Hydroplane Racing Comes to The
By Robert WIlson
Story Created: Jul 13, 2008 at 8:44 PM CST
Story Updated: Jul 15, 2008 at 10:23 AM CST
They're
called hydroplanes. Part boat, part plane, and all speed. This weekend the
unlimited light hydroplane racing association made history on the
With a
roar that earns them the nickname thunder-boats and roostertails
stretching hundreds of feet behind as they skim the water at 150 miles an hour,
these boats and their drivers know how to put on a show.
Spectator
Angie Klein says, "it's so different from
anything you can see in
Driver Wil Muncey calls this course
world class. But Saturday's
Sunday
drivers called the conditions perfect. And race organizers were pleased with
Chamberlain/Oacoma's planning, and interest in the
big boats. John Lynch is the "voice' of ULHRA. "I
think it's been done here for 15 years, I'm shocked to
say that you guys have been doing this for one year."
The fans
were pleased too. Two young guys were lucky enough to get a
autograph with their favorite driver, Kayleigh
Perkins. She had fun as well. "I've never seen anything like that before.
That just made my day."
The
racing is also serious business. The work to get this boat ready is intense.
For every minute it's racing, there's 24 man hours of work that has to go into
it.
These
teams rarely race back to back weekends, but this race is the first of 5
weekends in a row of pushing bodies and boats to the brink. Driver Wil Muncey says, "it's going to be brutal. It's not necessarily who runs quick, who runs fast. It's a lot like a prize fighter. Who's standing at the end if the 15th round."
A stretch that starts in
The
ULHRA has committed to at least 2 more years of racing on the