Year: 1956

Owner: Monte Steere

Driver: Monte/Nigel/Grady Steere

Model Builder: Nigel Steere, hardware by Monte Steere

Construction: 1/32nd and 1/64th aircraft ply ribs and stringers, with paper-backed ribbon mahogany veneer for the decking.

Year Built: 1994

Motor: Astro 25, 4 turn, water cooled.

Radio: Spectrum

Electronic Speed Control: Victory

Propellor: Octura x447

Paint Colors: Mahogany, Red, Yellow

Graphics: Screen printed by Grady Steere

Notes about the model: TIn some ways history does repeat itself. When the model debuted, it was definitely one of the “boats to beat”. Capturing 17 race wins and two Gold Cups between 1995 and 2002. Also, like the real boat, this model held the first 10th scale electric World Straightaway Speed record. Set on Lake Pleasant circa 2002 at the blistering pace of 36+ miles per hour. While still competitive today, it has yet to take home a race win on the ERCU circuit.

Notes about the real boat: In the early hours of June 26, 1950, an event transpired that caught the racing world by surprise. An Unlimited Class hydroplane with the unlikely name of SLO-MO-SHUN IV set a mile straightaway record of 160.323 miles per hour on Lake Washington near Sand Point, which raised the former standard by nearly 19 miles per hour.
A trio of Seattleites, owner/driver Stanley S. Sayres, designer/riding mechanic Ted Jones, and builder Anchor Jensen, had toppled Sir Malcolm Campbell's world mark of 141.740, established in England in 1939 with BLUEBIRD K4. The era of the three-point suspension design of hydroplane had assuredly arrived.
Measuring 28-1/2 feet with an Allison aircraft engine, SLO-MO-SHUN IV was not the first Unlimited hydroplane to "prop-ride" on a semi-submerged propeller. But she was the first to reap championship results in the application of the concept. The days when a Thunderboat could win by plowing through the water with a fully submerged propeller were numbered. For the next twenty years, boats had to pretty much use a SLO-MO-type of design to be competitive. Taken from "The Slo Mo Shun Saga" By Fred Farley - ABRA Unlimited Historian

Notes about 2006: Competitive and having fun, the Grand (little) Old Lady did finish out the season without a race-win, but made several respectable appearances. Will 2007 return her to her rightful glory? Only time will tell…