|
<![CDATA[
]]>
|
Hydroplanes
| |
1953
Ferrari Hydroplane |
On the morning of October 15, 1953, Achille Castoldi succeeded in smashing the 800kg
class speed record with an average “flying
kilometer” two-way speed of 150.49 mph. He followed
up the performance later that day by setting another
record in the “24 nautical miles” event.
|
_small1.JPG)
Click for more info |
| |
1954
Ferrari Hydroplane
|
Castoldi retired from
hydroplane racing in 1954. He sold Arno XI to
a wealthy engineer named Nando dell’Orto. Dell’Orto
revised the body lines of the engine cover and front
fairing, added a large fin behind the driver for
stability, and raced the boat for a few more years.
The most notable success was a 2nd place finish in
the 1965 900kg World Championship.
|
Click for more info |
| |
1938 Miss Canada
III
|
Miss Canada III 's
24½ ft hull integrated a double concave unevenly
spaced set of steps on its bottom (later dubbed
"keel knuckle" steps.) This feature gave it
exceptional directional and turning stability even
in rough water. The design also resulted in a low
specific drag coefficient on the wetted surface
giving it an optimum running attitude. Her
engine was a Miller V-12, 1,000 HP.
|
Click for more
info |
| |
2007 Ferrari
Hydroplane
|
A Granturismo boat powered by a Ferrari F430 V8
engine has established two new world water speed
records on Lake Como in Italy. The two records
were set in the categories Endurance Group B class
S1 and S2, with an average speed of 123,288 km/h and
122,035 km/h on the running kilometer.
|
 |
| |
1950 Slo
Mo Shun IV
|
During the first half of
the 20th Century, no boat representing a yacht club
from west of the Mississippi River was ever
victorious. All of that changed in 1950 when SLO-MO-SHUN
IV from Seattle finally turned the trick at Detroit.
SLO-MO IV was the first
craft to reap championship results in the
application of the concept of "prop-ride" on a
semi-submerged propeller. The days when a
hydroplane could win with a fully submerged
propeller were numbered.
Overnight, competition speeds of over 100 miles per
hour and straightaway speeds of over 150 were
commonplace.
During
her life span, the Ted Jones-designed Slo-mo set the
world's water speed record, won three Gold Cups and
the Harmsworth Trophy. Seattleites speak fondly and
reverently of the 'Grand Old Lady' and the 'Good Old Slo-mo IV'-almost as if the boat were a person.
When Sayres
was presented with the Gold Cup, following his 1950
triumph, the cynics wagged that the Cup was "only
being loaned" to him. The "loan" proved to be of
long duration as Sayres went on to become the first
five-time consecutive winning owner of power
boating's Holy Grail.
Sign
up for updates:
wish list or have it faster:
commission it. |
 |
| |
1959 Miss
Supertest III
|
Miss Supertest III
became the fastest hydroplane powerboat in the
world, setting a water speed record of 296.975 km/h
(184.54 mph) on November 1, 1957, and again at
300.338 km/h (186.630 mph) in 1960, both at Picton,
Ontario.
Designed and built in Canada, she competed and won
the 1959 Detroit Memorial Regatta and the 1959,
1960, and 1961 Harmsworth Trophy races. She was the
only three-time Harmsworth Trophy winner. This very boat ended
American dominance in the sport and began
Canadian dynasty. She was inducted into
Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1960. She is also on
display at the Hall of Transportation at the Ontario
Science Centre.
Sign
up for updates:
Wish list or have it faster:
commission it.
|
 |
| |
1965 Miss
Canadiana
|
Miss Canadiana is a UIM world record holder of 153.75 mph
at Beloil, Quebec during the summer of 1965 in the
Grand Prix class. It was driven to this world record
by world famous Art Asbury, (the driver of Miss
Supertest II who achieved a world straightaway
record of 184.54 mph at Picton, Ontario 1957).
Sign
up for updates:
Wish list or have it faster:
commission it.
|
 |
| |
Miss Britain III
|
On
16 November 1933 on Southampton Water, Scott-Paine
and Gordon Thomas became the first men to travel at
over 100 mph in a single-engined boat, and this
record remained for 50 years. In 1934, Miss
Britain III was taken to Venice in where Scott-Paine
won both the Volpi Cup and the Prince of Piedmont
Cup, setting a world record for a single-engined
boat of 110.1 mph in salt water. In 1951
Scott-Paine presented Miss Britain III to the
National Maritime Museum where it remains on view.
