With the benefit of one hundred years of experience in guiding the development of power boat racing through careful development of the rules governing the sport, boat racers can enjoy competing on an equal basis in the category and class of their choosing. As technology advances, the rules must keep pace. Anyone who has been involved in the crafting of our rules knows what a difficult and sometimes thankless job it is. Boat racers owe a debt of gratitude to those who are willing to invest their time and expertise in modernizing the racing and technical rules under APBA. 

Racing answers the question "Which boat is fastest" but only among those boats that are present and are entered in a particular event. Some ambitious characters want to have "the fastest boat in the nation" or even "the fastest boat in the world". That is where the keeping of records - speed records - comes in.  Over the years the APBA has evolved rules and procedures for making official speed record attempts and validating the results. This article discusses some of the changes that have occurred over the years, and some of the difficulties that arose and were overcome. 

First of all, the classes and rules evolved differently in the USA compared to Europe and Australia and New Zealand. The Union of International Motorboating is the international sanctioning body  for "World Speed Records". The American Power Boat Association was formed in 1903 and was the "900 lb gorilla" of power boat racing. The rest of the world was pretty much ignored, but they were out there racing boats, especially in Europe and the UK.  The European classes and rules didn't resemble the American classes and rules. There was little direct competition between American racers and the Europeans.  The big exception was in the Unlimited Class where Gar Wood was setting one mile speed records and defending the Harmsworth Trophy against a series of brave boat racers from the UK. There were controversies over whether certain claims of the Water Speed Record were valid or not.  Somewhere along the line the Yachtsmen's Association of America was accepted as the UIM-affiliate in the USA. The APBA displaced the YAA as the official representative of the UIM in the USA along about 1951. The YAA was a member organization of the APBA and continued to be the sanctioning body for the Harmsworth races. There began a slow effort to normalize the rules and classes and records. Very little was accomplished in terms of standardizing the inboard classes. Presently there are international classes, American classes, and Canadian classes. In the United States we have straightaway records and closed course records (usually "five miles in competition"). 

Probably the most significant change was the shift away from the Statute Mile to the Kilometer for the two-way flying straightaway record distance. Up through 1956 the Mile was still the distance used for straightaway records in the USA. 

By 1957 the APBA was "geared up" to recognize BOTH one mile and one kilometer records. And a few meets offered the chance to set both records... the Kilo was typically set at one end of the Mile so that on one pass the first buoy you came to was the entrance for both the Mile and the Kilo, then you came to the exit buoy for the Kilo, and finally the exit buoy for the Mile. Going the other way, first you came to the entrance buoy for the Mile, then the entrance buoy for the Kilo, finally the exit buoy for both distances. This must have been frightening since at top speed a lot of boats skate around or "wander" and no one wants to hit a buoy at any speed. 

The meet at Seattle in Nov. - Dec 1957 was such a "two records" meet. It is best remembered as the meet where the U-8 Hawaii Kai III went 187.627 mph in the Mile and 194.649 mph in the Kilo. But a pair of Seven Litre hydroplane records were set at that meet by Roger Murphy of California. 

Roger Murphy and his brother Jay were true sportsmen. They ran 7 Litres and Unlimiteds... U-22 Breathless, U-30 Muvalong, and U-222 Breathless II.  I saw all three of their Unlimiteds in action; the U-222 was far and away the best of the three and was the best looking too with its natural birch deck and blue and white trim. Roger's Nov. 29, 1957 Mile record was 140.351 mph record in his Seven Litre hydro Galloping Gael. He also set a Kilo record at 139.554 mph, but went even faster the next day: his Kilo record was 146.913 mph. 

As late as 1959 most American straightaway records were on the Mile not the Kilo. 

By 1960 most American inboard classes had "filled" the heretofore non-existent Kilo records; APBA was recognizing both records (Mile and Kilo). There were six "open" Kilo records "filled" at the 1960 Inboard Nationals at Cape Coral, Florida.  On August  26, 1960, Ennie Argence turned a screaming 123.593 mph in the 266 hydro Gun Shy.  In the 280 cubic inch hydroplane Bo Bo Too, Alton Pierson went 96.008 mph in the Kilo. The same boat and driver had gone 106.049 in the Mile at Norristown, PA in 1959. Pierson also set a Kilo mark in the 136 cubic inch hydroplane class, he was timed at 74.348 mph in Lil Barb III. Del Daily ran the Kilo at 72.513 mph in his F Service Runabout Oh Mona!. Eugene Hendricks went 80.916 mph in the 225 hydro Hurryin' Hoosier. And in the 135 cubic inch hydroplane So Slo,  Dick Barney went 74.332 in the Kilo at Cape Coral; the Mile record had been set at 101.373 mph on the Salton Sea in 1954, by Buddy Holloway driving 6-A Screaming Eagle IV. 

By the end of 1963, only the 91 cu in hydros and the D Service Runabouts still had "open" Kilo records. 

 The "Five Miles in Competition" records could be set on a two and one half mile course (two laps) or on a one and two-thirds mile course (three laps). There was a gradual shift from the two-lap "big" course to the three lap course over the years. The smaller course could be set in more protected water, and sometimes could be set closer to shore, making for happier spectators. 

In the speed record lists displayed on The Vintage Hydroplanes website, we try to distinguish between records set on the Mile vs. the Kilo, and the two lap oval vs. the three lap oval.

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