With that paradox in mind, therefore, we can proceed to an answer to Roger’s question, because as you might expect, when discussing hydroplanes that are old enough to be considered among the oldest to win a race, we’re talking about boats that have likely had most if not all of their component parts replaced. So, in answering this question, we open ourselves to the argument that a hydroplane that won the race many years after its debut was no longer the same boat.
Nevertheless, here we go: click here...
What is the oldest boat to win a hydroplane race?
air is flowing. Next, plug in communications and ask for a radio check with the dock radio, then truck radio, then radio corral.
Now we can wait for H1 to get its act together and give us a countdown. Turn on 12-volt system to get the Racepak data acquisition system online.
Countdown to five-minute gun comes. At 5:06, turn on 24/48-volt power switch. Turn on fuel boost pump. Make sure throttle is on stop for ground idle. If it’s not, it won’t light.
Did you notice something different on the cover of this month’s issue of the Unlimited NewsJournal? Our nameplate has changed! We thought it was time to freshen-up our look so, thanks to the talent of Ron Tully, a highly respected graphic artist who also has a passion for hydroplane racing, we were able to accomplish the task. We hope you like the result. And, look for the changes that will come with the seasons. Lon Erickson did a quick interview with Ron so you could learn more about him and his work. Click here to see what he says...
Keep the igniters on in case of spray into the inlet that could put out your fire.
As the prop starts to bite, increase throttle to get the boat cleanly on plane. Once on plane, Continued, click here...
How to start a hydroplane.
APRIL 2020
In the first three parts of our interview with Billy Schumacher, he talked about his years driving race boats, from outboards to inboards to Unlimited hydroplanes, then a detour to tunnel outboards, and finally with a return to Unlimited cockpits. In the conclusion of the interview, Schumacher talks about his years as an owner. He offers some thoughts about the state of Unlimited racing and evaluates the skills of some current drivers. The interview was conducted on May 29, 2019, by Craig Fjarlie.
Guntersville race cancelled.
mother ran out to her. Jane’s 11 years younger than me, so I was 24 at the time. That made me the youngest Gold Cup winner ever. I beat Lee Schoenith by a few months. Jane’s mother went running outside to her saying, “Jane, Jane and girls come in and watch. Billy Schumacher’s about to win the Gold Cup.” So that’s all that Jane remembers about boat racing before I took her. Well, she’d watched a couple other races, but that really stuck in her mind that I, being as young as I was, was gonna win the race in Seattle.
Then I took her to the race in Detroit. We’re walking down the dock. One of the heats was already on. We’re walking down the dock at the Detroit Yacht Club. We’re about half-way down and there’s this yellow boat flying through the air upside down, and I said, “There’s one of the wrecks right there.” She saw that and said, “Oh, my God!”
We got out to the end of the dock and he had landed about, I’d say 20 feet, but it might have been closer, it might have been farther away, but it looked like 20 feet away from a cabin cruiser that had about 10 people on the top deck. Had it landed on that
it would have been a terrible disaster for everybody. And, you know, we weren’t sure what kind of shape Evans was in. I think it
was Evans that was driving the boat. I believe he broke his leg or something. I hadn’t been around the sport in a long time either and I didn’t know who was driving what. But that yellow boat turned out to be the boat that we bought.
Turn igniters on. Spool engine with the starter switch. Wait for the turbine to light. You can tell when it does by watching the exhaust temp on the Racepak. If the engine doesn’t start, it’s possible that the fuel system wasn’t primed correctly or that a trailer fire wasn’t performed. If that’s the case, you need to prime the engine with the start-fuel switch. Too much start fuel, and you get the Leland fireball out the exhaust at the dock.
Once the engine fires, the temp rises to almost 900 degrees. Keep the starter rolling until the temp stabilizes and drops back down.
Idle away from the dock. Slowly apply throttle to be easy on the propeller blades and keep the bow up to keep water out of the inlet.
UNJ: Perhaps we can talk with you about the boats you owned and raced?
Schumacher: OK.
From the time you stopped driving in 1976, until you got into it as an owner in 2006, you didn’t really have that much to do with boat racing in terms of sitting in a cockpit or anything.
No, I didn’t. You know, the sport’s always been this way and it is today as well. Once you’ve done it, been there, they don’t want to talk to you anymore. It’s hard to even get a pit pass. I went to a few races to say hi to friends and it was difficult for me to get in and all that. I finally decided the heck with it. I’m not gonna go anymore. And I know several others, including some Bardahl people that felt the same way. We just didn’t go. I didn’t want a whole lot to do with it.
