PRINCE EDWARD POWER BOAT RACING CLUB! INCORPORATED Picton - ONTARIO "Home of the Gold Cup Races" MOLSON PRINCE EDWARD GOLD CUP RACES SANCTIONED BY Canadian Boating Federation American Power Boat Association Union of International Motor Boat Racing Federation Mexican Boating Federation The Gold Cup Races 1981 |
| No. - Boat - Home Port |
Driver Owner |
Builder | Year | Engine | Color Scheme |
| 4 LONG GONE Montreal. PQ |
Bruno Brossoit Marc Boudreau |
Jones | 1977 | Chrysler Supercharged |
brown, yellow, orange |
| 7 LONG GONE Chicago. llIinois |
Kent MacPhail Ron Brown |
Staudacher | 1981 | Chevrolet Supercharged |
brown, yellow, orange |
| 10 CANADIAN GIRL Weston. Ontario |
Jim Monahan Bert Westguard |
Lauterbach | 1969 | Chrysler Supercharged |
natural, red, white |
| 11 BIGBWANA Oceanside. New York |
Henry Knab HenryKnab |
Jones | 1980 | Chevrolet Stock |
white, blue |
| 12 MIDNIGHT SPECIAL Trenton. Ontario |
Bill Ireland Bill Ireland |
Staudacher | 1976 | Chevrolet Stock |
gold, black |
| 16 KAT-N-NAN Cincinnati. Ohio |
Tom Kropfeld Paul Bauer |
Staudacher | 1974 | Chevrolet Stock |
red, orange, black |
| 23 ORANGE CRUSH Minneapolis. Minnesota |
Mike Endres Huey Newport |
Staudacher | 1977 | Chevrolet Supercharged |
orange, red |
| 25 NORDIC St. Roch de Richelieu PQ |
Jean Pierre Lessard Jacque St. Laurent |
Lauterbach | 1981 | Chrysler Supercharged |
natural, yellow, red |
| 51 MISS LAFAYETTE Jackson. Michigan |
David Sutton David Sutton |
Jones | 1981 | Chevrolet Supercharged |
white, red, blue |
| 56 MISS JENNY Grand Island. New York |
Gordie Reed Dick Hammond |
Jones | 1978 | Chevrolet Supercharged |
red, white, black |
| 59 BABY DOLL II Mt. Clemens. Michigan |
Mario Maraldo MarioMaraldo |
Maraldo | 1971 | Chrysler Supercharged |
natural, blue |
| 77 ENTREPRISE Quebec City. PQ |
Marcel Laberge Marcel Laberge |
Lauterbach | 1974 | Chevrolet Injected |
natural, orange, cream |
| 83 BLUE MULE Milford. Ohio |
Tony Stalder Tony Stalder |
Miller | 1970 | Chevrolet Injected |
blue, light blue |
| 99 GP ST. TIMOTHEE St. Timothee. PQ |
Pierre Lavigne Pierre Lavigne |
Lakeshore | 1979 | Chevrolet Supercharged |
blue, blue, blue |
| 55 LEBOEUF Valleyfield. PQ |
Jules Leboeuf Lebaeuf Transport |
Lauterbach | 1979 | Chevrolet Supercharged |
orange, natural |
| 82 XANADU Hammonton. New Jersey |
Jack Stetser Jack Stetser |
Lauterbach | 1981 | Chevrolet Stock |
natural, blue, yellow |
| 200 LAUTERBACH SPECIAL Bellingham. Washington |
Tom D'Eath Don Ryan |
Lauterbach | 1976 | Chevrolet Supercharged |
natural, blue, yellow |
| 247 DEEPWATER SPECIAL Richmond. Virginia |
Tom Kropfeld Norman Lauterbach |
Lauterbach | 1979 | Chevrolet Supercharged |
natural, blue, yellow |
| 300 NITRO Loveland. Ohio |
Ed Keller Ed Keller |
Karelsen | 1979 | Chevrolet Stock |
black, red, orange |
| 317 IRISHMAN Cincinnati. Ohio |
Steve Kuhr Steve Kuhr |
Lauterbach | 1972 | Chevrolet Injected |
natural, green, white |
| 400 OLYMPIAD North Bay. Ontario |
Jack Shaw |
Staudacher | 1979 | Chevrolet Supercharged |
red, white |
| 444 GP VALLEYFIELD Valleyfield. PQ |
Robert Theoret Guy Lafleur |
Lauterbach | 1977 | Chevrolet Supercharged |
natural, red, white |
| 855 MISS DANASH Pontiac. Michigan |
Jim Kropfeld Danash Associates |
Staudacher | 1980 | Chevrolet Supercharged |
white, red, black |
| GP-200 Lauterbach Special |
| COMPETITION 5-MILE HEAT - 106.908 m.p.h. Record established August 24, 1980 at St- Timothee, Quebec. Craft was #444 Peanut, driven by Larry Lauterbach of Portsmouth, Virginia. Owner was John Stauffer of Suffolk, Virginia. STRAIGHTAWAY 1-KILOMETER - 170.024 m.p.h. |
| PRESIDENT'S CUP, Washington, D.C. June 7-8 The 49th annual event cancelled after one day of racing because of high winds. A new boat, Miss Danash, driven by GP rookie Jim Kropfeld, was awarded trophy on basis of qualifying performance. Kent MacPhail drove Long Gone to second place. LOWENBRAU CUP, Augusta, Georgia June 14-15 SPIRIT OF DETROIT GRAND PRIX, Detroit, Michigan June 29 VALLEYFIELD GRAND PRIX, Valleyfield. Quebec July 5-6 VIRGINIA CUP, Hampton, Virginia July 26-27 ST-TIMOTHEE GRAND PRIX. St-Timothee. Quebec August 23-24 PRINCE EDWARD GOLD CUP, Picton. Ontario August 31-September 1 GRAND PRIX NATIONALS, Littleton, New Hampshire September 6-7 |
| GP-4 Long Gone |
 TOM BAKER Chester. Maryland 28 Grand Prix driver since 1979. Winner of first race, President's Cup, Washington DC. Winner 1980 GP Nationals. Former nationals and high points champion in limited inboard classes. Recipient of Mike Thomas Memorial award for contributions to racing. Wife: Laura. |
