Description

MISS WAHOO (U-77) UNLIMITED HYDROPLANE

FULLY BUILT AND READY TO DISPLAY MUSEUM QUALITY SHIP MODEL

Dimension approx.: 26″ L x 11″ 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
Brass Propellers and rudders

The Miss Wahoo arrived in 1956 as one of the most elegant thunderboats of her era, a mahogany‑hulled creation from Les Staudacher built to Ted Jones’ plans for Bill Boeing Jr.’s sportsman team. At 28½ feet long and trimmed in deep red with crisp white lettering, she looked every bit the refined challenger among the roaring unlimiteds. Her first season was quiet — just two starts at the Seattle Seafair Trophy, where she finished fifth — but the boat’s promise was unmistakable.

Everything changed in 1957 when Boeing placed a young, newly arrived immigrant in the cockpit: Mira Slovak, the former Czechoslovak airline pilot who had escaped the Iron Curtain by flying his own plane to freedom. Slovak brought a daring, almost fearless style to the Wahoo, and together they became one of the sport’s most compelling pairings. That summer, they captured the Mapes Mile‑High Gold Cup at Lake Tahoe, a breakthrough victory that pushed the Wahoo into the national spotlight. She ran eight of eleven races that year, finished third in National High Points, and earned a loyal following for her speed, her looks, and her remarkable driver.

The team sat out 1958, but the Wahoo returned in 1959 with renewed strength. Slovak steered her to victories in the President’s Cup and the Lake Mead Cup, fulfilling his personal dream of meeting President Eisenhower after the Potomac win. It was a triumphant moment for both man and machine — a refugee pilot and a privately owned hydroplane standing toe‑to‑toe with the factory‑backed giants.

But the sport’s danger was never far away. In 1960, after a solid fifth‑place finish at Chelan, the Miss Wahoo crashed violently during the Seattle Seafair Trophy. Slovak suffered serious injuries that ended his racing career. Deeply affected, Bill Boeing Jr. retired the Wahoo and placed her in storage, closing the first and most beloved chapter of her life.

She resurfaced in 1963 under new owners, the Stoen brothers, who needed a replacement for their destroyed Exide boat. Rechristened U‑75 Miss Exide, the former Wahoo proved she still had speed to spare. With Russ Schleeh and later Bill Brow driving, she won the Madison Governor’s Cup, the President’s Cup, and in 1964 became the first unlimited hydroplane to qualify for the APBA Gold Cup at over 120 mph — a milestone that underscored the brilliance of her original design.

Her final years were brief. Sold to Bernie Little in 1965 and reborn as the U‑12 Miss Budweiser, the boat met a tragic end in 1966 when she collided with the Notre Dame in Washington, D.C., and was destroyed.

Yet the Miss Wahoo’s legacy endures. She is remembered as one of the last great sportsman‑owned unlimiteds — beautifully built, fiercely competitive, and forever linked to the courage and charisma of Mira Slovak. Today, her restored form lives on at the Hydroplane & Raceboat Museum in Kent, Washington, a polished tribute to an era when craftsmanship and heart defined the sport.