Sign
up for updates:
wish list or have it faster:
commission it. |
 |
| |
Spirit of
Australia
|
Ken Warby is the first & only person to DESIGN ,
BUILD , & PILOT his own boat to the World
Water Speed Record. He had built the craft in
his back yard, using the publicity to find
sponsorship to pay for improvements. He broke
Lee Taylor's record by pilot his boat to 288.6
mph (464.5 km/h). On October 8, 1978 he broke both the 300 mph (483 km/h) and 500 km/h
barriers with an average speed of 317.6 mph
(511 km/h). Powered by a 6,000 horse power J34
Westinghouse jet engine, he didn’t just break the
existing Australian record of 162 mph, it virtually
doubled it.
Spirit of Australia is displayed permanently at the
Australian National Maritime Museum. As of 2007, Warby’s record still stands.
There have been two official attempts to break it.
Lee Taylor tried to get the record back in 1980 with a 40-foot rocket-powered boat, Discovery II. At 270 mph (435 km/h) Discovery II hit a
swell, plunging into the water. In 1989, Craig Arfons, nephew of famed record breaker Art Arfons,
tried for the record in his all-carbon-fiber Rain X
Challenger, but died when his hydroplane
somersaulted at 300 mph (483 km/h).
Sign
up for updates:
Wish list or have it faster:
commission it.
|
 |
| |
1977 Miss
Budweiser
|
Miss Budweiser was the
1977 Unlimited Hydroplane Racing National Champion.
Powered by a supercharged 3,000 horsepower Rolls
Royce engine and kicking up seven tons of water in a
graceful airborn wake called a "rooster tail," the
mahogany-decked Miss Bud was rated by even some
Indianapolis car drivers as the most dramatic
spectacle of speed the world has ever seen. She was
indeed the fastest, classiest and costliest lady in
big league hydroplane racing. She was the only one
who beat the Atlas, doing so at Tri-Cities.
Sign
up for updates:
wish list or have it faster:
commission it.
|
 |
| |
1958 Miss
Hawaii Kai III
|
Edgar Kaiser's Hawaii
Kai III, designed by Ted Jones, was the
greatest race boat of the 1950s. She was the finest
competitive machine in the history of Unlimited
hydroplane racing at that time, setting
records of speed and endurance that stood for many
years.
Maintained by the crew of the Slo-Mo-Shun IV, the
boat dominated the 1957's, winning 5 races and
setting the Miles Straightaway World Record from 178
mph to 187 mph. The Kai is probably best
remembered for her performance after retirement in
1958, when the boat was dusted off and put out on
Lake Washington to defend the Gold Cup. The
fastest propeller-driven craft in the world won the
World Series of boating, the Gold Cup, August 10th,
1958, in a decisive, clear-cut performance. She left
no doubt she was the best boat on the course, the
greatest unlimited of all time.
Following her final retirement, the Kai was towed
into the San Juans and given a Viking funeral with
tremendous respect and grief.
Sign
up for updates:
Wish list or have it faster:
commission it.
|
 |
| |
1982 Atlas
Van Lines
|
Over
sixteen years of racing, the ‘82 Atlas is probably
best remembered as the boat Chip Hanauer drove to
his first two Gold Cup wins. This also marked the
last time a piston powered unlimited would be
victorious at the Gold Cup. The boat also set
numerous records both in competition and qualifying.
2002 marked the
20th anniversary of the ‘82 Atlas Van Lines. The
restoration took quite a bit longer than the
original “100 days” construction, but the boat is
back better than ever. The Atlas project was the
Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum’s most exhaustive to
date.
Sign
up for updates:
Wish list or have it faster:
commission it.
|
 |
| |
1955 Bluebird
K7
|
The world's first turbojet hydroplane was christened
"Bluebird K7" in February 1955 by Dorothy Campbell,
wife of speed king Donald.
Over the following years, Bluebird K7 was to set
seven world water speed records, eventually becoming
the most famous world water speed record boat of all
time.
On the morning of January 4th, 1967, Donald Campbell
was killed on Coniston water, thus ending twelve
years of record-breaking.
His last record of 276mph which was set in 1964
stood firm until Spirit of Australia came into
existence.
Sign
up for updates:
Wish list or have it faster:
commission it. |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
