Just like Major League Baseball has Spring Training, our drivers and crews need a chance to tune up prior to the season. This takes the form of a pre-season test session where the majority of the teams will gather for a day to make sure all of the modifications, tuning and tweaks they worked on over the off-season will actually do what they intended.

This year, our test session will take place in Kennewick, WA – the site of the Columbia Cup – on Friday, June 2, 2023 beginning at 9:00AM. Admission to the park and shoreline is free, and you will be treated to multiple runs by all teams. In fact, during a test session, most teams run MORE laps than they would normally run during a race event, trying out different combinations of settings on their boats, as well as getting their drivers some long-awaited seat time in their 2023 rides!

If you can’t make it, the session will be live-streamed on YouTube, so it’s easy to get your pre-season fix of speed on the water! 

However, if you can take a day off work that Friday, bring a comfy chair, a cooler, the family and a camera and take in a full day of fast boats in a relaxed atmosphere along the banks of the Columbia River. See ya there!

The Guntersville Lake Hydrofest is our first stop on the 2023 season, and has quickly grown into most team’s favorite race of the season. With a big, fast lake to race on, fantastic hospitality from the town and its citizens, and always warm weather, the Hydrofest is a great place to begin.

Beginning back in 1963, the race ran through 1969 and was the site of numerous speed record attempts, then had a hiatus until 2018, when it came back in a big way – with what is widely acknowledged to be the most spectacular Final Heat of the past twenty years, when Andrew Tate beat Jimmy Shane by less than 6 feet after five laps of 200 MPH racing!

This year, the Hydrofest will be this summer’s biggest event at the lake, with three classes of hydroplanes, racing at speeds of up to 200 mph.

Be sure to get your tickets soon and join us on the shores of one of the most beautiful lakes in the country!

The Madison Regatta has been held annually since 1951 and is the site of some of the sport’s most iconic moments, as well as being the subject of the major motion picture “Madison”.

It is also the home race of the only community-owned hydroplanes in the series – the U-1 Miss HomeStreet and the U-91 Miss Goodman Real Estate.

This year’s event will feature the “Showdown” race format that guarantees TWO races over the weekend, with separate preliminary and Final heats each day, giving each driver a chance to bring home two trophies in one race weekend!

With a gala parade on Friday, concerts and fireworks on Saturday and multiple classes of racing action on the water all weekend, there is nothing like the Madison Regatta in the United States – you have to experience it to appreciate what a truly great event it is!

Get your wristbands, VIP passes, or tarp reservation TODAY!

The Tri-Cities Water Follies is always a favorite stop on the Unlimited circuit. Begun in 1966, the event is a community favorite, always bringing tens of thousands of fans to the shores of the Columbia River for three days of sun-baked racing on one of the fastest courses we race on. In terms of all-out speed and excitement, it doesn’t get much better than Tri-Cities!

Beginning on Wednesday, the teams will gather for a meet and greet – usually at the Columbia Center Mall in Kennewick, then load into the Lampson pits, with the winner of the previous year’s race getting the prized spot under the “Bernie Tree” – one of the only places for shade in the pit lane on what is always a hot and sunny weekend.

Once the weekend gets under way, there is action on the water all day, with multiple classes of boats as well as multiple exhibitions by the vintage “Thunderboats” – 1960’s-70’s era boats powered by V-12 fighter plane engines. The weekend culminates with the Final Heat for the Columbia Cup.

With most of the teams headquartered in Washington State, the race is guaranteed to have one of the largest and fastest fields of the year!

Known and loved as an unofficial Seattle holiday, the Seafair Weekend Festival is one of the area’s largest boating events, air shows, and festivals all rolled into one.

Along the shores of Lake Washington, fans will experience the roar of the US Navy’s Blue Angels headlining the Boeing Seafair Air Show and the Unlimited hydros will be competing for the HomeStreet Bank Cup, with an additional prize this year – the prestigious APBA Gold Cup – the trophy that every team in the pits will want to have their name etched into.

In addition, you’ll discover a huge midway area in Genesee Park with local food, music, cars and more, while the water will feature wakeboarding demonstrations, multiple classes of racing and the vintage “Thuderboats”. The Seafair HomeStreet Bank Cup weekend brings people together each summer for this uniquely Seattle event.

So make your way down to the Stan Sayres Pits to witness the world’s most spectacular race boats go head to head on the largest stage H1 Unlimited Hydroplane drivers will race on all season. Immense crowds, live streaming coverage online and live radio broadcast of the races make this an event not to miss!