Art Asbury Remembered

By Fred Farley - Unlimited Hydroplane Historian

Arthur Challinor (“Art”) Asbury was a Canadian boat racing legend.

As Canada’s fastest man on water, Asbury set a World Water Speed Record for propeller-driven boats at 184.494 miles per hour on November 1, 1957. He did this on a kilometer course with J. Gordon Thompson’s Unlimited Class MISS SUPERTEST II at Picton, Ontario.

Art’s Unlimited driving career consisted of the single season of 1957. But it was memorable nonetheless. In addition to setting the world kilo record, he and MISS SUPERTEST II won the William J. Conners Trophy Race at the 1957 Buffalo Launch Club Regatta.

Born in 1922 in Dwight, Ontario, Art joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1942 and saw service during World War II with the Royal Air Force Coastal Command. Flying in Liberator B-24 bombers, he and his crew flew 37 operational missions engaging in action with enemy U-boats, destroyers, fighter aircraft and land-based targets.

Upon returning to Canada after the War, Asbury renewed his friendship with long time friend Art Hatch of Hamilton, Ontario. Together they formed the COSTA LOTTA hydroplane racing team. With Asbury as driver, they won the Canadian 225 Cubic Inch Class National Championship Races in 1948 and 1951.

His exploits with MISS SUPERTEST II aside, Art Asbury is best remembered for his many records and championships with Aubert Brillant’s Canadiana Racing Team of Rimouski, Ontario.

The Canadiana Racing Team was active with no fewer than five inboard racing hulls of various classes in the middle 1960s. These included CANADIANA GRAND PRIX, LE CANADIANA, ROYAL CANADIANA, MISS CANADIANA, and GOLDEN CANADIANA.

CANADIANA GRAND PRIX was one of the largest Limited hydroplanes of all time and measured 26 feet from bow to transom. Built in 1964 by Jerry Longtin, CANADIANA GRAND PRIX was powered by a 392 cubic inch Chrysler hemi V-8 engine. Asbury drove this boat to a UIM world straightaway record of 153.746 miles per hour in 1965 at Beloil, Quebec.

According to Art, he had CANADIANA GRAND PRIX up to 180 miles per hour and it was stable all the way up to speed, did not feel it tending to blow over at any time.

One almost needs a score card to keep track of all the National and High Point Championships that Asbury won in both Canada and the U.S. in the 225, 266, 360, 7-Litre, and Grand Prix Classes. His last title was the Canadian GP Class High Point Championship in 1978 with MISS CANADIANA.

In 1963, with ROYAL CANADIANA, he became the first 7-Litre driver in North America to average 90 miles per hour in a heat of competition.

In 1964, Art was inducted into the American Marine Racing Hall of Fame.

Asbury’s Unlimited debut was something less than auspicious when he was tossed out of the boat during Heat One of the 1957 Detroit Memorial Regatta. Art rebounded, however, to pilot MISS SUPERTEST II to an overall fourth-place, despite not having scored points in the initial go-around.

Art Asbury passed away in 2003. But he left behind the following vivid account of the kilometer record run that appeared in a 1957 issue of CANADIAN BOATING MAGAZINE. Art’s average of 184 miles per hour is still the fastest speed ever recorded “North of the Border.”

“We have been ready since 6:45 a.m. I have been talking to anyone and everyone, to keep the "butterflies" in my tummy under control. Believe me, they are there! I would be concerned if they were not.

“We are waiting on the best water conditions--not too smooth but with the right ripple. At 8.20 a.m., I am suddenly aware that the morning breeze is increasing and immediately yell: ‘Let's go!’

“I think of other smaller boats I have driven in the past--some to victory, some to miserable defeat. I think of my courtship this past summer with MISS SUPERTEST and of her resentment of me in our first heat of competition together when she tossed me overboard at 105 miles per hour.

“Settled in the seat, I pull down my goggles and start the engine. Black smoke belches from the exhaust stacks, a deep throated roar and MISS SUPERTEST and I are off! I suddenly feel wonderful. I love music in many forms but no music could be sweeter to my ears than the sound I now hear coming from this mighty Rolls-Royce Griffon.

“I push hard on the accelerator, the boat responds well. We enter the trap at slightly better than 175 and leave it at 185. My return run was slower. The engine was sick.

“But we had done it!

“The owners of MISS SUPERTEST, her crew and above all, MISS SUPERTEST herself deserve all the credit for this accomplishment. As for me--I shall always be grateful to them and to her for the ‘ride’.”