Nov 26, 2025
Nov 19, 2025
The Fastest Boats in the World Pt. VIII - The Unusual Suspsects
- Richard Crowder
- 4 hours ago
- 6 min read
In Part 7 of this series, we examined some of the boat models we are all familiar with, namely RIBs (Rigid Bottom Inflatables), diesel-powered boats, Vee-bottom boats, and offshore-style catamarans. In this concluding Part 8 of the series, we will examine onshore racing boats which include some of the most spectacular and most-watched of all high speed boats and racing.
To begin where we left off, the equivalent to offshore catamarans for onshore racing would be tunnel hull racing. The elite of this class is F1 (Formula 1) currently promoted by H2O Racing. They are around 18 feet (5.5 m) in length, weigh around 1,000 pounds (454 kilos), and are powered by single 450 hp outboard motors. Races feature a Le Mans-style start and the race to the first turn pin is breathtaking. These boats can accelerate faster from a dead stop to 100 mph (161 km/h) than a F1 race car and have a top speed of around 160 mph (250 km/h).
There are some eight APBA classifications of tunnel hull racing from the elite Formula 1 class through Modified Unlimited (Mod U), SST classes 120, 60, and 45 indicating the horsepower limit of the class, plus entry level Sport C and Sportsman GT Pro. With the design of the sponsons having an inner edge vertical to the water for grip during turns, tunnel hull boats are the fastest turning of all race boats. The G-forces created can reach 5 or 6 Gs upon the driver in a fast turn. Tunnel hull racing is a great way to start if you have an inkling and there are many classes from relatively inexpensive beginner up to F1. The multi-turn closed-course races make for great spectator action, too.
If you have been following The Fastest Boats in the World series, you are probably wondering when I am going to talk about what is perhaps the most exciting and spectacular boat racing – Unlimited Hydroplanes. Maybe it’s saving the best for last.
In Part 3 of this series, we left three-point hydroplane world record speed holders in the 1950s with Gold Cup and Harmsworth Trophy winners like Gar Wood, Harry Greening, Harold and Lorna Wilson, and the Thompson’s in their Miss Supertest boats. In 1946, Guy Lombardo, the bandleader of the famous Royal Canadians, won the Gold Cup in his three-point hydroplane Tempo VI powered by a 1,300 hp Allison V12 aircraft engine.
In 1946, Lombardo set a world water speed record for Gold Cup Class boats of 113 mph (182 km/h). He won a total of 15 Gold Cup Unlimited or Class victories between 1946 and 1953. In 1955, the brand new 29-foot (9 m) Staudacher-designed Tempo VII was almost unbeatable in Unlimited Class Gold Cup racing. In 1963, on a movie shoot, Lombardo took a spectator named Bernie Little for a ride in his four-seater three-point hydroplane. Little loved it and bought it on the spot.
Shortly thereafter, Bernie Little took August Busch III of Anheuser-Busch for a ride and the boat became the first Miss Budweiser, creating mainstream appeal and dominating unlimited hydroplane racing for decades. Bernie Little even became one of Florida’s largest Anheuser-Busch distributors and a major promoter of boat racing. He is credited as a major influence in Unlimited Hydroplane racing for both the television coverage he brought to the sport, and for several safety enhancements he developed. His teams won 22 National Championships and 14 Gold Cups.
Following Guy Lombardo’s Gold Cup win in Tempo VI, boat names such as Miss Pepsi, Gale V, and especially Miss Bardahl dominated until 1968. Then Miss Budweiser, with its Rolls-Royce Merlin (and later Griffon) piston engine, took the crown in 1969 for the next two years. It won again in 1985 which it shared mostly with Pay ‘n Pak and Allied Van Lines. Then, in 1986, having switched power to a Lycoming T55 turbine, as did all other Unlimited Hydroplane contenders, Miss Budweiser won almost every single year through until 2004. Following the death of Bernie Little, the Miss Budweiser name retired from racing.
