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Home Page for Tethered Hydroplane Racing
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REGATTA DATES 2024
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April |
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Aug |
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13th |
Hall Farm Lake Maldon |
4th |
Kingsbury Water Park |
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10th |
Hall Farm Lake Maldon |
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27th |
Hall Farm Lake Maldon |
12th-18th |
World Championships, Bulgaria TBC |
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24th |
Kingsbury Water Park MPBA 100th Anniversary |
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May |
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25th |
International Regatta at Kingsbury Water Park |
| 11th | Hall Farm Lake Maldon | 31st | Hall Farm Lake Maldon |
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25th |
Hall Farm Lake Maldon |
Sept |
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8th |
Kingsbury Water Park Midland & Northern Area Ch |
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June |
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14th |
Hall Farm Lake Maldon |
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2nd |
Kingsbury Water Park Start time 10.30 all meetings |
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28th |
Hall Farm Lake Maldon |
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15th |
Hall Farm Lake Maldon |
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October |
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July |
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6th |
Kingsbury Water Park |
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6th |
Hall Farm Lake Maldon |
19th |
Hall Farm Lake Maldon |
| 14th | Kingsbury Water Park 'Grand Regatta' |
Hall Farm Lake Maldon off A414 CM9 6SN. All Hall Farm dates are Saturdays
Contact Details
Norman Lara Tel 07956423410 Steve Poyser 07771640132
Season's bridle colours for 2024 are Blue and yellow.
All boats must carry correct registration numbers. All waterscrew boats must be silenced to meet current MPBA noise limits.
What, Who and Where?
What is tethered hydroplane racing
Modern tethered hydroplane racing offers competitors a variety of classes and options with which to pit their skills against the clock. The tethered hydroplane is a purpose built model, designed expressly for high speed on water using either an immersed propeller or airscrew. Boats are connected via a pair of wire bridles and a line of set length to a rotating pylon. This will give a circular lap of known length, usually 100 yards or 100 metres. There is no steering or any other means of control. The boat, be it a flash steamer, sport or vintage, powered by a large capacity home-built engine, a high performance commercial two-stroke, or even an electric motor is connected to the line and the engine started with a cord round the fly-wheel.
When satisfied that the engine is producing maximum power, the competitor launches the boat, aided by a rubber bungee. The timed laps are signalled by the competitor when happy that the boat is at its fastest. The elapsed time for the required number of laps is translated into speed and the head scratching starts over adjustments needed to achieve an even faster run next time. This is the quest that has continued to challenge participants in this fascinating sport of tethered hydroplane racing for over 100 years.
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| Attaching boat to the cable | Launching | Boat running on the pylon |
Information Sources
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Tethered Hydroplane Contacts |
Current Classes
& Records NAVIGA & National Classes Waterscrew & Airscrew |
Hydroplane Related Links Companies, organisations and individuals providing items and services |
Racing Related Articles
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A3 Tethered Hydroplane Performance and Building information Roger James |
Airscrew Hydroplanes History and current models Mike Drinkwater |
Resources Magazines and books relating to tethered hydroplanes |
Venues
| Kingsbury Water Park | Staffordshire | Country Park off Bodymoor Heath Road Tamworth. Parking charges apply, card only. Park and walk to lake gps 52.561078,-1.700027 SatNav B76 0DY |
| Hall Farm Lake | Maldon Essex | Private Lake off A414 Maldon-Chelmsford.
Park and walk to lakeside SatNav CM9 6SN |
MPBA affiliated clubs with active hydroplane members
| Model Hydroplane Club | National | Formed in the 1970s to promote the
building and racing of tethered hydroplanes countrywide. Currently
running regular regattas at Hall Farm Lake nr Maldon in Essex Contact Angela Gullick email abhydroclub@gmail.com |
| Retro Racing Club | National | The Retro Club was set up in 1996, primarily to cater for the vintage interest and incorporated the Rushden Club. Contact: Peter Hill. email arty.pole@gmail.com |
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North East |
The club celebrates its centenary
in 2010 and while not being able to run hydroplanes at their lake, still has
members who
compete regularly. Contact: heatonmodelboats@aol.com |
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| South Shields | North East | Home club of Bob Kirtley, one of the world's leading exponents of high speed flash steam tethered hydroplanes. Contact: Robert Kirtley 2, Datchet Road, Whitley Bay NE25 9UR |
| Kingsbury | Midlands | Formed in 1975 to
take advantage of the newly opened water park. Members from other local clubs
starting running hydroplanes in 1990. High profile
members, include Arthur Wall and John DeMott. Contact: John DeMott, Peckleton Rd, Kirkby Mallory, LE9 7QH |
| Victoria | London E | Founded in 1904, The Victoria model Steamboat Club is one of the oldest in the country. A wealth of tethered hydroplane experience exists amongst the members, including current outright hydroplane record holder, Norman Lara and double record holder Ron Hankins. |
Club contacts and web addresses correct as at 1/01/2024
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