Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum

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All News Posts (264)

Blue Blaster update posted on the Group Page

Don Mocks report from December 9th

Added by Steve Compton on December 10, 2010 at 7:25am — No Comments

Chris Denslow photos from our Holiday Stocking Stuffer catalog.

By a twist of fate, my family goes way back with the hydroplane photographers of yore. I met Vic Condiotti. And I believe that it was my father who gave Bob ‘Cuddles’ Carver his nickname after accompanying him to a ‘tie up’ to the entrance buoy entering turn one on Lake Washington one day. I remember him at cocktail parties hosted by my parents, thinking he had maybe the tenth coolest job on the planet, after the hydro drivers themselves, of course. That was over 50 years… Continue

Added by Marc Connelly on December 8, 2010 at 5:52pm — No Comments

The Dave Villwock Story

By Fred Farley - H1 Unlimited Historian

A boat racer since age 16, Dave Villwock accepted his first Unlimited Class assignment in 1989 as crew chief for Bill Bennett's MISS CIRCUS CIRCUS. Chip Hanauer was its driver. In 1990, Chip and Dave emerged as National High Point Champions with six wins in eleven races.

Following years of success in the flat-bottom inboard category, Villwock was High Point Champion in the 6-Litre Hydroplane Class in 1988 with Jerry Yoder's SUNSET…

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Added by Hydroplane Museum on December 4, 2010 at 1:30pm — No Comments

AMAZING BOOK, "HYDRO'S WHO'S WHO", 1946-2008, By Jim Sharkey

I recently purchased Jim Sharkey's amazing book, "HYDRO'S WHO'S WHO, 1946-2008". It lists all of the boats, all the drivers who drove them and what year(s) they raced. There is a chonological listing of a) all the Unlimiteds and their name changes; b) all the drivers and all the boats they drove; and c) a yearly breakdown as to how each boat finished in each race. The book is absolutely amazing with all the infomation and details. If you need to know about a hydro hull,…

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Added by Bob Senior on December 4, 2010 at 9:37am — 1 Comment

Blue Blaster 101: Year ID

As we have progressed on the restoration of Bill Muncey’s Atlas Van Lines at the Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum, the topic often comes up on which year of the boat should we recreate. To the casual observer, the Blue Blaster looked pretty much the same throughout its illustrious career. But like most race boats, the Blaster underwent subtle changes from its…

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Added by Don Mock on December 3, 2010 at 10:30pm — 3 Comments

"Blue Blaster" Updates

A new group has been started for uploading the restoration updates on the 1977 Blue Blaster. Join the Group and keep up on the progress of Don Mock and his crew.

Added by Steve Compton on December 3, 2010 at 8:38pm — No Comments

Be a member of the Museum - Join NOW!

On October 19th the Hydroplane & Raceboat Museum launched an exciting new web site. We are approaching 250 members on the new site. You can read about, and participate, in Museum events, post and/or enjoy many hydroplane racing photos and videos, create a blog, startd a discussion on the Forum or join the group for your favorite hydro. But please understand that by registering on the site, you have only become a member/participant of the web site, it does NOT include membership in the…

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Added by Steve Compton on December 2, 2010 at 7:26am — 1 Comment

Dave Villwock will be the Guest Speaker at the Museum Annual Meeting on Dec 4th!

Future Hall of Fame driver Dave Villwock will be the guest speaker at Saturday Nights Annual dinner meeting.

Villwock is currently tied will Bill Muncey for all time unlimited wins with 62!…

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Added by David D. Williams on November 30, 2010 at 2:49pm — 1 Comment

A Tribute to the Griffon Bud

By Fred Farley - H1 Unlimited Historian

The Rolls-Royce Griffon-powered MISS BUDWEISER of 1980 is one of the sport's legendary champions. Nicknamed the "Juggernaut," the Griffon BUD won 22 races and defined the state of the art in Unlimited racing between 1980 and 1984.

There were actually three Griffon MISS BUDWEISERs. The first appeared in 1979 and the last in 1985. But it is the "Juggernaut" that inspires awe.…

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Added by Hydroplane Museum on November 28, 2010 at 10:00pm — No Comments

Skid Fins: The loads they carry

A historical look at skid fins and how they help hydroplanes turn left.

By Doug Ford

Reprinted from h1unlimited.com.

Everyone that has watched modern Unlimited Hydroplanes race has seen the so called "second roostertail" of spray that comes off the skid fins in a corner. That spray is very indicative of the tremendous loads these fins carry when the big boats enter a turn. It…

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Added by Hydroplane Museum on November 23, 2010 at 9:30am — No Comments

The Dan Arena Story

By Fred Farley - H1 Unlimited Historian

Future Unlimited Class luminary Dan Arena made his first impression in the California Gold Cup Class of the 1930s with a series of boats named MISS GOLDEN GATE. Dan drove the first of these, a step hydroplane, to victory in the Pacific Motorboat Trophy at Newport Harbor in 1936 and 1937.

