| HIDROPLANE ABRA Unlimited Historian The years following the end of World War II saw a tremendous revival of interest in Unlimited Class hydroplane racing the world over. The United States of America was--and still is--the obvious leader and has garnered most of the publicity.
But the Thunderboat bug has bitten elsewhere as well. The Italians and especially the Australasians (Australia and New Zealand) have made their own unique contributions to 'Water Racing's Greatest Show.'
Achille Castoldi's SANT' AMBROGIO from Milan, Italy, generated a lot of excitement when it showed up at the 1948 APBA Gold Cup in Detroit. The most recent challenger from another continent had been Count Theo Rossi's ALAGI, also from Italy, which competed on the U.S. tour and won both the Gold Cup and the President's Cup in 1938.
Powered by a 12-cylinder Alfa-Romeo aircraft engine, SANT' AMBROGIO wasn't quite in the same league as the illustrious ALAGI. In competition, Castoldi's craft was totally outclassed. In the first heat of the Gold Cup, SANT' AMBROGIO ran ahead of only one other boat (the 7-Litre Class WILL-O-THE-WISP) and sank after three laps with a hole in the bottom, which was constructed of one-quarter inch plywood.
Castoldi tested a new SANT' AMBROGIO II the following year and reportedly exceeded 120 miles per hour in trials. The II won the 1949 Coppa dell'Alleanza on Lake Garda but did so against mediocre opposition and was never entered in United States competition.
Another Italian Unlimited hydroplane, Mario Verga's LAURA-3, surfaced briefly and tragically in 1954. Measuring 29 feet 10 inches by 8 feet 6 inches and weighing just barely a ton, LAURA-3 was a Timossi-built three-pointer, powered by twin supercharged Alfa-Romeo 750 cc engines set in tandem, which together developed 800 horsepower.
Verga was trying to exceed SLO-MO-SHUN IV's world straightaway record average of 178.497 (for two runs over a one-mile course) with a one-way clocking of 186.600 on Lake Islo. LAURA-3 leaped clear of the water, crashed violently, and sank, leaving only an oil slick. Verga was fatally injured.
|
