Windjammer Surf Racers
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| The trains dueling each other. | |||||||||||||||
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| Manufacturer | TOGO | ||||||||||||||
| Type | Steel - Twin | ||||||||||||||
| Model / product | Looping Mouse | ||||||||||||||
| Riders per train | 8 | ||||||||||||||
| Propulsion | Chain lift hill | ||||||||||||||
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Windjammer Surf Racers was a short-lived TOGO twin roller coaster located at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California, USA. It was a dueling Looping Mouse located in the park's Boardwalk section. The failure led to a lawsuit and TOGO's eventual demise. The ride closed on March 2, 2000. Xcelerator now occupies the spot that Windjammer formerly occupied.
History[edit | edit source]
On September 26, 1996, Windjammer Surf Racers was announced. The ride debuted on March 26, 1997.[1]
On March 10, 2000, the park launched a lawsuit against Togo, alleging that Windjammer Surf Racers had major manufacturing defects which led to regular breakdowns and prevented the operation of the ride during low winds. The defects included misaligned track, defective safety mechanisms, and wrinkles in the frame of the trains. The lawsuit claimed that Windjammer Surf Racers could not run even at wind levels as low as 3 mph. The park also claimed to have spent over $2 million on repairs and inspections and was seeking damages of $16 million.[2]
Xcelerator opened where Windjammer Surf Racers previously stood on June 22, 2002.
The lawsuit was rejected in October 2003.[3]
Design[edit | edit source]
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Windjammer Surf Racers was a twin racing roller coaster. The ride's first drop led into a vertical loop. After the loop, the ride continued over multiple hills, including multiple brake runs.
The station did not have an airgate system to keep queuing guests clear from advancing vehicles within the station. The ride was dressed as a tribute to the fabled Southern California beach culture, complete with towering palms trees, beach sand, a miniature lagoon, a scaled-down lifeguard watch tower, and other beach-worthy props. The on-ride photograph sales booth was built into the side of a scaled-down replica of a yacht.
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ "Knott's Gets the Drop on Its Customers With New Coaster", The Los Angeles Times.
- ↑ "Knott's Suing Windjammer Ride’s Maker". The Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-mar-15-me-8979-story.html.
- ↑ "Jury Rejects Knott's Lawsuit Against Coaster Designer", The Los Angeles Times.
External links[edit | edit source]
- Windjammer Surf Racers on the Roller Coaster DataBase.
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