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Fred Leland passed away yesterday, after a long and spirited bout with cancer.
You might or might not be familiar with is name....Fred was known for campaigning unlimited hydroplanes for many years. Fred was a true one-of-a-kind: As a turbine unlimited racer, he built his own boats, his own gearboxes, boat hardware, propellers, and probably most importantly...he gave many drivers their first shot at driving an unlimited.
Fred knew that guys with outboard racing experience made good candidates for driving his unlimiteds. The list of people who Fred gave a first ride to is pretty amazing....including Greg Hopp, JW Myers, Jeff Bernard, Nate Brown, Terry Troxell and many others.
I went out to Fred's shop a couple of times....he had this huge warehouse/garage where it was not uncommon to see 3-4 unlimited hulls stacked on boat racks on top of each other, like a lot of us do with outboards. His talent and ability to imagine, engineer and produce things to make boat go fast, all as one man band, will probably never be seen again in turbine unlimted racing.
Fred could be cranky, strongheaded and downright stubborn....but he always knew what he was doing, and had a heart that was gigantic. Every present day unlimited team received help and assistance, in one form or another, from Leland Unlimited. The boat racing world is a little less bright today from Fred leaving us.
God speed, Fred Leland....we all miss you already.
R-19
You might or might not be familiar with is name....Fred was known for campaigning unlimited hydroplanes for many years. Fred was a true one-of-a-kind: As a turbine unlimited racer, he built his own boats, his own gearboxes, boat hardware, propellers, and probably most importantly...he gave many drivers their first shot at driving an unlimited.
Fred knew that guys with outboard racing experience made good candidates for driving his unlimiteds. The list of people who Fred gave a first ride to is pretty amazing....including Greg Hopp, JW Myers, Jeff Bernard, Nate Brown, Terry Troxell and many others.
I went out to Fred's shop a couple of times....he had this huge warehouse/garage where it was not uncommon to see 3-4 unlimited hulls stacked on boat racks on top of each other, like a lot of us do with outboards. His talent and ability to imagine, engineer and produce things to make boat go fast, all as one man band, will probably never be seen again in turbine unlimted racing.
Fred could be cranky, strongheaded and downright stubborn....but he always knew what he was doing, and had a heart that was gigantic. Every present day unlimited team received help and assistance, in one form or another, from Leland Unlimited. The boat racing world is a little less bright today from Fred leaving us.
God speed, Fred Leland....we all miss you already.
R-19
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