The Seafair Cup (branded as the HomeStreet Bank Cup for sponsorship reasons, and formerly the Albert Lee Appliance Cup), is an

H1 Unlimited H1 Unlimited is an American unlimited hydroplane racing league that is sanctioned by the American Power Boat Association (APBA). Until 2009, the series was known as ABRA Unlimited Hydroplane, in turn renamed from APBA Unlimited Hydroplane in 2004. ...

hydroplane boat race held annually in late July and early August on

Lake Washington Lake Washington () is a large freshwater lake adjacent to the city of Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the largest lake in King County, Washington, King County and the second largest natural lake in the state of Washington (state), Was ...

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

. The race is the main attraction of the annual

Seafair Seafair is an annual summer festival in Seattle, Washington, that encompasses a wide variety of small neighborhood events leading up to several major citywide celebrations. Its main events include the Torchlight Parade (and accompanying Torc ...

festival. Seattle has hosted the Seafair Cup consecutively since 1951. The event was part of the APBA Gold Cup for the following years: 1951 to 1955, 1957 to 1959, 1962, 1965, 1967, 1974, 1981, and 1985.

History

Seattle's history of unlimited hydroplane racing dates back to July 1950, when it was announced that the APBA Gold Cup was leaving Detroit in favor of Seattle. Slo-mo-shun IV, owned by Stanley Sayres, won the Gold Cup race in Detroit that year. At that time, the Gold Cup was run at the home of the winner, so for 1951, the Gold Cup was coming to Seattle. The race was added to the Seafair festival. When the Gold Cup left Seattle for Detroit in 1955, local officials decided to hold a race of their own, and the Seafair Cup was born. The 1951 Seattle race was co-sponsored through 1960 by the Seattle Yacht Club. Greater Seattle, Inc. (later renamed Seafair, Inc.) became the sole sponsor of the race, starting in 1961. The Seafair Boat Club, which administers the Seattle race on Seafair's behalf, was organized in 1975. Lou Fageol won the very first Seattle race driving Stan Sayres' Slo-mo-shun V. The Emerald City has hosted the Unlimiteds every year from 1951 to 2019. In 2020 and 2021, the event was cancelled because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The next unlimited hydroplane race in Seattle is planned for 2022.

Past Seattle Unlimited Hydroplane Winners

The following boats and drivers won in Seattle:

References

External links

Seafair Cup websiteH1 Unlimited website
{{H1 Unlimited Series Annual sporting events in the United States Culture of Seattle H1 Unlimited Motorboat races Recurring sporting events established in 1951 Sports competitions in Seattle