1966 British Columbia Cup
Lake Okanagan, Kelowna, BC, Canada, July 17, 1966
Owner Rebuilding: A New Miss Budweiser Might Race in Kelowna
A new Miss Budweiser is being readied for the remainder of the 1966 unlimited hydroplane racing season.
Owner Bernie Little of Tampa announced this week the purchase of a new boat and said its first race will be the Gold Cup competition on the Detroit River, July 3.
Little's prior Miss Budweiser was one of three boats that crashed during two separate accidents in the President's Cup race in Washington, D.C. last Sunday.
Driver Don Wilson, piloting Miss Budweiser; Ron Musson in Miss Bardhal and Rex Manchester in Notre Dame were killed in the mishaps.
Little's new boat is a 32-footer of a new design. A crew of eight mechanics is working on the craft to get it ready for qualifying heats in Detroit.
Bill Brow of Seattle, Miss Budweiser's regular driver, will pilot the new boat. Brow missed the President's Cup because of injuries suffered in Tampa, June 12.
Roger Cottle, chairman of the Kelowna Boat Racing Association, says work is progressing smoothly as Kelowna prepares for the first-ever unlimited competition in western Canada . . . the $50,000 production is co-sponsored by the KBRA and B.C. Centennial Committee . . . the Centennial Committee contributed $20,000. Most of the boats will travel to Kelowna directly from the Gold Cup race.
The most important minute in an unlimited race is the 60 seconds, before the heat begins . . . the boats feature a running start, trying to hit the starting line at peak speed—160 m.p.h., or more.
On-course competitors are first given a five-minute warning and start jockeying for position. When the one-minute signal is given, they hope to be in the right position—and going all-out. Should a boat jump the gun, it must run an extra lap before being scored.
Spectators will be able to watch the races from either the 5,000-seat Regatta grandstand, or from lakefront beaches or Knox Mt., which overlooks the course the former department of highways ferry Lequime will serve as the official barge . . . services of the 200-foot craft were donated by Fred Walker of Vernon.
(Reprinted from the Kelowna Daily Courier, June 25, 1966)
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