August 17, 2010 in City

Hydroplanes return to Lake CdA for weekend museum fundraiser

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The U-21 cruises Lake Coeur d’Alene on July 20, 1962. Hydroplane races were held on the lake from 1958 to 1968.
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For the first time in more than 40 years, hydroplanes capable of speeds up to 175 miles per hour will zoom around Lake Coeur d’Alene this weekend.

But they will not race, as they did in the 1950s and 1960s, drawing some of the biggest crowds ever seen at an Idaho sporting event, but also generating controversy due to unruly spectators.

The vintage boats are coming to Coeur d’Alene, complete with drivers and pit crews, from the Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum in Kent. They’ll be here for the Diamond Cup Regatta, a fundraiser for the Museum of North Idaho. The weekend of events will include a display of the boats outside The Coeur d’Alene Resort on Friday afternoon, a Saturday night banquet and rides on Sunday for 12 lucky people.

A dozen rides in the historic boats will be auctioned and raffled off at Saturday night’s banquet and delivered on Sunday afternoon in the middle of the lake, just off the North Idaho College beach. Raffle tickets are being sold for $10 each at several North Idaho businesses.

Event organizer Doug Miller said the speeds the boats reach will depend on water conditions and the passengers’ nerves. The boats’ cockpits will be modified to fit two people, with the passenger sitting beside the driver, three feet behind the roaring V-12 engine. The boats that will be in Coeur d’Alene this weekend are the 1968 Miss Budweiser, 1960 Miss Thriftway, 1962 Miss Bardahl and the 1957 Miss Wahoo.

In addition, Mira “The Flying Czech” Slovak, of San Diego, will deliver a keynote address at Saturday’s banquet. Slovak was driving the Miss Exide during the 1963 Diamond Cup when it crashed. Now 80, Slovak also won the Diamond Cup in 1966 in Harrah’s Tahoe Miss.

This will be the first fundraiser for the museum, which is launching an effort to raise $8 million for a new building, said Director Dorothy Dahlgren. An agreement with the city calls for a new museum to be built one day at the corner of Northwest Boulevard and Government Way, next to Memorial Field, she said.

Miller approached the museum about a year ago with the idea of a fundraiser related to hydroplane history, Dahlgren said. “We thought it was great that somebody in the community wanted to help the museum out and help promote history in the region,” she said. “There’s a lot of people still living who were involved in the races and have very fond memories of them.”

The races also drew controversy. They were held on Lake Coeur d’Alene from 1958 to 1968, attracting thousands of people and delivering the city’s first national television exposure, according to an exhibit at the museum. The late Roger Hudson, whose family has owned Hudson’s Hamburgers in downtown Coeur d’Alene for more than 100 years, is quoted in the exhibit remembering the noise the boats made when six of them pulled up to the starting line together.

“The reverberation of noise off Tubbs Hill was unforgettable,” Hudson said.

The boats and their pit crews were staged where the Third Street boat launch is today and spectators perched atop Tubbs Hill to watch. The racing ended after Saturday night crowds became unruly and citizens complained about the police and fire protection needed, along with the noise and litter, the exhibit says.

An effort to bring the hydroplane races back in 1985 resulted in an advisory vote to the City Council in which the idea was shot down by a 3-to-1 margin. The idea resurfaced in 1995-’96 and resulted in a ballot initiative banning unlimited hydroplane racing on the lake.

Dahlgren said, however, that the races also represent a part of the city’s history that many people remember fondly. “We felt the community would support hydroplanes in this venue as a historic part of Coeur d’Alene,” Dahlgren said. “We’re not proposing races.”

Miller agreed, saying he was part of the group in the mid-’90s that rejuvenated the idea of having races on the lake. “Lesson learned,” he said. “That’s not in the offerings or in the cards at all.”

Still, he’d like the boat display to become an annual event.

“It is an opportunity to see something that at one time was extremely popular,” said Miller, whose father worked on pit crews during the races in the ’50s and ’60s, when Miller was a boy. “The boats were one of the main sporting events for the country.”

Four comments on this story so far. Add yours!

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  Wellcraft270 on August 17 at 8:14 a.m.

  What a great opportunity to raise funds for the community and help revive some of the heritage of Coeur d’Alene history. I agree that an annual event would provide excitement and financial impact the local economy.

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  oneanddone on August 17 at 2:44 p.m.

  This is just a transparent, slimy attempt to thwart the decision made by residents to outlaw these boats on Lake Cda. It’s another move by Hagadone Inc to show locals that it’s his city and he and his cronies will run it any way they want. Dahlgren, an obvious minion, seems to think that people remember the noise and chaos “fondly”. I’m guessing she wasn’t even here then. And if Miller remembers these boats as “extremely popular”, why did the vast majority of residents vote to outlaw them. If the Cda city council had ANY guts they would prevent this event from happening. Whoops - guess what - Hagadone’s buddies own that organization too.

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  last901 on August 24 at 5:59 p.m.

  As I remember, the appearance of the old hydroplanes was meant to be a fund raiser for a museum. I agree with the Bradys’ comment above. I don’t know Mr Miller so can’t vouch for his intents of bringing back the Diamond Cup Races, but I seriously doubt if that’s going to happen. Personally speaking.

  So if the event, perhaps in concert with the Wooden Boat Festival - as I suspect it was - didn’t raise money for the museum, that’s something that will need to be discussed, but one event does not a trend make. The concept seems ideal for that beautiful lake and the community.

  Let’s deal with facts and data here, people, not emotions - though it’s difficult for me not to be emotional when I hear the sound of a Rolls Royce Merlin or an Allison V-12 at full song… but I digress.

  I sort of like the idea of some attraction in Idaho besides Neo-Nazi hideouts, potatoes, and Dave Smith Motors.

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  thunderboatfan on May 04 at 3:48 a.m.

  I would like to respond to the comments made by “oneanddone” regarding the Diamond Cup Hydroplane Races.
  I was born and raised in CDA and I do remember the Hydro Races as fondly as days on the beach and playing little league baseball as a kid. Both my parents were from large families so I have many aunts, uncles and cousins. Nealy all of them would love to see the races here again.
  I have lived many different places since then and visited Tri-Cities and Seattle for the races several times. I now live in Spokane but I recall waking up as a child to the sound of time trials on the lake the week of the event. I would jump on my bike and race down to the pit area and Tubbs Hill to watch. Do you remember that or is it that you “were not even here then.”
  As for the Hagadone family, I have never been a fan. However, regarding your comments on the unpopularity of the races and that the vast majority of residents voted against them, all I can say is the majority of residents in the CDA area now, did not live here 50 years ago and know nothing of the boat races. A floating green is more their speed I suppose.
  One more point I’d like to make is the vote to actually outlaw the races was in the 90’s and again most of those voters did not know much about the races. If you never liked the races much, I can understand a lack of interest. To make it illegal to ever have them again seems ridiculous. Should we not outlaw boating and skiing for the noise and chaos? Or maybe swimming, splashing and fun on the beach because those children really do make a lot of noise.