Spokane Lands First Unlimited Hydroplane Team In 30 Years

After nearly a 30-year absence, Spokane will once again become home for an unlimited hydroplane race team.

In an agreement reached between long-time race boat campaigner Bob Fendler and Spokane driver Tom Hindley, Fendler will move his U-19 hydro operation to Spokane from its present base in Honolulu.

Hindley recently terminated his driving agreement with Seattle boat owner Fred Leland and will serve as driver and team manager of the U-19. Hindley leaves today for Hawaii to oversee arrangements for shipping the boat. It will arrive in Oakland, Calif., on a freighter in early June and then be trucked to Spokane.

The U-19’s initial appearance will come at the Tri Cities Columbia Cup on July 30th - its first race in the area in two seasons - and in Seattle the following weekend for Seafair. Races at San Diego on Sept. 17 and Honolulu on October 15th close the season. The team is also hopeful of conducting some testing sessions on Lake Coeur d’Alene this summer.

Moving the boat to the mainland will increase its ability to race. Being based in Hawaii has kept the U-19 off the schedule for much of the past few seasons. It last ran in the Pacific Northwest as the Taco Time/Coca Cola in 1993 with Jerry Hopp driving.

Fendler, the 1965 American Power Boat Association rookie of the year, also sees promise in his new driver.

“We’ve been watching Tom for some time and feel he’s an extremely talented driver,” Fendler said in a telephone interview from Hawaii.

Hindley was impressive in rookie qualifying last season and finished sixth in his first event a month ago in the controversial Phoenix regatta staged on tiny Firebird Lake.

The Ron Jones-designed hull has no race victories to date. The boat is unique in that it features a passenger seat behind the driver and has been used to take dignitaries and members of the press for rides.

Spokane has a colorful hydro tradition. The city was home to the community-owned Miss Spokane from 1958 to 1961 and later the Miss Eagle Electric in the mid-1960s.

The Miss Spokane was funded from community donations. The highlight of her racing career came when she nearly captured the 1961 Gold Cup on Pyramid Lake. With Rex Manchester driving, and in a commanding lead in the final heat, the boat hit a hole, flipped and sunk.

The Miss Spokane sat out the 1962 season and re-emerged in 1963 as the first Miss Eagle Electric

Spokane’s next fling with the unlimiteds came in 1968, when hardware store owner Dave Heerensperger campaigned the Eagle Electric.

That boat won two races and was in contention for a national title when it disintegrated while running in the Gold Cup on the Detroit River, killing driver Col. Warner Gardner.