 LES BROWN Orland Park. Illinois 55 Mentor of new #7 Long Gone team. Active in development of GP racing program. One of GP racing's prominent teams. A former driver in flatbottom racing. Long Gone #4, won 1978 GP high points title. General contractor. Children: Ron, Larry, Eric. |
 TOM D 'EATH Fair Haven. Michigan 37 Has won GP high points title three years in row. Drove #200Lauterbach Special in 1980 and 1979, Drove #4 Long Gone in 1978. Only person to win American and Canadian Gold Cups. Former USAC Mini-Indy driver. Racing hull builder and engine specialist. Wife: Judy, Two children. |
 HENRY KNAB East Rockaway. New York 45 Owner-driver of two boat team. #11 Big Bwana and #14 Big Bwana. Won 1978 President's Cup. Veteran driver in stock 7 Litre class, #11 hull is new. Ron Jones designed craft. Wife: Barbara. Children: Sheryl, Junior, Douglas, |
 TOM KROPFELD Cincinnati. Ohio 33 Owner of the #869 Golden Nugget. Four-time national champion. Elected to Gulf 100 MPH Club and Hall of Champions. Single. May drive #247 Deepwater Spcl. |
 HENRYLAUTERBACH Portsmouth. Virginia 62 Co-owner and crew chief of #247 Deepwater Special. Brother of Norman and father of Larry. Henry is one of boat racing's most successful designer-builders. His hulls have won virtually national championships at virtually every level. Driver 1954 until late 1960s. National champion driver and twice elected Gulf Hall of Fame. Wife: Pat. Children: Henry, Jr., Carol, James, David, Larry. |
 LARRY LAUTERBACH Portsmouth. Virginia 33 Driver. Current GP world competition record holder at 106.908 m.p.h.. set 1980 at St-Timothee, Quebec. GP national champion 1974 and 1978. Has won over 20 GP races. more than any other driver. Works as race boat builder with his father, Henry. Wife: Nancy. One child. |
 NORMAN LAUTERBACH Richmond. Virginia 65 Owner of #247 Deepwater Special. Began racing for automobile heir Horace E. Dodge in late 1920s. Later worked for famed race craft builder Ventnor Boat Company. Active in formation and development of GP racing. Marine architect and engineer. His Lauterbach Special won 14 of 17 races in 1977. Children: Norman, Joan. |
 KENT MAC PHAIL Minneapolis. Minnesota 34 Current driver of #7 Long Gone. Holds GP world straightaway record of 170.024 m.p.h. in Advance United, set at Seattle, Washington, March 1979. Beginning 16th year as boat racer. Former limited class high points champ. Single |
 DON RYAN Bellingham. Washington 41 Owner of #200 Lauterbach Special, defending 1979 GP national and high point champion. Former driver. Crane service and heavy hauling business. Wife: Lorraine. Children: Christy, Dave, Mark. |
 JACK SHAW North Bay, Ontario 44 Owner and sometimes driver of #400 Olympiad. Shaw raced since mid 50s. National champion 1977. Roller disco operator and real estate. Wife: Pat. Children: John, David, Micheal, Brian. |
 DAVID SUlTON Spring Arbor. Michigan 39 Owner-driver of new Ron Jones-designed #51. Sutton served racing apprenticeship in variety of outboard and inboard classes. Won 11 of 25 races entered in 1975. Former driver of #3 Heavy Hauler (1978-79). Electronic specialist. Wife: Debbie. Child: Misty. |
 TERRY TURNER Pamona, California 39 New driver of #247 Deepwater Special. Won numerous regional and national titles. 3-time national champion, including 1977 supercharged 7-litre national and high point championships, winning 14 of 17 races. Won 1977 GP national championship. Member Gulf Marine Hall of Fame and Hall of Champions. Engine specialist. Single. |
| With an international heritage, bow-to-bow duels, and a future as bright
as any class of motorboat racing, the Grand Prix Crowd is an active and
proud group. The driver's list reads like a Who's Who. The owners are cagey
veterans and star-eyed newcomers. The boats are big, bright and sassy,
