International Expansion: What it has meant so far and where it goes from here

The H1 Unlimited Series is one week away from the third annual Oryx Cup in Doha, Qatar.  With this in mind I thought it would be a good time to review the role of international expansion in Unlimited Hydroplane racing.  In a way, it’s hard to believe that it has only been three years, as many things have changed in Unlimited racing since the advent of the Oryx Cup race.  Many new developments continue to happen, with some that could be happening sooner than one might think.

In late 2007, many hydroplane websites began reporting rumors and negotiations with a number of parties in the Middle East who were interested in bringing the Unlimiteds over for a race in their country.  I’ll admit now that at the time I thought there really was nothing to these rumors.  Not only had there never been an Unlimited Hydroplane race off of the American Continent, there hadn’t been much variation away from the schedule of the six traditional race sites of Evansville, Madison, Detroit, Tri-Cities, Seattle, and San Diego since 2001.  The only difference on the six traditional race site schedule during the 2000’s were sites that did not stay on the schedule for very long: Lake Havasu City, Arizona in 2000 (which had its debut in 1999), St. Clair, Michigan in 2004, Nashville in 2005, and Valleyfield, Quebec in 2006.  With this in mind, talk of having an Unlimited Hydroplane race halfway around the world seemed at best far-fetched and at worst downright delusional.  Even when the Ellstrom team announced in 2008 they would be racing an abbreviated schedule in order to concentrate efforts on preparing for potential international expansion, I couldn’t help but be skeptical.

Then, it happened.  In December 2008 it was announced that the American Boat Racing Association (as it was still called at the time) had reached in agreement to race in Doha, Qatar as part of a three year deal between the ABRA and the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF).  It almost seemed too good to be true, and I suppose in a way it still is.  Much of the discussion on hydroplane websites throughout 2009 was whether the Doha deal was for real and if the race was truly going to happen.  The deal was finalized at the Seattle race that year and soon the boats were on their way to Qatar.  Along with the usual excitement that comes from a new race site there was also the promises of new revenue and potentially more international races in the future.  Another thing, which has been fun for me personally, is the opportunity to get up in the wee hours of the morning in order to watch a hydroplane race online.  In my life as a sports fan this is something I had previously only done for World Cup matches and Formula 1 races, so this was a small gesture that was another sign that Unlimited Hydroplane racing truly was going big time.

The growth in just these last three years has been ever present.  First, there was the cosmetic change of the sanctioning body changing its name from the ABRA to H1 Unlimited, which brought the body’s name more in line with other international powerboat racing classes such as Class One (offshore racing) and F1H2O (Tunnel Boat racing).  There has also been the uptick in sponsorship.  The Ellstrom team’s partnership with the QMSF and the sponsorship of Peters & May are direct results of the international expansion, and I would argue that the recent uptick in sponsors for other teams is at least partially due to the sport going global.  There have been growing pains as well.  Some of the traditional domestic race sites saw struggles recently, with San Diego not having a race in 2009 and needing a last minute deal to happen in 2010, the Evansville race in limbo for much of 2009 and no race in 2010, 2011, and no sign that it will be coming back any time soon, and even such stalwarts as Detroit and Seattle having financial questions come up before deals were finalized.  I would say in the end, however, most traditional race sites are strengthened because of international expansion.    They serve as the base from which the sport grows and in the end there is just something cool about race sites such as Madison, Indiana and Tri-Cities, Washington being part of a sport that also races in far off exotic locales.

With all the growth, there is still work to be done.  I feel there still needs to be at least one more race in the Middle East in order for the sport to continue growth and not have the Doha race become an outlier that happens two months after H1’s domestic season ends.  Recently H1 Unlimited signed a “Memorandum of Understanding” with the leadership of the UIM which should pave the road for further International expansion.  Logistics will always be an issue for potential international races, as will the ability to have proper crew for these races.  Although there are many obstacles, there are probably fewer than there were three years ago when the Qatar race was first announce, and the QMSF deserves a lot of credit for realizing the potential of growth with Unlimited Hydroplane racing and taking that chance.  Also, even if further international expansion means merely the addition of a second Middle Eastern race would a huge benefit, as it would mean more revenue and effectively give the series a North American leg and a Middle Eastern leg.  So although there is still much work to be done, international expansion has all in all been a positive for every aspect of the sport and should mean more benefits in the future.

Putting a Lid on it: The Canopy, and what other Racing Classes can Learn from the Unlimiteds

      It was initially my intention to include a talk about canopy in a larger piece focusing on innovations throughout the history of Unlimited Hydroplane racing, but recent events have meant that canopies should be looked at in more detail.  As I am sure you already know, the racing world has suffered the tragic loss of Dan Wheldon last weekend at the IndyCar race in Las Vegas.  As is almost always the case with any tragedy in racing, the attention quickly turns to safety and what could be done to avoid a similar tragedy in the future.
   With this in mind, the sport of Unlimited Hydroplane racing has garnered some attention in recent weeks with its greatest safety innovation being at the forefront: the canopy.

   The enclosed cockpit, or the use of the F-16 canopy, truly is the greatest innovation in the history of Unlimited Hydroplane racing.  True, other innovations have been more glamorous or even more technologically advanced, but the canopy took what was previously one of the most dangerous forms of racing and made it one of the safest.  It's hard to imagine now, but for previous generations the loss of life of drivers was a sad reality of the sport.  Since the introduction of the canopy, however, there has only been one casualty in the Unlimited class when George Stratton crashedin shallow water while testing  in San Diego in 2000.

