Changes in Store For Detroit Gold Cup

[Serious News]

Changes In Store For Detroit





After returning from an exciting UIM World Championship in Doha, Qatar, the energy here at H1 continues unabated. We’re pleased to tell you that we’re going to be ramping up things on the US series for 2015. That begins with a change in the organization of the Detroit race.

The DRRA has announced that they will not be hosting the Detroit APBA Gold Cup for Unlimited Hydroplanes in 2015. As a result H1, along with a dynamic group of Detroit area business people will be conducting an Unlimited race on the Detroit River on or about our previous race dates.

We look forward to joining forces with all of the volunteers who have helped to make the Detroit race a legacy of 100 plus years

We wish DRRA well, as we’ve had a long and successful relationship.

Stay tuned as we update you in the coming weeks. For now, we’re racing in Detroit and look forward to all of our friends and fans joining in the new energy of H1.

Steve David
H1 Chairman

[Serious News]

Friends,

This past week and our challenges with the Detroit race have further solidified my resolve and the unquestionable commitment of our fans and stakeholders.

I can’t name everyone who has called, e mailed or sent texts offering their assistance, yet let me highlight a few of them who won’t give up on Unlimited Hydroplane racing on the Detroit River in 2015:

Fred Carr (and his wife Mary), outgoing Commodore of the DYC, who invited me to meet the DYC Board on December 17 at their yacht club on the famed DYC turn.

Mark Wheeler, a professor at Western Michigan and current APBA President

Dick Huvaere, (and his wife Stephanie) Chairman of Dick Huvaere’s RICHMOND Chrysler Jeep

Bruce Madej, retired Sports information officer for Michigan

Brad Haskin

Ted Porter, reigning world champion team owner

Charles Grooms, team manager for the Oberto

Mike Wertheimer

Ric Grenier

Jose Mendana, Jr F-1 organizer

Scott Pierce with GPW, a class we’ll be integrating into the Unlimited races whenever and wherever possible

Paul Reinhardt

Dennis and Terry Collins

Dave Mabry

Larry Oberto

Scott Allen (and his wife Patty) former Commodore of the DYC

Tom Yaschen

My trusted legal advisor, Doug Bernstein with Plunkett & Cooney

And I’d be remiss not to mention Bill Rands, the financial Godfather of DRRA for many years. Bill and I continue to maintain an open and civil dialogue seeking common ground and a resolution that will serve all parties.

Next week, in concert with fellow stakeholders, I hope to be announcing a couple of exciting additions to the 2015 calendar including the location of the 2015 APBA Gold Cup.

Tighten those seat belts, it’s just beginningJ

Steve David

[Serious News]

H1 Unlimited Chairman Steve David and officials of the Tri-City Water Follies have announced that the Tri-City group will host the 2015 APBA Gold Cup July 24-26.

The HAPO Gold Cup will mark the 50th anniversary of Unlimited Hydroplane Racing on the Columbia River between Richland, Kennewick and Pasco, Washington under the direction of the Tri-City Water Follies.

Past Water Follies President and current Vice President of H1 Unlimited Mike Denslow said, “Kathy Powell (Event Director) and I have been lobbying for years and it’s finally happened!”

In making the announcement on behalf of H1, David said, “We are very excited to be able to award the 2015 Gold Cup to the very deserving race committee and community in the Tri-Cities and look forward to seeing the competition for one of the most prestigious trophies in all of motorsports take place in one of our outstanding long term venues and well respected by all of our race sites.”

David added, “When we talked to all of our race sites, they agreed unanimously that the 50th anniversary of the Tri-City race and the long standing support by the committee, volunteers and community made the Tri-City area and the Water Follies committee very deserving of the opportunity to host the 2015 Gold Cup.”

Current Tri-City Water Follies President Ron Hue said, “The entire Water Follies organization could not be more excited to host the 2015 HAPO Gold Cup. We would like to thank everyone who had a hand in getting the oldest motorsports trophy in the world, back to the Tri-Cities.”

Sponsor of the HAPO Gold Cup will be HAPO Community Credit Union whose president/CEO David Schulz said, “What an honor for us at HAPO to be a part of this milestone! That really adds to our excitement for this 50th celebration.”

