TBT – This is a story about a hull that was for the most part outdated before it even hit the water. The year was 1972 and the hull was the U-6 Miss Madison III. It was the city of Madison’s first “new” hull, built by Gale Enterprises as a replica to the 1972 National Champion U-71 Atlas Van Lines. Muncey’s Atlas dominated the field that year winning 6 of the 7 races on the circuit so it was assumed that the new Miss Madison would step in and be an instant contender. The new hull was performing fairly well after two races and she even won a heat against the Miss Budweiser and the Lincoln Thrift in Owensboro, Kentucky. Unfortunately during a qualifying run at the ’72 Gold Cup in Detroit (her 3rd race) the Madison hit a wave and all but came apart, sending her to the bottom of the Detroit River. The engine was found first, separated from the violent crash then the splintered hull was found. She was badly damaged but not completely destroyed. The team madly scrambled to repair the hull for competition but sadly would miss the rest of the ’72 season. 1973 would prove to be a breakout year for unlimited hydroplane racing. The new Pak and the old Pak (now the Miss Budweiser) would be the boats to beat. The newer pickle forked hulls were 3 plus feet shorter and wider and were a lot faster through the corners, oh and also a thousand plus pounds lighter, turning all 3 of the Schoenith-Cantrell hulls into field fillers instead race winners. The oldest hull of the 3, the U-44 Pizza Pete/Gales Roostertail built in 1968 showed promising moments by placing third on several occasions but the Madison could muster no better than 5th. In 1974 many of the Allison powered boats would make a valiant attempt to stay competitive and changed to the “turbo charged” Allison package. It proved to be successful for the newer, lighter hulls but not so much for the heavier Schoenith-Cantrell hulls. Even Muncey’s mighty Atlas would change from the testy but powerful Merlin to the Turbo Allison but still could not find the winners circle. It was fairly evident at this point that this late 60’s style hull design was past it’s time regardless of the power plant. The Miss Madison III would be the last Schoenith-Cantrell hull ever built. The III would labor as a middle of the pack hull through the 1977 season, finally being replaced in 1978 by the very hull that made her obsolete 5 years previous. The ‘72 Madison hull would see six drivers in the cockpit during her 6 year career. Charlie Dunn, Tom Sheehy, Milner Irvin, Jerry Bangs, Jon Peddie and her most famous driver Ron Snyder, who made every hull he drove an exciting ride. Her last competitive event was the 1977 Jack-in-the-Box Regatta in San Diego as the U-6 Starvin Marvin where she back-doored her way to the podium with a 3rd place finish due to the fact that 4 other boats either had DNF’s or DNS’s in the final. After the ’77 season the hull would sit idle for several years until Bill Muncey’s untimely death in Oct of 1981. The hull would be brought out of storage and repainted as the Atlas Van Lines and would go on a national tour honoring the life of the greatest driver (in my humble opinion) to ever sit in the cockpit of a hydroplane. After the tour the hull would be all but forgotten. As a vintage hydroplane lover, it is always sad to see any hull, especially a hull with the pedigree as the Miss Madison be dis-guarded and pushed to a side of a barn or in field to rot or whatever her demise may have been. However she did re-appear in 2010 on e-bay for sale but was in pretty bad shape. My personal memories of this hull were limited because she never ran well in Seattle but what I do remember is that she was all-engine. It seemed that you almost needed to stand up in the cockpit to see over the massive Turbo Allison and as a fan of all the previous Madison hulls, I always silently cheered for her. Even though this hull never proved to be a true front runner, the city of Madison loved this hull, as they still do with every hull that proudly wears the community sponsored label. I had the privilege of attending the 2005 Indiana Governors cup in Madison as a co-driver of a 280 class vintage inboard. What a wonderful experience I had. The people there are some of the greatest hydroplane fans I have ever met. I hope we can all continue to support the future of unlimited racing in Madison and also bring racing back to Evansville so we never lose the rich traditions that have been forged on the famous Ohio River for the last half decade.
Posted on: Thu, 08 Jan 2015 05:25:39 +0000
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