   With the overwhelming success that the canopy has proven to be, one might think that it had an easy route to acceptance.  This was not the case, however.  From the introduction of the Unlimited class in 1946 through the 1970's all Unlimited Hydroplanes had open cockpits and only a few had seatbelts.  The thinking at the time, which in hindsight almost seems primitive, was that a driver would be the safest if he were actually thrown from the boat in the event of an accident.  Although the danger was always there, safety was not a top priority in the Unlimited Class.

   This began to change in the early 1980's when Bill Muncey was killed in an accident in 1981 in Acapulco and Dean Chenoweth was lost in 1982 in a blowover in Tri-Cities.  With the loss of Unlimited Hydroplane racing's two winningest and most legendary drivers at that time, attention quickly turned to how such tragic losses could be prevented in the future.  Perhaps not surprisingly, the two teams who suffered the loss of these legendary drivers stepped to the forefront of this noble cause.  First in 1983 the Atlas Van Lines team introduced a cockpit that set the driver lower in the boat and employed seatbelts, helping both of these safety aspects finally gain wide acceptance for the Unlimited Class.

   The biggest safety innovations, however, were coming from the Miss Budweiser team.  After the loss of Dean Chenoweth Jeff Neff, who was not only the Miss Budweiser Crew Chief but also a close friend and brother in law of Chenoweth, set about in developing a way in order to make sure such a loss wouldn't happen again.  In 1986 Neff installed a plexiglass canopy around the driver.  The "Bubble Bud," as it would come to be known, would win in San Diego that year while finishing second in the High Points.  The following season the next step was taken and Ron Jones had an F-16 canopy installed on the Miss Budweiser team's first turbine powered craft.  The Unlimited Racing Commission quickly saw the benefit and passed a new rule requiring all new boats to have an F-16 canopy installed on all new hydroplanes while all Unlimiteds built before 1987 were given until 1989 to make the change.  In a short amount of time, one of the most dangerous  forms of racing became one of the safest.  In the two plus decades since the canopy mandate, there has been only one loss of life in an Unlimited: George Stratton, who crashed in shallow water in San Diego in 2000.  The canopy truly is the greatest innovation in Unlimited Hydroplane racing, and the benefits of this innovation are felt at nearly every race.  For more on this I would highly recommend reading Fred Farley's fine article on the development of the F-16 canopy.

http://www.thunderboats.org/history/history0117.html

   Moving to current events, I'm sure by now you have heard of the tragic loss of IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon in Las Vegas.  As is usually the case in accidents like this, the attention quickly turns to safety and how such tragic losses can be prevented in the future.  Some of the proposals have included attempting to slow the cars down, which would only be effective as long as it would take for engineers to figure out how to speed the cars up again.  Another more extreme proposal has been that IndyCar should no longer race on banked ovals or perhaps on ovals altogether.  This won't work for a number of reasons, first off obviously IndyCar's biggest event takes place on an oval and beyond that part of IndyCar's culture is a mixture of oval and road races.  Without oval races IndyCar would be nothing more than an underclass to Formula 1. On Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain (which, in my opinion, is not only the best racing talk show but the best sports talk show of any kind on television) a discussion took place questioning whether a canopy similar to that used in Unlimited Hydroplane racing should be used in IndyCar racing.  One big worry is oil getting on the windshield of such a canopy.  While it will never be known if a canopy would have saved the life of Dan Wheldon I think it should at least be looked into.  Personally I think that IndyCar races can still happen on high banked ovals but perhaps there should be a chicane put on the backstretch, similar to what Daytona uses for sports car races.  While it's true that such a layout could be written off "not a real oval race" having such a chicane would mean the cars would need to slow down to negotiate the turns and could slow down the cars enough so that a race on a high banked oval could be safely held.    I'm not sure if canopies will make IndyCar racing much safer, but it's something that should at least be looked into.  The success of the canopy in Unlimited Hydroplane racing is obvious, and if it proves to have similar success in other forms of racing then the greatest innovation in the history of hydroplane racing could see benefits throughout racing.

Where are they now? The Former Miss Madison hulls

There are boats that once raced on the Unlimited Hydroplane tour strewn quite literally across the country.  They are in museums, garages, barns, and sometimes they're simply left outside to wither in the elements.  With no other use but racing, an Unlimited Hydroplane's life after racing can be a mysterious endeavor that is often as interesting as anything it did on the water.  I might explore this in a broader sense in a future post, but for this post I will explore what has happened to the Miss Madison hulls once their racing days were over  What has happened to the eight former Miss Madisons is as varied and colorful as the history of the team.  Some are lost, some are still racing, and some sit in museums.  This post is not intended as a "complete history" of Miss Madison hulls but will instead focus on what has happened after (and in some cases before) it raced for the City of Madison.

Miss Madison I (1958-79) As has now become part of hydroplane lore, the Miss Madison team was formed out of industrialist Samuel DuPont donating his boat to the City of Madison.  The Nitrogen boat actually debuted at the 1958 Madison Regatta, claiming second.  Despite not winning a race, the Nitrogen was a consistent boat over the next two years, collecting seven podium finishes while finishing fourth and second in the High Point standings.  For whatever reason, DuPont decided to get out of the hydroplane business after finishing second in 1960 and donated his primary hull to the City of Madison.

The first Miss Madison primary hull also had the shortest tenure of any hull in that role.  After only two years the City of Madison purchased DuPont's other hull, but still started the 1963 season with the older hull.  That came to an abrupt in Detroit when the boat crashed and sank to the bottom of the Detroit River.

As for what happened to the first Miss Madison, a number of stories have floated around but the most common one I've heard goes something like this:  After the Detroit race the Miss Madison was exhumed and taking back to Madison.  It was repaired and often made appearances as a display hull at various Madison events throughout the 1960's and early 1970's.  When not being displayed the boat was kept in the old Chautauqua barn on the grounds of the Madison State Hospital.  This barn was destroyed  by the tornado that struck Madison on April 3, 1974 and destroyed the boat with it.  I have yet to find anyone who claims to have pieces of the old Miss Madison, so I presume that the boat was a total loss, with any remaining pieces of the boat lost in the carnage of the storm.  If you're reading this and have any more information on this please let me know.

