Bill Osborne penned the article for Extreme Boats Magazine highlighting the U-37 team:
Extreme Boats Issue 4.8
Click the picture to read the entire article
(Courtesy HydroInsider.com & Extreme Boats Magazine)
By MICHAEL MCLAUGHLIN
P-I REPORTER
Mike Urban / P-I Jean Theoret, left, of the Miss Beacon Plumbing team, and Dave Villwock, of Miss Elam Plus, at the Ballard Locks.
Two of the most successful unlimited hydroplane camps rest inside the Seattle city limits, barely a mile apart as the crow flies. The U-16 Miss Elam Plus makes its home in Ballard, the Scandinavian capital of Washington, an appropriate home for patriarch Sven Ellstrom and his racing family.
Just south of the canal that connects Lake Union and Puget Sound lies the U-37 Miss Beacon Plumbing camp, run by owners Billy and Jane Schumacher and set up in Interbay. During the past two unlimited race seasons, Dave Villwock, driver of the U-16, and Jean Theoret, pilot of the U-37, each has won five races, more than any other drivers. The proximity of the camps, the familiarity of the principals and the teams’ success rates have helped to create a rivalry unlike any other on the unlimited circuit. So much so that the narrow waterway that separates Ballard and Interbay has become the hydroplane world’s version of the Mason-Dixon line.
Last year, U-16 owner Ellstrom playfully gave the U-37 team a rope and said if they really wanted to go faster, they should tie their hull to the back of the U-16. The Schumachers replied by giving Ellstrom a rearview mirror with a picture of the Ellstrom boat taped to it, explaining that was the view from the U-37 cockpit. Asked if there was a rivalry between the camps, Ellstrom downplayed it.” We don’t have a rivalry with anyone,” he said. “We want good competition and solid sportsmanship. In my opinion, there’s no animosity between teams. The atmosphere in the pits is competitive, friendly and full of sportsmanship.”
Really?
Continue Reading…
Eureka! Diver finds lost prop on the bottom of the Columbia River
Updated: July 20, 2007 04:54 PM
Bill Moore finds prop in Columbia
Persistence and the help of GPS technology played a critical role in helping a hydroplane crew find a piece of equipment that’s been missing for quite some time.
In 2004, the boat running as then U-8 Miss Llumar Window Film lost a prop in the deep waters of the Columbia River in the Tri-Cities. Besides losing the heat race, the crew lost something even more valuable. A propeller valued at between $10,000 and $15,000. And even worse, it was the best prop the team owned.
For more than two years, Bill Moore has been traveling back to the Tri-Cities and trying to find the prop. He’s made more than 12 diving attemps. He said this was the last one and if they didn’t have success, he was done. Guess what? He found it. Continue Reading…