HAPO was formed by a group of workers at the Hanford nuclear site in 1953 to provide a place to save and borrow money. Today, HAPO Community Credit Union currently has over 100,000 members with over $1 billion dollars in assets and 13 locations in Southeastern Washington and one location in Hermiston, Oregon. HAPO is an acronym for Hanford Atomic Products Operations.

The Gold Cup was last held in the Tri-Cities in 1984 and has been held exclusively in Detroit since 1990.

The H1 Unlimited racing season will open in Madison, Indiana July 3-5 with the annual running of the Madison Regatta/Indiana Governor’s Cup.

[Ratickle]

In Detroit every year since 1990. That's too bad for Detroit this year. Sure hope the race does go on as planned at this time.

[Serious News]

Top hydroplane racing still possible in Detroit in 2015

Thunder boats — those massively big and fast unlimited hydroplanes — might yet throw up roostertails on the Detroit River next summer.

But they won't be racing for the APBA Gold Cup, the oldest active trophy in motor sports.

Instead, the 200-m.p.h. monsters, which have been so much a part of the Motor City's sporting history since 1916, could contest the Mumford Silver Cup, an event with its own legacy in Detroit.

Pending funding and availability of volunteers, plans are in the works for the unlimiteds to be on the water the second week of July, H1 Unlimited chairman Steve David told the Free Press on Monday.

Just over a week ago, the Detroit River Regatta Association, which has promoted the Gold Cup for many years, announced an alternative to next summer's Gold Cup dates: a Festival of Speed, featuring Grand Prix, tunnel boats and other smaller classes of inboard and outboard craft.

DRRA event director Mark Weber said that the festival, which also would showcase displays of muscle cars, vintage boats and a pinewood derby track, would be hosted on the Detroit River on Aug. 21-23.

Weber cited the cost of bringing the unlimited hydroplane teams to Detroit and staging the Gold Cup next year as prohibitive right now. "It's disappointing," said Weber, a former unlimited-hydroplane and 5-liter race winner. "We cannot meet the financial burden" associated with the Gold Cup.

David, however, already is reaching out to unlimited hydroplane owners and drivers to compete on the Detroit River in July. Meanwhile, the Tri-Cities in Washington would hold the 2015 Gold Cup later in the season, celebrating 50 years of unlimited hydroplane racing in the area.

David, a 12-time runner-up in the Gold Cup and driver of the U-1 Oh Boy! Oberto, will fly from his home in south Florida to meet with members of the Detroit Yacht Club on Dec. 17, he said, to discuss conducting the Mumford Silver Cup, last raced on the Detroit River in the early 1960s.

"We want this to be more than just a boat race," said David, whose H1 Unlimited group oversees unlimited hydroplane racing worldwide. "We want to broaden it, make in an event for new fans and diehards."

David said he is looking to include a concert with the Mumford Silver Cup and shorten the racing from a traditional three-day-type Gold Cup schedule to "testing on Saturday and packing a tight 3 1/2 hours of racing in Sunday."

David said he expects to see the return of the Gold Cup to Detroit in 2016 and said he supported the DRRA's Festival of Speed plan for August.

"We'd love to have a concert at Piston Park and then have a boat race break out," said David, a commercial real estate developer who retired from driving unlimited hydroplanes at the end of 2013. "Kid Rock and Bob Seger — they are both gearheads. We want to stage a concert and keep the unlimiteds on the Detroit River."

Added David, who made 22 Gold Cup starts: "It's not about making money. We are going to lower ticket prices, in fact. It's about a city on the way back and a race. We want to make this happen next year."

Contact Mike Brudenell: mbrudenell@freepress.com.

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/motor/2014/12/09/detroit-hydroplane-races-gold-cup/20126297/

[phragle]

Water Follies.... rofl.........

[Ratickle]

You're just jealous!!:)

[Serious News]

No Gold Cup races on Detroit River in 2015

Unlimited Hydroplanes not on 2015 schedule

DETROIT -
One hydroplane class is not included in the 2015 Detroit River Festival of Speed schedule: the Unlimited Hydroplanes. The Unlimiteds have been a staple of racing on the Detroit River, where the Gold Cup trophy has traditionally been contested for nearly the past 100 years.

