I have been lucky to witness and compete in several classes of raceboats. As a youngster I was at several inboard hydro races and they started my passion for the sport. The inboard hydros are much different to the older 1960ish boats I remember. The modern ones have the same engine sound but the look and performance characteristics are different.
It was a rough ride for those drivers back then. They had to man handle those boats in the turns and the rooster tails would have breaks in them as the boats raced on the straightaways because of the water waves. It was a very dangerous sport. I witnessed many hurt drivers lots of crashes.
This video gives a pretty accurate demonstration of those older hydros. The drivers do push the boats fairly hard at times.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apvXEjL ... ZWJvYXQ%3D
