Vintage Race Boat Shop

  We maintain vintage wooden boats.

 

Wolfeboro Vintage Race Boat Regatta - 2009

September 16-19, 2009

Recap & Photos ???!!!

 

Many thanks to all the participants and the over 100 volunteers for making our 2009 Wolfeboro Vintage Race Boat Regatta our biggest and best yet. We have already started the planning process for our next regatta - mark your calendars for September 14-17, 2011 !!!

And special thanks to Ed Shield and Larry Lauterbach for giving all the charity rides in his new 2 seater Grand Prix hydroplane. I bought the first ride and got the thrill of a lifetime. Thanks also to Marv Hart for his many charity boat rides in his Miss Canadiana GP hydro. Thanks also to Tom D'Eath, Marv Heart and Dave Richardson for providing the superb commentary on the PA system. Stan Fitts and Brian Small were our Referees, watched over us and kept us safe.

 

Bill John - Regatta Chairman

 

Click here for photos by F. Peirce Williams

Click here for photos of our 2007 Regatta

The APBA Vintage & Historic Division LogoThe past came alive when the vintage race boats of bygone eras returned to Wolfeboro, NH for our 6th biannual Wolfeboro Vintage Race Boat Regatta. Wolfeboro is now a major stop on the APBA Vintage Race Boat Circuit, and this summer's regatta expanded to 4 full days, and included over 50 vintage race boats running demonstration laps on a 1 mile oval course on beautiful Wolfeboro Bay, moved a bit this year, to provide better spectator viewing from the Wolfeboro docks. This was our biggest and best Wolfeboro Vintage Race Boat Regatta yet, and as a special attraction, and to recreate the history of power boat racing on Wolfeboro Bay back in the 1920’s and 1930’s, the opening and closing ceremonies on Friday and Saturday featured a heat of vintage triple cockpit runabouts. We ran a tight schedule, with APBA safely inspections and registrations on Thursday, followed by running vintage heats every 20 minutes for 2 full days on Friday and Saturday. The crane and constant launching of the hydros provided for stunning visuals, and the Wolfeboro public docks were of course open to the public to view the vintage race boats, and to watch all the action. It was an exciting event, the crowds were huge, the sights and sounds were just magnificent, and it only happens every two years ???!!!

 

Like vintage car racing, there are actually people out there who run their vintage race boats on APBA (American Power Boat Association) sanctioned race courses, and participate in a very active APBA Vintage Race Boat Circuit. These vintage regattas are run under the rules and regulations of the Vintage & Historic Division of the American Power Boat Association (APBA) and Tom Bertolini is our chairman. This is pretty serious stuff, complete with surveyed race courses, safety inspections, drivers meetings, crane launching and demonstration heats usually of 5 or 6 laps. We do have fun, but safety is our main concern, and our APBA Vintage & Historic Division has a great record of running safe events.

 

Again this year, our Wolfeboro vintage regatta was scheduled for the weekend after the Buffalo regatta, and as many of you know, our Wolfeboro vintage regatta is held every other year, alternating with the Clayton regatta, and we are becoming well known for our "flat water" and lots of water time. In fact, we run vintage heats every 20 minutes for two full days. So if you wanna see lots of vintage race boats running at speed, you just gotta come to Wolfeboro !!!


 Wolfeboro was an invitational event, open to legal APBA Vintage & Historic race boats and we ran large heats of all vintage classes, including outboards, small hydros, mid hydros, large hydros, Jersey speed Skiffs, flatbottoms, gold cupper speedsters, and large triple cockpit runabouts.

 

The fun started on Wednesday afternoon, when the participants started to arrive for registration and a cruise on beautiful Lake Winnipesaukee, with our magnificent triple cockpit runabouts followed by a reception at our NH Boat Museum. This was a special treat for all of our early arrivers !!!

         

         

         

         

         

       

 

On Wednesday evening, the New Hampshire Boat Museum hosted a reception at the museum.

 

         

         

         

         

         

         

   

Again this year, on Thursday we hosted a welcoming reception/tent party at the Wolfetrap for all participants and crews. Thursday was a full day of APBA safety inspections, registrations, boat rides, good friends and great food - a vintage gathering. Thursday was also a major media day, as the press and public were invited to photograph the beautiful vintage race boats and talk with the owners and crew. Many thanks to Shaun Berry, Roger Burgess and Donnie McLean for staging all the boats and to Gerri Prusko for handling registration. We had a full day on Thursday at the Wolfetrap, to prepare for two full days of vintage action at the Wolfeboro docks on Friday and Saturday !!!

         

         

         

         

         

         

On Thursday afternoon at 4 PM we moved the hydros from the Wolfetrap to the town docks where we setup the hydro hot pit area and moved the crane into position to pick all the boats.We made the move and setup in record time, thanks to the many hours of planning by our organizing committee.  All the participants cooperated nicely, we all had a good time, and all the beautiful vintage race boats were successfully moved without a scratch. Special thanks to Rick Kourian, Shaun Berry, Roger Burgess, Donnie McLean and all the volunteers for a job well done.

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

Then on Thursday evening, we howled at the Wolfetrap with a free BBQ for all regatta participants. We had a huge turnout, as this was a great celebration and gathering of our APBA vintage family at Wolfeboro, the last major regatta on our beloved APBA Vintage Race Boat Circuit. The BBQ provided by Barbara Naramore at the Wolfetrap was superb, we all had a great time ???!!!  

On early Friday morning it was time to setup the vintage race boats and get ready to run. The crane launched hydroplanes were setup on their trailers in the Hot Pits, and the skiffs, Gold Cups, speedsters and triple cockpit runabouts were staged in the water at the docks.  After the early morning gathering of the many volunteers and the Driver/Rider Meeting, at 9 AM we ran a heat of magnificent triple cockpit runabouts for our opening ceremonies followed by a heat of historic race boats.

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

       

 

Opening ceremonies with our magnificent triple cockpit runabouts & historic boats.

 

         

         

         

         

         

         

     

On Friday and Saturday we ran vintage heats all day long on our 1 mile course, moved a bit this year, to provide better spectator viewing from the Wolfeboro docks. There was a large contingent of vintage outboard racers, along with the many classes of vintage inboard hydros, Jersey Speed Skiffs, flatbottoms and Gold Cup race boats. The constant crane launching of the hydros provided for stunning visuals, and we had eight fire breathing Grand Prix Hydroplanes in the pits. The Wolfeboro Public docks were of course open to the public to view the vintage Gold Cup boats, Jersey Speed Skiffs, Speedsters and outboards, and to watch all the action close up. The sights and sounds from the Wolfeboro docks were just magnificent, it was an exciting event - and it only happens every two years !!!

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

Marv Hart was busy giving rides !!!

   

Bari Bryant - first hydro experience - loved it !!!

   

   

Carol Richardson - first hydro experience - loved it !!!

     

       

Lorraine DiMuzio - first hydro experience - loved it !!!

     

Bill John - first hydro experience - loved it !!!

       

       

       

Tony Coco - first hydro experience - loved it !!!

       

And the fun continued all day long.

         

         

         

         

       

Safety is the major concern at all APBA Vintage events, and Brian Small and his APBA Safety/Rescue Team were at at Wolfeboro again this year. Many thanks also to Stan Fitts, our APBA Referee and Donnie McLean, our APBA Drivers Rep.

 

 

Race Course.jpg (216349 bytes)

 

Click on this thumbnail to display our race course, on beautiful Wolfeboro Bay. This year we angled the course to provide better viewing for spectators.

 

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