OHIO RIVER THUNDER:
A HYDROPLANE HERITAGE
By Fred Farley - APBA Unlimited Historian
The Ohio River Valley has been a hotbed
of hydroplane activity for much of this century. In the post-World
War II era, more Unlimited races have been run on the Ohio River
than on any other venue. Currently, the towns of Evansville and
Madison in southern Indiana host the Thunderboats as part of the
UHRA's annual tour.
During the first decade after the war,
the Unlimiteds also raced at Louisville (Kentucky), Cincinnati
(Ohio), New Martinsville (West Virginia), and Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania).
Many of the Ohio River races of the 1940s and '50s were one-heat
multi-class free-for-alls, a format of competition that has long
since vanished from the Unlimited scene.
From 1969 to
1978, the U-boats ran at Owensboro for the Kentucky Governor's
Cup, an event that was replaced
on the Thunderboat schedule by Evansville's first "Thunder
On The Ohio" in 1979.
One of the most famous Ohio River hydroplanes
of all time was the HOOSIER BOY, a Liberty-powered step hydro,
which was obviously patterned after Gar Wood's MISS AMERICA boats.
HOOSIER BOY represented Rising Sun, Indiana, a small town located
about 40 miles upriver from Madison.
In 1926, HOOSIER BOY set a never-to-be-equalled
long-distance record from Cincinnati to Louisville and back to
Cincinnati. Owner/driver J.W. Whitlock covered the 260 Ohio River
miles at just a shade under 60 miles per hour.
The show category
of inboard racing in the 1930s was the popular 725 Cubic Inch Class
of the Mississippi
Valley Power Boat Association. Comparable to the American Power
Boat Association's Gold Cup Class, the 725s used the venerable
Hispano-Suiza ("Hisso") engine from out of the Spad aircraft
of World War I. Three of the more popular campaigners in the 725
Class were "Wild Bill" Cantrell's WHY WORRY, Marion Cooper's
MERCURY, and George Davis's HERMES IV (the future IT'S A WONDER).
The mile straightaway record for 725s
was set at 98 miles per hour by MERCURY at Washington, D.C., in
1940. Then, an hour later, WHY WORRY went out and raised the record
to 99.
With the advent of World War II and
gasoline rationing, power boat racing was suspended for the duration.
Two of the first Ohio River races to be run after the war were
the 1946 Viking Trophy at New Martinsville, won by Lou Fageol in
SO-LONG, and the 1947 Marine Derby Regatta at Louisville, won by
George Davis in HERMES V.
After World War II, the Gold Cup Class
and the 725 Class combined and changed over to the Unlimited Class
to take advantage of the huge supply of Allison and Rolls-Royce
Merlin aircraft engines, developed for the war effort.
New Martinsville was a popular stop-over
for the Unlimiteds for nearly a decade, but was cancelled after
1954 when a determination was made that the river was too narrow
for the modern boats to safely compete.
Madison had no such problem and has
been an Unlimited mainstay since 1950. The first Indiana Governor's
Cup was offered in 1951 and was won by Marion Cooper in the 225
Cubic Inch Class HORNET. The first Unlimited race at Madison to
count for APBA National High Points was in 1954. Bill Cantrell
won that one at the wheel of Joe Schoenith's GALE IV.
The first Ohio River heat at over 100
miles per hour was run by Danny Foster in 1955 at Madison with
Guy Lombardo's TEMPO VII. And two years later, Bill Muncey set
a world heat record of 112.312 with MISS THRIFTWAY, also at Madison.
The record stood for six years.
The first turbine-powered hydroplane
to win an Ohio River race was Fran Muncey's ATLAS VAN LINES in
1984 at Madison. With Chip Hanauer driving, the ATLAS was the first
truly competitive turbine boat in the APBA Unlimited Class.
The all-time high water mark of Ohio
River Thunderboat racing had to be the fabulous 1971 Madison Regatta,
which was won by the community-owned MISS MADISON before the hometown
crowd. Driver Jim McCormick won all of the marbles in a combination
APBA Gold Cup and Indiana Governor's Cup event and defeated the
likes of Terry Sterett in ATLAS VAN LINES II, Dean Chenoweth in
MISS BUDWEISER, Billy Schumacher in PRIDE OF PAY 'n PAK, and Fred
Alter in TOWNE CLUB in the Final Heat.
Copyright © Fred Farley
|
