History of Miss Wahoo

[Hydroplane Museum]

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 hijacked DC-3 belonging to the Czechoslovakian airline; he quickly learned how to drive the Miss Wahoo at low altitude and high speed.

In 1957 the Boeing entry appeared in eight of eleven races. She was second in the Apple Cup, won the Lake Tahoe Mapes Gold Cup, was eight in the APBA Gold Cup, third in the Silver Cup, ninth in the President's Cup (it was Slovak's dream to win the President's Cup and thank President Eisenhower personally for signing the bill that enabled Slovak to obtain a pilot's license ahead of citizenship), second in the Rogers Memorial, forth at Madison, and seventh at Lake Mead, for third overall in season high points.

The Miss Wahoo was not raced at all in 1958. In 1959, with Rolls Royce Merlin power, she took seventh in the season-opener at Chelan, wearing a new number, U-101. At Seattle in August she took forth place with the name Wahoo and the number U-101.5. She won the President's Cup Regatta, fulfilling Slovak's dream, and won again in the season finale at Lake Mead.

Bill Boeing bought a radio station in Boise Idaho in 1960, and he changed the U number on the boat to match the radio station's frequency - 101.5.

In 1960, the Wahoo was fifth at Chelan and crashed in the first heat of the Seattle Seafair Trophy race. Mira Slovak was seriously injured and announced his retirement. Bill Boeing,Jr. announced that the Wahoo would be repaired but not raced; he was retiring from hydroplane racing. The boat was entered in the Gold Cup race at Lake Mead, but the race was blown out and cancelled.

The Boeing team was indeed retired from racing, and the Wahoo was in storage during 1961 and 1962. Mira Slovak recovered from his injuries and went on to drive other boats.

In 1963 Glenn and Milo Stoen had a new boat, the U-75 Miss Exide. It crashed in its second race, the Idaho Diamond Cup. The Stoens bought the Wahoo and entered her in the Seattle Seafair race, where she took third place with Russ Schleeh in the cockpit. She wore the U-101.5 number but was named the Miss Exide. Following the race, the number was changed to U-75, and Seattle's "World's Fastest Milkman", Bill Brow, took over driving duties. They won the Madison, Indiana Governor's Cup and the President's Cup. They took forth in the wind-plagued Harrah's Tahoe Trophy.

The U-75 Miss Exide, formerly the U-77 / U-101 / U-101.5 Wahoo, was entered in all but two of the nine races in 1964. She was second in the APBA Gold Cup in Detroit, seventh in the Dakota Cup, first at Coeur D'Alene in the Diamond Cup, second in the Seattle Seafair, failed to finish a heat at Madison, Indiana, eighth at Lake Tahoe, and third at San Diego.

Bill Brow was still the driver in 1965, but the team only entered four races, all in the West. The Miss Exide repeated as the Diamond cup champion, and then ran fourth in the APBA Gold Cup in Seattle. She took third in the U.I.M. World Championship at Lake Tahoe, and third in San Diego.

Sold to the Budweiser camp, the boat ran as the U-12 Miss Budweiser in the 1966 season-opener at Tampa, Florida, where Bill Brow was injured. Donny Wilson subbed for Brow at the 1966 President's Cup Regatta, and in the final heat he collided with Rex Manchester in the Notre Dame. Both men were killed.