The Unlimited Hydro's and Reno Unlimited's share many similarities. I too grew up in Seattle/Bellevue summers with the sound of the Merlin's and Griffons rumbling off in the distance waiting for Dad to let us know if were going to be able to take the boat out Friday or Saturday (never could afford Sunday) and watch the practicing.
As a old dude, I'd pay to see and hear the V12's run any day, but race? Not sure anyone's going to push those throttles up to 120+ inch MAP settings again.
I have a hangar neighbor at the Auburn airport who put himself through college working on the "Miss Bardahl" boats, from number two to five, as crew member and then crew chief. He told me the Reno guys used to contact them frequently for tech info sharing and described the differences as the boat engines were subjected to higher abuse loads. They ran small no mass props that constantly came in and out of the water and had over speed 'bursts" each time. The Reno guys were interested as the aircraft engines never experienced anything similar. He and another former crew member discovered boat number three and bought and restored her.
From the hydro museum:
"Then ex crew member Dixon Smith heard of Bardahl’s whereabouts and decided to buy it from the museum as a private owner. Smith injected nitrous oxide into Bardhal’s World War II Rolls-Merlin engine, redefining the word ‘speed. Dixon rebuilt it to run the hydroplane.
Only 30 percent of the original material was salvaged due to years of corrosion and neglect. Yet after extensive work and the help of an innovative team, Smith and three of Bardahl’s original crew, who had taken the boat out of Mission Bay in 1965, re-launched the boat on Lake Washington on July 7, 2007.
He is second from the left.
Not to hijack the post, but if you enjoy the sound of Merlins and like racing, this is as good as it gets - right to the end. Voodoo's engine didn't have another minute in it after this race:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvRmZZZEzF8