Lee Taylor, Hustler, and Discovery II

[Dr. X]

Lee Taylor's Discovery II rocket boat crashed because he was running it in water too rough for a boat with sponson angles that steep. If he'd stuck with running the boat in glass smooth water he might have been alright.

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[Ratickle]

Discovery II was an incredible project.

Lee held the record for a long time with his Hustler boat at 285.21mph, (almost 11 years?), before Ken got it .....

 

[Dr. X]

Lee Taylor's Hustler. Rich Hallett hull with J-46 jet engine. Hallett described it as a "big banzai."

 

[Ratickle]

I remember the attempt well. I was still young then and wanted an American to get the record back in the worse way.

 

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[Ratickle]

In better times, RIP.......

 

[Ratickle]

I still remember that boat and some of the technology they were using that had never been used before. I was living out in SW Washington at the time, and we went to Lake Tahoe at least once a year on long weekend road trips.

I remember being pissed because there was a lot of speculation at the time the only reason he went out, the water was too rough, was to put on a show at the pressure of the media.