Sights & Sounds: Oberto hydroplane testing on Lake Washington

Miss Madison Racing's 2007 hull testing in Seattle for the first time under new sponsorship from Oberto Specialty Meats. Veteran driver Jeff Bernard pilots the hull for the first time as they prepare to compete in H1's west coast races.

[@richardjohnson4696]

I love the ramming of the dock.

[@SlackerU]

2:41 that dent...

[@musicstewart9744]

Love the sound of the vintage boat

[@ericlarson63]

That was a vintage or classic racer? It was supercool to see. Piston driven, I sure think.

[@SoDogtravels]

Who puts a thumbs down on this really. It’s cool seeing both on the water

[@MrMitcheymitch]

Yes Of Course I Was There !!! Great Turn Out,and thank you to Oberto for the Food & Prizes Great to see the New Boat having a little battle with the Vintage Oberto Boat Good Luck to you guys in The Tri Race then we will see you when you get home to Seattle Shout Out to H1 for the great photography and keeping us going through the season with the LIVE STREAMING Thanks “THE HYDRO DUDE SINCE 1960”

[@BlueLeader1]

Awesome! Great to see these guys on the water. What a wonderful paint job.

[@joncalvo3591]

How GREAT it is to see Seattle's favorite Unlimited back on Lake Washington !!

[@gizzyguzzi]

Oberto was a great sponsor for many years. And a great Seattle company. But the Madison wasn't a local boat. I always rooted for local teams.

[@localcrew]

First time I saw an unlimited hydro race there were still several front-engined boats being fielded. I was in Madison with three friends and it was before they started charging admission. We were swimming in the river during the races. Near the bank, of course. No turbine boats yet. I don’t think the Miss Budweiser was running the Gryphon engine yet either. Good times.

[@wn6904k]

Was a great day, fun to watch both boats !!!!!!

[@choprjock]

I recall reading an article in SI, that was about the winningest "living" hydroplane driver. "Living" being the key word, as every other driver that had won as many races, had all been killed driving those boats.This was back in the days of Miss Thriftway, Miss Bardahl, Miss Detroit, Miss Madison.

[@markanderson800]

Great to see ! Even better to hear, brings back so many memories when I grew up as a Kid. Thank You ! Go Oberto !

[@Ryan_H22]

The two boats side by side... Awesome!

[@vicO1323]

I remember as a kid back in the 50's and 60's watching the limited and unlimited hydroplane races on Coeur d'Alene Lake Idaho. The unlimited hydroplanes used Allison 12 cylinder aircraft engines. Drivers like Bill Muncy in Miss Thriftway, Miss Bardahl, Chip Hanauer in the Miss Budweiser, Miss Spokane. Many others that I can't remember. Great fun with a day at the races, swimming and hot dogs.

[@andyfletcher3561]

They had Miss Bardahl in the Goodwill facility on Rainier Ave, just before you got into downtown Seattle for several years, like 70&71 or so. Used to love going in there, running my hands along the hull. I was lucky enough to live 3 blocks up the hill from the pits. We could see all but turn1 from the living room, dining room, and my bedroom.

[@qmal2009]

I was a kid in the 60's...born and raised in Madison, IN. I remember being on the banks of the Ohio River at the '71 Gold Cup race when Miss Madison won. I met Bill Muncey when he was driving Atlas Van Lines and Dean Chenoweth when he was driving Miss Budweiser...probably the biggest rivalry in Unlimited Hydroplane Racing history. And my boat button collection....so many great memories....

[@rosskrause3926]

I love it !! I have seen some speed boat drag races before,and these extreme style boats are just total Bad Ass !!!

[@WilberNStella]

My family went to Stan Sayers pits every year through the 60s. I so loved the noise & cheering of the crowd. The Bardahl was my favorite as we are Norwegians.

[@timwright3592]

Very cool watching them run. Went to Bayfest in San Diego a few times. Awesome to watch.

[@StevenGuest]

glad to see you back racing

[@descentthroughlife8797]

a boat with an internal combustion engine is simply beautiful

[@brianjacobsen5762]

Had a lot fun watching that boat over the years.

[@JACKUS173]

beautiful duo test !! thank you very much

[@joevald3]

Really cool to see the two

[@cbh148]

Outstanding looking vessel in that Oberto livery. Hope to see them in person at Hydrofest Guntersville in 2020!

[@johnreese3762]

Super video! Thanks a million!

[@cavemantrees7829]

Sweet, go baby go ! Home town Madison. Love to watch these boats race.

[@jameschacko1966]

Love the Graphics.

[@Buff_Dave_Oprtr]

Wow!!! So freaking awesome!

[@ronp8865]

Go Miss Madison! I love that I can still watch these awesome boats on the Ohio River and in 3 hours be on Cumberland watching the fastest offshore boats in the world. Do yourself a favor and watch the movie Madison about this boat back in the 70's.

[@jerryseymour2738]

The old Thunderboats are the coolest. Merlin engines are awesome.

