The Smirnoff Saga

By Fred Farley - Unlimited Hydroplane Historian

Three Unlimited hydroplanes carried the SMIRNOFF name into competition between 1964 and 1968. (The MISS was dropped from the name after 1965.)

All three SMIRNOFFs were designed and built by the Gale Enterprises team of Joe and Lee Schoenith from Detroit. Sponsored by Heubleins, the original MISS SMIRNOFF of 1964 is significant as the first Schoenith craft that father Joe and son Lee didn't sponsor themselves. (From 1950 to 1963, all of their boats were named GALE-- from GALE I to GALE VII.)

The 1964 MISS SMIRNOFF (U-90) was Allison-powered and measured 32 feet in length--a typical Detroit "River Boat" of that era. Her colors in 1964 were mahogany with blue trim and white lettering. She was later repainted predominantly blue.

MISS SMIRNOFF's best season was her first. She won the President's Cup at Washington, DC, and finished second in the Indiana Governor's Cup at Madison with Bill Cantrell driving.

For 1965, she was rebuilt. But the modifications did not help the boat's performance. Her highest finish was a second-place at Ogden, Utah. At Madison, MISS SMIRNOFF encountered the wake of an illegally moving MISS LAPEER and pitched Bill Cantrell out of the boat. Danny Foster filled in for the remainder of the season and won a secondary race at the Lake Tahoe World Championship Regatta.

For 1966, the U-number was changed to U-80. New driver Chuck Thompson turned the fastest heat of the Tampa Suncoast Cup and was in contention for the Gold Cup at Detroit, when tragedy struck. SMIRNOFF crashed moments after the start of Heat 3-A. Thompson was fatally injured. And the boat was destroyed.

For the balance of 1966, the SMIRNOFF sponsorship was transferred to the sister ship, GALE'S ROOSTERTAIL (U-44). The "new" SMIRNOFF went on to finish second in the Tri-Cities Atomic Cup with Cantrell driving.

The Schoenith team simply did not have its act together in 1967. SMIRNOFF (U-80) and a new experimental stepped hull, GALE'S ROOSTERTAIL (U-44), frankly embarrassed themselves. The U-80 had a computerized Allison engine set-up that failed to function. And the U- 44 was incapable of anything close to qualifying speeds.

An angry Joe Schoenith withdrew both boats from competition in mid- season to better prepare for 1968. The U-44 was retired and the U-80 re-assumed its GALE'S ROOSTERTAIL identity.

The famous "bat-winged" SMIRNOFF appeared in 1968. Built with an idea toward improved safety, the boat was indeed safe…but also slow, on account of weighing 8000 pounds. Team manager Cantrell trimmed some of the "fat" out of SMIRNOFF and gave rookie driver Dean Chenoweth a competitive ride by season's end.

The best finish for the red-painted craft was a third in the Gold Cup at Detroit with an Allison engine. She was the first Unlimited hydroplane to be designed with a "pickle-fork" bow configuration.

When Ralph Hart, Chairman of the Board at Heubleins, retired, the SMIRNOFF sponsorship was terminated. The boat was renamed MYR'S SPECIAL for 1969.

An amusing story is told about MISS SMIRNOFF's battle with the Washington State Liquor Control Board in 1964. The WSLCB ruled that the boat could not display a representation of a Smirnoff Vodka bottle on its tailfin. So, for the duration of the boat's stay in the Evergreen State, she displayed a representation of a bottle of A- 1 Sauce, another Heubleins product.

The former bat-winged SMIRNOFF last competed in 1974. She won five races during her career--two in 1969 as MYR'S SPECIAL with Chenoweth and three in 1970 as MYR SHEET METAL with Bill Muncey in the cockpit.

She is probably best remembered for her sensational second-place finish in the 1971 Madison Gold Cup as ATLAS VAN LINES II. Driver Terry Sterett made the front-running Jim McCormick and MISS MADISON work for it on that memorable Fourth of July.