NOTES:
The Grand Daddy of all APBA Vintage/Historic events is just around the corner, the 8th Antique Raceboat Regatta in Clayton NY, August 17-20, 2006. This is where it all started in 1992. The four day event has an entry list of 150 Vintage and Historic racing boats and the famed St. Lawrence River course, next to the Clayton Antique Boat Museum, for flybys. A driver’s clinic, seminars on engine building, boat restoration and finishing will also by conducted. There is nothing in the Vintage Raceboat world like this Regatta!

Jeff Merlin is looking for anyone that may have extra copies of SPEED & SPRAY or BOAT SPORT magazines. You can contact Jeff at: 716-283-7781.
 

CHALLENGES:
Whatever became of filmmaker Craig Pease and his boat racing film, HOT SUMMER WHINE? Pease, a former APBA Super Stock owner/driver in the late 1960’s, spent a lot of time and money filming at circle, drag and ski racing events throughout California, during the early 1970’s. Pease even had an appearance on the Johnny Carson Show which included some of the super-slow motion footage he’d shot. We would like to hear from Craig or anyone that can tell us what became of that great boat racing footage. 
 

EVENTS:

• July 7-9 Valleyfield Quebec, Canada.Contact: Ben Lemay 450-371-3291
• July 14-16 APBA Gold Cup.Detroit. MI.Contact: Alan Radue 248-616-1317
• Aug 18-20 Antique Raceboat Regatta.Clayton, NY.Contact: Charlotte Yehle 315-686-4104
• Aug 26-27 Celina Govenor’s Cup.Celina, OH. Contact: Ron Synder 419-628-4182
• Sept 2-3 Wheeling Vintage Raceboat Regatta.Wheeling, WV. Contact: Debbie Joseph 304-233-4738
• Sept 8-9 Bufallo Launch Club/Raceboat Reunion.Bufallo, NY Contact: Bill DeGlopper 716-733-6093
• Sept 22-23 Lake George Vintage Raceboat Regatta.Lake George Contact: Teri Hoffman thoffman@lk-george.com
• Sept 22-24 Wyandotte Vintage Fest.Wyandotte, MI.Contact: Mike Cashin 734-788-1879

BILL JOHN III REPORT
After a very warm and very dry April with low lake levels, and enduring May monsoons here in beautiful Wolfeboro, we now have record high lake levels. In fact, the docks on Back Bay are now under water, all you can see are the dock posts! After a lot of bottom work and caulking, Tony Coco's HOT DOG was the first wooden boat launched on Back Bay this spring. It was cold, but we all had a lot of fun. Gerri Prusko's MY PRECIOUS was also launched, and with 12 coats of Epifanes varnish, this boat really sparkles. After filling the tank with the most expensive 93 octane gas in Wolfeboro, and a quick shakedown run with crew chief Donnie McLean, Gerri and I spent a beautiful, warm, sunny day on Lake Winnipesaukee. This Jersey Speed Skiff is a hoot to drive, and the stock warranted motor just purred all day long. After edge-bonding the deck, a little bottom work and lots of paint and varnish, we also launched my beloved OBSESSION. With the help of a new MSD box, the big block motor fired right up, and we are ready to rock & roll this summer. A special thanks to Shaun Berry for making the bonsai run to pickup the completed TINKER hull in Thunderbolt, GA. Shaun did an excellent job, ensuring the boat was double shrink-wrapped to protect the beautiful unsealed sapelee mahogany, as he drove through torrential rain storms on his way back. On a personal note, I am pleased to announce that my mentor, George Johnson is back in Wolfeboro and doing well after his heart surgery.
 

ON A SAD NOTE:
The APBA and the members of the Vintage and Historic Division pay tribute to one of its most noted racing boat drivers, designers, builders and craftsman, Henry Lauterbach. Henry passed away at age 87 of heart failure, June 1, 2006. Henry, a 5-time National Championship driver, was selected for APBA’s exclusive "Honor Squadron" in 1974 and inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 1999. Henry was noted for his beautifully crafted hydroplanes which dominated inboard circle racing for decades. The works of art that bare his LAUTERBACH script are the most prized hydroplanes of vintage boat collectors today. 
God Speed, Henry. 
Cards may be sent to: 
Betty Lauterbach 4525 Glencove Drive Portsmouth, VA.  23703 
And: Larry Lauterbach 1731 Little Creek Road Chester, MD.  21619 
Donations requested to the APBA Historical Society.
 

BOB SILVA’S WEST COAST REPORT:
VINTAGE BASS LAKE BLAST 
APBA vintage member Don Edwards and his wife Lydia, along with Classic V-Drive Club founder Brian Lynch and Bass Lake’s Pine Resort Rep. Chris Blevens decided “to test the waters” and posed the question, “What would happen if you organized a vintage race boat festival and had a majority of the California based clubs set aside a weekend so that there wouldn’t be conflicting dates? So-what did happen?
There’s nothing like hearing the whine of a 266 hydro’s engine echoing off the surrounding pines to get a guy pumped for a vintage race boat festival, and that was on Friday, the day before the gathering. Saturday morning was an even bigger delight, over 70 boats on display and more being towed in by the minute. The “Whomp-Whomp-Whomp” sound of supercharged engines added to the atmosphere, as owners took turns firing their engines in static display, and believe me, there were plenty of those blower motor rigs to keep that ”music” continuing all day. 
This was a California style vintage regatta, home of the SK-design flatbottom and ski-hydro, more fiberglass than wood, more quarter-mile diggers than circle boats but vintage boats they were, almost 100 of them by noon. Twenty-five different hull builders were represented, which included everything from a 1954 Utility outboard to a 1980 Blown Alcohol hydroplane. Shovelnose, picklefork, bubble decked, conventional and twin-engine hydros lined the pits as-well-as gorgeous wood decked, candy colored, flame painted, runner bottom, jet, drag, ski, grand national, super stock and K racing runabouts. Plus, there were vintage photographs and the legendary drivers in those photos walking the pits. 
The first Bass Lake Boat Festival happened, it was a huge success and already plans are being laid for next year’s Mother’s Day weekend. 

VINTAGE HOT BOAT OF THE MONTH The late Henry Lauterbach’s finely crafted boats are certainly worthly of being in some of the country’s finest museums.  Pictured are the THUNDERSHOWER, N-88 a 1971 Lauterbach 225 restored by Don Meroth for Bill Coberly  and WA WA TOO, F-247 a 1953 Lauterbach 266 restored by Tom D’Eath. Both boats are now stored in California Speed Museums.    ©2006 Bob Silva & Bill John III