Episode 73 - Mary Rife Drag Boat Racer and Fastest Woman on Water

In this episode of Powerboat Talk, we sit down with drag boat racing pioneer Mary Rife, the first woman ever licensed to drive a Blown Fuel Hydro and the only woman in history to surpass 200 mph in a boat. Long before women became common in motorsports, Rife was competing head-to-head against the sport's best drivers in one of the most dangerous classes in racing.

Often described as drag boat racing's answer to Shirley Muldowney, Rife built an extraordinary career spanning almost two decades without a major accident. In the episode, Rife talks about how the purchase she and her husband made of a 48-mph, 16-foot boat powered by an 85-hp Mercury outboard led to her quest for speed on the water.

The purchase of a Holman & Moody-powered Kindsvater flatbottom came next and led the Rifes to their first time on a liquid drag strip. When Rife outqualified her husband at that first race at Lake Ming in Bakersfield, California, it earned her a place in the driver's seat, one she never relinquished.

In 1973, the couple purchased a Howard hydro hull, rigged it in their garage, and named it Proud Mary after the Creedence Clearwater Revival hit song. The Rifes fit the boat with a blown 392 Chrysler Hemi and ran it on nitro, which Mary drove to its first pass of 155 mph.

An upgrade to a Keith Black 426 Hemi led Rife down the path to a list of career accomplishments that included a 206-mph pass, winning the 1978 NDBA Nationals at Firebird, earning Driver of the Year honors in 1977, appearing on national television with Billie Jean King, and even taking racing legend Mario Andretti for a 168-mph ride across Long Beach Marine Stadium.

Rife also shares the remarkable story of losing and later recovering Proud Mary, and the painstaking restoration that returned one of drag boat racing's most famous machines to its former glory.

Follow Mary Rife on Facebook @Mary Rife McCally

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