Unlimited Hydroplane Racing Archives ⋆ Powerboat Racing World

Dave Villwock flipped the U-40

Frode Sundsdal — Sun, 31 Jul 2022 17:13:34 +0000

Dave Villwock flipped the U-40 Miss Beacon Plumbing in Heat 2 at the 2022 HAPO Columbia Cup in Kennewick, WA. Villwock was unhurt in the flip.

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H1 Goes For Gold

Chris Davies — Thu, 23 Jun 2022 14:03:24 +0000

The fastest race boats in the world will put on a spectacular show when the 2022 H1 Unlimited Racing Series gets underway next weekend in Guntersville, Alabama.

The season, which is expected to be one of the most competitive in recent years, will begin with the 112th running of the APBA Gold Cup, the oldest trophy in American motorsports. Seven hydroplanes will compete in the Gold Cup on June 25 – 26 on Lake Guntersville, one of the fastest racecourses on the circuit.

Philip Mosley, chairman for the 2022 Guntersville Lake HydroFest Planning Committee said,

Our race for 2022 will celebrate several decades of hydroplanes and the impact our water has had on the sport of boat racing. With three racing classes as well as the appearance of a few vintage craft, this event will be one of our best. Our race weekend will also celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of Roy Duby setting the World Speed Record of 200.419 MPH at Lake Guntersville.

Among the competitors will be two boats that combined to win the 2021 national championship for the Miss Madison Racing Team. Jimmy Shane is the defending Gold Cup champion and will drive the U-1 Miss HomeStreet. Shane has won twenty races during his career and his victory last year in the Gold Cup was his fifth, which tied him with the legendary Gar Wood.

The other entry from the Madison team is the U-91 Goodman Real Estate, which will be driven by Jeff Bernard. His boat has been among the most successful in the sport’s history with eight national titles and four Gold Cups to its credit.

Another with two boats in the event will be the Strong Racing Team, which is owned by Vanessa and Darrell Strong of the Tri-Cities, Washington. Last year, in their first season as boat owners, they won three of the season’s four races.

The winner of two of those races, including last year’s Guntersville race, and the defending driver’s national champion is J. Michael Kelly who will be in the cockpit of the U-8 Miss Tri-Cities. His teammate is Corey Peabody who won his first H1 Unlimited race last year with his victory in the Tri-Cities. He will be driving the U-9 Lynx Healthcare.

Another headliner in the race will be Dave Villwock the driver of the U-40 Miss Beacon Plumbing. Villwock is the sport’s all-time greatest champion with sixty-seven career victories and ten National titles. He has also won ten Gold Cups, which puts him only one victory short of the sport’s all-time Gold Cup champion, Chip Hanauer.

A fan favourite will be the U-3 Griggs presents Miss Ace Hardware driven by Jimmy King. It is the only boat that will use a V-12 Allison engine, a powerplant built for World War II fighter planes that hydroplanes commonly used from the late-1940s until the mid-1980s. The other boats in the race will use Lycoming T-55 gas turbine engines.

Another entry will come from the Unlimited Racing Group who’s Jamie Nilsen will drive the U-11.

The APBA Gold Cup was organized by the American Power Boat Association in 1904 and was first held on the Hudson River in New York City. The winner of that first Gold Cup was a boat named Standard, which averaged just over twenty-three miles per hour. Today’s boats are about thirty feet long, weigh more than three tons, and will skim across the surface of Guntersville Lake at lap speeds averaging about 150 miles per hour.

H1 races also will be held this year in Madison, Indiana; the Tri-Cities, Washington; Seattle; and San Diego. For those who can’t attend they will be streamed live on the H1 Unlimited YouTube channel.

Images by Digital Roostertails and Steve Conner

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HAPO Columbia Cup victory goes to Corey Peabody

Gmail Admin — Mon, 26 Jul 2021 06:47:41 +0000

Corey Peabody drove Pinnacle Peak Consulting from behind during the last lap of the final heat and won the 2021 HAPO Columbia Cup in the Tri-Cities, Washington.