This year the Unlimiteds will not be part of the festival.

A measurable weakness in sponsorship support and dwindling spectator interest with the current product led the DRRA to this decision, pointing the event in a new direction. In the meantime, everyone can see other racing on the water and land as Detroiters celebrate a two-day Festival of Speed, and do it at a dramatic reduction in admission fees.

Detroit has long played a dominant role in the world of power and speed. The motors built here not only gave the city its familiar moniker, the Motor City, those motors also power America’s interest in speed, both on land and water.

For 2015, the Detroit River Regatta Association (DRRA) is celebrating the power this city produces by introducing the Detroit River Festival of Speed, which will be held August 22-23, 2015, at the foot of Marquette on the Detroit River.

Over 100,000 square feet of displays are planned, featuring race cars of virtually every class and era, racing motor cycles and ATVs, historic race boats, plus the latest Detroit has to offer in the world of high performance cars and hardware.

While the high-performance displays are a festival of their own, there will be racing on land and water happening throughout the two-day event.

The Zooomtown 500 will be waged on Michigan’s longest, fastest Pinewood derby track. Kids from ages six to 60 can compete with classes for everyone.

While gravity provides their power, the river will be boiling with Motor City horsepower.

Three classes of boats, competing for national and international titles, will race in at least 32 events spread over the course of the weekend. The action will be virtually non-stop.

The classes include:

·Grand Prix Hydroplanes: their supercharged, big block V-8 engines will be bringing the thunder back to the river at 170 mph.

·H350 Hydroplanes: over 20 of these V-8-powered hydros are expected. With bragging rights on the line, they will be fast, furious and ultra loud.

·SST Tunnel Boats: you have to see them to believe them. Competing in 15-lap qualifiers and a 20-lap championship, spectators might wind up as exhausted as the drivers.

General admission will be $10 per day; general admission grandstand seats will be priced at just $20. Although not yet announced, pit pass prices will be more affordable as well.

Premium seating, such as on the top of the Pit Tower, in the Judges Stand’s veranda or in a club-like setting at the Tail Turn Café, will also be available at a lower cost than in previous years.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/no-gold-cup-races-on-detroit-river-in-2015/29967918

[Ratickle]

I sure hope they can work it out for the Unlimiteds to run. It would be a huge disappointment if they aren't there.

[phragle]

I think Gar would be a little pissed given the history....

[Ratickle]

It is hard to believe. Like I said, I hope Steve and H1 figure out something.

[Serious News]

This is an older story and hopefully new negotiations are still underway.

Plug pulled on Gold Cup hydroplane races next year

The Gold Cup race will be replaced by the Festival of Speed, which includes two slower types of hydroplane boat races, as well as SST Tunnel Boats and land-race events.

Gold Cup hydroplane races -- a local summer staple for decades -- might not be held on the Detroit River in 2015.

The group that has organized the race in the past says it is pulling the plug. But another organization says it is ready to step in.

The Detroit River Regatta Association (DRRA) announced this morning that the unlimited class of hydroplanes, the fastest and most powerful boats that reach speeds over 200 m.p.h., won't be on next summer's racing docket. That event will be replaced by the Festival of Speed, featuring slower hydroplanes and land-racing events.

"It's disappointing," DRRA event director Mark Weber said today, adding that "we cannot meet the financial burden" associated with the high-speed boat race.

The Gold Cup race attracted ten of thousands of spectators each year to Belle Isle and the Detroit River, although attendance has dwindled in recent years. Last year, the event drew up to 75,000 people; in its heyday in the 1950s, '60s and '70s, as many as a half-million spectators showed up to watch.

The H1 Unlimited sports league says it is ready to take over the Gold Cup and keep it in Detroit.

Steve David, H1 Unlimited Hydroplane chairman and former racer, is adamant.

"H1 is doing its best to conduct the Gold Cup in Detroit next year since word that the DRRA has dumped us," David said.

"We are looking at the the last weekend in June or the second weekend of July following the Madison (Ind.) race. Detroit is coming back strong and this is not a time to lose a signature race like the Gold Cup in the Motor City.

