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View Full Version : Hydroplane and runabout racers descend on Silver Lake



Serious News
05-04-2015, 07:17 PM
Photos and Information: http://tdn.com/news/local/hydroplane-and-runabout-racers-descend-on-silver-lake/article_3b5d1fdd-daf8-556d-b994-c8f50260cc79.html

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Seemingly light as the air they’re skimming off, a cadre of aerodynamic boats fly around a mile-long loop in the center of Silver Lake.

Their propellers kick up “rooster tails” of water, and the roar of their engines can be heard by spectators a mile onshore.

Patrick Gleason watches from the dock swaying with the waves on Silver Lake near Castle Rock.

He isn’t racing today, but he wishes he were.

“You smell the fuel, you hear the engines, the water lapping on the beach,” Gleason says with a tinge of nostalgia. “I’ve told myself when I get to 50 years that should be enough.”

Gleason, 59, has raced every year since 1972 and hasn’t missed a national championship since 1998. He’s owned his boat for 27 years.

Some 100 racers from Washington, Oregon and Canada descended on Silver Lake for the fourth year to test their skills and watercraft on Saturday in a regatta hosted by the Seattle Outboard Association.

Two types of boats competed Saturday: hydroplanes and runabouts, which, unlike the square- or fork-nose hydroplanes, have one sharp nose. Boats average around 10 feet long, have engines ranging from 15 to 40 horsepower and reach speeds up to about 100 mph.

This race, Gleason’s in a support role as a race crew member for his stepson, race director and two-time national racing champion Kyle Bahl.

Nursing these racers’ sense of adventure and love of the outdoors isn’t cheap. During the course of decades, these men and women will devote tens of thousands of dollars to compete.

Bahl’s boat is a quick, strong carbon-fiber hydroplane. He created the $2,000 boat by vacuum bagging the carbon fiber into the shape he wanted. Adding the propeller and motor cost him another $3,000.

But like any true hobby, these racers say the money is worth it.

“I haven’t regretted it for a minute,” Gleason said.

Though he was itching to be out on the water himself, supporting his stepson’s passion had its perks, too.

“It’s fun because ultimately his mother and I split up, and he and I kept ... racing,” Gleason said. “He’s still my pit crew, my driver and my friend.”

Ryan Thompson, 17, has been racing since he was 9 years old, the youngest age you can compete. He now races with three boats: two hydroplanes and one runabout.

“It’s exhilarating because it’s not on the road,” he said. “You get to choose your own path.The speed and the spray that comes off the boat (is fun). It’s so enjoyable, people find a way to save money.”

Like Gleason and many other racers at Saturday’s regatta, Ryan’s passion is a family affair.

While he sits inside his cramped wooden hydroplane, stepdad and former racer David Williams guides it along the dock and to the first position. Ryan waits patiently in a line of young men and women itching to kick off the dock, pull the throttle and shoot off into the center of the lake.

When the race countdown ends, Ryan and the other racers rush to start their motors. Ryan’s motor doesn’t start.

Several boats make it out in front of Ryan, but he and Williams get the slim boat to roar to life seconds later. Ryan glides out from the dock.

Standing with one foot on the right side of his boat like he’s riding a catamaran, squeezing his throttle with his left hand hand and steering with the right, Ryan glides out from the dock.

He hops into the boat, drops to his knees and attempts to steer the boat to the coarse, but the boat takes water and slows just as he reaches the course.

Ryan stays where he is and watches the race progress. He doesn’t have to wait long. Young Kierra Maquart hits an unexpected wave and is thrown from her boat. The race stops.

Kierra’s experience is a reminder that there are dangers to the sport, though most riders say all they walk home with are aching muscles and bruised skin.

A rescue boat brings Kierra in on a stretcher, but when she reaches the shore, she rises unharmed to a cheering crowd.

It’s the kind of moment that demonstrates how familial this community of racers is. Ryan’s mom Linda Williams says that what she loves about the sport.

“They want everybody on the course,” she said. “You’re competitors on the course, but on the beach, everybody’s family.”


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