1958 Gold Cup Remembered

By Fred Farley - Unlimited Hydroplane Historian

Edgar Kaiser's HAWAII KAI III, designed by Ted Jones and maintained by the former SLO-MO crew, was arguably the greatest race boat of the 1950s. With Jack Regas driving, the KAI won five races in a row and the National High Point Championship and raised SLO-MO-SHUN IV’s mile straightaway record (set in 1952) from 178.497 to 187.627 miles per hour in 1957.

Following a brief retirement, Regas and HAWAII KAI III came back to save the Gold Cup for Seattle in 1958. (This was after the Bill Muncey-chauffeured MISS THRIFTWAY lost her rudder and crashed into a U.S. Coast Guard utility boat, just moments after the start of Heat 2-A.)

The KAI had her work cut out for her that year. The MAVERICK and driver Bill Stead, who represented the Lake Mead Yacht Club of Las Vegas, Nevada, had won their two most recent races in 1958 and qualified fastest with a Gold Cup record of 119.956 for three laps around the Lake Washington 3-mile course.

But on race day, August 10, HAWAII KAI III rose to the challenge and beat MAVERICK hands down and in record time. This guaranteed a Gold Cup race for Seattle in 1959 as well.

In addition to the KAI and the MAVERICK, pre-race speculation focused on the likes of MISS THRIFTWAY, MISS BARDAHL, MISS U.S. I, and MISS SUPERTEST II. Each had won a race earlier in 1958. But the drivers of these boats--Muncey, Mira Slovak, Fred Alter, and Bob Hayward--simply lacked the speed that Regas and Stead enjoyed.

A surprise second-place overall was Austin Snell’s CORAL REEF, driven by Harry Reeves. A perennial tail-ender from Tacoma, Washington, CORAL REEF posted heat finishes of second, first, and second, but was no match for HAWAII KAI III.

Stead and MAVERICK went all out after Regas and the KAI in Heats One and Two. But they were soundly beaten both times. MAVERICK missed the Final Heat entirely when her crew couldn’t replace a spline shaft in the aux-stage Allison engine in time.

Even after many months on the shelf, the Edgar Kaiser craft had demonstrated its complete mastery over the rest of the fleet.

HAWAII KAI III ran the 90 miles at a record-breaking 103.481 miles per hour, which erased MISS THRIFTWAY’s 1957 mark of 101.979.

The KAI had become the first Unlimited hydroplane to win six consecutive races. This also was the first time that a thunderboat had completed 300 consecutive miles at a winning pace. The record would stand until 1962.

A jubilant Edgar Kaiser, the SLO-MO crew, and Jack Regas were the heroes of the day. Their triumph was now complete. There were no more worlds to conquer.

Now the team could disband with a clear conscience. And they did...within a matter of days. The 1958 Gold Cup was their last race together. There would be no encore.

The crew of the “Pink Lady” now had six Gold Cups in nine years since 1950: three with SLO-MO-SHUN IV, two with SLO-MO-SHUN V, and one with HAWAII KAI III. They consisted of Mike Welsch (crew chief), Wes Kiesling and George McKernan (engine speaialists), Rod Fellers (propeller and shaft), Elmer Linenschmidt and Fred Hearing (gear box), Pete Bertelotti and Bob Stubbs (electronic items), Don Ibsen (tools), and Jack Watts (miscellaneous jobs), with driver Jack Regas assisting wherever necessary.

As the KAI crew celebrated their victory, the MISS THRIFTWAY crew picked up the pieces.

Both MISS THRIFTWAY and the Coast Guard boat had sunk within two minutes of the crash. Bill Muncey had been pronounced “dead” at the scene when rescuers could find no pulse. But Bill revived to race--and win--again another day.

The rescue operation had been performed flawlessly. From the time Muncey crossed the starting line, thirteen minutes later he was in the hospital.

This was Bill’s second major accident in less than a year. He had crashed the original MISS THRIFTWAY at the 1957 Governor’s Cup in Madison, Indiana, shortly after setting a world 15-mile heat record of 112.312.

The Associated Grocers team would concentrate on THRIFTWAY TOO for the balance of 1958 and start planning a new MISS THRIFTWAY for 1959.

One question went unanswered at the 1958 Gold Cup. How could two boats from the same team experience rudder failure at the same regatta? In addition to MISS THRIFTWAY, the cabover THRIFTWAY TOO lost a rudder and spun 720 degrees during a qualification run. Fortunately, unlike Muncey, THRIFTWAY TOO driver Brien Wygle escaped injury.