Bud T-3 Continuum

By Fred Farley - Unlimited Hydroplane Historian

A number of my well-meaning friends in the sport insist that two different MISS BUDWEISER boats have been identified as T-3--the first from 1989 to 1994; the second from 1995 onward--and that the centersection defines the boat. I respectfully disagree. I believe that the canoes define the boat and what we are dealing with is a T-3 continuum with major rebuilds after crashes in 1992 and 1994.

I'm not a mechanic, but--as various crew members have explained it to me--the boats of today are much more compartmentalized than their counterparts from the 1950s. In the old days, the hull proper was one all-inclusive compartment. The sponsons were almost an afterthought. Now, it's just the opposite. The sponsons--or more correctly the canoes--define the boat.

Several years ago, I visited the BUD shop when T-6 was under construction. Just the two canoes were on the floor. I was absolutely amazed at how much of the "boat" the canoes represented. They extended the entire length of the hull and included not only the sponsons but also the afterplane and quite a bit of deck space.

We all know that the cockpit/canopy area is its own compartment. (I've seen it completely removed from the MISS MADISON and then re- installed.)

I've also been told that the back six feet of transom area (between the canoes) is a separate entity. This is what the BUDWEISER crew frantically replaced at Pearl Harbor in 1997 after a propeller let go.

When you take away the canoes, the cockpit/canopy area, the transom area, the wings, the uprights, and the horizontal stabilizer, that doesn't leave much. As I see it, the centersection is just the area where the engine sits. Granted, it must be aerodynamically compatible with everything else. But I just can't equate the centersection with being the "boat."

In the old days, when everything was built of marine plywood, it was a fairly simple task to determine when one boat "stopped" and another "started." When a boat broke its back, it was considered destroyed. But today, nothing is ever truly destroyed, thanks to all of the advanced technologies that weren't available in the past. It all boils down to how much money an owner is willing to spend on a restoration.

This is why I believe that MISS BUDWEISER/Turbine-3 should be recognized as the all-time most victorious Unlimited hydroplane with 35 race wins between 1989 and 2000.

The MISS BUDWEISER T-3 continuum has crashed twice--both times at Seattle (in 1992 and 1994). What I don't understand is why some people consider the T-3 of 1995 to be a new boat but don't grant the same status to the T-3 that showed up at San Diego in 1992.

In my view, the T-3 crash damage of 1992 was much more extensive than the T-3 crash damage of 1994. In 1992, I walked all around the wreckage. If ever a boat was totaled, that one was. If that wreckage can magically re-appear two months later as the same boat, then anything is possible. No way will I ever recognize the 1995 MISS BUDWEISER T-3 as anything other than the continuation of the T-3 that debuted in 1989.