Miss Madison is an H1 Unlimited hydroplane. It is the only community-owned unlimited hydroplane in the world. It is based out of Madison, Indiana, a small town of 12,000 residents on the Ohio River which annually hosts the Madison Regatta. The story of the boat and city are the subject of the 2001 film Madison.
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The team was first started in 1960 when industrialist Samuel F. Dupont donated one of his hydroplanes to the town in 1961 to be run as part of the American Power Boat Association. The town has run boat "U-6" in high points unlimited hydroplane racing since 1961, except in 2009 when they used "U-1" (National Champion of 2008), which makes them the longest running team in the sport. Through 2008 the U-6 team has used only 7 different hulls although number 6 was only used for one race in 1988 when the new 5th Miss Madison hull crashed at San Diego in 1988, the Miss Madison team leased the U-3 Risley's hull from owners Ed Cooper, Sr., and Ed Cooper, Jr., for the final race of the year in Las Vegas. The U-3 was officially the U-6 Miss Madison at this one event. The 2nd to last hull was built in 1988 by Ron Jones Marine in Seattle, Washington. The hull was first used as a piston engined boat powered by a V-12 Allison aircraft engine. It was later redesigned for a Lycoming turbine engine, the same type of engines found in the Chinook helicopters. The current U-1 National Champion Miss Madison racing hull was built in 2007 for the Air National Guard H1 Unlimited Series.
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The Miss Madison had only a handful of wins in its history prior to joining the H-1 Unlimited series. The biggest occurred in 2008, 2009 and 2010, when she won the National High Point Championship for the racing season. The single biggest individual victory occurred in 1971, when the Gold Cup (the World Series of hydroplane racing) was held in Madison for the first time. U-6 went on to win the Atomic Cup in Tri-Cities, Washington, that same year, and finished second nationally in overall points for the 1971 season.
Other major victories occurred when she won in 2001 and 2010 in Madison for the home town fans. Miss Madison has won in Guntersville, Alabama in 1965, Lake Ozark, Missouri in 1983, San Diego, California in 1993, Thunder on the Ohio in Evansville, Indiana in 2005, and the Columbia Cup in Tri-Cities, Washington in 2008 and 2009. Two wins in 2007 coming in Seattle at the Seafair Cup, and San Diego, California. However, Steve David, driving the boat since 2001, won the overall drivers points championship in both 2005 and 2006 in H1 Unlimited.
| Year | Driver |
|---|---|
| 2008 | Steve David |
| 2009 | Steve David |
| 2010 | Steve David |
| Year | Driver |
|---|---|
| 1971 | Jim McCormick |
As with any racing team, sponsors have been important to keep teams running. Miss Madison has had many title sponsors through the years. Many of them have been large companies. The boat, racing under the official number U-6, started out as just the Miss Madison and remained that way for a very long time. Sponsorships became a big part of the team after 1988 when the new hull was beginning its racing career. Miss Madison has been sponsored by Mazda, Holset, Kelloggs Frosted Flakes, Jasper Engines and Transmissions, and DeWalt Tools. The present sponsor is Oh Boy! Oberto Beef Jerky.
History of Miss Madison Sponsors Hamm's Beer 1975 Miss Lynnwood 1976 Armstrong's Machine 1977 Starvin Marvin 1977 Dr. Toyota 1980 Frank Kenney Toyota 1981-82 Miss Rich Food Plan Service 1982-83 American Speedy Printing 1984-85 The Ching Group 1985 Holset Miss Madison 1986-90 Holset Miss Mazda 1989-90 Kellogg's Tony the Tiger 1992 Kellogg's Frosted Flakes 1993-94 Miss Jasper Engines & Transmissions 1995 DeWalt Tools 1995-97 Powerball Miss Madison 1998 Oh Boy! Oberto 2000-present
Those who server as driver of the U-6 Miss Madison since 1961.
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