Racing was a tough sport and boats often got in the way of one another.  In this case, Carl was about to pass between two boats when they decided to close the gap... so he just ended up climbing over the top of both boats and squeezed past.  In reality, it all happened so fast, he couldn't avoid "the climb".  No one was hurt, just a few dents in the other two boats.

 

      This was a modified catamaran Carl designed to experiment with.

     Taken to Lake X for rigging & set up for a race, the test drivers at Lake X could only get 3/4 trottle before the bow would start to lift.  Frustrated, Carl jumped in the boat, street clothes and all, another driver thru him a helmet and he took off to push the max.  And he did.  On the backstretch, he opened her up, and she went fast!  About the same time, the bow started lifting up... up... and over.  Carl went swimming, but he had a smile on his face.

     When that boat was under control, she was the fastest thing around ... but slippery in the water, hence the name, "Wet Noodle"

 

 

      Only this time, Jeanne was racing her in the Gold Coast Marathon, up the intercoastal waterway, from Miami to Ft. Lauderdale.

     As the story goes, Jeanne was trying to pass another race boat that was weaving back and forth to keep her from passing.  She swung wide, not noticing there was a piling in her path.  She hit the piling, with it stopping just short of her feet.  She didn't think about the boat, only how mad Carl would be if she sunk the new engines.  Finding the nearest place to beach the boat, she slowly moved that direction with the two hulls flexing.  But she did succeed in keeping the engines dry.

 

 

The Wet Noodle was taken back to the shop and repaired.  On the first launch after the repair, Carl took the boat out for a test run.  There was a big race the next day.  As he was backing out of the lift area, another race boat swung wide and creamed the side of the Wet Noodle.  More damage to be repaired.