Saturday, August 09, 2014

Miss Madison - hydroplane

Miss Madison Hydroplane 2007
The team was started in 1960 when industrialist Samuel F. Dupont donated one of his hydroplanes to the town in 1961 to be run in the American Power Boat Association races. The town has run boat "U-6" in high-points unlimited hydroplane racing since 1961 (except in 2009 when they used "U-1", the National Champion of 2008) which makes them the longest-running team in the sport. Through 2008 the U-6 team has used only 7 different hulls, although number 6 was used for only one race in 1988 when the new 5th Miss Madison hull crashed at San Diego in 1988. The Miss Madison team leased the U-3 Risley's hull from owners Ed Cooper, Sr., and Ed Cooper, Jr., for the final race of the year in Las Vegas. The U-3 was officially the U-6 Miss Madison at this one event. The 2nd-to-last hull was built in 1988 by Ron Jones Marine in Seattle, Washington. The hull was first used as a piston-engined boat powered by a V-12 Allison aircraft engine. It was later redesigned for a Lycoming turbine engine, the same type of engine used in the Chinook helicopters. The current U-6 Miss Madison racing hull was built in 2007 for the Air National Guard H1 Unlimited Series.
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