Don't miss the boat

Every summer I hang up my prep sports pass and head to the lakes and rivers. After the baseball and softball state champs are crowned, writing stories on the Bayview Mackinac and the Gold Cup races are a nice summer home away from home in regards to my high school sports beats.

This year, I got to write a feature on the Simon family and their connection to the Gold Cup races on the Detroit River. It all started with George Simon Sr. racing his boat, the Miss U.S. in 1953. As President and founder of U.S. Equipment, Simon was a quintessential American industrialist.

Fresh out of service in WWII, Simon started a business buying and selling machinery. He started buying the equipment from his mother's home and storing it under the bleachers at the old De La Salle High in Detroit. He and his brother made a name for their company throwing live turkey's into purchasers homes for Thanksgiving and buzzing an office full of buyers with a plane at Willow Run.

After all that established his business, Simon took up racing boats — powered by airplane engines situated mere inches from the driver's seat — at speeds approaching 200 mph.

Needless to say, George Simon was an interesting person. For his full story, check out the history of U.S. Equipment on its Web site at:

http://www.usequipment.com/story.htm

That's what makes these stories about boats, whether powered by sail or airplane engine, so interesting - the people. The nautical types are always willing to talk with you and always have interesting stories to tell. Go down and check out Gold Cup races on the Detroit River July 11-13 and the Bayview Mackinac Race when the yachts leave Port Huron July 12. Get there early and you might even hear a boat story of your own.