• 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 734-788-1879EVENTS: 

BILL JOHN III REPORT
We just got back to beautiful Wolfeboro, after 2 weeks on the road, participating in events on the first leg of our APBA Vintage Race Boat Circuit - Valleyfield, Quebec and Detroit, Michigan. But to my surprise, the level of Lake Winnipesaukee is still extremely high, and many of our wooden boats on Back Bay can still not make it under the bridge???!!!

Many thanks to Ben Lemay, our Valleyfield APBA vintage event organizer. Ben arranged for The Obsession Boys to run a couple of parade laps during the opening ceremonies on Friday, Saturday and Sunday - allowing us to help the other vintage boats throughout the day. This was also the debut of the unlimited hydroplanes at Valleyfield, and the APBA racing Jersey Speed Skiffs also put on quite a show.

Many thanks also to Tom & Jaq Bertolini, our Detroit APBA Gold Cup event organizers. This year, we were again located in the "Piston Park" area, close to the start/finish line; we had lots of space, 3 cranes for our vintage boats, and over 100 feet of good docking on the water. All boats were crane launched, and the docks were so long that we were able to pre-stage our vintage heats at the dock. The boats were released all at once - great fun and very dramatic - especially on heats with over 8 vintage boats exploding from the docks!!!

Back in the shop, we are finishing up ‘Tinker”. This replica skiff was done "in the spirit of APBA vintage" and looks like a Jersey Speed Skiff of the 1950's/60's. It is a legal APBA vintage boat and will be run this summer on the second leg of the APBA Vintage Race Boat Circuit, debuting at Clayton, NY. These boats are safe and fun to run, and with a stock warranted motor, will provide for many years of fun boat rides!!! 

We are back in the shop after our road trip, please join us for our Saturday Morning Gatherings. The coffee and donuts are usually ready by 9:00, and this week you can checkout the progress as we are continue to build the 12 coats of Epifanes varnish on the deck and transom of "Tinker" and finish the motor installation and rigging. We are also working on Tyler Phillips “Angostura” a beautiful 22 foot Chris Craft Sportsman. 
 

BOB SILVA’S WEST COAST REPORT: 
The cover shot on Bob Foley’s new circle boat racing book “Inboard Racing - A Color Album”, taken during the 1972 Western Divisionals at Willard Bay, Utah, is a classic. It shows three drivers at speed, hunched over steering wheels aboard their 145 hydros, all totally focused on catching a boat that is out-of-frame. As described on the inside page, that boat is LITTLE RAMBLER, S-57 driven by a teenager named Chip Hanauer. Ten years later, Hanauer would capture his first Gold Cup win driving the Unlimited, ATLAS VAN LINES. 
The 62 color photographs in “A Color Album” are taken by Bob and his wife Elladine during the 10 years spent racing his 48 hydro, FULL HOUSE MOUSE. The photos focus on APBA Region 12 Inboard action during 1960’s and 1970’s racing seasons. Printed from rich, colorful Kodachrome and Ektachrome slides, the photos feature everything from ten foot long 48 hydros to 32 foot Unlimiteds, as well as flatbottom action from Crackerboxes to K Racing Runabouts. 
The photo album is a companion to Bob Foley’s book “Inboard Racing - A Wild Ride”, which describes Bob’s racing adventures while campaigning his alky-burning, Crosley powered, 48 hydroplane at race courses in Arizona, California, Utah and Washington. Bob starts with his learning experiences in 1967, as a rookie driver, and continues through his near tragic final race ten years later, at the 1977 APBA Inboard Nationals. Foley openly shares the laughs and wonderful racing family times, along with his feelings when receiving bad news about the death of a fellow driver. You certainly get a feel for his frustration when trying to keep one of those cantankerous, modified Crosley’s running, along with the joy of leading the pack when she’s humming along perfectly. His driver’s point-of-view during a multi-boat crash reminds you that racing isn’t always “having more fun than ought to be allowed”. Most readers will recognize some of the other drivers names from that era who also, with roots in the smaller less powerful racing classes, went on to compete, like Chip Hanauer, in the Unlimiteds.
As with all good stories you don’t want the book to end. Bob’s “Color Album” also raised an intriguing question - what became of those race boats from 30 + years ago? We hope to see some of them added to the growing APBA vintage fleet. 
Whether you relate to that “Golden Era” of inboard circle racing as a driver or you’re curious about what it was like to compete, Foley’s books are a colorful treasure trove of memories.
For more information about books by Bob Foley go to: www.inboardracingbook.com or call 1-800-839-8640 

VINTAGE HOT BOAT OF THE MONTH Bob Foley, author of “Inboard Racing - A Color Album” and “A Wild Ride”, is shown at the controls of his vintage Crosley powered 48 ci hydro,  FULL HOUSE MOUSE, Y-116. Bob raced his 1953 DeSilva built hydro during the 1967-1977 racing seasons. ©2006 Bob Silva & Bill John III