorious when someone beat Dave Villwock. This time 3 drivers beat him. Awesome. It's too bad that Schumacher racing got stuck with that lemon after that idiot JW Myers wrecked their good boat in Detroit, J MIchael Kelly got as much out of the 37 as he could. So nice to see the late, great Art Oberto.
So bogus. JMK did not deserve that win. The two Graham Trucking boats as well as the 21 jumped the gun. The win should have gone to Zimmerman in the 9. Totally bogus.
Does anyone remember a guy named "Dick Brunes" He used to pull the skier Ray Moore. Dick was my grandpa. I'm 54 years old. Dick made the Seattle Times for winning a race driving the boat with his feet and won crossing the finish line. I used to have that news article with picture. Wondering if anyone has that?
Always my favorite race to watch,. Was always at the train bridge by Wayne's Golf Course with several kegs on both sides of the slough and the massive water balloon fights, great times!
The master blaster, the KING OF HYDROS, AN OWNER THAT DEMANDED PERFECTION, HARD WORKING- NEVER GIVE UP He lead in the safety, the performance & the future of UNLIMITED'S NO OTHER OWNER RACKED UP MORE TROPHS,RECORDS OR HISTORY THAN BERNIE I ONCE SHOOK HIS HAND AT DETROIT HE WAS VERY BUZY & DIRECTING HIS CREW HE TOOK 5 MINS FOR A 12 yr Snot nosed kid - me AWESOME HUMAN I NEVER FORGOT IT HE EVEN LISTENED TO ME A BIT HIS ATTENTION WAS ON ME 5- MINS
The Allison & Merlin engines were built here They won the WAR & the gold cups We gave the masses power We gave you thrills, We gave you thunder Built with Michigan/ Detroit PRIDE YOUR WELCOME FREE WORLD
Detroit later in the 70's had 600,000 people & averaged 300,000 years & years after The record still stands as the largest crowd to ever WITNESS a sporting event of any kind!! Remember WORLD DETROIT WHERE IT ALL STARTED
My first hydroplane race that I witnessed in person was when my dad took me to the 1951 Seattle Seafair race. We stood on the hill on the Seattle side looking drown at the course and watched Slo-Mo race from the bridge toward the starting line while other boats rounded the turn and headed toward the starting line. No other sporting moment that I have ever experienced has matched the excitement I felt as a seven year old watching the boats race toward and pass the starting line. These vintage boats are the best, and when the style changed I lost interest in hydroplanes. Thanks for this wonderful video!
This is 1970. You can see Ron Larsen in the Pride of Pay n Pak, Tommy Fults in the Lil Buzzard, Bill Muncey in Myr Sheet Metal, Jim McCormick in Miss Madison, Billy Schumacher in Parco's O Ring Miss, George Henley in Burien Lady, and Leif Borgersen on Notre Dame. Those are the ones I recognized anyway. Didnt see Miss Budweiser (Dean Chenoweth) who won this race, or the other 6 boats that were there.
That does not seem to be 1961. They mention Jack Regas who didnt drive that year. They mention the Gold Cup that wasnt held in Seatyle in 1960 or 1961. Though I saw ThriftwayToo , which didnt race in 1961. Most likely 1958
I remember cheering against that boat many years on the banks of the Detroit River.. I always pulled for Bill Muncey or Chip.. I have been twice to the Hydroplane museum.. if you love hydroplanes, I recommend you go.. what a great place to go
The 2012 airshow gets me emotional sometimes. Because it was the last year that I watched the Blue Angels with my dad 8 months before he passed away. We went to both airshows, the first one we into a residential area near by the east side of the I90 bridge. It was so hot that we went under a shed and unfortunately he was sick he had just gotten back home from dialysis and took me to that airshow and he was able to hang on for me. The second and final show of the year, my Dad took me my baby sister at the time and my cousin to Boeing Field near by were the runway ends and I remember how happy he was and he bought us ice cream and it just gets me when I watch this video😢😭
Having spent many years as the Pits Security Chairman for the Seattle Seafair Boat Club I had many encounters with Art Oberto. Win or lose (and most of those early years of his sponsorship were losing) Art was always a generous, enthusiastic supporter of hydroplane racing in Seattle. Come race day you could always count on him being there in the pits and distributing variety bags of complimentary Oberto products to the various race committees.
I loved the Slo-Mo's, I loved their flying start from their Pits up at Madison Beach. Those were the days when Mt Baker Beach was the pits before the Stan Sayres hydroplane pits were built. Bardall was a fave also. The Thriftways was good too.
I am from Detroit and I have been to the Hydroplane Museum twice.. what a great place.. last time I was there I got to see my favorite boat of all time.. the refurbished winged Pay N Pak.. what a beautiful job they did with it
