Hydroplaning and hydroplane may refer to:
A hydroplane is a fast motorboat, where the hull shape is such that at speed, the weight of the boat is supported by planing forces, rather than simple buoyancy.
Hydroplane racing is a sport involving racing hydroplanes on lakes and rivers. It is a popular spectator sport in several countries.
A motorboat, speedboat, or powerboat is a boat which is powered by an engine. Some motorboats are fitted with inboard engines, others have an outboard motor installed on the rear, containing the internal combustion engine, the gearbox and the propeller in one portable unit.
The World Unlimited water speed record is the officially recognised fastest speed achieved by a water-borne vehicle. The current record is 511 km/h (318 mph) - achieved by Australian Ken Warby in the Spirit of Australia in 1978.
Drag boat racing is a form of drag racing which takes place on water rather than land. As with land-based drag racing, competitors race their vehicles for the lowest elapsed time over a straight race course of a defined length. There are three standard drag race course lengths, 660 feet, 1,320 foot, and the most common length, used in professional drag boat racing, 1,000 feet. Unlike drag racing on land, which begins from a standing start, drag boat racing begins from a short rolling start to a point that cannot be passed until the green "start" light illuminates. There are numerous categories of professional and sportsmen classes based on various engine configuration, fuel type, hull design and propulsion types. The premier category of drag boat racing being the Top Fuel Hydroplane class which is the water based equivalent to Top Fuel Dragsters capable of covering the liquid quarter mile in less than three seconds with a top speed of around 270 mph (400 km/h). The biggest event on the drag boat calendar is the LODBRS World Finals which takes place at Firebird Raceway Phoenix, Arizona.
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.
Miss Madison is an H1 Unlimited hydroplane. 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 2005 film Madison.
Tom D’Eath is an American hydroplane and racecar driver from Michigan.
Clifford E. "Cliff" Padgett was an American motorboat builder who built racing boats. He broke the world water speed record in hydroplane boat racing in 1924.
William Edward "Bill" 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.
William "Wild Bill" Cantrell was a power boat and IndyCar driver.
Bluebird K7 is a jet engined hydroplane with which Britain's Donald Campbell set seven world water speed records between 1955 and 1967. K7 was the first successful jet-powered hydroplane, and was considered revolutionary when launched in January 1955. Campbell and K7 were responsible for adding almost 100 miles per hour (160 km/h) to the water speed record, taking it from existing mark of 178 miles per hour (286 km/h) to just over 276 miles per hour (444 km/h). Donald Campbell was killed in an accident with a much modified K7, on 4 January 1967, whilst making a bid for his eighth water speed record, with his aim to raise the record to over 300 miles per hour (480 km/h) on Coniston Water.
Thunder on the Ohio was a hydroplane boat race in the H1 Unlimited season.
The Seafair Cup, branded as the Albert Lee Appliance Cup for sponsorship reasons, 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 Arno XI is a hydroplane inspired by Achille Castoldi in the early 1950s and built by the Cantiere Timossi boatyard, located in Azzano on the Lake Como. Castoldi wanted to establish a world water speed record so he persuaded then Ferrari racing drivers Alberto Ascari and Luigi Villoresi to influence Enzo Ferrari to supply him with a 4.5-litre, V12 Ferrari engine; the same engine that gave Ferrari his first Grand Prix victory with the Ferrari 375 F1 at Silverstone Circuit in 1951. The engine was installed in a Timossi three-point racing hydroplane hull.
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.
Dave Villwock is a retired hydroplane driver, known best for racing Unlimited Hydroplanes.
Stanley St. Claire Sayres was a hydroplane racer who broke the world water speed record with his "Slo-mo-shun IV" boat.
