Shoreline hydroplane encounters tough break in Seafair final

  • <br>Enterprise staff
  • Monday, March 3, 2008 11:36am

A promising weekend for driver Bryan Richards during Seafair’s Graham Trucking Cup unlimited light hydroplane competition came to an abrupt end in the finals Aug. 6 on Lake Washington.

Richards of Shoreline entered the finals seeded fourth and hit the starting line “right on” taking the early lead.

But then things soured.

Richards hit some debris which broke the boat’s rudder and he almost collided with another boat. The damage ended the day for Richards, who races for Richards Racing, the team founded three years ago by his father Mick Richards, owner of Shoreline Sign &Awning.

Richards, whose Seafair sponsor was Tropical Tan Salons owned by Shoreline resident Dan Mann, is eighth in the national Unlimited Light Hydroplane Racing Association standings.

Three more races remain this season: Silverdale on Aug. 18-19, San Diego on Sept. 15-17, and Port Angeles on Sept. 30-Oct. 1.

The team is busy repairing the damage to the boat to prepare for Silverdale as well as trying to get sponsors for the remaining races, Bryan Richards said.

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