Yeah.
But the bug kinda bit me later, and when Bernie died, I started thinking about it a little bit. I had remarried to Jane. I made the mistake of taking Jane to Detroit. It was her first race to see in person. I mean, when I won the Seafair race with Miss Bardahl and it was the Gold Cup that year, Jane’s mother was watching the race. Jane was out at the swimming pool with her sisters and friends.
The final heat, when I was in second place, they were announcing that I would win the race if I stayed there. [The winner was determined by total points at the time – Ed.] So, Jane’s
Andrew Tate pilots the U-9 Delta Realtrac to victory at the 2018 HomeStreet Bank Bayfair event in San Diego. The hull was 26 years old at the time.
Kip Brown in the cockpit of the U-17 Red Dot.
And that had been the Bud T-4.
Yeah. Before that boat, my interest was back into it. That’s why I went to the race in Detroit and asked Jane if she wanted to go. We weren’t even married at the time.
Oh.
And she fell in love with the sport, needless to say. But before that I’d talked to Les Rosenberg, who owned the Weisfield’s and the Olympia Beer boat, and Valu-Mart, about buying one of Bernie Little’s boats, because he’d passed away and they were for sale. Continued, click here...
NOTICE ANYTHING NEW?
Jean Theoret and the U-37 Miss Beacon Plumbing on their way to victory in Seattle during Schumacher’s first season as an owner.
During an event at the Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum last fall, Kip Brown entertained the gathering with his impressions about what it’s like to start both a turbine engine on an Unlimited hydroplane and how to start a Rolls Merlin engine. Brown has experience with both, having driven the U-17 for six years as well as the Qatar in 2014, and also being the driver of one of the museum’s old Atlas Van Lines hydros when it makes exhibition runs at the Tri-Cities and Seattle. His explanation was so well received, we asked him to put his talk into written form. It lacks the great sound effects that he made to simulate the noises of the engines, but you can imagine that.
BY ANDY MUNTZ
In last month’s issue of the NewsJournal, we examined which hydroplanes in history have won the most races. In response, we received a note from Roger Lippman asking a follow-up question. “Nice work on the question of the winningest boat. Nextquestion: What was the longest-lived hull to win a race?”
Great question, Roger. But, before I can answer that, I need to set the stage with a little philosophy.
In the story about boats winning the most races, we set ground rules that defined both what a race is (an event with at least three starters) and what a boat is. We established that if a boat was extensively rebuilt to the point that its center section was replaced, it would become a new boat.
But, let’s consider a thought experiment about identity that is known as the Ship of Theseus paradox, a puzzle that has been
debated by philosophers since ancient times. It goes something like this:
Theseus was a great hero who fought gallantly on faraway seas and, upon his return from those battles, was honored by having his ship preserved for all posterity. But, over time, the ship began to decay. A rotten plank was replaced by a new plank,
and then another was replaced, and another, until many years later all of the ship’s planks, its masts, it sails, and all of its parts had been replaced. So, the question is: Is the ship now preserved still the Ship of Theseus?
If you say no, it’s not the same ship, then there naturally comes a follow-up question. At what point did it cease to be the Ship of Theseus? Was it when the first plank was replaced? The second? The third? The one hundredth? The last?
TURBINE:
Crew on the dock. Hans device and helmet on. Lid open.
“Here, hold my mask.”
Slide into custom-poured seat, but don’t sit on the belts. Make sure the windshield is clear and the Rain-X was applied properly.
“I’ll get my own lap belts on, thanks very much.”
Slide the shoulder belts over the Hans device and clip into the cam lock. Tighten the lap belts first. Once they are tight, then crank down on the shoulder belts. Make sure the Hans release tethers are not under the belts.
Now for the air mask. This is a pain, ‘cause you can’t move. Once it’s on, you plug the air line into the mask and purge it to make sure
Just as we were wrapping up the production of our April issue, the officials for the Guntersville Lake HydroFest announced that this year’s hydroplane race on Lake Guntersville, Alabama, has been cancelled. The event was scheduled to be held on Saturday and Sunday, June 27 and 28.
“Due to the impact of COVID-19 on our nation, we have made the tough decision to cancel Guntersville Lake HydroFest 2020,” the organization said in a press statement. Continued, click here...
Wrapping up our conversation
with champion Billy Schumacher.
Copyright 2024 @ Unlimited NewsJournal/Unlimiteds Unanimous. All rights reserved