a cross between unbridled 8-cylinder lust and technology gone amok. GP is considered boat racing's most competitive show and it has one prime ingredient: "Run what you brung!" Grand Prix has a colorful past. The idea was born in Canada and racers throughout North America quickly adopted the concept. State-side participants added a wrinkle here and there. Mexico, too, stepped forward to host races, a contribution that seemed to cement the world class atmosphere of the sport. Without lingering too long on history or politics, it is accepted that many personalities, nationalities and unabashed believers contribute to the steady growth of GP racing. The idea is simple. Gather together hydroplane type hulls a minimum of 20 ft. long. Bolt in a single automotive engine of up to 500 cubic inch displacement. Attach a carburetor, several carburetors, fuel injectors, turbochargers or superchargers. No restrictions on fuel either. Potent blends for the daring, gasoline for the stockers. Exotic additives too, but any crew chief will explain that's about the quickest way to reduce your precision parts to pot metal jambalaya junk. Hydro race buffs may draw a parallel to the 40s and 50s. When motorboat racing developed as a spectator attraction "free-for-all" regattas were popular open class affairs. A GP event is more carefully assembled than much of that style of racing, and safety considerations are foremost, but the atmosphere of experimentation and clean competition is similar. Run what you brung! Boat designs run from heavy ten year olds on tbeir last gasp to the latest, super-light creation of running surface chicanery. The new hulls are longer and wider. Length enough to tame rough water and harness previously unused horsepower. They turn quicker, accelerate faster and fly higher, aerodynamic machines flirting with the laws of nature. This world class racing boasts of demanding safety standards. On-board fire suppression systems and fuel-shutoff devices are mandatory. Drivers must wear fire retardant clothing, approved helmets, and life jackets. Driver medical examinations are required each day of a contest. And drivers are licensed by a committee of experienced peers. Together, these are without question the most stringent safety regulations in the business. So, Grand Prix is a collection of hydroplanes meeting those understandable, time-tested specifications. And a revised race format returns stock or modified powered teams to a common purpose: Fun for the racers and excitement for the fans. Drivers compete in two qualifying rounds. Top scorers advance to the Semi-Feature and Championship finale. Prizes are paid all the way to 16th place. Everyone accumulates national points towards the 1981 GP Series Driver and Boat Championships, including a share of the season ending cash rainbow called the Series Point Fund. A total of 26 different teams entered the circuit last season, during what was considered a down year for motorsport racing. Tom D'Eath, also experienced in Mini-Indy auto racing, drove the #200 Lauterbach Special to top point honors. The #247 Deepwater Special copped the coveted Nationals Championship race, driven by Tom Baker. But defending champions haven't proved sacred in this world class competition. Five different winners in eight 1980 races demonstrated thatj and five winners in six races the year before. Racing is usually so close, with frequent lead changes, that no sane person dares predict who the 1981 champions will be. Though age and accident claimed a few boats last year, an encouraging sign of the sport's health is the construction of several new hulls. Prominent designer-builders are Ron Jones of Seattle, Wa. Henry Lauterbach of Portsmouth, Va. and Jon Staudacher from Kawkawlin, Mi. Jones has delivered the modernistic #51 to owner-driver Dave Sutton of Jackson, Mi. Henry Lauterbach's contributions for 1981 are the #25 for Quebecker Jacque St-Laurent, and #182 Xanadu for GProokie Jack Stetser. Jon Staudacher, son of the most prolific builder in big-boat racing history, has developed Les Brown's newest #7 Long Gone. The craft is a second generation design, following the successful pattern of the 1980 two race winner #855 Miss Danash. Kent MacPhail, GP world straightaway holder at 170.024 m.p.h., will drive. The Miss Danash is considered a front-runner because of its flashy 1980 debut. An insane forecaster might pick it as the next series champ. Owner Roger Reynolds, a Detroit industrialist, has drafted a team of top campaigners, including ace driver Jim Kropfeld. Kropfeld's laurels include many world records, national driving titles and Hall of Champions recognition. Canadian competition is as near as the border. The provinces stage three major events, at Valleyfield and St-Timothee in Quebec, and upon Ontario's famed racing water Hayward Long Reach, at Picton. A strengthened GP Canada tour, combined with continuing cooperation among all