100 Years of Thunder
UAW-GM sponsorship gives new life to the Spirit of Detroit HydroFest
BY STEVE WILKE
A nearly century-old Detroit tradition was just about dead in the water. Again.
American Power Boat Association racing had been a Detroit River tradition since 1916 — the year after the unlikely tag-team of Jack Beebe and John “Freckles” Milot piloted Miss Detroit to victory in upstate New York. More on that later.
In February 2015, the Detroit River Regatta Association was running yet another deficit and announced it couldn’t continue hosting the Gold Cup — an event that had been held exclusively in Detroit since 1990.
Why was that a big deal? Well, the Gold Cup is merely the oldest active motorsports trophy — first contested in 1904 on the Hudson River in New York. Compare that to spring chickens like the Daytona 500 (since 1959) or even the Indy 500 (1911).
At the race’s heyday, a half-million people would fill the grandstands, The Roostertail, the Detroit Yacht Club, city waterfront parks, and the beaches of Belle Isle.
Now the 2015 Gold Cup was gone — moved to Washington State’s Columbia River. And prospects of holding any hydroplane race in Detroit that year were sinking fast.
But the UAW-GM department’s multi-year partnership with the newly christened Detroit Riverfront Events Inc. — plus a group of 325 volunteers — would allow Detroit to at least host the 2015 UAW-GM Spirit of Detroit HydroFest.
At the time, H1 Unlimited chairman and Oh Boy! Oberto boat driver Steve David told reporters: “We owe it to our fans and the Motor City to do what we can to keep this great Detroit tradition going.”
And what a tradition it is.
100 Years of Thunder
UAW-GM sponsorship gives new life to the Spirit of Detroit HydroFest
BY STEVE WILKE
A nearly century-old Detroit tradition was just about dead in the water. Again.
American Power Boat Association racing had been a Detroit River tradition since 1916 — the year after the unlikely tag-team of Jack Beebe and John “Freckles” Milot piloted Miss Detroit to victory in upstate New York. More on that later.
In February 2015, the Detroit River Regatta Association was running yet another deficit and announced it couldn’t continue hosting the Gold Cup — an event that had been held exclusively in Detroit since 1990.
Why was that a big deal? Well, the Gold Cup is merely the oldest active motorsports trophy — first contested in 1904 on the Hudson River in New York. Compare that to spring chickens like the Daytona 500 (since 1959) or even the Indy 500 (1911).
At the race’s heyday, a half-million people would fill the grandstands, The Roostertail, the Detroit Yacht Club, city waterfront parks, and the beaches of Belle Isle.
Now the 2015 Gold Cup was gone — moved to Washington State’s Columbia River. And prospects of holding any hydroplane race in Detroit that year were sinking fast.
But the UAW-GM department’s multi-year partnership with the newly christened Detroit Riverfront Events Inc. — plus a group of 325 volunteers — would allow Detroit to at least host the 2015 UAW-GM Spirit of Detroit HydroFest.
At the time, H1 Unlimited chairman and Oh Boy! Oberto boat driver Steve David told reporters: “We owe it to our fans and the Motor City to do what we can to keep this great Detroit tradition going.”
And what a tradition it is.