Miss Madison II (1960-79(2)) The second Miss Madison was also the second boat from Samuel DuPont's stable.  It had a successful debut season, winning the Silver Cup in Detroit and finishing third in the High Points that year.  This would also be its last season racing for DuPont though, as he retired as an owner at the end of the year.  After being beached for two years, the boat was sold to the City of Madison and made its debut as the Miss Madison at the 1963 Madison Regatta.

This is, of course, the boat that won the storybook 1971 Gold Cup Race and as a result has had one of the most noteworthy post-racing careers of any Unlimited Hydroplane.  The boat was used as a display hull at numerous events years after its retirement from competition in 1971.  The boat was a regular in the Madison Regatta parade for many years thereafter and was always a hit.  Often the boat could be found parked outside the Miss Madison boat garage along with the current Miss Madison hull (which ever hull that might be).  By the late 1990's, however, it was clear that major restoration would be needed to preserve this historic hull.  It was then that the decision was made to hand the hull over to the Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum in Seattle. The boat is now in the possession of Randy Mueller, who does a lot of restoration work for the Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum.  The boat was in pretty bad shape after being exposed to the elements for a number of years, but restoration seems to be going well.  Here is a link showing work under way:
http://thunderboats.ning.com/photo/photo/listForContributor?screenName=3790gtbmzpttu

 As a side note, it should me mentioned that the boat which appears in the movie "Madison" as the Miss Madison is not the same hull that raced and won the Gold Cup but is instead the 1961-33 hull that raced as Lumberville and Savair's Mist.  This boat was painted as the Miss Madison for the racing scenes, although the real Miss Madison II has a brief cameo in the movie (the scenes where the boat's sponson is blown off).

Miss Madison III (1972-06) For the first time in its history, the Miss Madison team purchased a new boat in 1972.  The boat was built by Lee Schoenith's Gale Enterprises team and was intended as a replica of the Atlas Van Lines hull that was built a year before and won the High Point title in 1972.  The boat quickly became outdated with the debut of the Pay N' Pak's pickle forked hull wit ha horizontal stabilizer.  This boat would be the last Unlimited Hydroplane constructed with the old shovel nosed design.

After the boat was retired from competition in 1977, the boat sat idle for a few year.  After Bill Muncey's untimely death in Acapulco in 1981 the boat was repainted as Muncey's Atlas Van Lines hull and was part of a national tour honoring his life.  Somehow the boat wound up with a private collector in Alabama.  In early 2010 an advertisement showed up on E-Bay for this boat,  which was still painted as an Atlas Van Lines hull and appeared to be in pretty bad shape as it was laying against a barn.  I'm not sure if anyone actually purchased the hull or what happened after the E-Bay auction expired.  If you have any information please let me know.

Miss Madison IV (1973-25) In a twist of irony, the Miss Madison team retired its previous hull by purchasing the hull that had deemed their old hull obsolete.  At the time the Miss Madison bought it, the "winged wonder" hydro was the winningest hull in Unlimited history, winning 21 races and four straight championships from 1973 to 1976 for the Pay'N Pak and Atlas Van Lines teams.  By the time Miss Madison bought it, however, it had been made obsolete by another hull: the cabover Atlas Van Lines boat that this hull replaced.  The boat would race for ten years for the Miss Madison team, winning one race and becoming the last conventional hull to race on the Unlimited Hydroplane tour.

After retirement, the hull sat idle for a few years.  Then in the early 1990's it was sold to Dave Bartush, who owns a number of historic hydroplanes (as well as the U-13 Spirit of Detroit team) and keeps them in storage in Detroit.  From what I understand, the boat is still painted in the Miss Madison colors so it hasn't been restored to it's original Pay'N Pak paint scheme.

Miss Madison Alternate I (1983-06) The forgotten of the Miss Madison hulls.  After the team's primary hull sustained damage at the 1983 Champion Spark Plug Regatta in Miami, the team was forced to lease a hull in order to fulfill sponsorship requirements.  The boat, although it made its debut in 1983, was a step hydroplane that had actually been built many years before.  Vastly outdated, the boat failed to qualify for the Stroh's Thunderfest in Romulus, New York.  After that race the Miss Madison's primary hull was repaired and ready for the next race.

The boat actually raced later on that year as the "Something Else," failing to qualify for the San Diego and Houston races.  The boat was eventually donated to the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, New York where it sits today.  I have yet to see a picture of this boat or have any information on when the boat was actually built.  If you have either of these things please share.

Miss Madison V (1988-06) For the second time in its history, the Miss Madison team bought a new hull for the 1988 season.  The boat was built by Ron Jones Marine and, although still piston powered, employed much of the design work that was used for previous Ron Jones creations such as the Miss Budweiser T-2.  It should be of note that this boat is the last piston powered Unlimited Hydroplane to be built for a team other than Ed Cooper's team.  The boat underwent numerous modifications (including a conversion to turbine power in 1991) through the years but was retired by the team in 2006.  For more on this boat read my previous post "Welcome back Miss Madison V" in the archives.

After the team switched to their new (and current hull), the boat spent most of its time doing display work around Madison and at various boat shows around the area.  For whatever reason, a number of times the boat could be found sitting in the parking lot of the old Cardinal Stadium in Louisville and was visible from I-65.  Prior to the 2011 season the boat was sold to the Webster Racing team and once again the old hull is back on the tour.  This marks the first time that a former primary Miss Madison hull serves as the primary hull for another team.

