DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) — After a long hiatus, boat racing returns to Lake Decatur this weekend.
WAND's Doug Wolfe covered the races in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, but he spoke to locals who remember watching hydroplane racing as far back as the 50s.
Don Yeakley's dad was a racer back in the 50s. He operated a Johnson Boat Dealership in Decatur and raced hydroplanes on the lake.
"I mean he loved it. I know he did," said Yeakley. "He raced here, Springfield, and Jacksonville."
Yeakley's dad eventually stopped because of the physical toll of racing.
"Because they sit on their knees," Yeakley explained. "They didn't sit on a chair. They sit on their knees and it probably wore him out."
Diana Manning's father also raced when he wasn't running the local Evinrude Dealership in the mid-50s.
"We were real little, like probably 4 or 5 years old," said Manning. "We would spend most of our time in the pits where they were."
Her dad enjoyed the power of the boats.
"He raced f-class which is free-for-all," said Manning. "The biggest engine he could get. He liked the speed."
Yeakley and Manning both look back fondly on the races and are excited about their return.
"I'll be happy to see them," said Yeakley. "Even though I don't have anybody out there I know. A lot of people think it's kind of silly but it's a sport."
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