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The late, great Dean Chenoweth at the controls of
the U-12 Miss Budweiser in 1982. (Image source: lesliefield.com)
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While arguably Seattle's Seafair dwarfs its other
side's Hydroplane race in the Tri Cities, nonetheless, the Gold Cup still
remains the sport's most prized trophy...
Over one-half century ago during a time when
Unlimited Hydroplane racing ruled the roost as the Top sporting event in the
Pacific Northwest, most notably Seattle; before any of its current day
"Stick & Ball" Professional Sporting Franchises, i.e.; Seattle
Supersonics, Sounders, Seahawks, Mariners or the Storm existed, a different
type 'O sport introduced the nation to what was then fondly known as the
"Jet City" upon wresting control of the Unlimited Hydroplane's
prestigious Gold Cup away from its then predominant home of Detroit.
The Gold Cup was first awarded in 1904 as the
American Power Boat Association's (APBA)
Challenge Cup - shortly thereafter reverting to its current nom de
plume, aka the Gold Cup.
The race was first held in Detroit in 1916,
which had been preceded by legendary boat builder Christopher Columbus Smith of
Chris-Craft fame being the first to break the 60mph barrier.
Shortly thereafter the legendous' Gar Wood
obliterated the competition en route to
five successive Gold Cup victories between 1917-21 before the rules were
changed to stop Wood's stranglehold!
After World War II, along with its surplus of
Allison and Rolls royce aircraft engines - plus the revolutionary design work
of Ted Jones and company, a unique craft prowled the shores of Lake Washington
and beyond flying the flag for the Seattle Yacht Club.
Simply known as Slo Mo, boat owner Stan
Sayres went to Detroit and shocked the boating world when his revolutionary Unlimited
Hydroplane, the Slo Motion IV, the first to capitalize upon the three point
design of skimming along the surface on its sponsons with Ted Jones at the
controls captured the 1950 Gold Cup. Seeing Sayres take the Unlimiteds
"super Bowl" trophy back to Seattle, which would become its status
symbol the next several years pre Professional Sports.
As I'm not really sure why I'd never made the
connection before, having read previously the name Fageol when penning my monstrous
Blue Crown Spark Plug Specials Saga tome...
As I marveled over the oddity of the double
Offenhauser engine vehicle starting second in the 1946 Indianapolis 500 named
the Fageol Twin Coach Special with Paul Russo at the controls, but that's
another story for a different day.
Yet, it seems like
I should have made the connection, especially after hearing No Fenders "Papa
Bear" Tomas Sr. marvel over Miss Slo Motion for years now.
Shuhzamm! Whilst
I'm supposed to be reading Donald Davidson's Autocorse Official History of the
Indianapolis 500, instead I'm scribblin' once again about a different subject...
Cutting to the chase, Sayres had a new &
improved Slo Mo V built the next year for which Lou Fageol thoroughly decimated
the Gold Cup competition, the first of his two outright victories, whilst
relief driving in a third. Since the race was now being run on Lake Washington
for the very first time ever.
Stan Sayres, along with various drivers
including the aforementioned Fageol would win the prestigious Gold Cup five
years in-a-row, (1950-54) tying Gar Woods record before Fageol flipped the Miss
Slo Motion V in 1955 on Lake Washington in
the first ever barrel-roll by a Hydroplane! And although Fageol survived, he'd
never race again!
Until 1963, the Gold Cup was held at the
defending winner's home circuit and since has been held mostly in Detroit, its
spiritual home, albeit both Tri Cities and the Seattle Seafair race have been included
numerous times with the likes of legendary pilots Bill Muncey, Dean Chenoweth, Chip
Hanauer and Dave Villwock to name just a few. Not to
mention boats named Miss Budweiser, Atlas Van Lines, Miss Bardahl, Miss Thriftway,
the Hawaii Kai III and Miss Century 21 all capturing the cup.
In 1966 the very first race known as the
Atomic Cup was held in Tri Cities, Washington on the "Mighty
Columbia" (River) in deference to the bright lights of its Hanford Nuclear Reservation, with the
cup lasting 'til 1972.
For '73 the race in Eastern Washington was
the home of the APBA Gold Cup, the first of its three bi-yearly hosting's, i.e.