Miss Madison Alternate II (1988-03) Due to damage sustained in the famous Double Blowover accident in San Diego, the Miss Madison team was forced to look for an alternate boat in order to fulfill sponsorship requirements for the season finale.  Therefore they leased Ed Cooper's U-3 hull, which had also made its debut that season.  The boat, with primary U-3 driver Mitch Evans at the wheel, turned in a solid fifth place finish in Las Vegas.

The boat raced for a number of years for Ed Cooper's team, winning the Tri-Cities race in 1989.  As the 1990's moved along this boat become noteworthy (as well as a fan favorite) for being the last boat in the Unlimited fleet to use the old piston powered aircraft engines.  The boat was retired at the end of the 1996 season with a new (although still piston powered) hydroplane.  According to Jim Sharkey's "Hydros Who's Who" the boat was sold to a vintage racer in Kansas, although not much information was offered beyond that.  Once again if you have any more information to share please let me know.

Miss Madison Alternate III (1992-102) After the Miss Madison was involved in a horrific accident in the 2011 Madison Regatta, the team was forced to lease the primary U-9 hull in order to make an appearance at the next week's Detroit Gold Cup race.  For a complete history of this hull, look for the article "U-9 to be the U-1 Oh Boy! Oberto in Detroit, Jon Zimmerman the driver" in the archives.  After Detroit, the primary Miss Madison hull was ready for Tri-Cities.  The U-9 raced again in Tri-Cities and Seattle, once again with Jon Zimmerman behind the wheel.

As can be seen, the Miss Madison hulls had a varied career not only on the water but after their racing days were over.  It is left to be seen what will happen to the current Miss Madison retires, whenever that might be. Former Unlimited Hydroplanes are scattered throughout the country, so keep your eyes open, you might just see some Hydroplane history if you're paying attention.


My thanks to Jim Sharkey's "Hydros Who's Who" for its information it provided for this post.  Also, thanks to Lon Erickson for his information on the current state of the second Miss Madison hull.

Miss Madison, Ellstrom Racing, and Moneyball

First off my apologies for not writing a recap of San Diego.  I actually missed the majority of the race weekend due to work and a family event.  I'm sure you already know the results but I always enjoy writing the recaps.

The movie "Moneyball" is set to premiere this weekend.  It is based on the Michael Lewis book of the same title which is possibly the most talked about, most controversial, and (in my opinion) the bes book written about baseball in the last decade.  It is the story of the Oakland Athletics of the late 1990's and early 2000's.  The A's, despite having one of the smallest payrolls in baseball over this period, made the playoffs four straight seasons including 100+ win seasons in 2002 and 2003.  The A's did this by focusing on what other teams undervalued, such as Pitchers who could control the strike zone, hitters who had a keen ability to draw a lot of walks, and drafting College players who were routinely overlooked in the draft but were a safer bet to make the majors than High School players.  Within a few tears the other teams began to adopt similar principles, as well as more complex measures of evaluating players (a field known as sabermetrics) and soon even richer teams were able to reap the rewards of a system that the A's created almost out of necessity.

So what does this have to do with hydroplane racing?  Quite a bit actually.  Over a decade ago the two teams who currently dominate the H1 series were in a situation similar to that of the A's.  Miss Madison, Inc. and Marine Technologies were small, low budget teams in a sport full of big budget entries.  For these teams to be competitive, they needed to spend their money wisely. 

In the Miss Madison's case this was by no means something new.  For almost all of their history the Miss Madison had operated on what was effectively a shoestring budget but always found ways to be competitive.  Like Billy Beane and the A's, the Miss Madison was able to be competitive many years by focusing their efforts on an often undervalued commodity in racing: consistency.  The U-6, playing it safe and ensuring that they finished nearly every heat, often found itself ahead in the High Point standings of teams whose budget dwarfed that of the Miss Madison team.

Likewise, Marine Technologies had to make do with a smaller budget for much of the late 1990's.  The Ellstrom Family ran what was effectively an Unlimited Hydroplane version of a mom and pop operation with members of the Ellstrom family making up many of the key people on the team.  The team was an exclusively West Coast entry through much of its early years, but after winning in Tri-Cities in 2000 the decision was made to build a new boat and join the national tour.  Lacking a national sponsor who would spend millions to finance the new boat construction, the Ellstroms used their own expertise, which was an undervalued commodity for many years in Unlimited Racing but was also the one thing that the Marine Technologies team had in large quantities.  The result was a boat that was fast and successful right out of the box, winning the second race it ever run at Seattle in 2001 and following it up with a brilliant 2002 where they were the top qualifier at every race, won two races along the way, and finished second in the High Point chase that season.

Despite the successes of the U-6 and the U-16 over the years, they were unable to win the big prize in Unlimited Racing and so their efforts were often overlooked.  For years the presumed method of winning in Unlimited Racing was to get a big time sponsorship and invest as much money as possible by building new boats and hiring a high profile driver and a professional crew.  Hydroplanes, Inc. of course is the prime example of this, and so the other teams found themselves spending more money in order to be competitive against a team with a seemingly unlimited budget.  A lot of money fell by the wayside in this chase.  One famous example is Bob Taylor's Lite All Star Team, who spent a lot of money building a new turbine powered hydroplane back when turbines were still being figured out, but the team could never quite get a handle on the new technology and soon the team was soon out of business.  Another was the Circus Circus team, who was able to win the championship in 1990 but spent so much money in the process that many of the casino's investors and board members began to question the expenditure which led to the team being sold off.  The building of new hulls, the most expensive (and probably the most overvalued) expenditure that any hydroplane can undertake, was a common theme among these big budget teams.  Showing up to a race site with multiple hulls became a way for the haves to distinguish themselves from the have nots. While some hulls were not well thought out experiments that should have never left the drawing board like the three wing Circus Circus, the Winston Eagle "lobster boat" and perhaps even the two wing Miss Budweiser T-4 which the Miss Budweiser team wound up using in only one race (although it had a successful second life as the primary hull for Wurster and Schumacher Racing for many years after it was reconfigured as a one wing hull).  Hundreds of thousands of dollars was sunk into each of these boats which failed as competitors, money that no doubt could have been better used elsewhere within their respective organizations.  Instead they became sympols of the opulence of the big budget teams.  Despite the drawbacks, it is no secret that the richest team was also the most successful of the time, as the Miss Budweiser was able to outspend and outrun everybody.  As was memorably said in the Madison movie: Every now and then, a pocket full of cash will beat the pants off of plain old hard work..

