
(Photos by WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand)
Walk through the Automotive Technology area on the north side of South Seattle Community College on Puget Ridge, and you’ll see students like those, hard at work – painting, fixing, building, inspecting, and more. But in the paint bay today, you won’t find a car – you’ll find a hydroplane!

And, as Automotive Collision Repair instructor Steve Ford was quick to point out during our visit, it’s no museum hydro – it’s the U-37 hydro that Schumacher Racing – owned by driving legend Billy Schumacher, who won 17 races in the ’60s and’70s – will bring to Seafair and other races this season. Right now, though, its refinishing and paint job comprise a final exam for his graduating seniors, one of three “teams” he set up (one of the other two teams did prep work like masking and sanding, pre-paint job, while the other worked on fabrication). Here’s everybody we found in the shop this morning – that’s instructor Steve, front and center:

So when you see that 14-foot-wide, 31-foot-long hydro at Seafair this August – where it’ll bear the SSCC name and logo – remember it’s got a little bit of West Seattle! (And yes, as the announcement sent by SSCC communications director Candace Oehler pointed out, the college is being paid for the work.)
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