Seafair Qualifying Report
The H1 Unlimited hydroplanes took to the water for the 75th anniversary of Seafair for the Apollo Mechanical Cup on Friday morning for testing followed by qualifying to see who can take home the $2500 Revchem Composites Fastest Lap award this weekend.
The U-91 Miss Goodman Real Estate hydroplane piloted by Andrew Tate showed speed during the Friday morning test session with a top speed posted of 155.032 mph, but the team only posted two laps in the session. The U-9 Beacon Plumbing hydroplane driven by Corey Peabody and fielded by Strong Racing took to the course for five laps but didn’t post a qualifying lap speed.
In the first three races of the 2024 H1 season, the Revchem Fastest Lap award has been shared by both the U-91 and the U-9 so the battle was on for Seafair. Peabody was up first and flew the U-9 around the two-mile race course to post a top speed of 155.242 mph, but Tate and the U-91 were up next and posted a speed at 156.985 mph to claim their third Revchem award of the season.
With a shortened qualifying session on Friday, the Saturday morning test session started off with an extension of qualifying to allow the boats another pass to try to improve their times from Friday afternoon as per the H1 rule book, all boats need to have the chance to take a second opportunity to improve their qualifying effort.
Following two different incidents at last week’s race in Tri-Cities, Washington, three of the hydroplanes sustained damage that needed to be repaired in short order to make it to the water in Seattle. The U-1 Beacon Electric of J. Michael Kelly, the U-27 Apollo Mechanical of Dave Villwock and the U-12 of Bobby King all made it to Seafair, but only the U-1 and U-27 made it onto the water on Friday. The U-12 Graham Trucking team was still battling some mechanical issues on Friday and weren’t able to make a testing or qualifying lap, but were back to the water on Saturday morning to qualify for the event.
H1 Unlimited also celebrated a new annual initiative for Seafair with Hydros & Heroes where names of fallen Washington officers are honored on each hydroplane competing at Seafair. Families and friends of the fallen officers attended Friday’s events and were hosted by Beacon Electric/Beacon Plumbing and Strong Racing.
The H1 Unlimited hydroplanes will take to the water Saturday for four heat races. Fans can tune in on the H1 Unlimited YouTube channel for live coverage.
Driver Quotes:
Andrew Tate, driver, U-91 Miss Goodman Real Estate, Miss Madison Racing
How is your boat running and what does it mean to claim another Revchem Composites Fastest Lap award this season?
“The Miss Goodman Real Estate Crew has been working hard to give me the best, most competitive boat possible for this weekend. They’ve made a number of changes and it keeps getting better and better. We were able to pickup another Revchem Composites Fastest Lap award and I can’t thank them enough to putting supporting our sport this year with a fun award that we’re all chasing each race weekend. Fans are going to see a really fast group of boats racing this weekend and Seafair 75 should be one of the best ever.”
Seafair Qualifying Report
The H1 Unlimited hydroplanes took to the water for the 75th anniversary of Seafair for the Apollo Mechanical Cup on Friday morning for testing followed by qualifying to see who can take home the $2500 Revchem Composites Fastest Lap award this weekend.
The U-91 Miss Goodman Real Estate hydroplane piloted by Andrew Tate showed speed during the Friday morning test session with a top speed posted of 155.032 mph, but the team only posted two laps in the session. The U-9 Beacon Plumbing hydroplane driven by Corey Peabody and fielded by Strong Racing took to the course for five laps but didn’t post a qualifying lap speed.
In the first three races of the 2024 H1 season, the Revchem Fastest Lap award has been shared by both the U-91 and the U-9 so the battle was on for Seafair. Peabody was up first and flew the U-9 around the two-mile race course to post a top speed of 155.242 mph, but Tate and the U-91 were up next and posted a speed at 156.985 mph to claim their third Revchem award of the season.
With a shortened qualifying session on Friday, the Saturday morning test session started off with an extension of qualifying to allow the boats another pass to try to improve their times from Friday afternoon as per the H1 rule book, all boats need to have the chance to take a second opportunity to improve their qualifying effort.
Following two different incidents at last week’s race in Tri-Cities, Washington, three of the hydroplanes sustained damage that needed to be repaired in short order to make it to the water in Seattle. The U-1 Beacon Electric of J. Michael Kelly, the U-27 Apollo Mechanical of Dave Villwock and the U-12 of Bobby King all made it to Seafair, but only the U-1 and U-27 made it onto the water on Friday. The U-12 Graham Trucking team was still battling some mechanical issues on Friday and weren’t able to make a testing or qualifying lap, but were back to the water on Saturday morning to qualify for the event.
H1 Unlimited also celebrated a new annual initiative for Seafair with Hydros & Heroes where names of fallen Washington officers are honored on each hydroplane competing at Seafair. Families and friends of the fallen officers attended Friday’s events and were hosted by Beacon Electric/Beacon Plumbing and Strong Racing.
The H1 Unlimited hydroplanes will take to the water Saturday for four heat races. Fans can tune in on the H1 Unlimited YouTube channel for live coverage.
Driver Quotes:
Andrew Tate, driver, U-91 Miss Goodman Real Estate, Miss Madison Racing
How is your boat running and what does it mean to claim another Revchem Composites Fastest Lap award this season?
“The Miss Goodman Real Estate Crew has been working hard to give me the best, most competitive boat possible for this weekend. They’ve made a number of changes and it keeps getting better and better. We were able to pickup another Revchem Composites Fastest Lap award and I can’t thank them enough to putting supporting our sport this year with a fun award that we’re all chasing each race weekend. Fans are going to see a really fast group of boats racing this weekend and Seafair 75 should be one of the best ever.”