Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum

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All News Posts (262)

"Are you going to be like that Kid Again?"

A couple of years ago, Disney ran a commercial on TV. Like most of them, it featured some impossibly cute little window-licker kid tossing and turning in his bed. His watchful mother peeked into his room and said,"Johnny, aren't you asleep yet?", to which the the kid croaked back, "I'm too excited to sleep!"...because mom and dad were taking the family to the Magic Kingdom. Remember that one?



About the same time that a was popular, I was getting ready for my first season-long… Continue

Added by Patrick Gleason on November 15, 2010 at 12:04pm — 1 Comment

Blue Blaster Update by Don Mock - Nov 15

Should be a interesting week coming up as we mount the sponson assemblies on both sides of the boat. The airtraps are all prepped so it should be a fairly easy job. We should be able to lift the frames with a strap wrapped around them hooked up to the gantry. So how about Weds for the right side and Thursday for the left. We’ll start mixing Hysol around 1pm both days.

I want to thank everyone for all the great work this past week getting the left airtrap mounted. And thanks to the…

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Added by Steve Compton on November 15, 2010 at 8:07am — 1 Comment

Hell-Bent Hydroplanes

A tense rivalry between Detroit and Seattle and a challenge for the Harmsworth Trophy have meant a busy year for the man who makes the Hell-Bent hydroplanes.

By Jim Atwater

Reprinted from Sports Illustrated, April 23, 1956

In past summers, the calm of the thumb of water called Saginaw Bay that juts down into the mainland of Michigan has been shattered by the guttural roar of sleek, skittish hydroplanes. At the wheel of these bellowing…

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Added by Hydroplane Museum on November 14, 2010 at 7:30pm — No Comments

An old friend comes home

After spending more than a year on loan to the Foss Waterway Museum in Tacoma, the 1958 Miss Bardahl returned to the Hydroplane Museum Wednesday Nov 10th. The boat needs some minor work to get ready for her 2011 return to Lake Coeur d' Alene and the Diamond Cup this coming July. Work is being led by vetran crew chief Glenn Raymond and will begin on Thursday November 11th at…

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Added by David D. Williams on November 10, 2010 at 2:01pm — No Comments

Dynamo Dean and the Griffon Bud

An ill-starred love affair

By David Tremayne

The date was set for Tuesday, October 23 1979, on Lake Washington. Like Bill Muncey, who had been a lot less than enthusiastic back in 1960 when Miss Thriftway owner Willard Rhodes wanted a shot at the propeller-driven water speed record, Dean Chenoweth didn't really want to have a go. But, like Muncey, he was a pro who was…

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Added by Hydroplane Museum on November 10, 2010 at 12:00pm — No Comments

Killproof and Maybe Spillproof

She's not a winner yet, but the new 'Smirnoff' did well enough in Alabama to indicate that unlimited hydroplanes can be both fast and nonlethal.

By Hugh Whall

Reprinted from Sports Illustrated, June 10, 1968

"Deadly" is a word that over the last three years has more and more frequently been used to describe the sport of hydroplane racing, and journalistic sensationalism has nothing to do with it. Over that period of time a rash of…

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Added by Hydroplane Museum on November 8, 2010 at 12:00pm — No Comments

Blue Blaster Update by Don Mock

It is offical! The left airtrap is now on! Don, Phil and Gail attached the new left airtrap to Bill Mimcey's Blue Blaster at 2:00PM Nov 10th! Things are really taking shape now.

A work schedule update this week.....I’m not leaving town after all so we should be able to have a…

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Added by Steve Compton on November 8, 2010 at 9:00am — No Comments

"You're going WHERE to do WHAT???"

Yep...that seems to be the universal reaction when I tell people that in just over a week from today I will be going to Doha with the U-17 crew to compete in the Oryx Cup. The first response is "will you be safe there?" (am I safe ANYWHERE???), followed by "where is that place?" (turn left at the opening of the Persian Gulf) and then always the big one, "Who's paying for it?" (a very rich Sheik who really, really, really likes boat racing!).



Thanks to the HARM's terrific new web…

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Added by Patrick Gleason on November 5, 2010 at 3:10pm — No Comments

1915 APBA Gold Cup

By Fred Farley - H1 Unlimited Historian

The first major race to be run on the Detroit River was the 1916 APBA Gold Cup. This was by virtue of the community-owned Miss Detroit winning the Cup in 1915 on Manhasset Bay in Upstate New York and earning the right to defend it on home waters.

Miss Detroit was a single-step hydroplane, equipped with a 250-horsepower Sterling engine. The designer was the distinguished Christopher Columbus Smith of Chriscraft fame. As things developed,…

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Added by Hydroplane Museum on November 4, 2010 at 10:00am — No Comments

Evening Magazine

The Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum was once again a "Top 5" in the Museum category of King 5 tv's "Best of " poll.

Added by Glenn D. Raymond on November 3, 2010 at 9:41pm — 1 Comment

‘I Will Drive Like I Drive’

In a racing boat Mira Slovak is as brash as he was when he fled the Reds in a stolen plane.

