If you raced against Justin and won,
there was a satisfaction you could not
find anywhere else. Maybe your boat
was faster. But, Justin did not miss the
start. He did not blow a corner. Even if
you were faster, you had your work cut
out when racing Justin.
It was my good fortune to race with
and against Justin across North America
and in Australia. From Seattle to Florida
to Southern California and dozens of
places in between, Justin won many
trophies. He also won many friends.
A few years ago we were racing in
Sidney, Australia. He and I were in the
same heat of B Hydro. My boat had a
few miles per hour on him and I really
wanted to win that heat. Down the
backstretch, I was just outside Justin. I
would pull him to the corner, then Justin
would stay in lane one and come out
ahead of me again. It would take the
entire straight to get ahead of him, but
then we were in the next corner and he
still had lane one.
On the final lap, I thought that Justin
had moved over into lane two. I slipped
in behind him and went for the inside. At
the end of the straight away, I was lined
up with the entrance buoy. Justin was in
lane one. I did not finish that heat.
After the heat, Justin asked me, “What
were you thinking?” “I thought you had
gone a bit outside and left some room
inside.” Then I realized how stupid I had
been. Justin was someone that did not
just give up lane one, ever. If you
wanted to beat him in a race, you had to
earn it.
Justin’s funeral services were held
Saturday evening, August 27th. The
Chapel could not hold all of the people
attending. Justin’s family, friends, co-
workers, and model boaters lined up to
pay their respects. NAMBA was
represented by President Al Waters,
Secretary Cathie Galbraith, District
Director Russell Stark and boaters from
California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado
and Montana.
Flowers arrived from all over filling
the Hill home and the chapel. Everyday,
the mailman brought cards and letters of
condolence. It was my privilege to read a
message from Steve Winks of Australia.
Many people spoke at the services,
telling stories about Justin. There were
smiles, laughs, and tears.
PROPWASH
12
October 2011
R/C Hydroplane Races Are A Family Affair
(Continued from page 11)
pond at Irene Rinehart park. The last three
races will be in Granger, Marysville and
Chelan. But the R/CU will be back at
Irene Rinehart Riverfront Park next year.
"Through such a positive relationship
we've had with the city of Ellensburg and
the central location of this park, we will
be back," said Bill Brandt, who estimates
that "we bring about $35,000 to $40,000
per year in economic value to Ellensburg.
We rent hotel rooms, buy food and gas,
and each racer has two or three people
traveling with them.
"We have definitely given up some
race sites in favor of the friendliness of
the people of Ellensburg. The Parks and
Recreation Department has been
wonderful; so easy to work with. It makes
it a joy to come and put on a show."
This past weekend's race was attended
by people from Oregon, Washington and
Idaho.
Heart Of Gold
By Alan Hobbs
NAMBA Past President
On Wednesday, August 17, 2011, a good heart, kind and gentle, a heart of gold
stopped beating. After a day at work, Justin Hill lay down and suffered apparent heart
failure. He did not recover.
Like many people, I can say that the nicest people I’ve met, my best friends, came
through model boating. That is how I met Justin, well over 20 years ago. Here was this
stocky young man that could drive a model boat like no one else.
Soon, one of my goals was to drive well enough to beat Justin in a boat race.
A model boat racer launches his craft
R/C hydroplane racing action by the Miss
Budweiser