Summer Reading

[Hydroplane Museum]

Now that the sun has finally make it's first official visit to Seattle in 2013, our thoughts turn ahead to long, lazy summer days spent at the beach, perhaps at our favorite H1 race sites. And with all that free time, what better to do than to brush on our reading. The Hydroplane & Raceboat Museum wants to help you while away the summer days with these great new reads.

At the Ragged Edge
By A. J. Muntz

At the Ragged Edge chronicles the world's fastest boats and among the most extraordinary of sports spectacles. The focus is on the lives of two of the sport's most famous competitors:

Gar Wood was a mechanical genius and a perfectionist. A self-made millionaire who once held more patents than any other living American, he devoted his considerable fortune and skills to becoming the world's greatest speedboat driver. Whether he was fighting off the challenges of racers from other nations, setting speed records, or racing a train down the Hudson River as a publicity stunt, Gar Wood always managed to create a good story for the press and, in the process, became a phenomenon. He was brash, had a vivid imagination and, through his many exploits, became the first to cast national attention on the sport of boat racing.

Bill Muncey was a showman and a strategist. At once both cocky and self-effacing, he understood marketing and competed at a time when the ability to represent the sponsor was nearly as important as the ability to push one's foot to the throttle. But, he was skilled on the racecourse, too. He knew how to get the best from his equipment and, most maddening to those he raced against, had the uncanny ability to get into the heads of his fellow competitors and take appropriate advantage. Driving boats capable of traveling the length of a football field in one second, without so much as a seat belt to hold him into his open cockpit, he also knew the sport's danger, the tragedy of losing friends, and the pain of his own harrowing accidents.

Along the way, you'll also meet Chris Smith and Ted Jones, two designers and boat builders who would revolutionize the sport; Henry Segrave, one of England's most decorated racers; and Bernie Little, a brash millionaire who spared no expense to have the fastest boat possible. Together, these characters, and many more, tell the fascinating story of hydroplane racing's first one hundred years.

Fatal Pursuit: The Story of Lee Taylor, Jr
By Doug Ford

Fatal Pursuit is the story of Lee Taylor, Jr., and his quest to be the world's fastest person on water, and keep the World Unrestricted Water Speed Record in America.

Author Doug Ford is a nationally known aeronautical engineer with more than 40 years of experience in aerodynamic and hydrodynamic research, engineering and design. He has extensive background in experimental aircraft design, wind tunnel testing techniques, computational fluid dynamics analysis techniques, and hydrofoil and watercraft design and testing techniques. He has been actively involved with the sport of unlimited hydroplane racing since the 1950’s when he was a youngster as part of the volunteer crew of the Slo-mo-shun IV, then with several other racing teams, a stint that encouraged him to pursue a career as an aeronautical engineer, and has continued to this day. Ford served as the Director of Safety, Technology, and Competition for the Unlimited Racing Commission for ten years, and was instrumental in the development of design specifications for the structural enclosed cockpits used on unlimited hydroplanes today. He has been called on and continues to provide consulting and design support to many unlimited hydroplane racing teams.

You can find both titles at the Hydroplane & Raceboat Museum's Store.