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OT- Detroit cancels June Gold Cup for Unlimited Hydros
Race MAY be rescheduled for Aug/Sept..
Very sad day for boat racing in all classes. |
WTF? This is what got me interested in boating in the first place - any links?????
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sad to hear this
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We have seats in the RoosterTail turn every year- can't believe they would cancel them altogether?:eek:
Steve David- Can you give us any inside info on all of this? |
From the Powerboat website (not the magazine.===>
======== Email to Vintage and Historical group from Tom D"Eath: Dear Vintage Members that have been invited to Detroit: This is an announcement from the V & H category Chairman, the Detroit Gold Cup Regatta has been cancelled for it's original June 19-22nd date. The Detroit Gold Cup Regatta Committee is trying to reschedule the event for sometime in August or September. This is an official notice that there is no Vintage Gold Cup event for June in Detroit. I will keep you informed about an possibility of a new date. Jerry Schoenith however is going ahead with a Vintage event in Detroit on the same river at the same location and the date is July 11,12 and 13th. This event will be called the Detroit River Dream Cruise. Jerry tells me that at this point it is a 100% go. Please make your plans to attend Jerry's vintage event. Tom D'Eath Chairperson of the V & H Category |
It sounds like only the vintage event has been cancelled, not the Gold Cup itself....
Wonder if this would have happened if Bernie was still around. |
From a Detroit website mgr
To all, I have just been informed that the Detroit race will not be held in June. I don't have any other official news at this time, but I also hear the rumors about an August or September date. I don't think they're aiming for the Labor Day weekend though. I'll update thunderfest.com and send out an SFO newsletter in the next day or so. - Brian Reed - SODT Volunteer - Internet Chairman |
FWIW, I talked to a friend who has been a member of the Detroit Yacht Club for 20+ years (DYC is heavily involved in the Gold Cup races - it is located right on the course, and lots of the parties and whatnot are there). He tells me the rumor is that APBA(?) - whoever puts on the race, anyhow - has serious cash flow problems, and that is why the race has been cancelled. I asked if he thought it would be rescheduled - "Don't count on it."
Sad day, they've been racing on the river since 1904, and the Gold Cup has always been the jewel in the crown for hydroplane racing. Hopefully they can pull it together and get the race back on track... :( As always, this is what the rumor mill is saying, but I'm hearing the same story from a number of different sources. YMMV... |
Story in the Detroit Free Press today:
No money so hydros canceled May 2, 2003 BY ERIC SHARP FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER Beset by years of debt, the Detroit Gold Cup unlimited hydroplane race has been called off for June 22. The event might be rescheduled for Aug. 24 if financial details can be worked out with DaimlerChrysler, the title sponsor. A race official, who asked not to be identified, said the Spirit of Detroit organization that put on the four-day Thunderfest Weekend faced the same financial hole as last year, about $350,000 to $400,000. The official said the race committee simply ran out of time in its efforts to find sponsors who would pay off some of the debt so that the race could be held. The event, first held in 1904, is one of the oldest in motor sports. In recent years, it has brought 200-m.p.h., jet-turbine powered hydroplanes to race on the Detroit River's famed 2.5-mile course near Belle Isle. Last summer, race organizers received last-minute financial support from Chrysler, Ford, General Motors and several other Detroit area businesses, and the 700 race volunteers scrambled to pull off an event on about six weeks' notice. But most of that financial support was in the form of loan guarantees. The Spirit of Detroit group was unable to raise enough money to make a significant reduction in the debt or convince some of the creditors to accept smaller amounts. In fact, at least two of those creditors have filed suit to collect what they say they are owed. Hydro Prop Inc., the Florida firm that runs the unlimited circuit, has agreed to the Aug. 24 date if the race committee and Chrysler can work out a financial agreement next week. Phil Linsalata, who took over as the volunteer president of the race, said he would resign within a couple of days because the August date would conflict with races he was bringing to Wyandotte two weekends earlier. |
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