The Whippet Class

The History of Championship Motorboat Racing

It all started in 1986 when the UIM published a list of world and European champions in one of their monthly newsletters. However, this was incomplete and did not include any of the many obsolete classes.

So I started my quest to compile a list of every championship result since the 1930’s, and it soon became apparent that this was not going to be an easy task.

This was illustrated on my first visit to the UIM archives when it became apparent that most of the pre-1980 results were missing. A phone call to the previous secretary confirmed that when the UIM relocated from Belgium to Monaco the archive did not make the trip. This scenario would be repeated with many other federations around the world after they either moved office or were taken over by another faction which had little interest in motorboat racing.

So, after 30 years of research, I have finally decided to publish the various volumes which are as complete as I could possibly achieve. The photos of the champions were a late addition. However, if anybody is able to fill in any missing information or supply an obscure photo, I would be glad to hear from them.

Mike Ward