Hydro News

09/07/2025

𝐈𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬…

The 𝐆𝐏 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐞 is set for 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐚̂𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐞 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝, and the championship battle couldn’t be any closer!

🔹 𝐓𝐈𝐄𝐃 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝟏𝐒𝐓:
𝐆𝐏-𝟓𝟕𝟕 Ken Lupton & 𝐆𝐏-𝟕𝟗 Jeff Bernard

🔹 𝟒 𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐒 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊:
𝐆𝐏-𝟑𝟓 Brandon Kennedy

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝟑 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝟒 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬 heading into one of the most iconic events in the sport. One weekend. One winner. One champion.

📍 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲-𝐝𝐞-𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝, 𝐐𝐂
📆 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐝
🏁 𝐑𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝟑 – 𝐆𝐏 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐞

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬:
𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐥 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 | 𝐃𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐝 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐬 | 𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 | 𝐑𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐅𝐆

📺 𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐇𝐲𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐑𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐠𝐮𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐝!

09/07/2025

The Valleyfield Regatta is set to celebrate their 2025 Hall of Fame inductees, tomorrow night, July 9.

Two of the honorees are drivers Jimmy King and Jean Theoret.

Among 18 others inducted for contributions to hydroplane racing, a press release said King and Theoret are “two prominent figures in the world of racing who have left a lasting mark on the history of the sport.”

Theoret is the winningest Grand Prix driver with 43 race wins.

He also added 6 Grand Prix National Championships to his Hall of Fame career, and became an Unlimited driver in 2005.

Jean won six times in the Unlimited class, and captured the coveted APBA Gold Cup in 2006 driving for Schumacher Racing.

The Valleyfield, Quebec native is also a member of the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame.

King won the Grand Prix National Championship three times in his career, and for good measure, also won 3 GP World Championships.

The Hall of Famer first drove in the Unlimited class in 1994, and joined the Go3 Racing Team in 2005.

Theoret won the Valleyfield Regatta GP 5 times, while King has 3 wins in the prestigious race.

This is the 85th Anniversary of the Valleyfield Regatta, set for this weekend, July 11-13.

08/07/2025

Although the H1 Unlimited class was able to run its final heat on Sunday, the other four boat classes competing at Madison this weekend weren’t as lucky as each was

08/07/2025

07/07/2025

07/07/2025

75th Madison Regatta is success, coming 'back in 2026, no doubt'

By BOB DEMAREE
Madison Courier
July 7, 2025

The 75th anniversary Madison Regatta is in the books, and Regatta President Kyle Bipes said Sunday after the race that it was a success.

“Financially, it was a great weekend,” said Bipes. We’ll be back in 2026, no doubt.”

Windy weather caused a long gap in racing Sunday with the final heat delayed until almost 6 p.m., two hours later than scheduled but an Indiana Governor’s Cup champion was crowned.

“You can’t fight Mother Nature. She wins every time,” said Bipes, noting he was pleased that the wind settled enough for a final heat to take place, even though two preliminary heats were lost to the unsafe conditions. “All we wanted to do was make sure we got the H1 final in. We would have liked to have all the other ones, but at least we got the H1 final in. That’s what everybody came to see.”

This year’s Madison Regatta included changes to the Roostertail Music Festival that included a more robust free Thursday program with John Schneider as the headliner in addition to the paid performances on Friday and Saturday. “Everybody seemed to love the acts we had, especially with free Thursday with John Schneider,” said Bipes.

Madison Mayor Bob Courtney commemorated the 75th anniversary by presenting Bipes and the Regatta organization with a proclamation at Saturday’s opening ceremonies that declared July 4-6 to honor the 75 years of Madison Regatta history with the event becoming “an enduring tradition on the Ohio River bringing generations of residents and visitors together to witness the speed, skill and the spectacle of world class hydroplane racing.”

Also, during the opening ceremony Courtney presented a key to the city to John Goodman, founder of Goodman Real Estate, who announced a $25,000 commitment to Miss Madison Racing for the 2026 hydroplane season. “Because of our love for hydro boat racing, we would like to donate next year a little seed money — $25,000 — for your next year boat racing in this town.”

Goodman Real Estate had previously committed support to the Miss Madison Racing Team this year, designated as the premier sponsor for the 2025 season.

Courtney said the key to the city to Goodman was in appreciation “for all they have done” for the sport of unlimited hydroplane racing along with support for the city of Madison. “Thank you for inspiring our entire community. I think last year we had a little bit of a rough patch for Miss Madison. We knew two things — one is that Miss Madison has a rich legacy in this sport. We also knew we had to find a way forward, and you and your team inspired us to do that.”

Goodman said receiving the key to the city is an honor, and thanked and commended the city. “This city is amazing … I can’t believe how lucky you are to live in this city. It’s beautiful, and it’s an honor for us to be here, and help support the city of Madison and the heritage it has had for so many years,” he said.

07/07/2025

The future of the sport?

U-6 and GP-35 driver Brandon Kennedy signs autographs young fans in Madison Sunday afternoon.

📷 David Campbell, Madison Courier

07/07/2025

Ride along with Brandon Kennedy on the U-6 Miss Madison as he loses steering on Sunday afternoon.

Onboard with Brandon Kennedy when his steering broke in Heat 2B at the 2025 Madison Regatta held in Madison, IN. July 4-6, 2025The issue ended the weekend fo...

07/07/2025

The Indiana Governor’s Cup podium from Sunday.

Left - 3rd place, U-11 Jamie Nilsen
Middle - 1st place, U-91 Andrew Tate
Right - 2nd place, U-8 J. Michael Kelly

📷 H1 Unlimited