As the years passed by, many of the big budget teams ceased to exist.  Less television and media coverage meant fewer sponsors.  This, along with the the fact that many teams saw their spending efforts futile when another team was willing to outspend everyone, meant a dwindling number of teams in the sport.  Then in 2004 the Miss Budweiser team ceased to exist.  No one was sure what happened, there was even concern that the sport as a whole would fall by the wayside (for more on this, read my previous post "Life After Budweiser, and be watching for a future post on the last days of Hydro-Prop).  The question became how could the sport survive with the lack of a big budget team, its lifeblood for so many years?  The answer was two teams who had made do with less for years would step to the forefront.  Miss E-Lam Plus, without major sponsorship, and Oh Boy! Oberto-Miss Madison, who had a sponsor  that allowed the team to show up for races but were using an ancient hull, were suddenly the top two teams in the sport.  The two teams who had learned to make do with less became dominant when less money was available.

Things just built from there.  The Ellstrom team was already leading in points halfway through the 2005 season but then scored a major coup when Dave Villwock joined their team.  Miss Madison, despite using one of the oldest boats in the fleet, finished second in High Points in 2005 and 2006.  Much of this was due to the leadership of Mike Hanson.  In his role as Crew Chief, long one of the most undervalued assets in hydroplane racing, he was able to get the most out of the old boat.  When the new hull was built for the Miss Madison in 2007, suddenly one of the hardest working teams in the business, which had to make do with an outdated hull for almost all of its history, had a state of the art hull.  Using the same tactics of focusing on consistent finishes which had worked for the Miss Madison team for so many years, the team was able to win three straight championships.

Marine Technologies was never far behind.  Consistently the fastest team in the fleet, they were able to find speed by exploiting another often overlooked commodity: propellers.  Propeller technology has often lagged behind other developments in Unlimited Hydroplane racing and was even the victim of a strange prejudice.  For many years teams refused to put a three blade propeller on their boat, thinking that it was a sign of something wrong with the boat.  That line of thought had changed when Jim Lucero's boats proved dominant using a three bladed prop, but the technology was still underdeveloped.  Marine Technologies, once again using their valuable expertise, found they had an advantage using thinner props in an era of fuel and N2 restrictions.  Soon, everyone saw this advantage and wanted an Ellstrom built thin prop on their hydroplane.

As can be seen, the Miss Madison and Ellstrom teams, like the Oakland A's of a decade ago, have been able to have success not by spending lots of money but by using the assets that they have.  Be it concepts like consistency and expertise or more visible elements such as hiring a top notch Crew Chief and focusing on propeller development, these two teams were able to exploit elements of the sport often undervalued by other teams and use them to their advantage.  Now, it is no secret that money has played a part as well.  The Miss Madison team wouldn't have acheived what they did if it werent for the support of the Oberto family.  Likewise the Ellstrom team has been greatly assisted by the support of the QMSF.  What differs, however, is that this financial support doesn't dwarf that of the other teams, which was so often the case of championship winning teams throughout the history of Unlimited racing.  While money is still an important factor, the Madison and Ellstrom teams have shown that, like Billy Beane and the Moneyball-era A's, knowledge and the ability to exploit an undervalued asset can often have the upper hand on extravagant spending.

San Diego Preview: Will There be an Upset?

After the past few weeks have been dominated by news of exhibition races, the San Diego Bayfair race has almost become an afterthought.  There will be a full race this weekend, however, and ten Unlimiteds will show up for what is often the most unpredictable race on H1's North American tour.  It is no secret that recent years have been dominated by two boats.  Since the sixth Miss Madison made its debut in 2007, there have been 23 races in which both the current Oh Boy! Oberto-Miss Madison hull and the Qatar/Ellstrom hull have made an appearance, and in those 23 races one of those two boats has won 21 times.

So will someone among the "also rans" step up and pull off an upset?  It's likely in San Diego.  First, a number of hydroplanes have made strong showings throughout the year although they have yet to find the winner's circle, something that could easily change this weekend.  Furthermore, San Diego has seen a number of upsets in recent years.  Regular readers of this blog might remember in the Tri-Cities preview that I noted that six of the last seven Columbia Cup winners went on to be High Point Champions (a trend that will more than likely continue this year unless there's a huge turnaround in the standings).  San Diego has been the exact opposite, with only two winners in San Diego going on to be High Point champions since 2001.  The saltwater, high speeds, and unpredictable wind patterns have always meant that attrition is high in San Diego so the course lends itself to very fast but very unpredictable racing that often sees an upset winner.

Finally, and most notably, a new starting procedure has been introduced for the San Diego and Doha races.  Gone is the fighting for lane procedure amid concerns on what the slow speeds and high water intake would do to the engines and propellers on the saltwater courses.  Lane choice is back, but in a different form than what has been used in recent years, with lane choice being decided by the order of a draw.  This hasn't been without controversy, but for the purposes of this blog that's a different discussion for a different post.  Undoubtedly, however, it adds the already unpredictable nature of the San Diego race.

