Thunderboats? OOOOh man, many many, memories and stories. Happy to talk some boating!
Western Washington Native here. As kiddos (Early 60's) we carved and modeled hydros from 2X12 scrap boards and bits then dragged them behind our bikes. We also whittled H0 boats from balsa blocks for our T-jets. A catwisker wire was used to hang cotton out back for a wagging rooster tail. Mom took pity and gave us a an old blue picnic cloth for realism LOL.
Spent much of my bachelor 20's on Lake Washington. Had a 12 ft 2 point, and a 12 ft 3 point, out board limiteds, and couple of other radical pleasure craft. Lived 1 block off the Rainier Beach boat launch, and frequently launched at Stan Sayers pits too (Seward Park). Always scheduled my vacation time to coincide with the Sea Fair race and the log boom. Skiied, wakeboarded, tubed, para-sailed, hobiecatted, fished, explored, and generally partied that Lake from Kenmore to Renton. Other peoples kids ... LOL
I love all the eras of and genres of boat racing, from Gar Wood to the Present.
Bill