The Unlimiteds heeded the call decades ago....will Offshore ever get it right?
#11
Allergic to Nonsense
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Offshore racing had Key West 1985 (Fullam and Poppa), 1986 ( Marc Lavin), 1991 (American Dream), 1994 ( Tom Gentry), and a few others....... 2011 was simply the latest episode in the deadly drama on that race course.
T2x
Last edited by T2x; 08-15-2012 at 04:39 PM.
#12
Driver-441
Racer
Brings a tear to my eye.
We are apart of the only sport in the world that seems to encourage pushing the envelope.
2 Supercharged Big Blocks not doing it for ya?? No problem! Slap 4 in there! Maybe even turbines!
Sad.
We are apart of the only sport in the world that seems to encourage pushing the envelope.
2 Supercharged Big Blocks not doing it for ya?? No problem! Slap 4 in there! Maybe even turbines!
Sad.
#14
VP of the tickfaw200
Agreed. Look at NHRA the top fuel rails and funny cars only do a 1/8 mile now. Still running the same speed but no deaths since to my knolage.
#15
Registered
You’re relatively new to OSO do some searches on T2X posts you will not be disappointed, he helped Noah with the rigging on the Arc! Just kidding! It's wonderful that we do have some really knowledgeable experienced brothers on OSO! Great post T2X very timely!
#16
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I'm not sure which I want (clearly safety first!)... a Merlin in a hydroplane or turbines in an MTI.
I knew I read about Miss Budweiser before.
"Since the introduction of the F-16 safety canopy, no one has died in unlimited hydroplane racing. Since the loss of driver Dean Chenoweth in 1982, the thunderboat sport has been entirely death-free.
The man most responsible for this happy turn of events is Ron Jones, Sr., the Seattle area boat builder who pioneered the F-16 concept, starting with the Miss Budweiser and the Miss 7-Eleven in 1986. "
I knew I read about Miss Budweiser before.
"Since the introduction of the F-16 safety canopy, no one has died in unlimited hydroplane racing. Since the loss of driver Dean Chenoweth in 1982, the thunderboat sport has been entirely death-free.
The man most responsible for this happy turn of events is Ron Jones, Sr., the Seattle area boat builder who pioneered the F-16 concept, starting with the Miss Budweiser and the Miss 7-Eleven in 1986. "
#17
Allergic to Nonsense
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I'm not sure which I want (clearly safety first!)... a Merlin in a hydroplane or turbines in an MTI.
I knew I read about Miss Budweiser before.
"Since the introduction of the F-16 safety canopy, no one has died in unlimited hydroplane racing. Since the loss of driver Dean Chenoweth in 1982, the thunderboat sport has been entirely death-free.
The man most responsible for this happy turn of events is Ron Jones, Sr., the Seattle area boat builder who pioneered the F-16 concept, starting with the Miss Budweiser and the Miss 7-Eleven in 1986. "
I knew I read about Miss Budweiser before.
"Since the introduction of the F-16 safety canopy, no one has died in unlimited hydroplane racing. Since the loss of driver Dean Chenoweth in 1982, the thunderboat sport has been entirely death-free.
The man most responsible for this happy turn of events is Ron Jones, Sr., the Seattle area boat builder who pioneered the F-16 concept, starting with the Miss Budweiser and the Miss 7-Eleven in 1986. "
#19
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We lost George Stratton in 2000 at the San Diego event in the U-10, with an F-16 canopy. Since his death, additional improvements have been made in our canopies and structural cage internal to the canopy, as well as HANS devices becoming mandatory. Many of us now wear rib protectors from Seattles' Design 500 (A result of the U-1/U-96 crash in 2011 at Madison), the back end of our canopies are now rounded instead of blunt to deflect impact in the event of a backward upside down entry, (A result of the Bud blowever in 1997 in TriCities). Besides full time air with a minimum app. 12 feet of hose, we carry buddy breathers (spare air) in case our masks are ripped off on impact (A result of the U-37 blowover in Madison 2009), We've also had over 40 blowovers in excess of 170 MPH since 2000 (3 alone in Detroit 2012) and every driver survived. Some were hurt, backs damaged, loss of fingers, broken ribs, etc. but we all made it. Instead of lawsuits, or covering the boats in tarps, our officials and crew chiefs climbed all over the equipment, asked questions, and worked cooperatively to improve our safety. There are no secrets, our shop and others are open to anyone that wants. Yet people will continue to die in boat racing as long as ignorance or arrogance stoke the fire.
I'm not sure which I want (clearly safety first!)... a Merlin in a hydroplane or turbines in an MTI.
I knew I read about Miss Budweiser before.
"Since the introduction of the F-16 safety canopy, no one has died in unlimited hydroplane racing. Since the loss of driver Dean Chenoweth in 1982, the thunderboat sport has been entirely death-free.
The man most responsible for this happy turn of events is Ron Jones, Sr., the Seattle area boat builder who pioneered the F-16 concept, starting with the Miss Budweiser and the Miss 7-Eleven in 1986. "
I knew I read about Miss Budweiser before.
"Since the introduction of the F-16 safety canopy, no one has died in unlimited hydroplane racing. Since the loss of driver Dean Chenoweth in 1982, the thunderboat sport has been entirely death-free.
The man most responsible for this happy turn of events is Ron Jones, Sr., the Seattle area boat builder who pioneered the F-16 concept, starting with the Miss Budweiser and the Miss 7-Eleven in 1986. "
#20
Registered
I know a guy that died in a jones capsuled runabout a little while back. This thread made me think about him today.. Thank you . Every person that straps into a capsule is a hero in my book. I takes balls to do it. And every guy that crashes in a capsule helps out his fellow man by testing it. My favorite racers to watch were Larry Lauterbach, Kent Mcphail, Tommy D'eath , Kropfeld etc. Used to love watching them wheel those things around the corners.. Now I don't really see the point. I sold my flatbottom... It is fun to watch the GP lights . I got a couple friends that are still in it. They sound way better than the turbines . I think