How A Basement Boat Became A Hydroplane Racing Champion

My dad was an aerospace engineer at Boeing and a rabid fan of hydroplane racing. Dad loved boats and he loved speed. He demonstrated that every time we had to ride with him in the car. For years, Dad's favorite boat was the Slo-mo-shun IV. 

The story starts back in 1938 with the Slo-mo-shun I. That boat threw a rod, caught fire and sank in Lake Washington in 1941. In 1942, while Slo-mo-shun II was in transit, one of the sponsons was damaged or at least that's how the story goes. Boat builder Ted Jones was asked by Sayers, the owner of Slo-mo-shun II. If he would “true up” the sponson and that's when Jones let Sayers know that he had a brand-new boat design that he would like to try out. All he needed was a backer. 

After World War 2, Jones got the go ahead from Sayers to build the boat. Jones was working for Boeing at the time and had no place to build the boat, so he wound up building it in his basement. This was 1947. When the Slo-mo-shun III was complete they discovered that the Slo-mo-shun III was in fact about 10 mph faster than any other boat in its class. 

By the time they were racing Slo-mo-shun III, Plans were already under way to make a bigger, more powerful boat, the Slo-mo-shun IV.  

The Slo-mo-shun IV was completed, and what they called a subscription campaign (think of it as an early version of Kickstarter) was enacted in Seattle so that the boat could be entered into the 1950 gold cup race in Detroit. In preparation for the race, oddsmakers conceded that the boat was fast in a straight line, but could it turn? The resounding answer was yes. 

In the first heat Ted and the Slo-mo-shun IV wound up lapping the entire field. The Ted Jones driven boat won all 3, 30-mile heats and brought the Gold Cup back to Seattle.   

The Slo-mo-shun IV and then V helped to create a dynasty in powerboat racing that lasted for years. 

June 26th the 1999 the Slo-mo-shun IV made one more run on Lake Washington. 

The Slo-mo-shun IV had been on display at the Seattle Museum of History and Industry for over 10 years. It was removed from the museum, completely refurbished and on the 50th anniversary of its debut run, ran one last time on Lake Washington Driven by Ken Muscatel.

This weekend, the hydroplanes will be racing on Lake Washington once again for the Seafair Apollo mechanical cup hydroplane races. I will be celebrating sitting in front of the TV watching the boats race, thinking of my dad.
1950-27 (Sharkey) / 5027 (UNJ) - The Slo-mo-shun Saga