2007 Silverdale Thunder

In 2007 at Silver Thunder in Silverdale WA the “All Black All The Time” UL-929 owned and driven by Vince “The X-Man” Xaudaro suffered a crushing blow. In the final heat the hydroplane launched off a roller in turn 2 of the first lap and literally stuffed the nose re-entering the water.Both sponsons disintegrated on contact and were ripped off the hull.The “X-Man” was not seriously injured and returned  from the hospital shortly to supervise the Poulsbo PC and Technology Presents Fife RV UL-929’s salvage effort.

The operation went as well as could be expected and the damaged but not destroyed hydroplane returned to its Renton, WA home shop. With the racing bug still fresh Vince worked out an operating agreement with UL-21 new owners Jim and Karon Wilmot  to race their boat for the 2008 ULHRA season.  The “black UL-929” was mothballed and the UL-21 became the “red and black UL-929”. The hydroplane had  a challenging year and finished a modest tenth place for the 2008 ULHRA season. It was a lot of work and hundreds of man hours were spent  making the races. All along Vince has desired to put the “Black Boat” back together again. We’re excited to get this project started and look forward to the future with  Jim and Karon Wilmot as well as Smokin‘ Joe. Look here for continued progress reports on the rebuild.