Sunday, Jul. 27, 2008
Oh brother! Little sis can hold her own
By
Kevin Anthony, Herald staff writer
Their boats are parked right next to
each other in the Lampson Pits - his big and blue and full of power, hers a
little smaller, bright red and also plenty full of power.
They're Brian and Kayleigh
Perkins, the Donny and Marie of the hydroplane world, though which is country
and which is rock 'n' roll is anyone's guess.
"We're definitely a boat-racing
family," Brian said while taking a break from Saturday's testing session
on the
Kayleigh turns heads every time she climbs
out of her UL-72 Miss Boat Electric, and it's not just because of her winning
smile - though she's done plenty of winning to smile about already in her young
career.
But what grabs the attention - at
least of the uninitiated fan - is that she is a "she" in a sport
where there just aren't very many behind the wheel.
"I'm the only one driving this
class and up," the 20-year-old from Black Diamond said.
But last year's triple-crown winner
for the Unlimited Light Hydroplane Racing Association - rookie of the year,
driver of the year and team of the year - said she would never have gotten
behind the wheel if it weren't for her big brother.
"My older brother got me
started," she said. "I got drug around going to his races."
Brian is in his first full season
driving in the American Boat Racing Association's Unlimited
series with the U-50 Miss Albert Lee and also pilots an Unlimited Lights boat
when the schedules don't conflict.
"I've always liked boat
racing," he said. "Kayleigh and I grew up
on it. This is always what I wanted to do."
Perhaps that's because their parents,
Kevin and Laurie Perkins, have been involved with the Seafair
Waterside Committee for close to 40 years.
The kids grew up volunteering each
summer at Seafair, and it seemed like a natural
progression for Brian when he joined Bill Wurster's
pit crew for the U-8 Llumar boat eight years ago at
age 15.
The family bought a 1-liter inboard
boat in 2000, and when Brian first experienced slicing through the water at 107
mph, he was hooked.
He started running Unlimited Lights
in 2003, and this season on the unlimiteds series -
he was fifth in driver points coming into the weekend - has been the
realization of a dream.
"This is priority No. 1,"
he said, adding, "I love hydroplanes; it doesn't matter what kind. They're
cool looking, they go fast, and I've always been a boat guy."
Now his sister is a boat girl, and
she got her start - with some coaxing from big bro - in that same 1-liter boat.
"It was amazing," Kayleigh recalled. "There's absolutely nothing like
it. I fell in love with it."
She was tearing up the Lighter than
Lights racing division when her big break came in 2007.
Phil Bononcini, co-owner of the Miss
Boat Electric and a longtime driver himself, was looking for a driver after
Michael Flaherty switched teams. He decided to split the driving duties and
gave Kayleigh a shot at some of the smaller races.
She finished third in her first race
- the premiere of the Desert Thunder Regatta in
"She did so good,
we had to race her at Seafair," Bononcini said,
"and she came in second."
That was huge for Kayleigh.
"Seafair
was the height of my summer growing up," she said. "Taking second was
so big. It was more meaningful even than winning the championship."
As the only woman driving full-time
in the Unlimited Lights - and with none currently piloting an unlimited boat -
she has to be considered the top female boat racer in
And she's proving that last season
was no fluke. Her two wins this year are double her total last season. She came
into the weekend with a 769-point lead in the driver standings, and Miss Boat
Electric was only 81 points behind Jerry and Greg Hopp's
Graham Racing Happy Go Lucky in the team race.
Brian and Kayleigh
have bumped heads a few times in the Unlimited Lights series, with little sis
typically getting the best of it. But her big brother shakes it off.
"It's fine," he said.
"She has a much better boat."