Roostertails Unlimited:
[1973]
Glossary
- Air Trap
— An area between and behind the sponsons which traps the
air cushion on which the hydro rests at speed.
Allison — A standard Unlimited powerplant, used in American World War
II fighter aircraft.
APBA — The American Power Boat Association, the governing body of all
competitive hydroplane classes.
Apex of the turn — The route that a hydro driver tries to take through
the turn without adjusting direction.
Back-off point — The point where a driver lifts his foot off the
throttle in preparation for the turn.
Blower — Another name for a supercharger.
Bonus points — Given to the fastest boats in a race, a practice used
in the 50s and which has since been discarded.
Bow — The front of the boat.
Buoy line — The line made by the buoys when they are set in a row.
Cab-over — A hydro design where the driver sits in front of the engine
and which shifts the center of gravity toward the stern.
Checkered flag — Waved at the end of the heat to signify the boat has
finished.
Chevy Mercruiser — An engine tried in a hydroplane.
Choppy water — The best for hydro racing, small pointed waves.
Chrysler Hemi — The auto engine used in most auto powered hydros.
Chute — The straightaway.
Cockpit — The area where the driver sits in the hydro.
Contestants’ meeting — Usually held on Wednesday before the race, to
discuss rules and signals.
Contra-rotating props — Two props that rotate in opposite directions.
Conventional transom — Thick and narrow boat stern.
Course judge — He watches for rule violations on the course.
Cowling — The shell which surrounds the engine and the cockpit.
Crew chief — The head man in the pit crew.
Dead-in-the-water — When a boat comes to a stop on the course.
Dicing — The maneuvering before the start of the race.
Dove-tail — A type of tail fin, looks like no tail fin at all but uses
a small spoiler at the stern of the cowling.
Driver — The person who sits in a hydro and drives it.
Drivers’ meeting — Held the day before the race, discussions of
rules, etc.
Drivers’ Qualification Committee — A group that determines which
drivers are qualified to handle a hydroplane.
Driving suit — The garment the driver wears, made of fireproof
material.
Dry sponson — A sponson in which water cannot enter.
Dye-checking — Part of the safety precautions, the testing of the
props, rudders, etc. for signs of fatigue.
Exit pin — The last buoy in the turn, the beginning of the chute.
Fan plan — A type of race whereby the winner of the final heat is the
winner of the race.
Five-minute gun — Fired five minutes before the starting gun.
Flares — Set off when an emergency occurs and the race must be
stopped.
Fluke — The blade of the propeller.
Fork-lift — The bow where the sponsons extend beyond the hull on
either side.
Four-point design — The standard step hydro, in prominence before the
evolution of the three-point design.
Gold Cup — The Stanley Cup of unlimited hydroplanes.
Green flag — One lap to go before the finish.
Griffon — A model of Rolls-Royce engines used a little in hydros.
Groove — The route the boat takes through the turn.
Guns — Fired at five minutes before the start, one minute before the
start, at the start and at the finish.
Hallet drop sponsons — The deck of the sponsons are below the level of
the hull's deck.
Heat — One 6-lap event on a 2½-mile course or 5 laps on a 3-mile
course.
Hooker — He who uses another boat to time his start.
Horizontal stabilizer — The plane that lies across the top of the tail
which resembles the wing of an airplane.
Hull Balance — Very important. Determines the boat's ride.
Hydromaniac — One who lives, eats and sleeps hydroplanes.
Hydroplane — A boat that skims over the surface of the water.
Inboard sponson — The sponson that faces to the inside, left one.
Infield — That area around which the buoys are located.
Instrument panel — The plate where the dials and knobs are located for
use by the driver.
Jumped the gun — Passed across the starting line 30 seconds or less
before the starting gun fired. One lap penalty.
Kite — When the bow begins to rise into the air — dangerous.
Lap — One tour around the race course.
Laughing gas — Squirted into the engine for a quick burst of speed.
Life support decelerator — Helps to slow down the driver as he flies
through the air after being thrown from the boat.
Lifejacket — Worn by the drivers to let them float when thrown from
their boat.
Limiteds — Numerous classes of racing boats that are governed by
engine size.
Lizards — The affectionate name for girls who hang around in the hydro
pits.
Low profile transom — Wide and thin boat stern.
Merlin — A Rolls-Royce model engine used extensively in unlimiteds.
Messerschmitt — A German fighter plane engine tried in unlimiteds but
was unsuccessful.
National High Point Standings — The standard which determines the
national champion.
Nitrous Oxide or Nitrous — Laughing gas.
Non-trip — Lets the rear portion of the hydro slide sideways.
