1957 Thriftway Too
Owner: Ron Daum
Driver(s): Ron Daum
Model Builder: Craig Bradshaw
Construction: Carbon Fiber Composite
Year Built: 2008
Motor: Himax 3630-1500
Radio: Specktrum DX6i
Electronic Speed Controller: ETTI 150 Navy Race
Propeller: ABC 1814-15-60(3)
Paint Colors: ChromaBase Mahogany, Persimmon (Tangerine Orange) and White
Graphics: Cut Vinyl by Craig Bradshaw
Notes about the Model: This is a new hull for 2008. David Gardner allowed the registration for his beautiful Thriftway Too lapse and Ron Daum quickly snapped up registration of this popular hull and started design work on a new wood hull. In the meantime, Craig Bradshaw had prepared a mold and built the Gilmore’s 1960 white version of the boat that successfully debuted at the 2008 Champion Spark Plug Regatta. Craig offered to build Ron a hull, he accepted the offer and the rest is history. 2009 is the inaugural season for the new “Prune Barge” beginning with the Presidents Cup. The Too proved to be a fast and stable performer going to win the 2012 Ted Jones Memorial and the 2014 NAMBA FE National Championship in Michigan.
Notes about the Real Boat: AA lot of attention focused on the Thriftway Too when she arrived in Seattle from her builder Les Staudacher in the summer of 1957. Unlike every other boat on the circuit that year, Thriftway Too sported a forward-cockpit, or "cabover", hull configuration. Since the end of World War II, a number of Unlimited hydroplanes had seated the driver ahead of the engine. These included Sant Ambrogio (1948), Skip-A-Long (1948-49), Thunderbolt (1952), and Scooter (1954) but the Too was the first of the prop riding three pointers to do so.
Designer Ted Jones touted the Thriftway Too as "the boat of the future" although she was only sporadically competitive. The crew constantly battled the boat, which was blazingly fast on the straights, but bogged down in the corners. To overcome this "sinking" feeling, the Thriftway team installed the first rear stabilizer on a hydro; an honor often bestowed on the Pay 'n' Pak in the early 70s. But even this could not help her get out of the corners. She did manage to finish second in the 1957 President’s Cup and 1958 Diamond Cup races with Brien Wygle driving. The 34-foot hull was one of the biggest and heaviest unlimiteds of all time and was further handicapped on account of being designed to carry two Allison V-12 aircraft engines in tandem although she never used more than one Rolls Royce Merlin. Throughout her career, Thriftway Too was greatly overshadowed by her smaller, faster sister-ship. While the U-60 had a professional crew, the U-62 had a completely volunteer crew.
After four years of experimentation, Thriftway Too, the first modern cabover, was written off as a failure and eventually buried in a landfill. But she left behind the germ of an idea that was later picked up and perfected by others. Though her racing days were far from successful, the sleek cabover Thriftway Too is now having the last laugh. In the days when conventionally designed hulls (with the driver sitting behind the engine) ruled, the Too was an oddity, the victim of visionary ideas that would not become standard until almost 25 years later.
Notes about 2021/Outlook for 2022 Season: The model of the Thriftway Too's performance mirrors that the full sized boat in that she can be blazingly fast on the straightaways and a handful in the turns. The 2022 season should be much like 2021.
Driver(s): Ron Daum
Model Builder: Craig Bradshaw
Construction: Carbon Fiber Composite
Year Built: 2008
Motor: Himax 3630-1500
Radio: Specktrum DX6i
Electronic Speed Controller: ETTI 150 Navy Race
Propeller: ABC 1814-15-60(3)
Paint Colors: ChromaBase Mahogany, Persimmon (Tangerine Orange) and White
Graphics: Cut Vinyl by Craig Bradshaw
Notes about the Model: This is a new hull for 2008. David Gardner allowed the registration for his beautiful Thriftway Too lapse and Ron Daum quickly snapped up registration of this popular hull and started design work on a new wood hull. In the meantime, Craig Bradshaw had prepared a mold and built the Gilmore’s 1960 white version of the boat that successfully debuted at the 2008 Champion Spark Plug Regatta. Craig offered to build Ron a hull, he accepted the offer and the rest is history. 2009 is the inaugural season for the new “Prune Barge” beginning with the Presidents Cup. The Too proved to be a fast and stable performer going to win the 2012 Ted Jones Memorial and the 2014 NAMBA FE National Championship in Michigan.
Notes about the Real Boat: AA lot of attention focused on the Thriftway Too when she arrived in Seattle from her builder Les Staudacher in the summer of 1957. Unlike every other boat on the circuit that year, Thriftway Too sported a forward-cockpit, or "cabover", hull configuration. Since the end of World War II, a number of Unlimited hydroplanes had seated the driver ahead of the engine. These included Sant Ambrogio (1948), Skip-A-Long (1948-49), Thunderbolt (1952), and Scooter (1954) but the Too was the first of the prop riding three pointers to do so.
Designer Ted Jones touted the Thriftway Too as "the boat of the future" although she was only sporadically competitive. The crew constantly battled the boat, which was blazingly fast on the straights, but bogged down in the corners. To overcome this "sinking" feeling, the Thriftway team installed the first rear stabilizer on a hydro; an honor often bestowed on the Pay 'n' Pak in the early 70s. But even this could not help her get out of the corners. She did manage to finish second in the 1957 President’s Cup and 1958 Diamond Cup races with Brien Wygle driving. The 34-foot hull was one of the biggest and heaviest unlimiteds of all time and was further handicapped on account of being designed to carry two Allison V-12 aircraft engines in tandem although she never used more than one Rolls Royce Merlin. Throughout her career, Thriftway Too was greatly overshadowed by her smaller, faster sister-ship. While the U-60 had a professional crew, the U-62 had a completely volunteer crew.
After four years of experimentation, Thriftway Too, the first modern cabover, was written off as a failure and eventually buried in a landfill. But she left behind the germ of an idea that was later picked up and perfected by others. Though her racing days were far from successful, the sleek cabover Thriftway Too is now having the last laugh. In the days when conventionally designed hulls (with the driver sitting behind the engine) ruled, the Too was an oddity, the victim of visionary ideas that would not become standard until almost 25 years later.
Notes about 2021/Outlook for 2022 Season: The model of the Thriftway Too's performance mirrors that the full sized boat in that she can be blazingly fast on the straightaways and a handful in the turns. The 2022 season should be much like 2021.