Thank's for sharing these great memories. It's funny, I remember your name. You're the gentleman I purchased pieces of the Atlas Van Lines deck from...
Such a shame what has happened to hydo racing since that time the Seafair race wasn't even carried live on TV it's just not the same without the Piston powered boats , they called them THUNDER boat's for a reason , I wish they would bring back the THUNDER and save the sport
Mddlclss Wrkr : agreed! Look at at the attendance at this race. The log boom was packed! Seems to me with all the large displacement drag race engines someone could produce a v12 block, crank and heads and use available piston, rods, valve train components from the drag engines. Use a modern supercharger or turbos and you should have plenty of reliable horsepower to match the turbines. Of course supercharged would sound better.
All of Motorsports isn't a popular as it once was. The engines the boats use has nothing to do with it, you can't find WW2 airplane engines any more. Even the antiquated T55-L7 turbine is very hard to find.
Back then they allowed people to bring alcohol, party and have a good time. Not anymore. The puritans killed the hydros, not turbines. They killed the tobacco and beer sponsorships too.
I live in the Seattle area and I am really upset about the coverage of these races. I lived in Virginia when I was in the Navy and the coverage of the races there was much better. There was not only the unlimited boats but the limited lights and other classes shown as well. Best of all when the classic thunderboats run. Here they only want to show the final heat which is great but not usually as exciting.
Over the past weekend with Seafair 2018 hydro races, I happened to watch my recording by KIRO TV (Seattle) of the 2017 Seafair "highlights". What a huge disappointment that out of the 90 minute show, with about 22+ minutes for advertising, and 20 minutes dedicated to Blue Angel coverage (and that wasn't as good as prior year coverage) they spent more time talking about some dispute and penalty than actually showing hydro race highlights! Incredibly disappointing! I expected to see a lot more video race highlights than lots of fluff and filler. But not enough viewership, thus not enough advertising revenue, to support a local station continuing with the 7+ hour Sunday race coverage. Now, after watching the 1979 Seafair championship versus the 2018 slightly expanded coverage (they planned 3 hours of coverage with 3 races but delays caused the coverage to stretch closer to 5 hours) and the difference is obvious, a lot more boats on the log boom in '78 than in '18! Now, tying up on the log boom is costing $80 - $90 per foot of boat, and they said may run around $3,500 for a boat owner wanting to be there for all of it. And Seattle is charging something like $400,000 for lots of permits. Then the whiny turbine engines also are so muted versus the old throaty WW2 airplane engines. I remember as a kid in Seattle, we could hear the hydros for miles away from Lake Washington! If Seattle isn't careful they will price too many people out of seeing the races and they will cease coming to Seattle!
I don't know who this announcer is, but he can't announce. I know he was the same one who did the infamous 1974 Heat 1C, but he was bad back then, too. Can't believe they kept him so long.
That Griffon Bud in the vid, that wasn't the same boat as the legendary 'Juggernaut' of 1980-84, correct? Same exact design and indistinguishable but not the same boat? Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the boat in the vid was the one that Chenoweth crashed and totaled. I thought it happened on Lake Washington sometime in '79 though but if that was true, then how would it be running in Seafair of that same year? Man, I was just a kid back then but the facts stored in my memory banks don't seem to quite add up.
No, you're exactly right, madcapper. The Bud Griffon "Juggernaut" you remember from the early eighties was a different hull. The first Griffon was indeed destroyed in a violent flip on Lake Washington, but not at Seafair. It was in a speed record attempt in October, after the season was complete. Dean Chenoweth was fortunate to survive that spectacular crash but was not as fortunate three years later. hydroplanehistory.com/other/dean_chenoweth_1979_speed_record_attempt_hydro_flips_at_200_mph.html
Ah ok thank you for the clarification and the link. For some reason I thought the crash happened prior to Seafair '79 which is why the chronology wasn't making sense. Good day to you.
The Original blue blaster was heavily damaged in Acapulco when bill blew over and was killed. The Atlas that Chip drove is a completely different boat. The original Blue Blaster has been completely rebuilt now and is run in exhibitions with other vintage hulls that have rebuilt or restored by the Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum in Kent Washington. Chips Blue Blaster is there also, but its a later version built after Bill passed away.
Why do these stupid "announcers" think they have to SHOUT AND SCREAM into a microphone telling you everything you can SEE?? GOOD GAWD they are annoying!!
