Description

Description from the back of the Rules:
"What is ROOSTERTAIL? Title of the game is taken from the term fans, sportswriters and broadcasters apply to the huge plume of water rising to 20 feet which the hydroplane churns in the air as it races across the water's surface at speeds up to 200 miles per hour. Rules, hazards and bonuses of the game are based on hydroplane racing which annually draws hundreds of thousands of spectators to such events as the Gold Cup: Seattle Seafair Trophy race on Lake Washington; President's Cup: Potomac River, Washington, D.C.; Silver Cup: Detroit River, Detroit Michigan; Apple Cup: Lake Chelan, Washington; Governor's Cup: Madison, Indiana; Sahara Cup: Lake Mead, Nevada, and many others."

The Game's components consist of the following:
A plain, narrow cardboard Box bottom, with a matching WHITE Box Top with "Roostertail!" in RED print, "The Hydroplane Racing Game..." in Dark BLUE print and a colorful picture of (3)-Hydros with accompanying 'roostertails'! The 'Roostertail Rules' are around a 1/2 size sheet of paper printed on BOTH sides and folded over. Very concise indeed. There are a couple of DICE for rolling to conduct movement, (4)-metal cast 'Hydros'(with pluming "Roostertails!") in RED, BLUE, GREEN, & ORANGE; a nicely mounted Gameboard 14-3/4-inches by 16-1/8-inches; a few Scoring Sheets(about 1/4 size of a paper sheet); a Deck of HAZARDS Cards; and a Deck of BONUS Cards.

The gameboard playing surface consists of (4)-lanes of mainly WHITE 'squares' in a rectangular fashion, with a WHITE print on BLACK "Starting Line", many YELLOW "Hazards" squares intermingled along the 'Lanes', and "Dead in the Water" squares at the corners, with a portion of the gameboard reserved for the "Pit" area, the 'Scoring' Table, and places for the CARDS. There is also the same 'picture' in the center section as what is found on the Box Top, with the notable addition of 'corner buoys' in the corners(where else?), these come into play with some of the 'Hazards' CARDS.

Each 'Heat' consists of (3)-laps around the board and then scoring is adjusted for the outcomes. You can call your 'boat' anything you wish as long as you write it's name down, while the 'Hazard' CARDS depict events that could occur when engaged in such an endeavor(such as "Oil Leak", "Missed Buoy", "Debris", etc.), and the 'BONUS' Cards usually allow for EXTRA movements that you will get when you "roll DOUBLES"! There is even a "Flying Start" before each 'Heat', to get the game going with to determine who begins in which 'Lane' during the ensuing 'Race' . Allowances for 'passing' into another LANE are permitted, but NO "diagonal" Movements, or 'jumping' are allowed! They have willingly 'dismissed' the notion of 'collisions', for ease of play no doubt. If you happen to get 'boxed in', then you are stuck and LOSE your Turn! Quite a nice little "gem" of a game for it's time(mid 1950s!), if I do say so myself! "Where DOES he get those 'Wonderful Toys'!?!"-the 'Joker'~Batman: the MOVIE