Rafale V

https://silodrome.com/v12-powered-wooden-hydroplane/

Love of racing Hydroplanes

Ed Barko getting out of his S-4 The Vagabond in 1962 at Celina. Ed lost his arm/hand driving Moonshine Baby E-54 in 1960.
Kenny Ingram driving a boat he built, owned and drove – Y-13 Ranger’s Pup. Note the custom hand throttle. Kenny was also building and selling Y-class hydro plans at the time.
Both of these drivers had unfortunate racing accidents, however they kept on racing.

From Jay Marshall: It is my understanding that the 48 cu. In. hydro Ranger’s Pup was built by Kenny along the same plans as his 225 Ranger.  An interesting side note is that the Ranger’s Pup was bought by a gentleman from the New Orleans area named Earl Bridges.  Earl kept the name but painted the boat orange with a black engine cowl.  I remember the boat very well because my uncle, who raced 48s for 12 years (1958-1970) never beat that boat.  Earl later had another 48 called Whose Excited, Y-44 that was orange and white.  Earl was always testing this boat before the races, and it looked good on the water, but somehow seemed to fizzle out come race time.  Earl was kind of the nervous sort and a perfectionist, thus the name Whose Excited.

Happy New 2021

First four months of calendars posted. Thanks to Phil Kunz for supplying photos.

MIAMI BELLE II A-37

A historic page put together for  MIAMI BELLE II A-37 and added to our boats page. The hydro was campaigned by Jack McMahon who was sadly killed doing what he loved…racing hydroplanes. You will also see pics of Jack’s best friend Paul Flohn, driving his ROWDY A-36. Check out the history.

Our latest YouTube video: 1971 Kilo runs – New Martinsville, WVA

2020 Madison Vintage

U-27

News Article here

Jones’ Sponson Spoilers

John Paramore posted this pic / explanation on Hydroplane History’s Facebook page.
“The gizzy between the sponsons is a spoiler, meant to prevent stuffing the bow if the boat flies a bit and comes down nose-first. It went away in 1958 after Ron Jones suggested they could achieve needed anti-stuffing result with a little aft weight adjustment. Ted still wasn’t sure, so they did Ron’s suggested balance adjustment but with a pair of mini-spoilers inboard of the sponsons, and when Ron’s idea worked out those were removed. Here’s the 1958 Bardahl with the temporary spoilers”.