The HAPO Columbia Cup is an

H1 Unlimited H1 Unlimited is an American Unlimited Hydroplane racing league that is sanctioned by the American Power Boat Association (APBA). Until 2009, the series was known as ABRA Unlimited Hydroplane, in turn renamed from APBA Unlimited Hydroplane in 2004. ...

hydroplane boat race held each July on the Columbia River in

Columbia Park Columbia Park or Columbia Avenue Grounds was a baseball park in Philadelphia. It was built in 1901 as the first home of the Philadelphia Athletics, who played there for eight seasons, including two games of the 1905 World Series. Columbia Park ...

Tri-Cities, Washington The Tri-Cities are three closely linked cities ( Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland) at the confluence of the Yakima, Snake, and Columbia Rivers in the Columbia Basin of Eastern Washington. The cities border one another, making the Tri-Cities se ...

. The race is the main attraction of the annual Water Follies festivities. With the exception of 2020, Tri-Cities has hosted a race consecutively since 1966.

History

The Columbia River towns of

Kennewick Kennewick () is a city in Benton County in the U.S. state of Washington. It is located along the southwest bank of the Columbia River, just southeast of the confluence of the Columbia and Yakima rivers and across from the confluence of the C ...

, Pasco, and Richland first climbed on the Unlimited bandwagon in 1966 with the first annual Tri-Cities Atomic Cup. There had been talk of inviting the Unlimiteds there as early as 1958. But 1966 was when it finally happened. Bill Brow was the winner that first year, driving Bernie Little's

Miss Budweiser The ''Miss Budweiser'' were 22 hydroplanes sponsored by Budweiser beer that raced in the unlimited class under the U-12 banner. They were owned (some were leased backups) by Bernie Little. Anheuser-Busch sponsorship began in 1963, thanks to the ...

. Driver

Dave Villwock Dave Villwock (born February 10, 1954) is a hydroplane driver, known best for racing Unlimited Hydroplanes. Villwock has the most victories in unlimited hydroplane history for a driver with 67. Villwock won ten National High Point Championshi ...

and the Miss Elam Plus team won the 2006 Columbia Cup under extraordinary circumstances. Their boat "blew over" during the running of preliminary Heat 2-A. They rebounded in time to win the next two heats and the overall championship. After the race at Detroit, the home of the annual Gold Cup race, was originally cancelled in 2015, the Gold Cup was moved to the Tri-Cities race, renaming the race to the Gold Cup for that year. When the Detroit race came back at the end of 2015 and into 2016, the Gold Cup returned to the city, and the Tri-Cities race returned to the "Columbia Cup" again. The race is run on a 2.5 mile oval course located in an area on the Columbia River referred to as the "McNary Pool.http://waterfollies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/2017-TCWF-Media-Guide.pdf "

List of Tri-Cities Unlimited Hydroplane Champions

References

External links

Columbia Cup websiteH1 Unlimited website
{{H1 Unlimited Series H1 Unlimited Racing motorboats Hydroplanes Motorboat racing Recurring sporting events established in 1966 1966 establishments in Washington (state) Sports in Washington (state)