Description

MISS SUPERTEST III (CA-3) UNLIMITED HYDROPLANE

FULLY BUILT AND READY TO DISPLAY MUSEUM QUALITY SHIP MODEL

Dimension approx.: 30″ L x 12″ W x 5.5″ H
The model is already built. THIS IS NOT A MODEL SHIP KIT
Authentic gauges, dials and chrome steering wheel on dash
Authentic gauges, dials and chrome steering wheel on dash
Brass Propellers and rudders

She arrived on the water in 1959 like a quiet challenge from the Canadian shore — long, white, and purposeful, a machine built not in the bustling hydroplane hubs of Seattle or Detroit but in Sarnia, Ontario, where J. Gordon Thompson and his son Jim had spent years shaping a dream. Miss Supertest III was the product of stubborn engineering pride, a Rolls‑Royce Griffon roaring beneath her deck and a hull tuned for the kind of speed that didn’t just win races but rewrote expectations.

Her driver, Bob Hayward, hardly fit the mold of a racing superstar. He was a farmer and mechanic, soft‑spoken and steady, the sort of man who understood engines by feel rather than theory. Yet when he stepped into the cockpit of Miss Supertest III, something clicked — the boat trusted him, and he trusted her. Their partnership would become one of the most remarkable in the history of Unlimited hydroplane racing.

Her first test came at the 1959 Detroit Memorial Regatta, where she showed flashes of the speed and stability that would soon define her. But it was the Harmsworth Cup — the most prestigious, national‑pride‑fueled trophy in the sport — where she carved her legend. In 1959, she stunned the American racing establishment by taking the Cup, ending nearly four decades of U.S. dominance. In 1960, she returned faster still, setting a world lap record of 126.226 mph on the five‑mile course, her Griffon engine thundering across the water like a challenge to the world. And in 1961, she completed the impossible: a third consecutive Harmsworth victory, the only boat ever to do so.

For Canada, she became more than a hydroplane. She was a symbol — of ingenuity, of national pride, of a small team that dared to take on the giants and won. Crowds lined the shores to see her run. Newspapers called her a marvel. Children collected her photographs. And Bob Hayward, quiet as ever, became a hero.

But the triumph carried a shadow. Only two months after the third Harmsworth win, Hayward was killed while racing Miss Supertest II. The loss was devastating, and the Thompson team made a decision that felt both respectful and inevitable: Miss Supertest III would never race again. She had done everything asked of her, and more. Her story would end undefeated in the event that defined her.

In the years that followed, she was preserved rather than forgotten. Murray Walker acquired her to ensure her survival, and in time she was honored in Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame. In 2011, Canada Post issued a commemorative stamp featuring the boat, Hayward, and Jim Thompson — a small but fitting tribute to a machine and a team that had once carried a nation’s hopes across the water at breathtaking speed.

Today, Miss Supertest III stands as one of the great hydroplanes of the sport’s golden age — a sleek, powerful reminder of what happens when engineering brilliance, national pride, and a steady hand on the throttle come together in perfect harmony.