The U-96 Spirit of Qatar saw their heat winning streak snapped with a third place finish at the Final Heat in Seattle, largely due to some spectacular strategic driving by Steve David and Scott Liddycoat.  The boat still has a large lead in the High Point standings, and Dave Villwock and the boat have always been strong on large fast courses like San Diego.  Although the lane assignment by blind draw rule was undoubtedly put in place to increase parity, the new rule might actually benefit the U-96 more than any other team.  This rule allows the team to prepare the boat in anticicpation of a specific lane, which allows them to use their expertise in propeller and gear ration combinations.  Also, Villwock has shown ability to win races from the outside in the past, often leaving a boat on the inside just the amount of room the rulebook requires.  So although the new rules might put the U-96 in an outside lane, that doesn't put them out of the race.

The U-5 Graham Trucking has moved to second in the High Point standings.  Despite a strong performance in preliminary heats this season, the U-5 has essentially been a non-factor in Final Heats this season (with the possible exception of Detroit).  Jeff Bernard has won in  San Diego before, and it seems like only a matter of time before this team breaks through with a strong Final Heat performance with all of its preliminary heat victories so far this season.  The new  rules might hamstring this team more than others, since Jeff Bernard has shown a keen ability to leapfrog into an inside lane this season.

The U-17 Miss Red Dot saw much of its luck turn around in Seattle, where the team was disqualified in one preliminary heat and was left out of the running in the Final Heat for the first time this season.  Whether or not there will be a rebound this weekend is left to be seen.  Kip Brown is no doubt the most improved driver on the tour this season, and it would be out of the question for Kip and the U-17 team to score their first victory in San Diego.

The U-7 Valken had another strong day at Seattle, with a second place finish.  Scott Liddycoat is having one of the most spectacular rookie seasons in recent memory, putting the U-7 in a place to win in almost every heat.  Driving a boat that has won in San Diego multiple times, Scott Liddycoat could become the first driver since Mike Allen to win a race in his rookie season.

The U-1 Oh Boy! Oberto-Miss Madison made a great showing in the Final Heat at Seattle, winning the race going away.  The team did not make up much ground in the standings, however, and still finds itself fifth in High Points.  Steve David has made some fantastic starts this season, but always seems to have bad luck in San Diego, where he has only won once.  Despite this, it is always foolish to count out the Miss Madison team and the U-1 should make up some ground in the High Point race, perhaps even move up to second before the weekend is over.

The 88 Degree Men continues to improve in the hull's first season and finds itself sixth in points despite failing to score any points at the season opener in Madison.  The team is in the middle of a very busy three weekend cross country trip that started in Sacramento last weekend, continues this weekend in San Diego, and finishes next weekend in Washington, DC.  J. Michael Kelly made a strong showing in the Final in Seattle, finishing fourth after starting as the trailer, and the boat looked strong again in the exhibition at Sacramento.  The new hull seems to get better every time it goes out and that should continue this weekend.

Another new sponsor is on board, and the Go Fast Turn Left Racing team will race this weekend as the U-21 TapouT.  As always, it's nice to see a big time recognizable sponsor support one of the racing teams, and it will be interesting to see if this results in a full year sponsorship next season (much like the Degree Men sponsorship did for Schumacher racing last year).  The boat qualified for both of the Final Heats in Washington, but had issues with fuel flow in Sacramento that saw the boat go dead in the water numerous times.  Brian Perkins continues to get more experienced and more comfortable behind the wheel and it would be nice to see this team turn in a strong performance for its new sponsor.  TapouT is a brand that is instantly recognizable with many younger fans (it's a sponsor of Mixed Martial Arts events as well as a marketer of different products and clothing for the sport) so the boat could go a long way in appealing to a younger generation.

The U-100 Leland Unlimited team is making yet another change this weekend, switching back to the maroon and black hydroplane they have used in recent years and leaving the all white "dustbuster" boat in the garage.  Although this boat raced this season as the U-99 in Tri-Cities and as the U-100 in Sacramento, this will be the hull's first appearance as the U-100 in a point race this season.  Greg Hopp will also be pulling double duty, as the GP West boats will also be competing in San Diego.  More than likely the team's strategy will be to play it safe in anticipation of the Doha race, but it isn't out of the question for the team to sneak into the Final Heat and with the new rules in place they might even find themselves in contention.

The U-57 Formulaboats.com had their best race of the year in Seattle, scoring more points than it had in any previous race and finishing sixth in the Final Heat.  Veteran Mark Evans continues his fine comeback season and now finds himself coming back to the race that he won in 1996 and 1997.  It is left to be seen how this boat will perform in salt water (it has usually struggled in San Diego) but Mark Evans and the crew have shown throughout the year that they are able to get the most out of this old hull.  Bianca Bononcini should also get some more seat time this weekend.

The U-11 Peters & May had a nightmarish day in Seattle that saw the team unable to score a single point, but the team rebounded with a strong showing at Sacramento.  JW Myers hasn't raced many times in San Diego, but always seems to perform well on fast courses.  Up to this point in the season, the team's focus has seemingly been on getting more experience in the team's first year of existence, and it wouldn't be a surprise to see more of the same with the trip to Doha around the corner.

Also in San Diego: The P1 Superstocks will see their first USA tour come to a close.  The boats have put on a fantastic show throughout the year, including at the Unlimited race sites of Madison and Detroit.  Leading the way will be the Oregon Custom Marine, who has a scant one point lead over the Miss Madison, who has won two events so far this season including its "home" race in Madison.  Also expected to compete are the Peters & May, JD Byrider, K Way, Mandigo Bay, Ocala Grand Prix, and United States Coast Guard.  The boat count has nearly doubled since the series made its United States debut in Madison earlier this year, and has been a hit everywhere they've raced so far this season.  All in all, it's been a very successful first year for the P1 Superstock Panther class in the United States.

