Downtown New Martinsville will be alive with fun, music, games and excitement as the 7TH annual Vintage Regatta kicks off on Saturday along the Famous Mile 127 Racecourse along the Ohio River behind Dos Hermanos Mexican Restaurant.

The fun and excitement begins at 10 am on Saturday and runs through Sunday till 5 pm. Come watch as the sights and sounds of years past hit the mile 127 race course. See some of your old time favorites and visit and hear the stories first hand from those who experienced the thrill in the early years. See some of your locals who have joined in and will be sure to put on a show for the hometown folks.

Making the haul from Indiana is the Cravens and Wiley families with several different crafts ready to hit the water! S-12 “FOOLS GOLD” with Rebecca driving, N-116 “PRIME MOVER” piloted by Debbie, H-202 “HEAVY DUTY” ran by Mark, and finally F-23 “WHA HOPPEN III” with Larry and Zach! This gang always puts on a great show for the fans and is always there to lend a helping hand! Can’t wait to welcome this crew into town! Please help us in making them feel welcome this July 13-14!

Next on the registration list is our very own S-22 “Lil Lightnin” and F-726 “Flying Tiger” piloted by father son duo of Mitch & Drew Herrick! These New Martinsville natives love nothing more than tearing up the water in front of all their friends and family right here at home! The Flying Tiger was the 1984 National High point Champion as well as 1984 National Champion with owner/driver Rod Zapf. After missing last years event with an engine rebuild the Tiger is back and eager to hit the water!

Making the trip to New Martinsville is Dr. David Kappel and Mr. Charlie Kittel with their Lauterbach hull “SCREAMIN’ MEEMIE” E-132! This hull is being powered around the course by a 273 Plymouth engine. This is a beautiful hull that is always a joy to watch on the water! Please help us in welcoming David and Charlie back to town.

Making the trip to New Martinsville this July for our 7th annual regatta is the Mark Lamontia and his 1971 Jones hull “Andiamo” S-185. This hull has won numerous titles and set several speed records over its history. Mark’s father Tony owned and raced the hull from 1981 to when he sold it in 1987, son Mark bought it back in 2013 and had it restored back to Andiamo. Mark has been active on the vintage circuit since the restoration was completed and is always fast and fun to watch on the water! Help us welcome the Lamontia family back to New Martinsville.

Dean Berry and everyone’s favorite pit pal Moe will be making the return trip to New Martinsville this year! Dean will be bringing his 1978 Jon Staudacher built “BLUEWATER SPECIAL” J-1! This hull is a multi time national high points champion, as well as being a multi time national championship winner! This hull is a thing of beauty and when Dean gets her wound up, man does she look/sound good on the water! Help us in welcoming Dean and Moe back to New Martinsville.

Making the trip to New Martinsville to tear up the Mile 127 race course would be Florida’s own Doug Goddard with his Allison hull “FAKE NEWS” 960! Doug and his outboard are always fun to watch as they are never far from the others in the heat! Making every lap look like its a race to the finish! We cant wait to have Doug and crew here once again for our 7th annual regatta this July 13-14! Help us in welcoming this team back to New Martinsville!

Vintage Hydroplanes People, Place, and Time Documentary Premiere

After more than four years of toil, a small team of filmmakers has completed work on a documentary which weaves together a story of inboard hydroplane racing and the role of New Martinsville, a small West Virginia town. The story follows the ascending arc of post-World War 11 American history marked by economic dynamism, scientific and technical achievement, and social change, all fueled by the “Can-Do”attitude instilled in the country by its astounding success during the war. Equally as the arc peaks and begins to descend, so, too, did the fortunes of the sport, the town, and the country.

The progression forms the plot of a new film, Vintage Hydroplanes: People, Place, and Time.

The brainchild of Dr. David Kappel, a New Martinsville native and vintage hydroplane racer and boat owner, it tells the story of the town as it grew along the banks of the Ohio River, the emergence of hydroplane racing in the decades before World War 11, the golden age of racing in the 40s, 50s, and 60s, and the New Martinsville Regatta’s central role in that golden age. It then follows the decline of the sport in the 80s and 90s, the economic troubles for the town and the country, and the emergence of the Vintage hydroplane movement in the early years of the 21st Century leading to a revival of the New Martinsville Regatta set in what one noted hydroplane builder, and driver Larry Lauterbach has called the “hallowed ground” of the Magnolia Yacht Club.

And throughout, the people who lived this adventure, both townspeople and boat drivers, offer their reflections in interviews on that storied past.

Working with archival film clips, stills, graphics, and contemporary footage of vintage regattas, videographer Mara Ferris brings to life Gary Kappel’s script, blinding it with a score composed and arranged by Char Pope. The result is an hour-long journey through the past heyday of the sport and the renewed interest in it through the vintage movement, as well as the nostalgia which such interest triggers i those who remember the roar of the engines, the rooster tails shooting up behind the boats, the camaraderie of the citizens of New Martinsville, the boat owners and drivers, and all those who were drawn to the river by the excitement of hydroplane racing.

The film will premiere in New Martinsville on Friday, July 12 at the Lincoln Theater at 6:30 pm.in conjunction with the annual vintage regatta there and again at the end of August in Wheeling at the Wheeling Vintage Regatta as well. After that it will be made available at no cost for viewing.