"We were somewhat surprised by the DRRA announcement. But we have too many good fans up in Detroit not to make this happen."

The race this year was held in mid-July. Weber said the newly named Festival of Speed event is scheduled for Aug. 21-23, 2015. It will include two slower types of hydroplane races, as well as SST Tunnel Boats and land-race events, such as motorcycles, ATVs and Pinewood derby.

"Ticket pricing should about be half, and there should be more to do on the water and twice as much racing," Weber said.

Unlimited hydroplane racing had been more than half of the event's budget, costing up to $275,000. The insurance was more than three times as expensive as the other hydroplane races, and the associated sanctioning fees and permits also were more complicated, he said.

Weber said the Gold Cup -- considered the oldest active trophy in motor sports -- is sure to end up somewhere, but it could be outside of Michigan. He said it's not too late to bring it back, but for now, there just isn't enough money available.

The changes to the event, broadening the types of races, are anticipated to attract a broader demographic in 2015, he said.

"We have tremendous fans; we have very loyal fans," Weber said. "The problem is, those loyal fans cannot get us to where it needs to be financially."

The Festival of Speed is to feature displays of race cars, motorcycles and boats, as well as several events:

• The Zooomtown 500 will be waged on Michigan's longest, fastest Pinewood derby track. Kids from ages 6 to 60 can compete.

• Three classes of boats, competing for national and international titles, will race in at least 32 events spread over the course of the weekend.

General-admission tickets for the Festival of Speed will be $10-$20.

The first Gold Cup race was in 1904 and first held on the Detroit River in 1916. It has left Detroit before but has been contested on the river each year for the last two-plus decades.

The DRRA cited "a measurable weakness in sponsorship support and dwindling spectator interest" in making its "difficult decision" to point the event in a new direction.

The Roostertail Entertainment Complex, established in 1958 and named for the spraying arch that follows the high-speed boats during races, also has developed different priorities over the decades. Asked what he thought of the DRRA's announcement, owner Tom Schoenith replied: "There would be brides that would be happy there was no race."

He said August is the biggest month for weddings, and the Roostertail has changed since the 1970s from a restaurant and nightclub to host for private events.

Schoenith's father built the Roostertail to watch races, he said, as he owned a company that raced boats.

"We were literally just immersed in boat racing," Schoenith said. "It's got a big corner right where the big roostertail is (during races)."

Schoenith said his father, who owned an electrical company, would entertain his clients during Gold Cup race day, and he has continued the tradition. He said he understands the DRRA's decision and he hopes the change is successful.

The Detroit Sports Commission, a sports-tourism arm of the Detroit Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau, declined to comment on the matter today, a spokesman said in an email.

Officials at the Detroit Yacht Club, which previously has sponsored the Gold Cup, didn't immediately respond to requests for comment today.

Contact Robert Allen at rallen@freepress.com or @rallenMI. Assistant sports editor James Jahnke and Staff Writer Mike Brudenell contributed to this report.

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/motor/2014/11/28/detroit-river-hydroplanes-gold-cup/19609801/

[Serious News]

http://youtu.be/dByWIvKGQiU

[Serious News]

The Gold Cup is the top power boat racing prize in the United States. The first race in this prestigious series took place on the Hudson River in June, 1904. The Gold Cup is to power boat racing what the Super Bowl is to football, what the Kentucky Derby is to horse racing, what the World Series is to baseball, and what the Indianapolis 500 is to automobile racing. The Gold Cup is the top power boat racing prize in the United States.

The Gold Cup is the oldest active trophy in motor sports. The trophy was first awarded in 1904 as the APBA Challenge Cup.

Hydroplane racing became a tradition in Detroit when designer Christopher Columbus Smith (of the Chris-Craft boat company) built a Detroit-based boat that would crack the 60 miles-per-hour speed barrier, capturing the Gold Cup in 1915. The first major race to be run on the Detroit River was the 1916 APBA Gold Cup. The community-owned MISS DETROIT won the Gold Cup in 1915 on Manhasset Bay, outside of New York City, and earned the right to defend it the following year on home waters. MISS DETROIT was a single-step hydroplane, equipped with a 250-horsepower Sterling engine.