1973-75-77. In-between the race took turns being the APBA World Championship in
1974 before becoming christened the Columbia Cup in '76.
Two years later the race reverted back to permanently
being known as the Columbia Cup thru 1983.
Next, from the early 1980's to the new millennium,
(1984-2005) the event became simply known as the Budweiser Columbia Cup, albeit
in 2006 the Atomic cup moniker returned one final time. Perhaps in a nod to the
races fortieth anniversary?
Nah, Me Thinks it
was due to Budweiser pulling its two-decades sponsorship as organizers scrambled
for a title sponsor replacement.
Meanwhile, as noted by the three previous
races in the Tri Cities, from 1963 to 1990 the Gold Cup rotated locations
before becoming a permanent fixture in Detroit, although the race looked set to
end its century-plus connection with Detroit this year after the Detroit River Regatta
Association (DRRA) ceased operations this past February 28th after having run a deficit for years.
Hence, the storied Gold Cup race was transferred
to Pasco, Washington's Water Follies festival celebrating its 50th Anniversary
this year - becoming this year's HAPO Gold Cup event, having just taken place
last weekend (July 24-26) and becoming the golden cup's new home for the time
being, since naturally H1 Unlimited, the sanctioning body wouldn't wish to have
its Super Bowl event missing from the calendar! While thankfully, wiser heads
have prevailed in the "Motor City" and Detroit's race has been saved.
Although it's
great news that the Detroit race has been rescued and now will take place Aug
22-23, nevertheless, the H1 Unlimiteds schedule seems tenuous at best, with
possibly Detroit being the season finale - when I began scribbling this.
Yet the official
2015 schedule currently lists five races: Madison, Tri Cities, Seattle, Detroit
and San Diego appear to be the only
likely events this year. As it would be somewhat appropriate to finish the
season this September with the Bill Muncey Cup stateside after all...
Alas, in typical fashion, Y'all don't have a
boat race unless you've got two great combatants jousting to be supreme. As a
quick scroll thru the roll call of Gold Cup winners denotes the likes of Billy
Schumacher, George,
NOT Don Henley,
Dean Chenoweth, Tom D'Eath all being winners.
As fabled Blue Blaster chauffer Bill Muncey
became the first to eclipse Gar Wood's record of five victories, with Muncie going
to his grave having won the trophy a then record eight times!
Next, Muncey's protégé, the young Seattleite
Chip Hanauer, who appropriately replace his mentor in the
Atlas Van Lines reeled off a record seven 'W's in-a-row from 1982-88 before later
retiring from driving with an unheard of eleven Gold Cup victories and one less
career victory overall than then record holder Muncey's 62. As Hanauer
currently ranks as the sport's third winningest driver ever with 61-victories.
Yet, to put Hanauer's
accomplishment into comparison, think of how multi-times National High Points
Champion Steve David has the dubious honour of finishing runner-up twelve times
while never being able to "Close-the-Deal" at the Gold Cup!
As the recently retired "Boat Jockey" (Steve
David) stands as a mere sixth in all-time Unlimited victories, with 18, behind
the Top-3 drivers along with the deceased Budweiser greats Chenoweth; 25-wins
and Jim Kropfeld's 22-wins respectively
A third name next came to prominence during
the late 1990's thru the 2000's, when
now the sport's winningest driver ever, Dave Villwock captured ten Gold Cups
mostly in the iconic Beer Wagon simply referred
to as "The Bud," aka Miss Budweiser and later the Spirit of
Qatar - surpassing the late Bill Muncey's career win tally in 2011 and currently
sitting on 67-career wins.
As although I don't think I've heard an
official re-retirement from the sport, Villwock seems to have disappeared from
the cockpit - most likely hanging up his helmet for good? Along with Steve David,
and now the Gold Cup as well as the contenders for the throne of H1 Unlimiteds'
next dynasty falls upon the shoulders of Jimmy Shane, Jean Theoret and
J. Michael Kelly, with the Oh Boy Oberto, Ellstrom Elam Plus and the Graham
Trucking teams all vying for their turn in history!
For
the conclusion of this epic two part Seafair tome, see; SEAFAIR 2015: Famous Names from the Golden Ages of Powerboat Racing and
Beyond weave Roostertails in Seattle