The Seafair Cup (branded as the HomeStreet Bank Cup for sponsorship reasons, and formerly the Albert Lee Appliance 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 annually in late July and early August on Lake Washington in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...

. The race is the main attraction of the annual

Seafair Seafair is a summer festival in Seattle, Washington, that encompasses a wide variety of small neighborhood events leading up to several major citywide celebrations. While many small block parties and local parades occur under the auspices of S ...

festival. Seattle has hosted the Seafair Cup consecutively since 1951. The event was part of the

APBA Gold Cup The APBA Gold Cup (originally known simply as the Gold Cup, a speedboat race) is an American hydroplane boat race, named for the American Power Boat Association. It is now run as part of the H1 Unlimited H1 Unlimited is an American Unlimited ...

for the following years: 1951 to 1955, 1957 to 1959, 1962, 1965, 1967, 1974, 1981, and 1985.

History

Seattle's history of unlimited hydroplane racing dates back to July 1950, when it was announced that the

was leaving Detroit in favor of Seattle. Slo-mo-shun IV, owned by Stanley Sayres, won the Gold Cup race in Detroit that year. At that time, the Gold Cup was run at the home of the winner, so for 1951, the Gold Cup was coming to Seattle. The race was added to the Seafair festival. When the Gold Cup left Seattle for Detroit in 1955, local officials decided to hold a race of their own, and the Seafair Cup was born. The 1951 Seattle race was co-sponsored through 1960 by the Seattle Yacht Club. Greater Seattle, Inc. (later renamed Seafair, Inc.) became the sole sponsor of the race, starting in 1961. The Seafair Boat Club, which administers the Seattle race on Seafair's behalf, was organized in 1975. Lou Fageol won the very first Seattle race driving Stan Sayres' Slo-mo-shun V. The Emerald City has hosted the Unlimiteds every year from 1951 to 2019. In 2020 and 2021, the event was cancelled because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. The next unlimited hydroplane race in Seattle is planned for 2022.

Past Seattle Unlimited Hydroplane Winners

The following boats and drivers won in Seattle:

References

External links

Seafair Cup websiteH1 Unlimited website
{{H1 Unlimited Series Annual sporting events in the United States Culture of Seattle H1 Unlimited Motorboat races Recurring sporting events established in 1951 Sports competitions in Seattle