Chris gets a test ride

My whole family got involved in boat racing while my children were in grade school. We were working as crew for a brother-in-law, Nate Brown, who was driving an inboard hydro.We enjoyed both the work and the friends, but didn't see how we could get more directly involved.

However, one weekend during the summer between grade school and junior high school, Nate took my son, Chris, to a combined Inboard & Outboard race in Montana. Chris was given a test lap in a Junior Stock Hydro. When Chris got back to Seattle, he was bubbling with enthusiasm.

A commitment by Chris

A couple of days later, we sat down to talk about the possibility of getting involved in outboard boat racing. I liked the idea but wanted to set a couple of conditions on making this commitment. Despite being very bright, Chris had not been a great student in grade school. He had a paper route but had spent every dollar of his profit without saving anything. I asked him to demonstrate that he was really serious about this by both saving some money towards purchasing race equipment and by getting some good grades in junior high. I wasn't sure how he would react, but waited patiently for results.