Seafair: Expect roars from skies, waters, crowds this weekend

Get your engines ready. The 55th annual Seafair hydroplane race is here, and Seattle's wildest weekend of the year kicks off today with the arrival of the Blue Angels, stars of the Seafair Air Show. It's a one-stop shop at Stan Sayres Pits and the nearby Lake Washington shore through Sunday for all the roaring engines, acrobatic air dancing and water-speed demons you could want. There's also a Chevrolet car show, beer gardens, tons of fair food and live music right next door in Genesee Park on Saturday and Sunday. If that's not enough, there are free tours of U.S. and Canadian Navy vessels and a U.S. Coast Guard Cutter at Pier 91 on Elliott Bay. Here's what's planned and when:

Air show

What: Seafair's KeyBank Air Show featuring the U.S. Navy Blue Angels precision flying team of F/A-18 Hornets, plus aerobatics by several other flying teams and flyovers by other interesting aircraft
Where: Mostly over Lake Washington, south of the Interstate 90 bridge

Thursday

11 a.m.-3 p.m.: Blue Angels arrive, circling from Boeing Field to Lake Washington

Friday

11-11:30 a.m.: Air Force Reserve Dream Machine Biplane, Team Oracle and Red Baron Pizza Squadron
11:50 a.m.-1 p.m.: Blue Angels practice performance
2:15-3 p.m.: Air Force Reserve Dream Machine Biplane, Team Oracle and Red Baron Pizza Squadron

Saturday

10:55-11:50 a.m.: Red Baron Pizza Squadron, Coast Guard helicopter rescue simulation, Boeing flybys
11:50 a.m.-1:10 p.m.: Blue Angels
2:40 p.m.-3:45 p.m.: Air Force Reserve Dream Machine, Team Oracle and Red Baron Pizza Squadron, Air Force C-17 flyby

Sunday

10:10-10:35 a.m.: Red Baron Pizza Squadron show
11:30-11:50 a.m.: Boeing 737 and 777-200LR flybys
11:50 a.m.-1 p.m.: Blue Angels
1:50-2:30 p.m.: Air Force Reserve Dream Machine, Red Baron Pizza Squadron and Team Oracle shows
2:30-3:30 p.m.: Coast Guard helicopter rescue simulation and Air Force C-17 flyby

 

Hydroplane races

What: Seafair's Chevrolet Cup race of unlimited hydroplanes, turbine-powered craft that can travel close to 200 mph; plus a race of unlimited light hydroplanes, slightly smaller versions of the unlimiteds
Where: On Lake Washington, south of the Interstate 90 bridge to Stan Sayres Pits (off Lake Washington Boulevard opposite Genesee Park)
Note: Times are subject to change as races progress.

Friday

9-11 a.m.: Testing Unlimiteds and Lights, qualifying Unlimiteds Session I
11:30 a.m.: Autograph session with Unlimited drivers
1-2:15 p.m.: Qualifying Unlimiteds Session II, testing Lights
3-4:30 p.m.: Testing, qualifying Lights Session I, qualifying Unlimiteds Session III

Saturday

8:30-10:15 a.m.: Qualifying Lights Session II, qualifying Unlimiteds Session IV
10:15-11 a.m.: Heats 1A and 1B Lights
11:30 a.m.: Autograph session with Unlimited drivers
1:10-2 p.m.: Heats 1A and 1B Unlimiteds, G-Boat Race 1
2:05-2:40 p.m.: Heats 2A and 2B Lights
3:45-4:30 p.m.: Testing Unlimiteds

Sunday

8-10 a.m.: Testing Unlimiteds and Lights
10:35-11:30 a.m.: G-Boat Race 2, Heats 2A and 2B Unlimiteds
1:10-1:50 p.m.: Heats 3A and 3B Unlimiteds
3:15-4:20 p.m.: Provisional heats, Unlimiteds and Lights, G-Boat final
4:20-5 p.m.: Championship heat, Lights; followed by Chevrolet Cup unlimited hydroplane championship heat
5 p.m.: Awards ceremony

 

Admission costs

General admission to fenced shoreline areas providing best views (along Lake Washington Boulevard from approximately Mount Baker Park south to about 50th Avenue South) is free Friday, $20 Saturday and $25 Sunday. Two-day passes for $20 are available at Seattle-area 76 gas stations. The price for ages 65 and older is $5. Children 11 and younger and active members of the military with military ID are admitted free. Pit passes during the races are $10; guided tours after races cost $5. Logboom spaces are free through Friday; spaces vary between $255 and $445 on Saturday and Sunday.

 

Parking and shuttles

Parking is very limited; many streets near the event will be closed. Racegoers are strongly urged to take the Seafair Express Shuttle. On Friday, free shuttles board every 20 minutes at Safeco Field, First Avenue South at Royal Brougham Way. On Saturday and Sunday, the shuttle costs $3, boarding every 10 minutes from Safeco Field and from the Boeing lot near Gene Coulon Memorial Beach Park in Renton. Shuttles start at 7:30 a.m., with last inbound buses at 2 p.m.; returns throughout each day until 6 p.m., or one hour after the final heat Sunday.

 

Fleet tours

What: Free 30-minute tours of U.S. and Canadian Navy vessels and U.S. Coast Guard cutter. For more information on visiting ships: www.cnrnw.navy.mil/duty_in_pacific_northwest/whidbey/SeaFair/seafair.htm.
Where: Pier 91 on Elliott Bay; 2001 W. Garfield St. (at the foot of the Magnolia Bridge)
When: 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; noon- 3:30 p.m. Sunday.

 

More information

See www.seafair.com or call 206-728-0123.

— Compiled by Vanessa Renée Casavant, vcasavant@seattletimes.com