Welcome to IW Jim! What a great project! It will be a real treat to see the Notre Dame back on water. I saw in Bob Burd's book that you had begun building - I hope I get to see it run some day!
Hey Guys & Gals - I made a trip down to the HARM yesterday to verify some info. I knew what had happened, I just didn't know why! At the 1980 Seattle race, Dean qualified the Griffon Bud @ 136.571, about a half a mile an hour slower than the Atlas. So, in typical Bernie-style one-up-manship, he was sent out to "improve" his position. Somewhere between 180 & 190 mph the boat took off & barrel-rolled. Dean broke 3 more ribs (I think he broke 6 in the '79 boat) and a shoulder blade and had water in his lungs and was taken to Harborview medical center. The eerie part is Dean said he felt the same "shudder" as before even though he was going at least 30 mph slower. Anyway, the boat was withdrawn. Bernie had purchased the 7207 equipment in '71 & had it painted and it was kinda/sorta ready to assume a back-up role. Ron Snyder qualified the boat @ 108.434. That was probably when the graphics in question were applied. However, it was then determined that the 7207 hull had some structural issues and was also withdrawn. Then, Chuck Hickling's "Tempus", driven by Bob Maschmedt, was commissioned to stand in as the Miss Budweiser. Although it never saw a 100 mph heat, the Tempus/Bud garnered another 769 points toward the national high points. And so, when the San Diego finale rolled around, repairs had been made to the 7207 and Dean said he was ok to drive. All they needed to lock-up the Championship was 600 points. The engine in the boat was "a little suspect" but Dean nursed it around for 2 first place finishes in what can only be called "B" heats. Then the engine expired on start-up before the 3rd heat but by then it didn't matter - they had the points they needed.
