Hydroplane racing is a sport involving racing hydroplanes on lakes, rivers, and bays. It is a popular spectator sport in several countries.
Rodger Morris Ward was an American racing driver best known for his open-wheel career. He is generally regarded as one of the finest drivers of his generation, and is best known for winning two National Championships, and two Indianapolis 500s, both in 1959 and 1962. He also won the AAA National Stock Car Championship in 1951.
The American Power Boat Association (APBA) is an American membership-owned corporation. In 1903, New York's Columbia Yacht Club had formulated a constitution for what ultimately became the APBA. It is the United States sanctioning authority for the Union Internationale Motonautique, the world governing body for powerboat racing. Headquartered in Eastpointe Michigan, the APBA has over 3,500 active members and sanctions over 150 races nationwide. The APBA sanctions all types of power boat racing from 205+ mph Unlimited Hydroplanes to smaller Junior Class racing starting at age 9.
Madison is a 2001 American sports drama film directed by William Bindley, about APBA hydroplane racing in the 1970s that is based on a true story. It stars Jim Caviezel as a driver who comes out of retirement to lead the Madison, Indiana, community-owned racing team.This movie also marks the film debut of Brie Larson.
Lee Edward "Chip" Hanauer is the third most successful Unlimited Hydroplane racer in history. He has won the APBA Gold Cup a record 11 times and was the driver of one of the most famous boats in APBA history, the Miss Budweiser, in the early to mid-1990s. He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1995 as their youngest inductee. In 2005, he was inducted into the International Motorized Vehicles Hall of Fame. In 1991, he temporarily left the waters for auto racing only to return a season later.
Bernie Little was the most successful owner in Unlimited Hydroplane racing history. His Miss Budweiser team won 134 of the 354 hydroplane races they entered. They won the high points championship 22 years in 40 years of competition, and the Gold Cup 14 times. His first victory came on the Columbia River near Kennewick, Washington in 1966 for the Columbia Cup. The winning driver, Bill Brow, won in the Miss Budweiser with a winning speed greater than 98 mph.
Miss Madison is an H1 Unlimited hydroplane team. It is the only community-owned Unlimited hydroplane in the world. It is based out of Madison, Indiana, a small town of 12,000 residents on the Ohio River which annually hosts the Madison Regatta. The story of the boat and city are the subject of the 2001 film Madison.
Tom D’Eath is an American hydroplane and racecar driver from Michigan.
William Edward Muncey was an American hydroplane racing legend from Detroit, Michigan. The International Motorsports Hall of Fame and hydroplane historian Dan Cowie described Muncey as "without question, the greatest hydroplane racer in history." Muncey was nicknamed "Mr. Unlimited" and won 62 races, which was the most races in the history of the sport until Dave Villwock broke his record in 2011.
Thunder on the Ohio was a hydroplane boat race in the H1 Unlimited season.
H1 Unlimited is an American unlimited hydroplane racing league that is sanctioned by the American Power Boat Association (APBA). Until 2009, the series was known as ABRA Unlimited Hydroplane, in turn renamed from APBA Unlimited Hydroplane in 2004. The H1 Unlimited season typically runs from July through September, consisting of five races.
The HAPO Columbia Cup is an H1 Unlimited hydroplane boat race held each July on the Columbia River in Columbia Park, Tri-Cities, Washington. The race is the main attraction of the annual Water Follies festivities. With the exception of 2020, Tri-Cities has hosted a race consecutively since 1966.
The Seafair Cup, is an H1 Unlimited hydroplane boat race held annually in late July and early August on Lake Washington in Seattle, Washington. The race is the main attraction of the annual Seafair festival. Seattle has hosted the Seafair Cup consecutively since 1951. The event was part of the APBA Gold Cup for the following years: 1951 to 1955, 1957 to 1959, 1962, 1965, 1967, 1974, 1981, and 1985.
The 2009 H1 Unlimited season is the fifty fourth running of the H1 Unlimited series for unlimited hydroplane, jointly sanctioned by APBA, its governing body in North America and UIM, its international body. It is the first season to run under its new name.
The 2011 H1 Unlimited season was the fifty sixth running of the H1 Unlimited series for unlimited hydroplane, jointly sanctioned by APBA, its governing body in North America and UIM, its international body.
Dean Alan Chenoweth was an American hydroplane racing pilot. Known for piloting the famous Miss Budweiser boat and the winner of four American Power Boat Association Gold Cups, he was killed at age 44 in a racing accident on the Columbia River.
The 2015 H1 Unlimited season is the sixtieth running of the H1 Unlimited series for unlimited hydroplanes, sanctioned by the APBA. It will be the first time since 2009 that the series will have no sanctioning from the UIM.
The APBA Gold Cup is an American hydroplane boat race, named for the American Power Boat Association. It is now run as part of the H1 Unlimited season. First run in 1904, it is the oldest trophy in motorsports.
Ronald J. Musson was a hydroplane driver from Akron, Ohio. He is best known for driving the Unlimited Hydroplane Miss Bardahl to three American Power Boat Association Gold Cup championships in 1963, 1964 and 1965. Musson died on Sunday, June 19, 1966 on what became known as "Black Sunday", when three unlimited drivers were killed during the President's Cup race on the Potomac River in Washington, DC. Musson was driving Miss Bardahl at the time. Also killed were Rex Manchester, driving the Notre Dame hydroplane, and Don Wilson, driving Miss Budweiser. Musson was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1993.
The 2021 H1 Unlimited season is the sixty-fifth running of the H1 Unlimited series for unlimited hydroplanes, sanctioned by the APBA. The 2020 season would have been the sixty-fifth running but that season was cancelled because of COVID-19.
