Water Brakes - Try This Story Out
We were having a club develomental race at a place called Lockport. Similar to the name, we were above that giant mechanical weir with a nice short oval course. One driver, Jim Luzny was trying out his new copy of the much revered Giles pickelfork DSH and was really nicely hung in the air and all of a sudden he got punched knees first right through the hydro taking the steering wheel/hub and some cable with him and that long front cowl with him as he broke through it and ended about 50 feet up in front of the ignition killed boat. He hit a 2 X 12 waterlogged construction plank right on the end of his Merc gearcase torpedo! That was the water brake! :) How the gearcase survived that is still a mystery, the thing worked like a log splitter and turned the prop into junk, but man did he stop in a big hurry! Is that the idea of a water brake or not? :)
At the races - Ducks and Legs!
Here I am watching a heat race at Beloit, Wisc and a D hydro driver caught that duck right in his chest at high speed and the duck deflected with its neck broke right down in front of the transom somehow. When he was asked what he was gonna do with that pretty male Mallard with the kinked neck, his response was simply he was gonna skin em and eat em!
Same day in another class heat after that one produced the duck this one was about a dumping and the pickup boat brought in the driver that had "his leg missing at the knee"! Well I freaked momentarily that he lost half his leg but calmed down when I realized seconds later it wasn't bleeding. By this time some people were in hysterics laughing at me! The other pickup boat was out there still too and came back with his hydro in one piece and his artificial leg as another piece too! He was so glad they found it and put it smack back on after he waved it at us with a smile and laugh because I suppose he knew it was freaken us so he played that to the hilt! :)
Jim Stone's Chute accident @ Laredo
Quote:
Originally Posted by Master Oil Racing Team
Yeah Jeff, When I read Dan's post I thought about the same scenario that John posted. How scary. But that's not what happened. It's not clear to me, but if there is a rumour involving the chute it may go back to Ray Hardy. Tim, Ray and I think Bob Smith wore the parachutes. The only ones to flip with one one that I knew about were Ray and Tim.
Wasn't Jim Stone's death (in Elmer Grades 700) at Laredo mostly due to his Security Chute deploying?
I seem to remember hearing some opinions that had Jim NOT wore a chute, he "may" have lived.
Guy