NOTES: 
John Paramore of Lynwood, WA was standing on an upper terrace parking lot at Lake Spanaway (Tacoma) in early September and he recognized an old friend immediately. It was Phil Bononcini’s beautifully restored Redskin, H-71, 7 Litre hydro. The engine is the same as the original motor, a Packard. John gives us a little more history of this beauty. This craft raced as an Unlimited in 1957 or ‘58 as the Whiz-Ski, sporting a seven ft long tailfin extension to bring the boat to the legal minimum length for the class. Steve Clark of Belfair, WA was also at this event with a Chuck Hickling 280, built in 1959. The original owner never raced this hydro. Steve has been running the craft at inboard events to carry the flag during the playing of the national anthem. Thanks John this interesting information.
 Bob Baker of Gilroy, CA the present owner of the Tinker Toy, 48 ci hydro, was looking for a Crosley engine. We have located one for Bob, if he will contact me.
 S. Keith Andrews of Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada sent us additional information on the Sudden Seven (Miss Budweiser) 7 Litre Hydro. He tells us a little more history of this hull before it came to reside on the sign pole. In the early 80’s this boat named Canadian Girl, was involved in a violent crash, injuring the driver, Jimmy Monahan. Jimmy was racing down the backstretch at Cocange and hit a sandbar bending the rudder. He could not turn the boat. The boat then hit the old wooden bridge, causing the hull to go up the bank, ripping out the engine. The boat was rebuilt, but unfortunately still remains on the sign pole.
 We had a good response to the flyer plans. I will have them copied and sent out soon.

CHALLENGES:
Bill Silva has issued a new challenge for us. The Pacific One Design Hydro, Excaliber O-9. The above picture was taken on July 4, 1946, at Lake Merritt in Oakland, CA. Can anyone shed some light as to who owned or drove this boat?

RACE SITES:
 Detroit, MI: Chrysler 1996 APBA Gold Cup will be May 30 thru June 2. This vintage event is by INVITATION ONLY!!  The Spirit of Detroit Association would like your letter of intent as soon as possible. My mailing address is: Tom D’Eath 7773 Farnsworth Dr. Algonac, MI. 48001
 Clayton, NY: The Antique Race Boat Regatta ‘96 will take place August 15-18. The Regatta Coordinators are looking for volunteers. If you are interested, please contact the Antique Boat Museum at (315) 686-4104.
 Dubuque, IA: Thunderfest June 8th -- 9th, 1996  Vintage Tentative Event. Presently in the talking stages. More information will follow.
 Race Promoters:  If you plan to hold a Vintage Event this year, please contact me so that I can help you get this information out in the Propeller.

VINTAGE TRIVIA: 
Last month’s question: Has anyone ever won both the APBA Gold Cup and the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race? The answer: YES!!!  In the 1923 Gold Cup, Joe Boyer drove Col. Vincent’s boat Packard Chriscraft G-38, to victory over the Rainbow III. Each boat accumulated 21 points. Boyer broke the tie with three seconds faster elapsed time. In 1924, Joe Boyer won the Indy 500 driving car #15, called the Duesenberg Special. This forgotten hero, Joe Boyer died later that same year on September 1,1924.

BOB SILVA’S WEST COAST REPORT: 
Although a Pacific One Design Hydroplane was one of the squirrelist riding hydros ever, you would never see one sponson walk down the straight-a-way. For that matter, no attempt was ever made to build a cabover design for this class! That’s because the P.O.D.’s (as they were commonly referred to) were built from a strict “Measurement Data Sheet” that required all hulls to conform to official APBA plans. The P.O.D.’s were 13 foot, single step hydros. The running surfaces of the sponsons were set higher than the hull's bottom.  Thus, the sponsons were used only to lean on going through the turns.  Developed in the late 1930’s, the P.O.D.’s were required to use a strictly stock, Ford V-8 60 flathead. The idea was to provide evenly matched hulls and engines and provide an excellent class in which drivers could hone their racing skills.
 Centered in California, the P.O.D.H.’s were also popular in Maryland where noted racer Alton Pierson ran a string of 21 East Coast victories with his BO-BO-LINK in 1955.
 On the West Coast, Dr. Louis Novotny in his Cherub II dominated the class in the early 1950’s, capturing the competition record and National Championships. The P.O.D.H.’s all-time champion would have to be Marion Beaver of Parker, Arizona and his Wickens built O-2, Little Beaver. Sharing driving chores with Robert Critchlow, Beaver won 7 National Championships running (1952 through 1958), set the competition record at 57 mph, and set the 1 mile record at 62 mph. Both records stood for 8 years, until the class was retired in 1962.
 P.O.D.H.’s entries dropped off in the late 1950’s as many owners bought the faster 136 hydros that used the same V-8 60 engine. The last Nationals for the P.O.D.H.’s was run in 1961, with Elmer Cravener’s O-6, Ole Pudg as the winner.
 Because the P.O.D.H.’s were centered in only two states, their numbers were limited. Only about 30 boats registered in 1955. After the class was retired, many hulls had their sponsons removed and were converted to family ski-boats.

NOTES:  As a side note to Bob’s report, We are please to tell you that Marion Beaver still has his P.O.D.H. Little Beaver, at his place of business.

VINTAGE HOT BOAT OF THE MONTH: 
Popular California driver Bill Jagger in his P.O.D.H. Thundermug, O-30, with riding mechanic Syd Hallett at the Oakland Airport Channel, 1952. Riding in a wild P.O.D.H. was how many a newcomer was introduced to APBA racing in the 1940’s and 50’s.

©1996 Tom D'Eath