A Day in the Life: September 18, 1988

As the San Diego race approaches, it's time once again to look back on a memorable race weekend on Thunder The Bridge.  This time, the subject is the 1988 San Diego Bayfair regatta.  The race was immediately remembered for one of the most spectacular accidents in Unlimited Hydroplane history, and would be remembered in later years as the end of an era of sorts for Unlimited racing.  Although nobody knew it at the time, the 1988 San Diego race would represent the last hurrah for one of the greatest engines in Unlimited Hydroplane history.

Buildup: In a more abstract sense, the story of the San Diego 1988 race begins with the post World War II era of Unlimited racing.  As the war ended, the Unlimited class was formed by the APBA to take advantage of the surplus of aircraft engines.  At first, most teams opted for the more reliable and widely available Allison engine rather then the more temperamental British built Rolls Royce Merlin.  This began to change in the mid-1950's, especially when the Merlin powered Slo-Mo-Shun V dominated the 1954 Gold Cup.  By the time the Unlimited Racing Commission was formed in 1957, most of the top teams in the sport were using the Merlin engine.  In fact, from 1957 to 1979 every single High Point champion used a Merlin engine.

This began to change in 1980.  That year, Miss Budweiser won the championship using the more powerful Rolls Royce Griffon engine.  By that point there was a dwindling number of World War II aircraft engines.  Although the Merlin powered Atlas Van Lines won the title in 1982 and 1983, the beginning of the end came in 1984 when the same Atlas team introduced a turbine powered hydroplane.  The Atlas team won the title in 1985 while the turbine powered Miss Budweiser won the championship in 1986.  In 1987, for the first time in Unlimited Hydroplane history, no team using a Merlin or Allison engine was able to win a single race.  By 1988 only one team racing full time was using Merlin power.

Surprisingly, that one team went on to have a spectacular season and showed the hydroplane world that the old Merlin engine wasn't quite dead yet.  Jim Harvey's Oh Boy! Oberto team was coming off a 1987 season that never really got off the ground.  The boat suffered damage in a highway accident on the way to the season opener in Miami, wasn't able to rejoin the tour in Tri-Cities, and was essentially a non factor for the rest of the season.  In 1988, the Oh Boy! Oberto not only made it to Miami but was able win the race when the saltwater spray knocked out the turbine competitors.  Their solid season continued with podium finishes at Detroit and Madison and the team came in to San Diego in high spirits.

The same could not be said, however, for another team rolling into the pits of San Diego in 1988.  Fran Muncey's team opted to campaign two teams in 1988 with mixed results.  Chip Hanauer was able to drive the Miller High Life to victory at Detroit and subbed for John Prevost to drive the Miss Circus Circus to victory at the Evansville Gold Cup race, but as the season stretched on a frustration began to mount as neither boat on the team was not able to find victory lane.  After the Seattle race, a strange swap was implemented where Chip Hanauer, along with the Miller High Life sponsorship, would go to the U-31 team using the 1987-00 hull while John Prevost and the Circus Circus sponsorshp would join the U-00 team using the 1984-01 hull.

Also coming to San Diego that weekend was another team having an up and down year.  The Miss Madison team expected to start the season with a new state of the art hull, so much so that the team entered its boat the final race of 1987 as the "Holset Mrs. Madison."  Construction of the new hull took longer than expected, however, and the team was forced to enter their old hull into competition.  In Tri-Cities the new boat was finally able to debut and set the hydroplane world on its ear with a solid performance right out of the box, making a strong impression in the preliminary heats and finishing fifth in the Final.  In Seattle, however, their luck would change when the hull was quite literally "rear ended" by the Miss Circus Circus after a preliminary heat.  The team was coming into San Diego with a promising but still untested Allison powered hydroplane.

The Race: It didn't take long for things to get interesting in San Diego.  In Heat 1B, the Oh Boy! Oberto jumped out to an early lead after the Miss Madison had to slow down at the start and the Circus Circus was late to the lane.  On the backstretch, the Miss Madison and Circus Circus were closing in on the Oberto when something unbelievable happened.  Both the Miss Madison and the Circus Circus caught the same gust of wind and both boats went over.  The Circus Circus landed right side up, the Miss Madison landed upside down, and the moment had immediately become a part of Unlimited Hydroplane lore.  The "double blowover," as it would come to be known was shown on ESPN numerous times as well as TV stations across the country (this was the pre-You Tube version of going viral).  After the second heat of racing in San Diego, Unlimited Hydroplane history had already been made.

The rest of the day was essentially without incident.  The plethora of DNS's and DNF's, which had become a regular part of the saltwater races at Miami and San Diego in the early turbine era, was ever present at San Diego on that day.  The Miller High Life wasn't able to start either of its preliminary heats.  The turbine Pringle's boat won heat 1A but failed to start Heat 2B or the Final.  The piston powered U-3 finished fourth in Heat 1A and didn't start Heat 2B, but still made the Final due to the attrition of the day, where it failed to start.  Also failing to start the Final was the Pocket Saver's Plus and the Miller High Life, who was the alternate despite not scoring any points on the day.  That left Oh Boy! Oberto with 800 points, the Miss Budweiser with 700 points, and the Paddock Pools with a surprising 600 points to start the Final.

It didn't take long for the attrition of the day to continue. The Miss Budweiser had a lead succombed to the salt water in lap two and was left dead in the water.  That left George Wood in the Oh Boy! Oberto to win the race essentially unchallenged.  The Paddock Pools trailed but blew its engine before the finish, which meant the Final of a crazy day of racing had only one finisher.  Despite failing to finish the race, the Paddock Pools officially finished second, which would prove to be the highest finish for Al Thorson's U-7 entry, which was a regular on the tour for a number of years in the 1980's and early 1990's but was a perennial also ran.