promotors and officials, will encourage more quality racing.. Just as the rich history of U.S. boat racing resides largely in Detroit, the heart and soul of Grand Prix resides in Jules Leboeuf's Quebec hometown, Valleyfield. Jules, a warm, affec- tionate man, is known kindly as the Crown Prince of Grand Prix. His livid orange #155 Leboeuf is always in the hunt. GP rookie Bob Theoret takes over the #444 GP-Valleyfield cockpit. His ride, the former Peanut, holds the GP world competition record of 106.908 m.p.h. for a 5-mile heat (and a fast lap at 109). Pierre Lavigne has mounted a better equipped effort with his #99 GP St-Timothee. Marcel Laberge's #77, Bill Ireland's #12, and Marc Boudreau's #76 are steady entries. Jack Shaw's sharp #400 Olympiad is repaired after a late season crash. Traditionally, the fastest teams come from the U.S. But this year, by the time the champs are crowned in November, Canada will have challenged that supremacy. The international rivalry continues. They mostly race for the love of the game, uncommon men assaulting the oversize ripples of the Detroit River or the frantic pace of GP racing Quebec-style. Just enough cash is thrown in to make it interesting. Whatever and whenever, the attraction of GP racing is world class action. With a little help from "Run what you brung" |
| If confidence breeds success, they thought they might have something.
The brand new, just-out-of-the-box GP-855 Miss Danash swept three
heats of fierce action to win the Greater Augusta Grand Prix, June 14-15. Just one week earlier, the opening event on the 1980 GPI calendar, the President's Cup at Washington, DC, was called because of high winds. The GP-855 was awarded the trophy on the preliminary heat results. "They backed in," went the outcry. Still, owner R.J. Reynolds of Pontiac, Mi., was so confident his new, fast charger would sweep the GPI tour he promptly bet $1,000 on it. Jim Kropfeld, from Cincinnati, drove Miss Danash to a share of $15,000 and Augusta's Lowenbrau Cup by topping defending GPI High Points champion Lauterbach Special, the Peanut and Golden Nugget. It was now 2-for-2 and insiders began to wonder about the new boat with the cabover shape and a crew of unabashed optimists. Whatever, the combination and overt confidence prompted lively pit patter and much after dinner conversation. The Lowenbrau Grand Prix was a first for Georgia and a first for Augusta, home of golfing's blue ribbon Masters. The course was scarily short and spectacularly tight -shades of a 1/2 mile dirt oval. Cramped enough to delight the spectators and prompt officials to limit heat draws to four boats. Danash, Lauterbach Special, and Peanut took first round honors. The best race was 1-B as Larry Lauterbach's Peanut took the measure of Tom Baker in Deepwater Special up the first chute. But Baker pressed on, closing but not quite catching his cross-state rival on the last lap. (Lauterbach's uncle Norman owns the Deepwater, both from Virginia.) In the next elimination round everyone got serious. With the small course limiting the final to just four boats there was no more time for games, just serious racing. Tom Kropfeld pushed his GP-869 Golden Nugget to a strong win in 1-A, that team looking stronger than it ever has. Deepwater and the Peanut trailed. Steve Jones in the GP-27 Orange Crush finished fourth. Though Jones made excellent starts all day his mellow, stock engine couldn't make it to the first turn against the supercharged entries. Then Tom D'Eath, in the Lauterbach Special, outlasted game Kent MacPhail in Long Gone. Owner Les Brown's GP-4 Long Gone didn't have a chance at the final four. But he was there for the show. MacPhail and D'Eath went deck-to-deck, MacPhail's Jones'- designed cabover wide and the Lauterbach created GP-200 in tight. Long Gone got the lead on lap two then lost it, finally expiringwith a lunched engine. Billy Patterson in GP-777 Crazy Horse moved up to second spot. In heat 2-C the crowd gasped an audible gasp at the barn-burner finish. Terry Turner's Olympiad, GP-400, needed a win and the fastest time of the day to make a run for the Lowenbrau trophy. But Miss Danash led slightly off the first corner with Turner inside. After they finished the first lap in a virtual dead heat Jim Kropfeld appeared to gain control. But, Turner led into the last lap, never quitting, and they dueled close up the final back straightaway. Kropfeld took his GP-855 very