Courtesy of King5.com
by ROBERTA ROMERO / KING 5 News
KING5.com
Posted on August 7, 2010 at 2:26 PM
SEATTLE – Twenty-two-year-old Kayleigh Perkins hadn’t even been born the last time a woman took an unlimited hydroplane onto the waters of Lake Washington. That was back in 1981, but Perkins is more than ready to get behind the wheel.
“I spent all of this last winter lifting weights to get ready for this,” she said.
With the blessing of pilot Steve David, Perkins was given the chance to take out the famous Oh Boy Oberto hydro for its test run.
The petite Perkins handled the 31-foot-long boat that skims across the water at up to 200 miles an hour.
“It’s really hard, it’s going into the corners really easy, these boats want to turn and you can take it in with a couple fingers but pulling it out takes full body briefing so it was challenging, and I’m excited, I’ve got to do a little more weightlifting to be able to handle a heat in one of those. I’m not quite ready for that yet,” she said.
At the end of the ride, a jubilant Perkins had a big hug for her partner – the Oh Boy Oberto.
“The way that I look at is if you show the boat love the boat will show you love back,” she said.
Perkins has spent her life in and around hydros. She began racing unlimited light hydroplanes at the age of 16 and has become a winner despite her shy nature.
“Normally actually I’m a pretty timid person I didn’t go on roller coasters until I was 19 years old I mean I’m a timid person and when I’m driving boats I feel fearless,” she said.
The next step will someday be competing in the full hydroplanes, and by the looks of her latest accomplishment – she hit 147 miles an hour during the test – she’s well on her way.
After the test run, Perkins went back to race her boat, the unlimited light hydroplane Foster Care/Triad Racing Technologies.
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