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Fountain Hills Arizona, September 1998
Doug Lucht set the
world Street Ski speed record on this road in March
of 1998. His twin brother Dave was the event
organizer and essential for establishing the
procedures to get the record accepted by Guinness.
In September they went for it again, this time
inviting many different disciplines under the
sanction of the AIS (Alternative International
Sports) organization.
The intitial concept
was to have a Street Luge demo at a widely attended
In-Line speed record attempt. Instead Street
Lugers, and Speedboarders widely outnumbered the
In-Liners. Darren Lott asked and was allowed to try
to establish an Official Buttboarding speed
record.
Darren contacted then
Hot Heels organizer, Stefan Wagner about the record
attempt. Stefan gave his blessing and they
conferred on the criteria that should be used to
establish the first record.
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(Photos by Arlene
Cline)
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The hill is only about 2,000
feet long, but very steep. AIS added a giant
scaffolding ramp to add even more speed.
Interestingly, the fastest Buttboard run was from
starting on the street (no-ramp.)
However the most FRIGHTENING
runs were down the slippery ramp, where neither
shoes nor wheels offered any braking or turning
control. Fortunately, no one fell over the side
into the street.
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A seemingly bizzare aspect to
the event was that the course was right in the
middle of a residential neighborhood. A lot of
local kids were excited to see the ramp appear in
the middle of their street. It was a good chance to
get autographs as well.
Several riders were asked if
they wanted to participate in the Buttboard
attempt. But as most were concentrating on breaking
the Speedboarding record, they didn't want to use
up a run on a category that may not get accepted by
Guinness.
It seemed to pay off as a new
Speedboarding (Stand Up Skateboard) record was set
by Gary Hardwick at 62.55 mph. This is about 10 mph
faster than the last Guinness Record. Other new
records set were for In-line, Women's Street Luge,
Quad Skating, etc.. Besides Darren, only Roger
Hickey (Street Luge record holder) took a shot at
the Buttboard record.
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Bob Ozman was shooting for a new
Street Luge record. With 90mm wheels, ceramic
bearings and a new belly pan on his aerodynamic
Hickey Eagle, Bob takes a run against Darren on the
Buttboard. Shockingly, head to head the Buttboard
was faster! Ozman later pulled a slightly higher
speed down the ramp winning the competition among
Lugers, but far short of a new record.
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Because of the simplicity of the
gear, many Americans didn't believe Buttboards
could exceed Freeway Speeds. Hot Heels had recorded
a speed of 67 mph by Ralph Kohler, but it was never
submitted to Guinness. It was also on the "Old
Course" and unlikely to be repeated.
By the day's end, every knew the
Buttboard was a speed machine of consequence. At
65.24 mph it was faster than almost every Street
Luge on that run and faster than any of the other
downhill records set that day.
Street Luges have been recorded
in the low 80s on other courses and Buttboards have
been repeatedly clocked in the mid 70s since that
day.
But the importance of getting an
official and established World Record cannot be
underestimated. Respect the Record; A line in the
sand has been drawn.
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Guinness
World Record
(Millenium edition):
World's Fastest Butt Boarder (65.24 mph)
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Darren Lott ©2001
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