{"id":18844,"date":"2017-08-07T01:35:09","date_gmt":"2017-08-06T17:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/how-love-for-a-girl-and-fast-boats-led-hydroplane-champ-jimmy-shane-to-build-rockets-at-blue-origin\/"},"modified":"2017-08-07T01:35:09","modified_gmt":"2017-08-06T17:35:09","slug":"how-love-for-a-girl-and-fast-boats-led-hydroplane-champ-jimmy-shane-to-build-rockets-at-blue-origin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/how-love-for-a-girl-and-fast-boats-led-hydroplane-champ-jimmy-shane-to-build-rockets-at-blue-origin\/","title":{"rendered":"How love for a girl and fast boats led hydroplane champ Jimmy Shane to build rockets at Blue Origin"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_353885\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-353885\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-353885\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/jimmy-shane-trophy-630x354.jpg\" alt=\"Jimmy Shane - Seafair Cup\" width=\"630\" height=\"354\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/jimmy-shane-trophy-630x354.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/jimmy-shane-trophy-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/jimmy-shane-trophy-1260x709.jpg 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/jimmy-shane-trophy.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-353885\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jimmy Shane hoists the Seafair Cup after his hydroplane victory today. (GeekWire photo\/Kevin Lisota)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Jimmy Shane piloted the Miss HomeStreet hydroplane to a victory in the Seafair Cup today in Seattle. Now he\u2019ll head back to his day job: building rockets at Blue Origin, the space venture founded by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos.<\/p>\n<p>Shane\u2019s Seafair Cup win didn\u2019t come easy: In a thrilling final heat, Shane was passed by Andrew Tate in the Les Schwab boat on the final lap, but Tate was penalized for hitting a buoy earlier in the race. As a result, the cup was awarded to Shane and the HomeStreet team.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_353864\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-353864\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-353864\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/20170806_Seafair_2511-630x420.jpg\" alt=\"Miss HomeStreet hydroplane\" width=\"630\" height=\"420\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/20170806_Seafair_2511-630x420.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/20170806_Seafair_2511-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/20170806_Seafair_2511-1260x840.jpg 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/20170806_Seafair_2511.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-353864\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Miss HomeStreet hydroplane piloted by Jimmy Shane. (GeekWire photo\/Kevin Lisota)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Rocket science doesn\u2019t come easy, either. After today\u2019s finish, GeekWire caught up with Shane to learn more about how one of the world\u2019s top hydroplane racers found himself working at a rocket factory in Kent, Wash.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Jimmy Shane about how his love for hydroplanes got him a job building rockets at Blue Origin\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fUke4iReO0Q?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI met my wife racing in the Middle East, in Qatar,\u201d Shane said. \u201cShe was from Sammamish, Washington, and I was from around Baltimore, Maryland. We met in Qatar, fell in love \u2026 ended up dating and ended up moving out to Seattle with a kid, and I had to find a job out in Seattle. So, I saw this company Blue Origin and it looked like it was something I could do. I applied, and it has been a wonderful, wonderful ride. I\u2019ve been there just about four years now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Growing up, Shane was fascinated with building race boats and going fast. He taught himself about composite technology and started building boats out of carbon fiber. He credits that knowledge for getting him a job at the rocket maker.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI actually got my job at Blue Origin due to my background in hydroplane racing,\u201d said Shane.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_353863\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-353863\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-353863\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/20170806_Seafair_2441-630x355.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"630\" height=\"355\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/20170806_Seafair_2441-630x355.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/20170806_Seafair_2441-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/20170806_Seafair_2441-1260x709.jpg 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/20170806_Seafair_2441.jpg 1866w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-353863\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jimmy Shane in the blue-and-white U-1 Miss HomeStreet hydro races neck-and-neck with Andrew Tate in the U-9 Les Schwab boat, which is painted red, yellow and white. (GeekWire Photo \/ Kevin Lisota)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Shane is an integration engineer in the Blue Origin factory. He helps build and assemble the crew capsule that people are going to ride in when they take suborbital trips to space, starting as early as next year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have some of the smartest people at Blue Origin, and I\u2019m just fortunate that I get to work with them and learn from them,\u201d said Shane. \u201cI get to build something cool for a great guy in Jeff Bezos. He\u2019s got some of the most ambitious plans I\u2019ve ever seen, and I\u2019m just lucky to be apart of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>GeekWire\u2019s Alan Boyle and I got an early look at some of Shane\u2019s out-of-this-world handiwork when we toured a mockup of the Blue Origin crew capsule in Colorado Springs earlier this year.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Inside look at the Blue Origin New Shepard rocket booster and crew capsule\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/K1H6QwxUTR8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Shane caught the attention of his co-workers and Bezos this week when he took the Miss HomeStreet hydroplane down to Blue Origin and fired up the engine in the parking lot. He said that many of his co-workers were either new to Seattle or unfamiliar with boat racing, but the boat demo may have created some new fans.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think I got a lot of them hooked on boat racing,\u201d Shane said with a grin.<\/p>\n<p>The HomeStreet team also adorned the boat with Blue Origin\u2019s trademark feather in honor of Shane\u2019s local appearance at Seafair.<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden; width: 0px; height: 0px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=kevinlisota&amp;dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=893262865817194500&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.geekwire.com%2F2017%2Fjimmy-shane-hydroplane-blue-origin-rocket%2F&amp;sessionId=9e09dd2a83556745c7c30397a5bf035f7fef9cac&amp;siteScreenName=geekwire&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" data-twitter-extracted-i1782802239907602757=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">After a great time showing off our boat at my work place, @blueorigin , the #MissHomeStreet has a new addition for #Seafair @JeffBezos pic.twitter.com\/w5LM8kSARK<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jimmy Shane (@JimmyShane1) August 4, 2017<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-1\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden; width: 0px; height: 0px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=kevinlisota&amp;dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-1&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=893628626725294080&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.geekwire.com%2F2017%2Fjimmy-shane-hydroplane-blue-origin-rocket%2F&amp;sessionId=9e09dd2a83556745c7c30397a5bf035f7fef9cac&amp;siteScreenName=geekwire&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" data-twitter-extracted-i1782802239907602757=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Awesome! Good luck this weekend @JimmyShane1! https:\/\/t.co\/EFor5kuYLn<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) August 5, 2017<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>And another Blue Origin feather was emblazoned on Shane\u2019s helmet this week.<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/HomeStreetBank\/status\/893963779804811264<\/p>\n<p>The fastest that Shane has gone in a hydroplane is 209 mph, but he\u2019s clearly got his eyes on something faster.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would absolutely, hands-down, go to space. Whenever they\u2019re ready for me, I want to take a ride up to space,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s what I\u2019m there to do. We have to be confident in what we\u2019re building, and I would fly in a heartbeat if I ever had that opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>You can also see more photos from the 2017 Seafair Hydroplane Races.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jimmy Shane hoists the Seafair Cup after his hydroplane victory today. (GeekWire photo\/Kevin Lisota) Jimmy Shane piloted the Miss HomeStreet hydroplane to a victory in the Seafair Cup today in Seattle. Now he\u2019ll head back to his day job: building rockets at Blue Origin, the space venture founded by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos. Shane\u2019s Seafair [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[509,5344,5345,5011,5012,5346,5091],"class_list":["post-18844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-blue-origin","tag-boeing-seafair","tag-h1-unlimited","tag-hydroplane-races","tag-jimmy-shane","tag-seafair","tag-sports-tech"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18844"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18844\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}