[@mkshffr4936]

Yep, kind of took a lot of the feels out when they took out the thunder. But the turbines were just way faster.

[@davidparker5097]

Best looking boat loved to watch

[@nasty906]

That is some great footage

[@allantaylor3288]

Both awesome boats but do love the sound of the older classic boat, a bit like a modern jet and a spitfire with the Merlin engine.

[@rebelndirt8830]

Great to see the boats on water again especially the shovel nose. Love the crash into the dock!!

[@lewiskemp5893]

Love that sound !!!!! 😀🥰

[@techspec1803]

Thank you recommendations feed.😃👍🏼

[@strexttp]

The sound of a real boat !!! ✌️💥🚦

[@kenken3522]

F1 : who are you? H1 : i'm you, but can swimmm~

[@TheAstrojoe62]

A sentimental favorite. One of the few old school sponsors still racing. Really wish Budweiser would get back into the game but with Bernie gone. Sigh.

[@joncharles6403]

What about Winston or slits

[@blakedawson2129]

chip

[@royallclark6331]

Oh, the sound of that Allison!! Brings back childhood memories of Miss Thriftway, Slo mo, Slo mo 4, and others.... wasn't it Slo mo 5 that did the complete flip one year??

[@jselectronics8215]

Hey, old timer... :) Yeah, I remember, and I'm only 73.

[@uglycasanova4240]

Reading your comment brought back memories as well. Pay-n-Pack, Circus circus, Squire Shop. The good ole days

[@jctroy9578]

Awesome video, Good luck and give em hell !!

[@michaelshepherd8299]

Great video keep it up..

[@matthewfunk4969]

Looking forward to next weekend. Reminds me of a photo taken years ago with a P51 and an F15. The P51 was full throttle and the F15 was trying to stay in the air. What was the throttle difference between the boats on this run?

[@mig21pilot]

YES! On the Allison!

[@robertlandy9414]

I can remember the sound of five piston poppers coming under cloud cover at Mission Bay. 👍🏻

[@wesdailey9964]

Got to admit the turbine boats badass but nothing beats the sound of an Allison or Rolls-Royce Merlin!!!

[@MrYahaza]

Love it! From Vietnam

[@ogopogo1352]

Just one more week till thunder on the water. I'll be watching from Kelowna

[@nikitapetushkov3305]

Your near Big white?

[@briantomlinson8163]

Jerry?

[@gizzyguzzi]

I watched the big boats the 2 years they went back to Kelowna. But Ogopogo got mad, never let them finish the race!

[@gldi8hr]

Insane speed 🤯

[@SuperPhester]

AWESOME!!!

[@wuyiukwong]

Love that sound 💯👍💪💪🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@russellhueners8499]

Will Seafair run in 2021?, lets hope so, such a big part of summer here in Seattle. Old man Oberto has passed on, he used to roam around and hand out packs of his jerky, I got to meet him years ago, nothing but class. The "all day" coverage on the local TV channel was scrubbed back in 2018, so many people at home were left high and dry without it, quite an uproar over it, maybe they will bring it back, we can only hope.

[@biggin5434]

I absolutely love turbine boats! This is so Badass! Thank you for the upload

[@daveg2609]

Seeing the Turbine boats was awesome, but I miss "feeling the Piston boats" going by

[@daveg2609]

PS, My dog, her name is Allison and the cats name is Merlin

[@andyfletcher3561]

@@daveg2609 I lived a couple of rows of houses up from Sayer's Park, or The Pits as we used to call them. Kind of annoying when they would fire them up at 2AM but we wouldn't have had it any other way. Got to watch Notre Dame crash coming out of turn 4 in 1971. Bud, ND, and Atlas Van Lines sponson to sponson in the hardest racing I've ever seen until ND dug in and she broke in half at the cockpit. All while Pride of Pay-n-Pak was crossing the finish line.

[@JasonHudsonmt]

Very cool!

[@davida1679]

So so cool!

[@adityadamor2498]

awesome work....it ws suprrb

[@pappy017]

still remember Oh Boy Oberto racing Miss Bud!! Long time ago:)

[@johnspooner9991]

That is sick sounding

[@dontask8979]

I remember in about 1980, running across a old "Sunny Jim" sitting all overgrown on someone's property, in Mason county. I hope it was restored in all these years.

[@merlinceltic4387]

Sehr beeindruckend !! Wie schnell ist die Höchstgeschwindigkeit dieser Boote ( km/h bzw. mp/h ) ? Danke für eine Antwort.

[@kauairootsohana]

Gramma just watering the boat no muffs on!!! What a hammer

[@tracyfloyd3287]

go boyz!!!! 1-2 finish !!!!!

[@Handz0r]

Ouch, hit that dock pretty hard 2:40

[@Subaruej20]

Looked like it was gearing up for a high speed pass complete with the sponson walking then he makes a turn. Takes a very stable hill to pull that shit...im impressed.

