Lighthouse Point Man Survives, Thrives in Thrillsport at Age 55
That's the view from within the cockpit of Steve David's hydroplane. And that flying yellow thing at the three-second mark is a near-death experience: another hydroplane that flipped right over him. That happened at a race on Washington state's Columbia River in 2006, which is the fastest hydroplane track -- the racers top speeds of 160 mph. In 2008, David, a Lighthouse Point resident, won the race en route to winning the national points championship last year. And this weekend, he returns to that river to defend his title. At age 55.
But David could have just as easily become a Broward County politician. After all, he was a Port Everglades commissioner at just 24 years old. Congratulations to him for finding a less stressful line of work.
After the jump, David speaks about the brush with death in the video above.
David told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
"I was literally 10 feet from being dead. These cockpits are designed to absorb the impact of birds, basically. A seagull traveling 500 mph can hit the cockpit and it'll withstand that, but I don't think it'll do well if a 7,000-pound boat hits it. I'm lucky. Period."
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