TBT – The decade of the 60’s in unlimited hydroplane racing was one of the greatest decades as the second generation of modern hull design and power plant usage dominated the waters. In 1965, there was only a hand full of hulls still running there were from the 50’s. Unfortunately the 60’s also yielded the highest number of driver fatalities before safety features became a major concern and priority. Many boats during the mid-60’s were lost in the shadows of the mighty Bardahl’s . Many boats were just plain lost, due to racing accidents. During this era, there were several hulls that came in quietly and went out quietly without much fanfare, one of those being the 1965 Staudacher designed and built U-80 Blue Chip (2). In 1965, there were 10 Staudacher built hulls racing and 5 of those hulls were in the top 7 in high points but the Blue Chip (2) was near the bottom, finishing 15th out of 19 hulls that collected points. Could it have been the quality of competition, the equipment, hull design or the lack of racing funds that kept this hull from being a top runner? It certainly wasn’t the driver. “Fearless Freddy” Alter was already a ten year unlimited hydro veteran when he climbed into the seat of the new Chip. The hull was off to a bad start with zero points going into the sixth race of the season but Alter’s luck started to change with a victory in heat 2A at Detroit. Alter went on to a 5th place finish and then followed it up with a 7th place finish at the Governor’s Cup in Madison. Alter would eventually purchase the Chip and then change the name and number to the U-8 Miss Dixi-Cola for the 1966 season. Her first race of the year was the President’s Cup (Black Sunday) where she would finish 12th overall. Even though the Cola boat finished last, Driver Fred Alter would finish first in pure class that day as he helped the teams who lost boats and drivers and would console the friends and family members of those who were taken from them on that tragic day. The 4 time regatta winner would come the closest to winning the big one by placing 2nd at the 1966 APBA Gold Cup, again marred by yet another fatality, the fourth in two short weeks. The hull would sit out the next 3 races and then re-appear in Seattle for a strong 4th place finish followed by a 6th place the next weekend at the Diamond Cup in Coeur D’Alene. Alter and the Dixi-Cola would stay out west and run the final two races of the season with mediocre finishes and the hull would end up finishing 9th in high points when all was said and done. Fearless Fred would go on to race another 9 years before he retired from competitive racing but the Blue Chip (2)/Dixi Cola hull would disappear at the end of the ’66 season and not be heard from again and the whereabouts unknown to myself. This hull was an erratic lemon in its short two year racing career, however its one so-called “claim to fame” would come in late 1966. In an attempt to lift the transom for improved stabilization, the Dixi-Cola would be the first boat to install a horizontal wing on the tail fin. The mini-wing would not work very well for this hull design but the seed was planted and over the next 7 years the idea would be tried and modified upon to eventually change boat racing forever. The first truly successful design came on the 1973 Pay‘n Pak, simply known and the “winged wonder”. It debuted in Miami that year and dominated the competition with a clean sweep 3 heat victory. The winged Pak went on to become one of the most famous hulls in hydroplane history.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 04:03:31 +0000
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