It's Speed Pride of Pay 'n Pak New Hydro Will Try for World Record Record Run Doesn't Pay Off

SPOKANE -- Tommy Fults, driving Dave Heerensperger's new, revolutionary unlimited hydroplane, Pride of Pay 'n Pak, will shoot for a mile straightaway speed record this spring on Lake Guntersville, Alabama.

1969 outrigger Pride of Pay 'n Pak. Click on the above image to enlarge.

See also the colour photo by Hank Koskiusko on the Unlimiteds Detroit website

The record is 200.419 miles an hour for a propeller-driven hydro. It was set on Lake Guntersville, April 7, 1962, by Roy Duby driving George Simon's Miss U.S. A new Miss U.S. presently is based in Seattle and driven by Bill Muncey.

The sanction period for the record attempts is May 19- 24.

The Spokane owner of the Pride of Pay 'n Pak, who has expanded his electrical-and-plumbing supply holdings to Denver and Seattle during the winter, plans to send the boat to Kawkawlin, Mich., for last-minute modifications and refinements by the builder, Les Staudacher, before the record runs in Alabama.

The new hydro, a replacement for Heerensperger's Miss Eagle Electric, was designed for straightaway-record attempts. The hydro, except for test runs this winter on the Columbia River in Tri-Cities, is untested, however, in competition.

"We're not going to Alabama simply to break the record," Heerensperger said. "We're determined to put the record out of reach for the next ten years."

(Reprinted from the Seattle Times, Sunday, Mar. 30, 1969)