Non-trip chine — A beveled edge on the inboard sponson.
Nosing down — When the bow goes into the water.
Number one lane — Closest to the buoy line.
Official barge — The area where the referee and scorers work.
On the step — When the boat rises to sit on its plane.
One-minute gun — Fired one minute before the start of the race, all
boats must be on the course and running at this time.
One-point design — Tried by a designer in 1957 but did not work.
Packard — Engine tried in unlimiteds without success.
Pickle-fork — The same as the fork-lift bow basically.
Pit crew — Those men who work on the boat.
Pit pass — Allows the holder to enter the pits.
Pitching effect — The tendency to tilt sideways in a turn.
Pits — The area in which the boats rest when not racing.
Planing — Skimming on the water's surface.
Porpoise — When the boat rises and drops drastically, or bounces.
Promoter — The group that sponsors the race.
Prop — The device that propels the boat.
Prop pitch — The angle of the prop's flukes.
Propeller Magazine — The publication of the APBA.
Prop-riding — The prop is only halfway in the water.
Prop-torque — The effect of prop-riding, a constant left turn.
Qualification ladder — The order in which boats may make qualifying
attempts.
Qualify — Turn laps at 95 m.p.h. on a 2½-mile course or 100 m.p.h. on
a 3 mile course.
Quill shaft — A thin rod that connects the blower to the power unit,
the cause of many breakdowns in the past.
Race committee — The organization that operates the race.
Racing trim — As it is when it races.
Referee — The absolute authority on all matters concerning the rules
and running of the race, the APBA supervisor.
Rolls — Engines made by Rolls-Royce, usually means the Merlin.
Roostertail — The high plume of water behind a hydro at speed.
Rudder — The device that causes the boat to turn.
Safety belt — Not allowed in an unlimited hydroplane.
Sanction — The right to hold a race.
Sandbagging — Purposely going slow for one reason or another.
Shutdown — to decelerate.
Shutdown buoy — Same as the back-off point, usually.
Signals — Communication between the boat and the barge.
Skid fin — A blade that holds the boat through the apex of the turn.
Spilling air — Letting the air cushion go to get better control,
especially in the turn.
Spoiler — Any device that disrupts the flow of air.
Sponson — On each side of the hull toward the bow, the members that
resemble pontoons and on which the boat rides.
Sponsor — The business or person who helps pay for the boat's
campaign.
Stack — The exhaust pipe.
Stack fire — A fire on the exhaust pipes.
Standard bow — The rounded nose.
Starting clock — A black-out clock that tells the time before the
start of the race.
Starting gun — Fired at the beginning of the race.
Starting line — Opposite the official barge, where the boats start.
Steering wheel — Used by the driver to turn the boat.
Step hydro — Used many years ago, same as the four-point design.
Stern — The rear of the boat.
Sticky water — Smooth water which saps power from the engine and does
not allow enough air in the air trap.
Tail fin — At the stern of the boat to stop it from bouncing from side
to side.
Tandem-mount — Engines placed one in front of the other.
Tenders — Small boats that do various duties on the race course.
Three-point suspension — The basic design of hydros today, the boat
rides on three points.
Throttle — Causes the engine's speed to alter.
Thunderboat — A metaphor denoting Unlimited Hydroplanes.
Top speed — The fastest speed obtained on the chute.
Trailer — The device that carries the boat on land.
Transom — The flat surface of the stern.
Trim-tab — A spoiler located on the tail fin to offset prop-torque.
Turbine — A type of engine, roughly the same as a jet engine.
Turbo — Short for turbocharger.
Turbocharger — Performs the same job as a supercharger but uses power
from the exhaust.
Turn buoy — Where the driver begins his turn.
Unlimited — A class of hydroplane not limited in engine size.
Unlimited Racing Commission — The body that awards sanctions and
recommends rule changes for Unlimiteds.
Walk — When the boat hops from sponson to sponson.
Walk the stern — A slight turning of the boat before the rudder is
moved, in perparation for the corner.
Warm-up speed — The speed ideal for warming up the engine before the
race.
Washed down — When a boat is caught in another's roostertail and the
engine quits as a result.
Water condition — Whether the water is choppy, sticky or rough.
Waterline length — The distance between the tip of the bow to the tip
of the
Wet sponson — A sponson in which water is allowed to enter.
Wheel — A propeller.
White flag — Signifies the period between the one-minute gun and the
starting gun.
Yellow flag — Signifies the period between the five-minute gun and the
one-minute gun and when there is a hazardous condition on the race course.
(Reprinted from Roostertails Unlimited by Andy Muntz, 1973)
Hydroplane
History Home Page
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