During Sunday’s (Aug. 5) final heat of the Seafair Race, the Oberto Beef Jerky U-1918 hydroplane – driven by Cal Phipps – performed a spectacular flip in the north turn on Lake Washington.
Thankfully, Phipps was not injured in the flip, which happened after his boat encountered the roostertail wakes of the leading hydros as he entered the turn.
The boat suffered surprisingly minimal damage.
The Oberto hydro represents its namesake company, which is located in Kent.
The final heat was stopped, then rerun later. Andrew Tate drove the Jones Racing U-9 Les Schwab Tires boat to victory after leader Jimmy Shane was penalized.
Below are three videos showing the flip from different angles, including an amazing point-of-view clip from a GoPro mounted on the Oberto:
Attention Cal Phipps:
Please leave the SeaFair aerial acrobatics to us.
Thanks,
The Blue Angels.