Click photo below to read more details on the WANTED poster at Phil Kunz Photography website.
Smuggler 88-T
Racing at Shadow Cliffs in Pleasanton, CA
Leroy Bailey’s email and (530) 863-0445
He’d love to hear from you!
Hydro PinUp gals
Buffalo, NY is home to a group of ladies who provide a unique service at local events. The name of the group is “Pin Ups for a Cause”. The ladies dress up in period costumes and attend a variety of events like boat races, boat shows, motoramas, car shows, etc. They circulate among fans, acting as greeters, handing out programs & thanking people for attending the events. Sometimes they sell fifty-fifty tickets for example. They are flexible in regards to what service they can provide for the events organizers.
These photos were taken at last years Thunder on the Niagara hydroplane race & car show where they were present to circulate among the 100 car vintage car show fans then transitioned to the boat race fans & vintage hydro displays.
The group got its origin from the founder whose grandmother sent letters and photos to her husband while he was overseas in WW II.
Bill DeGlopper
March & April Calendars
March and April Monthly 2017 Calendars are posted. Many thanks to Phil Kunz for gracing us with more of his photography work for the monthly calendars. So far, I am only showing the Tavares Spring Thunder vintage event for March 17-19. No word yet from the APBA Vintage folks for any other events.
Bel Air III
https://www.flickr.com/photos/skinnylaveal/25324846210/in/album-72157663288454473/
From New Zealand:
Ben Knight (PG Knight’s son and Peter’s grandson) sends us a few pics of their restored A class hydro that they finished up on 2 years ago. They have been taking it to a vintage regattas in New Zealand.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/skinnylaveal/25268006429/in/album-72157663288454473/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/skinnylaveal/25542461681/in/album-72157663288454473/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/skinnylaveal/25004494454/in/album-72157663288454473/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/skinnylaveal/25268206569/in/album-72157663288454473/
The boat raced at Valleyfield in 1967 then won at Red Bank the following week. PR Knight designed and built the boat. It has a 2.5 Liter Ford motor from a Mk4 Zephyr. We believe it set a UIM world record in 1967.
We are also in the process of restoring The Godfather GP boat also.
Ben Knight
BTW – Beautiful spot for a Vintage Race Boat Regatta…don’t you think?
https://www.flickr.com/photos/skinnylaveal/25019093544/in/album-72157663288454473/
HANK’S PRANK
A new historical web page added to the boats section on HANK’S PRANK series of Sooy hulls that Henry (Hank) J. Evans Jr. campaigned for years along the Eastern US.
New Year, New Look
I saw this new website look and thought this would be a nice one to freshen up our website with.
If you have a REALLY neat photo and think it is “cover material” for The Vintage Hydroplanes (like the old “Photo From A Moment” we used to do a few years back), please email it to me and if I like it, I will place it on the opening page of the website!
Ron Jones, Sr. passing
The memorial service for Ron Jones Sr., will be held from 11am to 4pm on March 4th at the Life Center located at 1717 S Union Ave Tacoma, WA 98405
From David Williams, The Hydroplane & Race Boat Museum on Facebook this morning (1/19/17):
It is with great sadness that I have to share the news that Hall of Fame boat builder and designer Ron Jones Sr. passed away this morning. Please keep Ron and his family in your thoughts and prayers at this difficult time.
- News article from the Seattle Times.
Ron made available to us some of his vintage hydro plans on this website and he sent us some neat photos to show the boats to go along with that endeavor. Here’s the link. If you want to look at the photos of some of the boats he designed / built, when you get to his webpage of boat plans, click on the boat names to see some of his photos he sent in.
A true gentleman and master designer and builder…the sport will miss him dearly.