The 1970 Pride of Pay 'n Pak was the second Unlimited Hydroplane designed & built by Ron Jones (the first was the ill-fated 1966 cabover Bardahl). This successful boat provided an early indication of the great competition record to come for future Jones boats. In 1970 she was configured as a cabover and powered by twin-hemi's, and had an unremarkable (winless) season.
Prior to the 1971 season, she was reconfigured in the conventional (driver behind engine) configuration with Merlin power. This "new" Pride of Pay 'n Pak finished the 1971 season with three consecutive wins. The boat achieved a total of 14 wins from1971-1975, changing owners in 1973 when purchased by Bernie Little's Budweiser team. Victories included Gold Cup in 1973, and three consecutive runner-up finishes in the National Points championship (1972-1974).
Dave Heerensperger was arguably the most innovative Unlimited Hydroplane owner. Perhaps a few owners (like Jim and Pamela Clapp) may have made single accomplishments which were greater, but collectively no one owner has more consistently taken risks and reaped rewards from pioneering innovations than Heerensperger. Some of the areas explored included a reverse three-point boat, automotive power, rear wing, cabover design, turbine power, moving canard, honeycomb aluminum construction.
A few of the benchmark boats include the outrigger Pay 'n Pak (unsuccessful), the automotive powered cabover 1970 Pride of Pay 'n Pak (unsuccessful until converted to conventional configuration with Merlin power, 1 Gold Cup, 3 times runner up in National points), the 1973 "Winged Wonder" which introduced aluminum honeycomb construction and the rear wing (3 National Championships and 2 Gold Cups for Heerensperger, 1 National Championship for Owner Bill Muncey in 1976), the hull which became the famous cabover Atlas Van Lines "Blue Blaster", and the first competitive turbine boat (first to win a race in 1982).
During the 1970 season, the new Pride of Pay 'n Pak campaigned with Hemi engines. The boat finished a disappointing 7th place finish in national points, with the best race finish a 5th overall. Despite poor reliability, the boat was classified a finisher in every event it entered (the boat did not enter the Kentucky Governor's Cup). The lack of competitiveness lead to a reconfiguration to Merlin power and a conventional cockpit location (behind the engine) which proved a much more competitive package.
The reconfigured Pay 'n Pak suffered its only DNF of the 1971 season at the first race in Miami. She finished second at her next race in Washington, DC, but it would be the three consecutive wins at the end of the season (Seattle, Eugene, Dallas) that would distinguish this season. Despite the remarkable string of wins, the lack of good results earlier in the season would only support a third place finish in National Points.
1972 was the year of Bill Muncey and the Atlas Van Lines -- Bill and the Atlas would win 6/7 races that season. The Pride of Pay 'n Pak was the only other winner that season, winning the President's Cup at Washington D.C. The Pride gave the Atlas plenty of competition, again showing excellent dependability with only 1 DNF for the season. Muncey/Atlas won a well deserved National Championship, but the Pride of Pay 'n Pak earned a strong second place despite the lack of wins this season.
Pay 'n Pak team owner Dave Heerensperger decided he needed a more competitive boat be competitive, so he commissioned Ron Jones to build a new Pay 'n Pak -- a boat which would be called the "Winged Wonder" and would win the National Championship for the next four consecutive years.
Bernie Little learned the Pride of Pay 'n Pak was available, and quickly arranged to purchase it from Heerensperger. Renamed the Miss Budweiser, the boat was very competitive in 1973. With Dean Chenoweth driving, the boat won the Kentucky Governors Cup, the Gar Wood Memorial Cup, the National Championship Regatta, and the prestigious Gold Cup. The demonstrated a remarkable reliability record, finishing every race that season. The season was filled with tremendous duels between the new Pay 'n Pak and the Miss Budweiser -- fans remember several heats of deck-to-deck racing during both 1973 and 1974 as the two boats contended for both race victories and National Championship points. Ultimately it was the Pay 'n Pak narrowly defeating the Budweiser for the National Championship title, the Budweiser again the runner-up.
For the 1974 season, Howie Benns was driving the Miss Budweiser, otherwise the 1974 season was much like 1973 for the Budweiser. Again she won 4 races, this time at Miami, Detroit, Phoenix, and Jacksonville, and again she had no DNF's! Again there were several deck-to-deck battles with the Pay 'n Pak, and again the Pay 'n Pak collected just enough points to win the National Championship with the Budweiser again finishing second.
In 1975, Mickey Remund was driving the boat. The boat was beginning to show its age and the strain of competition, with the team suffering an unusual 3 DNFs out of 7 events. After two years of excellent reliability for the Budweiser Team, the need to push the boat harder began to affect reliability. In one instance, the starboard sponson blew out during a heat race and driver Remund managed to return the boat to shore before it sunk -- the crew worked around the clock to get the boat repaired for the next race.
Little could see the hull was becoming less competitive and decided to replace it at the end of the '75 season with a new boat. He sold the boat to Ron Burton of Ron Burton of Australia. The boat was campaigned under various owners in Australia until 1998.
In 1976 Bob Saniga drove the boat to victory in the Australian Griffith Cup at Lake Eppalock, which is the Australian equivalent of the Gold Cup. Thus this boat became the first (and so far only) to win both the American Gold Cup and Australian Griffith Cup. She also won the Eppalock Gold Cup, the Morwell Hazelwood Cup, the Yarrawonga Cup, and the Glenmaggie 500 for various owners including Burton, Joe and Steve Cooper, Vern White, and Ken Warby. The boat returned briefly to the United States in 1978, competing in the Tri-Cities and Seattle with Bob Saniga driving. Her duel with the Miss Madison (the former "Winged Wonder" Pay 'n Pak) brought back memories of the epic Pay 'n Pak/Budweiser duels of 1973-1975.
The boat was purchased from World Water Speed Record Holder Ken Warby by Eric Mann in 2001, and returned to the United States in the Summer of that year. It will be run at various historic Unlimited Hydroplane events organized by the Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum under APBA sanction.