Longshot rides again!
by Erik Simonson on 27 Jul 2010
Free at last, free at last, good god allmighty, she’s free at last! Erik Simonson/ pressure-drop.us
http://www.pressure-drop.us
In 1993, at Bodega Bay, Russell Lon took his last ride on Longshot, his custom Ketterman built trifoiler, which had just been outfitted with new foil wings. She bolted out of the gate a blasted up to near 50 knots when the back stay parted and she 'blew up' scattering pieces about the harbor.
Russell emerged shaken but unscathed. Longshots parts were gathered and eventually trucked to Southern California.
Russell soon followed another passion, in protecting the environment and has spent the past 15 years working with projects such a his Blue Water Network and Friends of the Earth Which among other things ended the use of two-stroke engines on Lake Tahoe and forced the fuel efficiency issues in Washington and Detroit.
Longshot was recently towed back to Watsonville, had a few tweaks and adjustments made and readied for another go at the record books. She still holds the class A 500 Meter Course record set in 1992 in Tarifa Spain of 43.55 knots according to speedsailing.com. Russell has his sites set a bit higher, that being the overall 500 Meter speed record set by Hydroptere of 51.36 knots set in Hyere's France in 2009.
We had the unique pleasure of watching and recording some of the events involved in such a delicate process yesterday at Oyster Point, on the Southern San Francisco Bay, which we share with you now!
For more information, please go to: www.pressure-drop.us
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