The three-point hull design of racing hydroplane caught on in a big way in the years just prior to World War II. Most of the early three-pointers were…

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Added by Hydroplane Museum on November 22, 2010 at 10:30pm — No Comments

Closed due to snow!

The Hydroplane Museum will be closed Tuesday November the 23rd due to snow.

It is too early to make a call for Wednesday the 24th.

We will also be closed on Thursday November 25th and Friday the 26th for Thanksgiving.

We plan to be open for normal operation on Saturday November the 27th.

David Williams

Added by David D. Williams on November 22, 2010 at 8:45pm — No Comments

Doha, Day 5 - Winding Down

On our last full day in Doha, as planned, we went down to the pits and did the final prep on the boat for shipment. Hatches were given a final dry-out where needed, covers put in place, hatch screw plates and internal hardware was sprayed down with rust inhibitor, and we placed the big plastic cover on the trip to keep it clean on journey home. Last word is that the boats won’t head out…

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Added by Patrick Gleason on November 22, 2010 at 10:59am — 2 Comments

Day 4: Safari!

After going down to the pits this morning to finish packing up the truck and grabbing some pieces off the Gearbox to send home, we high-tailed it back to the Mariott, changed into some clean clothes, and went off on the “Safari”. Safari can mean a couple different things, but this particular connotation involved a 4-wheeling caravan out into the Qatar desert and sand dunes, about a 45 minute ride from Doha.



We had a caravan of about 8 vehicles, mostly Toyota Landcruisers, Nissan…

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Added by Patrick Gleason on November 21, 2010 at 12:24pm — 1 Comment

Day Three: The Thrill of Victory...but not for us

Today was the conclusion of The UIM H1 Oryx Cup. The two big winners as you all probably know by now were Dave Villwock, who not only won the Oryx Cup but picked up his 62nd career win, tying him with Bill Muncey for the sport’s winningest driver…..and Steven David who brought home his third consecutive Team High Point Championship for The Oberto/Madison gang. These are both HUGE accomplishments by any measure, and my hat is off to both drivers and teams for having such great… Continue

Added by Patrick Gleason on November 20, 2010 at 11:47am — No Comments

Day Two: Woofed.

Hi friends,

Your obedient correspondent is a little woofed tonight, so I don’t have a ton of piffle for you. The U-17 struggling with some overheating and fuel issues, so it was another late night in the pits while we pulled the motor, pulled the PT wheel out, changed a fuel control and got…

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Added by Patrick Gleason on November 19, 2010 at 12:32pm — No Comments

The A Teams

This morning, after working with the crew to reattach a chunk of the Blue Blaster, my shoulders are a bit sore in that special way that only comes from a good, honest, evenings worth of hydroplane crew work. It feels good, a familiar old feeling from a few years back, when I was an ‘A Team’ participant on the 1982 Atlas Van Lines Restoration.


I should offer a disclaimer right here and now: the ‘A-Team’ concept is wholly my concoction, my notion of how things are. It is not…
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Added by Marc Connelly on November 19, 2010 at 10:30am — 1 Comment

Work continues on the Atlas Van Lines.

At 1pm Thursday the 18th of November, Don Mock and the talented Atlas Van Lines crew reattached the left sponson. Both air traps have been replace, the bottom has been repaired and the original sponson frames are back in place, the old Blue Blaster is beginning to look like a race boat again. There is still lots more work to do so don’t be shy, come on down and lend a hand.…

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Added by David D. Williams on November 18, 2010 at 1:16pm — No Comments

Day One: A Beautiful Race Site, Cool Music, Photo Opportunities and Camel Tossing?

Day one of the Oryx Cup Experience is in the books. We started off with the breakfast at the hotel, which wasn’t too bad, although “Veal Bacon” is NOT Bacon. Make no mistake about that. There was a lot of setup to do on the boat today, so much of the morning was spent heads down, getting electrical systems back in the boat (we removed the boards after San Diego), getting the skid fin bolted on, mounting props, and doing all of that “first day at the race site” stuff.



Getting the…

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Added by Patrick Gleason on November 18, 2010 at 10:30am — 4 Comments

Blaster Update by Phil Lampman - Nov 17th



Today turned out to be nothing short of amazing. Every day I spend working with the team on the 'Blaster is special, but some days are better than others. Like today.

I knew we were going to attempt to reattach the right side sponson to the new airtrap. Don and our team spent a great many hours making sure everything was ready. I believe the sponsons are the only major sub-assemblies we removed intact (more or less) from the original hull, yet every part to which the…

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Added by Steve Compton on November 18, 2010 at 7:21am — No Comments

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