Aftermath: The three teams that came into San Diego in three different directions also left the race in different directions.  The Miss Madison was forced to lease the U-3 hull for the season ending Las Vegas race, but the team was able to rebound from the new hull's shaky debut with a strong 1989 that saw the U-6 break a number of piston powered speed records and finish third in High Points.  The Circus Circus team was also done for 1988.  After the season finale in Las Vegas, Fran Muncey would retire as an owner, selling most of her equipment to Circus Circus, who would retain Chip Hanauer as a driver.  John Prevost's career was also done after the 1988 San Diego race.  The double blowover was also the last ride in the U-6 for longtime Miss Madison driver Ron Snyder, who would appear in a few races in 1989 behind the wheel of the automotive powered U-9 before calling it a career.The Oh Boy! Oberto would finish the 1988 third in High Points and would have another strong season in 1989 despite not winning a race.  Much of the concern after the 1988 San Diego race was whether or not a repeat would happen in 1989, when San Diego was slated to host the Gold Cup.  Despite the concerns, the 1989 Gold Cup race in San Diego went off without a hitch.  There was attrition, but unlike 1988 the 1989 San Diego race had a full field for the Final Heat, where the Miss Budweiser held off a late charge by the Oh Boy! Oberto to win the Gold Cup.  A single finisher in a Final Heat, an occasional occurence during Unlimited racing's piston era (most famously in 1978 in Miami where the Atlas Van Lines was not only the only finisher but also the only starter), would never happen again after the 1988 San Diego race.

More famously, however, the 1988 San Diego race would provide another last in Unlimited Hydroplane history.  The Rolls Royce Merlin engine, so long dominant in the Unlimited class, would see its last victory on that September day.  Jim Harvey's team would use the Merlin engine a couple more years before switching over to turbine power in 1991 and there were no more Unlimiteds using the Merlin engine.  Occasionally there is talk of another team that plans to join the tour with a Merlin powered hydroplane (just as there is similar talk of an Allison or automotive powered hydroplane) but twenty years later there has yet to be another Merlin powered hydroplane enter competition.

The 1988 San Diego race was memorable from the moment it happened due to the double blowover.  It also represented a historical anomaly that rarely happened with one finisher in the Final Heat as well as the end of an era with the final victory for a Merlin powered hydroplane.  So despite being seen as a bit of a dud of a show as it happened (every article I read on the race was extremely negative), the 1988 San Diego race would become memorable for a number of reasons for years to come.




My thanks to Jim Sharkey's Hydro's Who's Who as well as Fred Farley's article titled "Rolls Royce Merlin question" for their information that contributed to this post.  Also used was an Unlimited News Journal article covering the 1988 San Diego race taken from Leslie Field's Hydroplane History site.

Sacramento Preview: An exhibition full of opportunities for everyone involved

For the first time in 44 years, the Unlimited Hydroplanes will race on Folsom Lake near Sacramento.  The exhibition will serve as a dress rehearsal of sorts to test the viability of the venue and especially to gauge the interest of the local community of holding a race.  The hope is to have a full-fledged race in Sacramento in 2012, with a May date being mentioned as the most likely option.

For this preview, I will treat it like I have my other race previews and focus on the teams involved in the event.  Coincidence or not, all four teams taking part in the exhibition should be looking forward to the opportunity to get their boats in the water for some more test time.  Whether it's a new team, a new boat, a rough season up to this point, or some combination of these things, all of the teams involved in the Sacramento exhibition should see the event as a chance to get some more time in the water as the season heads into the homestretch

The U-11 Miss Peters & May began the season with a lot of hope for the Unlimited Racing Group's first season, but this season has become more of "shake down" year as everyone grows accustomed to their new roles and their still new hull.  After failing to score a single point in Seattle, the team finds themselves in tenth place in the High Point standings.  Obviously, JW Myers and the crew should welcome the extra time in the water after the first four races of the season has been full of struggles for the team.  A nice performance in the Sacramento exhibition could be a springboard for a strong showing in San Diego next week.

The U-21 Go Fast Turn Left Racing team has rebounded nicely after their horrific accident in Madison, qualifying for the Final Heat in both Tri-Cities and Seattle .  The still young and relatively inexperienced Brian Perkins and this still young team is still looking to make up ground, however, and the Sacramento exhibition should be a nice test venue for a team that seems poised to make the move to be one of the contenders in the sport.

The 88 Degree Men, like many teams throughout the years running with a brand new hull, welcome any opportunity to put their new boat in the water and see what it has.  The team finds itself sitting sixth in points, which is a solid showing considering that they didn't score a single point in Madison.  The 88's involvement also gives fans the opportunity to see one of the sport's best young and up and coming drivers in J. Michael Kelly as well as one of the sport's best new sponsors in Degree Men.  This is also the first of three busy weekends for the team, as they will be in Sacramento on Thursday, San Diego next weekend, and Washington, DC for the exhibition the following Friday.  Hopefully the team will pack some coffee along with their Degree Men products.

The U-100 Leland Unlimited team will  come into Sacramento with a new old look.  Reports are that the team will switch back to the black and maroon 19980-99 hull that the team has used in previous years and raced as the U-99 Miss HAPO Credit Union.  Also, Ryan Mallow, who qualified as a driver in this hull in Tri-Cities this year, will be subbing for Greg Hopp at the exhibition.  Therefore not only will the team get to see if a different hull will produce better results, but a young up and coming driver gets a chance to get some more seat time in an Unlimited.