H1 Unlimited Writer’s Panel Volume 4: 2023 Gold Cup
After 38 years, the APBA Gold Culp will be held in Seattle. What will the impact be for the race returning to the Greater Seattle area where most of the sport’s drivers and team call home?
Craig Fjarlie (Unlimited News Journal Writer & H1 Unlimited Volunteer)
The APBA Gold Cup has a long and special history that it retains to this day. When Seattle held the Gold Cup for the first time, in 1951, the city was often struggling to be recognized by the rest of the country as something other than a hick town “way out west.” There was the Boeing Company, but no high-tech industries and no professional sports teams. Racing for the Gold Cup gave the city something that provided the identity it desired.
Even now, many decades later, the Gold Cup has a hook that will draw people to the shores of Lake Washington. The Covid pandemic prevented Seattle from having a race for two years, so 2022 was an opportunity for Seafair to return as the organizer of Seattle’s largest and longest-running summer festival. The 2023 race for the Gold Cup is the appropriate next step as Seafair re-confirms its role in Seattle’s summer fun.
Jeff Morrow (Former Sports Editor of the Tri-City Herald)
Coming from the Tri-Cities, I’m used to seeing some teams make their season debut in Lampson Pits in late July. That’s fine by me. The more boats, the merrier. Those teams making their debuts are usually based out of Seattle. It’s about doing their best in front of their sponsors.
Greg O’Farrell confirmed to me last week that his U-21 team, with grandson Gunnar O’Farrell driving, will likely only race in Seattle in front of the home crowd. (A very close friend of Greg’s passed away recently, and her memorial service is on the main day of the Tri-Cities race).
The fact that the APBA Gold Cup hasn’t been in Seattle for decades will make the race even bigger. Expect everyone to come dressed in their Sunday best in early August.
Andy Muntz (Unlimited News Journal Editor & H1 Unlimited Board Member)
Having the sport’s most prestigious event in Seattle can’t help but be beneficial to H1 Unlimited. Yes, it’s the home to most of the race teams, the drivers, and the crew members. They will all want to win the biggest race in front of their family members and neighbors. But it’s also important because Seattle is by far the biggest media market in the sport. The Seattle/Tacoma market ranks as the 12th largest in the nation with more than 2.1 million TV homes. That is incredibly important to sponsors. So, the additional attention resulting from hosting the Gold Cup should prove beneficial to the sport in many different ways and help the sport grow in the long run.
Having the Gold Cup in Seattle also should bring back fond memories to many thousands of people who grew up in the Seattle area during the 1950s and ‘60s—when hydroplane racing was the biggest game in town. The exploits of Stan Sayres and his Slo-mo boats, then the likes of Miss Thriftway, Hawaii Kai, Wahoo, Bardahl, Bill Muncey, Mira Slovak, and Ron Musson created a strong tradition in the city that could perhaps be recaptured to some extent this summer.
David Newton (Publisher of Roostertail Talk Podcast)
The last time Seattle hosted the Gold Cup things were a little different in the sport. A majority of the boats were powered by piston powered engines (only 2 turbines were in the field that year), there was 1 boat that had an enclosed canopy in the field and I was 11 months old.
Seattle is in for a treat as they are hosting the Gold Cup for the first time in since 1985. There are many implications for this, Seattle will see the greatest race H1 has to offer for the oldest trophy in all motorsports. Since this is the Gold Cup, that means more racing and more action on the water. The Gold Cup always brings an extra flight of heats (4 sections of heats instead of the typical 3). Qualifying will become a boxing match on water as each team will be fighting for each tenth of a mile to get an advantage on the water. We could see another run for the qualifying record in the fuel restricted era.
Most H1 fans have asked for more boat time in Seattle as with the Blue Angels and other planes the air show tends to eat up a lot of the time during the middle of the day. This is exactly what the fans in Seattle have called for!
H1 Unlimited Writer’s Panel Volume 4: 2023 Gold Cup
After 38 years, the APBA Gold Culp will be held in Seattle. What will the impact be for the race returning to the Greater Seattle area where most of the sport’s drivers and team call home?
Craig Fjarlie (Unlimited News Journal Writer & H1 Unlimited Volunteer)
The APBA Gold Cup has a long and special history that it retains to this day. When Seattle held the Gold Cup for the first time, in 1951, the city was often struggling to be recognized by the rest of the country as something other than a hick town “way out west.” There was the Boeing Company, but no high-tech industries and no professional sports teams. Racing for the Gold Cup gave the city something that provided the identity it desired.
Even now, many decades later, the Gold Cup has a hook that will draw people to the shores of Lake Washington. The Covid pandemic prevented Seattle from having a race for two years, so 2022 was an opportunity for Seafair to return as the organizer of Seattle’s largest and longest-running summer festival. The 2023 race for the Gold Cup is the appropriate next step as Seafair re-confirms its role in Seattle’s summer fun.
Jeff Morrow (Former Sports Editor of the Tri-City Herald)
Coming from the Tri-Cities, I’m used to seeing some teams make their season debut in Lampson Pits in late July. That’s fine by me. The more boats, the merrier. Those teams making their debuts are usually based out of Seattle. It’s about doing their best in front of their sponsors.
Greg O’Farrell confirmed to me last week that his U-21 team, with grandson Gunnar O’Farrell driving, will likely only race in Seattle in front of the home crowd. (A very close friend of Greg’s passed away recently, and her memorial service is on the main day of the Tri-Cities race).
The fact that the APBA Gold Cup hasn’t been in Seattle for decades will make the race even bigger. Expect everyone to come dressed in their Sunday best in early August.
Andy Muntz (Unlimited News Journal Editor & H1 Unlimited Board Member)
Having the sport’s most prestigious event in Seattle can’t help but be beneficial to H1 Unlimited. Yes, it’s the home to most of the race teams, the drivers, and the crew members. They will all want to win the biggest race in front of their family members and neighbors. But it’s also important because Seattle is by far the biggest media market in the sport. The Seattle/Tacoma market ranks as the 12th largest in the nation with more than 2.1 million TV homes. That is incredibly important to sponsors. So, the additional attention resulting from hosting the Gold Cup should prove beneficial to the sport in many different ways and help the sport grow in the long run.
Having the Gold Cup in Seattle also should bring back fond memories to many thousands of people who grew up in the Seattle area during the 1950s and ‘60s—when hydroplane racing was the biggest game in town. The exploits of Stan Sayres and his Slo-mo boats, then the likes of Miss Thriftway, Hawaii Kai, Wahoo, Bardahl, Bill Muncey, Mira Slovak, and Ron Musson created a strong tradition in the city that could perhaps be recaptured to some extent this summer.
David Newton (Publisher of Roostertail Talk Podcast)
The last time Seattle hosted the Gold Cup things were a little different in the sport. A majority of the boats were powered by piston powered engines (only 2 turbines were in the field that year), there was 1 boat that had an enclosed canopy in the field and I was 11 months old.
Seattle is in for a treat as they are hosting the Gold Cup for the first time in since 1985. There are many implications for this, Seattle will see the greatest race H1 has to offer for the oldest trophy in all motorsports. Since this is the Gold Cup, that means more racing and more action on the water. The Gold Cup always brings an extra flight of heats (4 sections of heats instead of the typical 3). Qualifying will become a boxing match on water as each team will be fighting for each tenth of a mile to get an advantage on the water. We could see another run for the qualifying record in the fuel restricted era.
Most H1 fans have asked for more boat time in Seattle as with the Blue Angels and other planes the air show tends to eat up a lot of the time during the middle of the day. This is exactly what the fans in Seattle have called for!