During this time, driver names like Lee Schoenith, Bill Muncey, Dean Chenoweth, Chip Hanauer, and Dave Villwock rolled off the tongues of boat racing afficionados thanks to the publicity generated by this thrilling and spectator-friendly form of boat racing. Modern Unlimited Hydroplanes are powered by a single 3,000 horsepower Lycoming T-55 L-7C turbine engine producing top speeds in the range of 200 mph (322 km/h).
The world record speed for a three-point Unlimited Hydroplane was set by Dave Villwock in Miss Budweiser at 220.5 mph (355 km/h). Pleasure boat manufacturer Thunderbird Formula sponsored an Unlimited Hydroplane race boat for a number of years and its MissFormulaBoats.com II won the 2006 National Championship. Part of the excitement of Unlimited Hydroplane racing, perhaps more so than any other class, was its natural affinity to being televised where teams and drivers could become nationally recognized. Races have been televised nationally since 1956.
To wrap up this series, we would be remiss if we neglected some of speed records of some of the boats that we normally might not consider in such a discussion.
In 2006, the UIM recognized a world speed record for a steam-powered boat on Lake Coniston in England at 17 mph (28 km/h). The boat was named Passing Wind. Another unusual world speed record is that of Brad Rowland with the fastest pontoon boat at 114 mph (183 km/h) set in 2010 at the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout. Rowland was driving a South Bay 925 CR, 27-foot (8.2 m) tri-toon named Tooned In powered by triple Mercury Pro Max 300X outboard motors.
A popular but very limited production fun boat in the 1980’s was the MerCub Formula IV Cougar-built stepped hull catamaran powered by a 25-horsepower Mercury outboard. The UIM reports the world speed record was set in 1985 in Florida at a blistering 34 mph (55 km/h). I can personally attest to the fun of a MerCub as was some years later I was attending a Mercury Marine Dealer Meeting representing a high-performance boating magazine at Disney World. I was challenged to a race by the Senior Editor of the (then) best performance boating publication in one of several 15-hp powered MerCubs on hand for the meeting. We had a blast on a short course but he thoroughly beat me at speeds probably no more than 20 mph tops!
The world’s fastest luxury yacht is claimed to be the Bolide 80 at 88 mph (141 km/h). Bolide is 80 feet long (24 m), designed by Victory of World Offshore Champion Spirit of Qatar fame, and powered by triple MAN diesels totalling 6,000-horsepower through triple surface piercing T-Drive propellers. In the superyacht category, the 140-foot (42.5 m) The World Is Not Enough claims to be the fastest at 81 mph (130 km/h) powered by hybrid twin 18-cylinder diesel engines and twin turbine power totalling some 20,000 horsepower.
The military, and specifically the Navy, utilizes fast boats for certain purposes. The Swedish company Saab lays claim to the world’s fastest assault combat boat, the 52-foot (16 m) CB-90. Powered by twin Scania 900 hp diesels feeding a pair of KaMeWa waterjets, it achieved 52 mph (84 km/h) in 1991 with 18 fully equipped and outfitted combat troops aboard. Its waterjets allow it to come to a full stop from top speed in only 2.5 boat lengths.
Finally, and still in the naval category, the unofficial world’s fastest warship is unquestionably the 164-foot (50 m) Canadian FHE 400 Bras d’Or Fast hydrofoil powered by a Pratt & Whitney 25,500 hp turbine through twin propellers in hydrofoil configuration. Testing in 1969 produced an incredible top speed of 70 mph (120 km/h). The hydrofoil program was scrapped but the ship itself was saved and donated to the Musée Maritime du Quebec at L’Islet-sur-Mer, Quebec. There you can still get a full tour of this amazing piece of Canadian ingenuity.
I hope you enjoyed reading this series as much as I enjoyed researching and writing it. It is somewhat amazing to me that the official record for the world’s fastest boat was set almost 50 years ago by Australian Ken Warby in his home-made jet-powered hydroplane Spirit of Australia at 317.59 mph (511.11 km/h). Speed on the water is fine and fun, but know your own capabilities and limits, know the boat’s capabilities and limits, be safe and respectful, and leave the record-setting to the experts. Thanks for reading. #culture
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