Whirlwind (Seabreeze Amusement Park)

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Whirlwind

Whirlwind in 2008
Seabreeze Amusement Park Location Rochester, New York, USA Status Operating since 2004 Cost $2,000,000 Rider height 48 inch minimum
Statistics
Manufacturer	Maurer Rides
Product	Spinning Coaster SC2000
Type	Steel - Spinning
Riders per train	4
Hourly capacity	930
Propulsion	Chain lift hill
Height	50.8 feet
Top speed	37.3 mph
Length	1391.1 feet
Inversions	0
Drop angle	50°
Duration	1:10

Whirlwind is a steel spinning roller coaster located at Seabreeze Amusement Park in Rochester, New York, USA.

History

Whirlwind was manufactured in 2000 and first operated as a travelling roller coaster with showman Frauga. At the time it was called Cyber Space and it operated in Spain. The roller coaster was seized, and later sold to Seabreeze.

In December 2003, park management announced that a Maurer Rides spinning roller coaster would be installed for 2004, the park's 125th season. To make way for the new attraction, the Quantum Loop, a Soquet roller coaster installed in 1994, was removed. Quantum Loop has since reopened as Doble Loop at Salitre Magico in Bogota, Colombia. At the time of installation, Whirlwind was the only Maurer Rides SC2000 on the East Coast, and only second in the United States.

Design

Trains

Single cars. Riders are arranged 2 across in 2 rows, for a total of 4 riders per car. Each row seats passengers in bucket seats facing back-to-back with riders secured by individual between the leg lap restraints.

S-Cars

The cars are specially designed by Maurer AG and are known as the "S-Car". These cars feature a pivot bearing between the passenger car and undercarriage. The pivot bearing, combined with the weight distribution in the car, allows the car to convert the centrifugal forces that are generated as it maneuvers throughout the curves of the track. This gives the S-Car its unique spinning motions that change with each ride. All cars contain an on-board braking system that ensures riders are not spun at an unsafe level (Whirlwind's threshold is 20 spins per minute). The brakes are released by special track sections to allow the car to freely rotate and will gradually auto engage as needed if the spinning motion approaches dangerous levels, without fully stopping or forcefully jolting riders (riders remain unaware of this feature throughout the ride). The spin brake is reactivated fully after the train repositions itself via bumpers at the final brake run to allow smooth entrance into the loading and unloading station.

External links

• 

  Whirlwind on the Roller Coaster DataBase.