By Emmett Watson

Reprinted from Sports Illustrated, August 8, 1960

In the seven years since he stole a Czechoslovak airliner loaded with furiously reluctant passengers and treetopped his way to freedom, 30-year-old Miroslav Slovak has pursued such a variety of careers and diversions that he has sometimes seemed headed several ways at once. This week…

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Added by Hydroplane Museum on November 3, 2010 at 3:30pm — No Comments

1977 Atlas Van Lines Restoration Report by Don Mock

November 2, 2010

Another big week coming up. Tomorrow we have lots of inserts to glue into the left airtrap. We need to lay the sponson frames on top in the morning to drill and mark all the holes. We have all the replacement frames made and they can be ground and have their extrusions attached. Today, Gail started routing out the top of the right airtrap so we might also be able to glue the wood into the top tomorrow or at least Thursday. Then we can mount the…

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Added by Steve Compton on November 2, 2010 at 7:17pm — No Comments

History of Miss Wahoo

Bill Boeing's Miss Wahoo appeared in two races in 1956. She took fifth at the Seattle Seafair Trophy Race. Later in the year, she competed in the Sahara Cup in Las Vegas, where she took sixth out of eleven hulls. The Miss Wahoo was a beautiful mahogany-decked craft with deep red trim and white lettering. She had Allison power and was driven by Mira Slovak, who up to then had never even seen a race boat, much less driven one! But Slovak was a talented pilot who had fled the Iron Curtain in a…

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Added by Hydroplane Museum on October 29, 2010 at 3:00pm — No Comments

Muncey's Blue Blaster. The first day!

As Don Mock and the rest of the 1977 Atlas Crew move ahead with their great restoration, I can’t help but think back to that cold grey day 33 years ago when the Blue Blaster Atlas Van Lines hit the water for the very first time.

It was Tuesday March 15th. I took the day off work to make sure I was at the lake when Jim Lucero’s newest creation was unveiled. The rumor mill said the boat would launch at noon. I got to Sayres Pits about 9:00 just to be safe.…

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Added by David D. Williams on October 29, 2010 at 1:00pm — No Comments

1977 Atlas Van Lines Restoration Report by Phil Lampman

OCT 28, 2010

My, what a day.... Rightly so, I suppose, given that after 10 months of

work we finally installed the largest piece in the restoration of the Blue

Blaster. Not only the largest (29' plus or minus 4") but perhaps the most

critical component of the entire project. The on-again, off-again right side

air trap. And it was very stressful and occasionally frustrating. I had to

take most of the pics on the run since Don had us all…

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Added by Steve Compton on October 29, 2010 at 8:30am — No Comments

Chip checks out ‘Chip’.

Some photos need no explanation. But here is one, anyway.


By now, we all know and admire Chris Denslow, for both his convivial personality and his excellent raceboat photography. Not everyone knows that he began shooting hydroplanes in a meaningful way by following the R/CU circus as we raced all over the great state of Washington.


We don’t see Chris quite as often now that he has become a primary shooter for H-1, among other interests. But when…
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Added by Marc Connelly on October 28, 2010 at 11:00am — 3 Comments

1955 U-60 Miss Thriftway

The first MISS THRIFTWAY was designed by Ted Jones and built by Les Staudacher in 1954. Sponsored by the Associated Grocers chain of Stores and represented by Willard Rhodes, the 1955 hull not only represented the first step of involvement by AG for the next eight years, but it was also the starting point of Bill Muncey’s winning career. As of this writing, Bill is still on the top as the winningest driver in the sport of Unlimited Hydroplane racing with 62…

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Added by Steve Compton on October 27, 2010 at 3:00pm — 2 Comments

You can rent the Hydro Museum for your party!

Did you know that you can rent the Hydroplane Museum for your own private party? We have hosted all sorts of events including high school reunions, birthday parties, anniversary partied company holiday parties and weddings! Contact David or Denise at (206) 764-9453 from prices and available dates. Our Holiday Calendar is filling up. Book now so you don’t miss out!…

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Added by David D. Williams on October 26, 2010 at 2:30pm — 1 Comment

Blue Blaster Update from Don Mock

Phil sent out some good shots from today including the money shot of the boat with both airtraps in place. They're not attached quite yet but will be next week. Phil also describes today's events as we got the inserts glued into the right airtrap as well as the doubler plates for the bottom/airtrap bolts. So it should go on the boat for good Weds next week. We should be able to get the left side drilled and inserts glued in by Thursday.

With the airtraps in place we can add the…

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Added by David D. Williams on October 23, 2010 at 10:00am — No Comments

A new "Old Boat" at the Museum

The Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum is proud to display a beautiful replica of Gar Wood’s 1918 and 1919 Gold Cup winner Miss Detroit III. The boat arrived at Museum on Thursday evening, the 21st of October. This incredibly accurate and detailed replica was built in 2005, and it was part of the Warner Collection. Ken Muscatel bought the boat at an auction on Saturday the 16th of October.

The original Miss Detroit III was designed by Chris Smith…

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Added by David D. Williams on October 22, 2010 at 12:30pm — 1 Comment

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