Here are pictures of a Wicken's hydro
built in either the late 1950's or early 1960's. A brief history follows:
 Wicken's
hydroplanes were not very common on the Australian racing circuit. This
particular hull was the best known and most successful during the 1960's
and early 70's. According to the plate attached to the dashboard, the hull
was built by Fred Wicken's of Modesto, California. It was approximately
19ft inches long and 7ft inches wide.
It was originally brought to Australia
by Spencer Miller of Sydney in the early 1960's. Miller took the boat back
to America and ran it on the United States circuit as a 266ci either during
the 62/63 season or the 63/64 season under the name of KANGAROO KID.
The hydro was then brought back to Australia in an attempt to win the Australian
Championship during the 64/65 season. Miller was not successful and sold
the hydro to Alan Fordham who also had limited success. The hydro then
passed into the hands of Keith Hooper were it was renamed ASSASSIN
around 1966. Then, the boat was purchased by another Sydney driver, A.
Baker who fitted a 392ci Chrysler and had some race success.
The hydro then returned to Victoria under
the ownership of Trevor Mathews who went on to win every event entered
over a 2-1/2 year period including Australia's prestige event the Griffith
Cup .
The pictures attached show the hydro in
the various forms it ran in in both this country and America.
©2002 Graeme
Morley
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