wide as Turner hugged the buoys. Both played drag boats to the line with Miss Danash the victor by 8/10ths of a second. Danash. Peanut, Golden Nugget, and Lauterbach Special made the championship. Jim Kropfeld took over at the start and finished the job in the first turn, a turn that everybody hated becaused of its wierd dogleg exit. Kropfeld extended his lead to four seconds, then seven, then 15 at the checkered flag. The Peanut and Golden Nugget were next. Tom D'Eath was last, but he didn't think so. D'Eath held back his GP-200 at the start, thinking the others were early. D'Eath's defending GPI Nationals and High Points titlist, a very fast boat driven by a professional, didn't bother with the chase. Disappointed at the referee's ruling, but accepting it pragmatically, the Lauterbach Special clan vowed to make amends at next stop Detroit. Detroit has a way of undoing the best of plans. Speeds are held down because of the river course, and some say it's survival, not racing, but no one complains about the half million fans. Yet, Detroit is a river of motor-boating history, as wise as time and a challenger of man and machine. The Manufacturers Bank Grand Prix attracted a small fleet of eight, a showing held down by false promises of new boats, wounded hulls, engines in repair, and a gruelling GPI schedule. But the best were on hand for a crack at $25,000 in prizes. The first heat was completed moments before high winds forced postponement of racing. Tom Baker rolled the GP-247 Deepwater Special in ahead of Miss Danash, D'Eath's locally sponsored Lafayette Coney Island (nee Lauterbach Special) and Long Gone. Golden Nugget earned fifth, Canada's Nordic and Steve Kuhr's Irishman III followed. Olympiad failed to start. On Monday morning the river was as calm as any Motor City salt has ever seen it, the return-ee crowd was vocal if not huge, and everyone blinked and yawned all forenoon. Who ever races on a Monday morning? |
Almost everyone had the right idea in heat two, but the execution was faulty. In a jam-packed, claustrophobic start, four boats jumped. Deepwater. Long Gone, Olympiad. and Miss Danash demonstrated that Monday morning was, indeed, not the time to gather by the river. Lafayette Coney Island with driver D'Eath remembering Augusta, was on time and cruised to 400 points. GPI rookie Paul Reid bounded to second with Nordic and Kuhr's Irishman III dependably finished third. Too, it was here the dandy Danash was done in. Not long after the jumped start, the $1,000 bet and a boat load of confidence met the reality of Grand Prix International racing and the river with a way of ruining plans! A prop blade let go and took a chunk of rudder and a share of the bottom with it. Finished for the morning. Tom D'Eath's re-named Lauterbach Special romped to the final heat lead early with Long Gone in the hot pursuit. But owner Les Brown's GP-4 again expired (prompting the team to switch to Chevy power from Chryslers the following week.) Deepwater Special, Olympiad,Nordic, and Irishman settled into a parade. But D'Eath had jumped the cannon in front of home town fans. He and MacPhail's Long Gone. The photo-start camera didn't lie -about a half a boat's worth! Again, that emotionally charged dash to the imaginary line stretched from shore to striped buoy had proven the master of fates. Water moves fast under a hull when the pressure is on and even D'Eath, probably as cool a driver as there is, got caught. Everyone moved up a notch and Tom Baker in Deepwater Special, the smiling, laid back, quiet 27-year-old chauffer from New Port Richy, Fl., tamed the field and the Never on Monday river. Back in the pits, the Miss Danash owner signed the check that was to go for a thousand buck Grand Prix bash. The Danash outfit is a high roller clan with bright paint, spangled uniforms and snazzy hot air balloon. Their contribution to GPI racing has been, first, of a new boat of Jon Staudacher design, and also a team of boundless, infectious confidence. They've enough enthusiasm to run the entire sport of GPI racing. Whatever it takes to win -luck, skill, preparation, or energy -the high quality efforts of R.J. Reynolds' Miss Danash, Don Ryan's calmly efficient Lauterbach Special. Norman Lauterbach's fast Deepwater Special. Les Brown's troubled but game Long Gone. and a host of others will find it on the 1980 GPI championship trail. |
Thanks to John Nebelecky for providing this race program.