Ryan submitted a new blog post: The Races At Cypress Gardens? Continue reading the Original Blog Post
Man those guys drove the hell out of those boats! There was something similar in the Seattle area where I'm from. Here's a video of one of them.
Grew up not far from there.Saw a few of those races,and they were sure fun to watch.Dad and Mom sure got a kick out of watching,Thanks Ryan for posting. Good luck.Have fun.Be safe. Leo
I was reading about the Sammamish river races, that was wild. Never seen a video of it before. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
they had slew races from what I was told in the Seattle area back in the day...it was a popular event.
I wonder if Seattle Slew (the racehorse that won the Triple Crown in 1977) got his name from those races?
@Ebbsspeed, sort of. Sloughs were originally used by loggers for moving logs to Seattle. The boat races took place on them as well. The owners of Seattle Slew figured people wouldn't remember the horse if it was Seattle Slough, so they changed the spelling. Ryan's lead picture is actually from one of the Seattle races. April 9, 1962: Don Hansen, of Edmonds WA. I've heard the boats could do 80mph+. I've got a few tools from a guy who raced back in the day. Here's a picture of the start of a race.
I never got to go watch but that race was huge in the 50's and 60's. To say that those guys were nuts was putting it lightly. They raced almost every week of the summer on a lake or bay in the PNW on an oval course. Quite often at Silverdale near Bremerton.
They used to have Hydroplane races at the local water carnival in the 60's-70's in northern MN. Megaphones and Caster oil. Now that's racin.
I remember seeing a video of races like this on the movie newsreel back in the 50's. They were some true daredevils. Thanx for sharing this fun footage.
Cypress Gardens is now Lego Land where everything is built using Lego's. I drive by the place but have not stopped in since Cypress Gardens sold out. Jimbo
That footage is awesome Google Nanaimo bath tub races I think it started in 67 so new for this site. But guys would cross the Georgia Straight in small “bathtub” boats with large outboards Pretty hairy Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
That........is..........AWESOME!!!!! EDIT: Did a quick search. Found this article. https://www.boatingmag.com/go-fast-blast-from-past-cypress-gardens-outboard-steeplechase-race/