It was the third stop of the H1 Unlimited Racing Series, which features the fastest race boats in the world.

The event was dominated by Jimmy Shane, 35, of Covington, Washington, during most of the day, winning each of his preliminary heats driving Miss HomeStreet and being the fastest qualifier. But, in the winner-take-all final, he found himself caught behind the others at the start and could never catch up.

The start instead belonged to Peabody, 42, of Kent, Wash., and J. Michael Kelly in Miss Tri-Cities, his teammate on the Strong Racing Team and a friend since they were in grade school together. Kelly, 42, of Bonney Lake, Wash., held the lead through most of the heat but his boat received damage to its rear wing and Peabody was able to get past him during the final lap.

The victory was the first in Peabody’s career driving in the H1 Unlimited Racing Series. The victory also gave his team its second one-two finish of the season. Kelly was the winner in Guntersville, Alabama, while Peabody placed second. The Strong Racing Team is new to the H1 Unlimited circuit this season.

Kelly finished the final in second place, followed by Shane in third, and in fourth was Jamie Nilsen of Gig Harbor, Wash., driving J&D’s. Nilsen won one of the preliminary heats earlier in the day, his first heat victory of the season. Dave Villwock, 67, the sport’s greatest champion, finished in fifth place driving Miss Beacon Plumbing.

The H1 Unlimited Racing Series would typically continue with an event in Seattle, but that race was canceled earlier in the year because the Covid-19 pandemic prevented the planning necessary to hold the event. The next race on the schedule will be held in San Diego on September 17 to 19.

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Shane wins two heats during first day of racing in the Tri-Cities

Gmail Admin — Sun, 25 Jul 2021 07:03:44 +0000

The defending national champion in the H1 Unlimited Racing Series, Jimmy Shane, 35, of Covington, Washington, won two preliminary heats today during the first day of racing at the HAPO Columbia Cup in the Tri-Cities, Washington.

Driving Miss HomeStreet, Shane not only was a convincing victor in both of his two heats but was also the event’s fastest qualifier.

Also winning preliminary heats on Saturday were J. Michael Kelly, 42, of Bonney Lake, Washington, the driver of Miss Tri-Cities, and Andrew Tate, 31, of Canton, Michigan, the driver of Graham Trucking.

Racing will continue on Sunday with two more sets of preliminary heats and a winner-take-all final heat.

The H1 Unlimited Racing Series features the fastest race boats in the world, capable of speeds approaching 200 miles per hour.

Dave Villwock in Miss Beacon Plumbing (left) races side by side with Andrew Tate in Graham Trucking.

The event on the Columbia River in the Tri-Cities is the third stop on the 2021 campaign. Shane, the winner of the Gold Cup three weeks ago in Madison, Indiana, won his first heat at an average speed of nearly 147 miles per hour, won his second with a nearly identical performance, and in the process turned in the day’s fastest competition lap of nearly 155 miles per hour.

His best run of the day came during his qualification attempt, when he drove Miss HomeStreet to 163.203 miles per hour.

The day’s closest race came in Heat 2A when Kelly crossed the finish line just ahead of Tate and had the best heat average, finishing with a speed of nearly 152 miles per hour. In the day’s first heat, the two drivers finished in reverse order, with Tate claiming the victory.

Dave Villwock, 67, of Monroe, Washington, the sport’s greatest champion who has made a comeback appearance this season, led the field in the early stages of that first race, but later was disqualified for violating the fuel-flow limit.

Jimmy Shane in Miss HomeStreet (right) has the inside lane against Corey Peabody in Pinnacle Peak Consulting (left) and Jamie Nilsen in J&D’s.

Driving Miss Beacon Plumbing, he later finished second behind Shane in Heat 2B.

The day of action turned out to be busier than originally scheduled. Time for testing
and qualification attempts was originally set for Friday, but the course had to be closed all day because a thick patch of weeds growing from the river’s bottom had covered an area on the racecourse about the size of a football field.

Thanks to the efforts of many volunteers who worked late into the night to remove the weeds, the course could be opened for racing on Saturday morning.

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