Mann, of Owensboro, Ky., didn’t physically travel back in time, but the boats of the Madison Regatta’s Bob Snelling Vintage Memorial Event were time machines for Mann and others who took the trek to the water’s edge. Some visitors came as brothers, others as fathers and sons and some simply as boat enthusiasts.

“As a kid I always watched when Owensboro had the races,” Mann said.

The races in Owensboro ended in the 1970s. 

Aaron Mann was joined by his brother Jason Mann, also of Owensboro, for the nostalgic trip. They’ve made the trip to the Madison Regatta the past five years, attracted by the power of the boats.

John and Al Gutterman, who are father and son, Vicky Wyler and Dotty Constable, all of Louisville, Ky., come to the Regatta periodically. This year they took a house boat up the Ohio River to Madison. The vintage boats were a special lure this year.

“This is a hell of a good idea,” John Gutterman said. Constable picked up a vintage T-shirt as a memento of this year’s visit.

The art of the boats is what makes them impressive, the Louisville visitors said. The Gar Wood boats, some of which date back to the 1940s, were particularly appealing, they said.

“It’s the sleekness and the craftsmanship,” Al Gutterman said. 

Carl Wilson of Grosse Point, Mich., brought his 1974 Lauterbach Tiger to the vintage show. He first bought the boat in 1982 and was the last person to race it. However, he sold it and raced 5-litre Grand Prix boats in the 1980s and 1990s. 

“When vintage boats became popular, I went back and tried to find it,” Wilson said. 

Wilson’s search lead him to a barn in Celina, Ohio. Since he bought the old hull, he has restored it. The boat once traveled at a speed of 134.6 kilometers per hour and could still reach 120 if not for the requirement that boats have closed cockpits, he said.

“Vintage boats have really taken off,” Wilson said. “This is not really racing, but we’re keeping these wood boats going. It’s part of history.”

Among the other boats in the memorial were the Gar Wood Obsession built in 1948 and patterned after the Gar Wood Impshi built in the 1930s and owned by Horace E. Dodge Jr. when it won the 1936 Gold Cup with Kaye Don driving.

In addition, spectators got to see the Wild Card built in 1966, the 1971 Lauterbach Irishman, the 1971 River Rat, the 1986 Miss Dinomytes, the 1973 Yellow Streak and the 1965 Opechee.

One of the biggest draws was the boat nicknamed “Mist Madison,” the 1960’s-era replica boat used in the filming of the movie “Madison” in 1999.

The boat, which began life in 1961 as the Miss Lumbermill and last raced competitively as the Savair’s Mist, was repainted to replicate the hometown Miss Madison that won the APBA Gold Cup here in 1971.

All weekend, the classic Miss Madison raced up-and-down the Indiana and Kentucky shoreline, invoking memories of 30 years ago.

The Madison Courier, 
serving Madison, Jefferson and Switzerland Co., Indiana 
and Trimble and Carroll Co., Kentucky.