[@roscoejones4515]

Ha! So the guy with the hose is there to keep the wing and stern (boat talk!) from melting during the dry run! Very cool vid, thank you!

[@craigjudd2131]

Water skiing bout to be lit

[@MistahElias]

Ouch, that dock impact looked harsh..

[@fishinfool247]

U could see the damage on the hull soon as he hit the steel gurder on that dock.....ouchie

[@rollydoucet8909]

Yes, I saw that. That shouldn't have happened.

[@dickhurtz4528]

Said the motor wouldn't shut down.. Hmmmmm..

[@SkypowerwithKarl]

It sounded like it caught again. I’m sure he’s thinking, Oh crap!

[@davidevans9016]

Bet that's going to cost a few bucks

[@OllieW501]

@@davidevans9016 i suspect it's carbon fiber, so...yep ;-)

[@Mitchs]

2:41 oof

[@adamh603]

you can see the dent it left in the hull

[@2605155]

Yeah, seriously, that's what his plan was for returning to the dock?

[@michaelmarquis8072]

he hit that thing so hard still lol

[@Freakschwimmer]

OOF size: Very Large

[@escope1959]

Ouch!

[@docraineyiii8789]

Soooo Cool!! The V-12 Unlimited brings back fun and vivid memories from my childhood on the Ohio and Detroit Rivers. You gentlemen are heroes for still wowing the young and old of today with your thrilling sport. Out West, where I live now water levels are at 20 year lows. Maybe that’s reducing venues open for business on your national circuit. I hope not. Stay safe out there, and please promote female teams and pilots. They will add to your tour’s appeal and participation, and sell tickets. If you folks still sell spectator tickets.

[@rchydrozz751]

More interesting, and sounds better with the vintage hydro motor in the more modern hydro hull.

[@fox-body]

Wow he hit the hell out of that dock.

[@jamesheckaman1557]

That would be fun I bet it probably feels way faster on the water too they look like they went smooth

[@everetthenderson5466]

I miss racing my Pickel Fork!!!

[@p80mod]

Nice!

[@MikefromQueens]

Whoa!

[@andyfletcher3561]

Used to live at 3850 42nd St, living room, dining room, and my bedroom all overlooked the pits, and from the living room, I could see all but turn 1. I watched Pay&Pak crossing the finish line as Bud, Atlas Van Lines, and Notre Dame were racing hard, Notre Dame flipping and sinking in about 10 seconds. Oberto was always one of my favorites...

[@angelduenas2404]

They seem cool

[@biggin5434]

That Allison engine sounds beautiful

[@wilburfinnigan2142]

biggin Thats what hydros are suppose to sound like !!!!

[@ScottCalkins]

@@wilburfinnigan2142 And feel like. When they hit the start gun you feel the vibration on the beach.

[@PAKiller1]

I have to say, when in Detroit, when 5 of the piston boats came out of the Roostertail turn at the same time, the ground would shake and I would get an erection.. my brother told me I was a very sick man, lol

[@MrsCDezoma]

WHOO HOO! SUMMER TIME.

[@mambaracing]

Awsome….

[@lindamcentaffer5969]

Hey, I believe the old U-8 to be the former "Pink Lady" of the 50s, Hawai Kai, driven by Jack Regas. Very cool & fast boat in her day.

[@CanYouFoush]

The vintage U-8 in this video is just the re-skinned U-4 Miss Burien as the actual Oberto is being rebuilt and repaired at the Museum. As for the Hawaii Kai, I believe that boat was given a Viking Funeral in the 60’s, burned to the waterline.

[@rongt859]

Hard to believe the water speed record was set in 1978 by Ken Warby and has not been broken since , a couple of people have died trying

[@jamestembo3029]

wow beautiful

[@choward874]

You would have to be the craziest of of people to drive one of these!

[@WS-yp6le]

I live and work around the Madison area Go Miss Madison

[@RushSmith65]

Damn near the best thing in seattle these days..

[@carter_saunders]

Dang that thing slammed the dock @ 2:38

[@zuestoots5176]

Saw one in Dexter, Oregon.

[@AMAURYPESCADORINVENTOR]

Muito loco !👍

[@Warandpeace569]

Beast

[@countryracer69]

Sharky rides again!

[@MISTERLeSkid]

Does anyone know how many lateral Gs that boat achieves? It's insane how quickly it does a 180.

[@Mullay2]

Now the old Oberto is a Thunderboat!

[@basiqueaube479]

すっごい！かっこいいですね！！

[@thebluestreak3970]

It sounds badass when it passes by

[@MrMagnum500sw]

Oh yeah.

[@fpvnips7657]

Omg did nobody notice that captain Crack the front end of the boat up?? Jeeze

[@keithfelt6949]

Cant beat the old Alison's sound.

[@JetSkiBrothers]

too cool

[@martinbuinicki1056]

Get us a drone to watch the corners!

[@mits2113]

the jet powered one is way cooler but man is the open one so badass!!!

[@WickedG5150]

That was fast.!