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Testing on the Port River at the North Arm yesterday was none other than Paul Palazzo's blown alcohol flat-bottom 'Beautiful Noise' aka 'K-88'.
After the new combination was run for the first time at the Sprint Auto Parts Dorwin Gold Cup last April, the teething problems that the guys encountered have been rectified and the boat completed several successful test runs.
Two different props were tried with mixed results and the boat sounded and sat beautifully when at full noise. The whistle of the 871 charger could be heard over the zoomie exhausts.
"Yeah I'm pretty happy, are you?" Paul would say to his crew members, who were obviously chuffed judging by their smiles.
"It's good, but it needs more now."
After the successful test run, Palazzo officially announced that he will be running at the Showdown and will be importing USA's Number 1 K-Boat driver, Tony Scarlata.
In what is an unprecedented move, we can expect world record holder Scarlata to be pushing K-88 to its limits no matter how much "more" Palazzo and Jamie from Magor Automotive put in the engine.
Living the American dream behind the wheel yesterday was Neil Laundy who had never driven a true flat-bottom before.
"The boat feels great, I could drive it all day long if Paul wanted me to" says Neil, who turns 54 in a fortnight.
"It's useable power, give it the lot and it behaves itself nicely."
"If it was my boat I'd leave the setup as is, but I think Mr. Scarlata will easily handle more power."
'K-88' makes its racing debut on August 16th 2009. Don't miss history in the making.
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