All News Posts (264)

It is one of the quirks of the Hydro Business that there are long cold months during the winter when little or no activity is taking place, and then for a few days at the end of July and start of August we are so incredibly busy that there is hardly time to blink. (I often tell my friends that I know what it must be like for Santa Claus to go the whole year with seeing a soul,…

I was trying to find Tim Maitlans (sp?) original post about what needs to be done to further the sport of (Unlimited) hydroplane racing. Actually I think Tim's original question posed to us was what needs to be done to attract new fans to the sport. I was hoping to bring it back up to the top of this forum to try to gage how you all feel about the progress, if any, since Tim first posted his blog?

So, in the absence of the informational technology skills that allows me to find…

I am looking for a picture of Fascination I (2), a Bob Gilliam-owned hull that began racing in 1951 as the Slo-Mo-Shun V.  According to historical race results, this boat qualified for the Gold Cup in Seattle in 1965 and later that year as the Berryessa Belle in subsequent races.  Any help locating a picture of the boat as Fascination I will be appreciated.  Thank you.  Dave Randall

 Bill Muncey was my first Hero, a real honest to God hero, not the high dollar media creations they have today. I was lucky enough to be growing up in time when the people you admired were reachable. Your heroes are not supposed to die or get older. I felt real pain when Bill was killed, then Dean Chenowith. I bought a Shirt from Fran Muncey at the Madison Regatta many years ago, it got me to thinking, what has become of her and the other wives that put their heart and soul in this wild…

By Dixon Smith

Reprinted from www.h1unlimited.com.

Question 1: Can a raceboat be made that will not flip?

Answer: Probably.  

Question 2: Can that unflippable boat be a consistent winner?

Answer: Yes, but as one pundit said many years ago about another program, “when  the Boeing Board of Directors changes the basic laws of Physics or gives us an…

I believe that the following article, which I have a copy of and have re-typed here, was published in a local community newspaper, but I have not been able to identify the paper. Nevertheless I find it interesting.

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SPOTLIGHT ON……………

"THE ROOSTERTAIL"

By Terry Burt

Everybody knows Keith. You can often find him between the canned beans and the household cleansers dusting the macaroni at the…

By Fred Farley - Unlimited Hydroplane Historian

The 1971 Madison Regatta will never be forgotten for as long as men race boats. That, of course, was the year when Jim McCormick guided the community-owned MISS MADISON to victory in the race of races--the APBA Gold Cup--before the hometown crowd.

But as memorable as the 1971 regatta was, no one seems to want to remember the race that followed it in 1972.

In lieu of the Gold Cup, the city of Madison hosted a World's…

Seattle's favorite grocery store manager wins new customers for Thriftway Supermarkets by winning races and prizes in a high-powered thunderboat.

By Rex Lardner

Reprinted from Sports Illustrated, July 8, 1963

Bill Muncey, an assured, chunky man of 34, with sandy hair, giant forearms, a handsome, round face and amiable spaces between his upper teeth, looks like what, in fact, he is: a young man on the way up in the grocery business. "The…

In case you were unable to attend Dixon Smith's Racing Development of the Merlin from the 1950's thru the 1990's lecture held at the Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum last Saturday evening, you watch a video recording of the event by visiting our Ustream channel (http://www.ustream.tv/channel/thunderboats), or by just clicking the "UStream" button on the far left side of our web site.

Innovative hydro owner, boat builder and driver was linked to Miss Rock and PICO American Dream.

H1 Mourns the Loss of Fred Leland

Unlimited hydro fixture…

Note, 1956 Seafair Trophy winner and National Champion Russ Schleeh passed away on May 6, 2012. Russ died at home in Mission Viejo, California. He was 93.

By David Tremayne

Whatever it was, the photograph on the wall in Dan Gurney's office showed it to be a smoking heap of tangled metal on the bed of a desert. "Is that a Flying Wing?" I ventured, and Dan, America's finest…

By Fred Farley - Unlimited Hydroplane Historian

One of the all-time favorite Unlimited hydroplanes, the Canadian MISS SUPERTEST III was undefeated in the four races that she entered during her abbreviated career.

She won the 1959 Detroit Memorial Regatta and the 1959-60-61 Harmsworth Trophy races. With Bob Hayward driving, the "III" started in ten heats, finished first in eight of them and placed second twice.…

A brief overview of the Rolls-Royce Merlin in Unlimited racing.

By Fred Farley - Unlimited Hydroplane Historian

The first boat to show up at a race with a Merlin was the MISS WINDSOR, a home-built (by Lorne Armstrong) step hydroplane that attended the 1946 Gold Cup at Detroit but failed to start. MISS WINDSOR only started in one heat of competition. This was at the 1948 Maple Leaf Trophy in Windsor, Ontario, where it failed to finish.…

The Tri-Cities testing date is now confirmed for this coming Friday, May 18th.

Two H1 Unlimited Air National Guard Series Hydroplanes will be conducting extensive test runs on the Columbia River.

The 88 Degree Men® and the U-11 Peters & May boats are due to start testing sessions at 10 AM on May 18, off the shores of Columbia Park. Drivers Scott Liddycoat and JW Myers will be in the Tri Cities on May 17 doing personal appearances while the boat…

A record ninth Gold Cup victory moves a quiet man closer still to mentor Bill Muncey in the reckoning for Unlimited hydroplaning's all-time greatest exponent.

By David Tremayne, 1993

Stan Hanauer tells it best, but since he is Chip's father it's not surprising that he should know the inside story of his son's 1982 Gold Cup victory. It was the first of that record nine, and…

In a wild windup, Chip Hanauer won the hydro title.

By Shelley Smith

Reprinted from
 Sports Illustrated, October 1, 1990  

Chip Hanauer was rounding the first turn in the third heat of the Budweiser Las Vegas Silver Cup on wind-chopped Lake Mead at 120-plus mph when he felt his 6,000-pound, jet turbine-powered Miss Circus Circus boat flip sideways and into the air. A four-time national hydroplane driving champion, the 36-year-old Hanauer…

By Alexander Wolff

Reprinted from Sports Illustrated, September 10, 1984

Unlimited hydroplanes, the powerboats that attract hundreds of thousands of fans when they race, have always had two very tidy certainties associated with them. One is that they make a particular sort of ear-splitting noise. Promoters like to refer to it as "thunder," and the vessels themselves as "thunderboats." In fact, the sound is more like what you'd expect a power mower to make while running…

If you were unable to attend the Couch Racing with Chip Hanauer event, or you missed the live broadcast, you can watch the event by clicking on the links below:

Couch Racing with Chip Hanauer - Hour 1

Couch Racing with Chip Hanauer - Hour 2

If you did attend the event, either in person or in the Internet, thank you for attending and…

By Bill Curry

Reprinted from the 1979 Spirit of Detroit program

When today's Spirit of Detroit Regatta is history the unlimited hydroplane sitting in the winner's circle may well be a product of Norm Berg's Tacoma, Washington boat shop. You see, the 37-year-old Berg is the builder of Bill Muncey's 1978 national champion Atlas Van Lines, winner of the last two Detroit River go-arounds. Norm Berg is also the builder of two other top-flight contenders - Circus…