Volga Hydrofoils Messageboard

Hello,

I am a Volga owner in Australia (but our Volga still remains unused alongside our house awaiting more spare time to attend to it). I am also a member of the International Hydrofoil Society (IHS). The IHS is in the early stages of considering how it may be able to participate in the annual Tacoma Maritime Fest in the state of Washington, USA, scheduled for 25-26 August 2012. One element of the event could be a gathering of various hydrofoil types, but primarily personal / recreational craft. I am therefore interested to hear whether anyone is aware of any Volga hydrofoil owners in the USA, in particular those who may be a short distance from Tacoma (near Seattle) and who may be willing to attend the event along with their boat and to demonstrate it to the public.

I have not had the opportunity so far to look through all the previously posted messages for possible owners in that area.

I look forward to any advice that can be provided.

Hi aliscafi,
I ran into a Volga 70 a number of years ago in the Seattle / Ballard area. The owner was the owner of a sewage pump out company & had the boat stored in his shop yard. I stopped to talk with him a bit & got a little history from him. Apparently he had removed the old Russian diesel from it & installed a 300+ hp small block Chevy in it. Shortly after restoring the boat he was out in Puget Sound running it hard & flipped the boat. When I saw it he had removed everything above the rub rail as it was destroyed in the crash. But in the short time I looked at it, the aluminum hull & (stainless?) foils appeared to be in good condition. He had removed the engine & interior too & was in the process of rebuilding the boat a 2nd time.

I wish I could give you more info. I suppose if you Googled "Ballard, WA., sewage pump out" you would find a handful of companies. With any luck, a few phone calls might find the guy. And with some more luck, maybe he even still has the boat.

Regarding the Maritime Fest in Tacoma, some friends & I have been asked to come out & perform. We are SkySki riders (so we're very familiar with hydrofoils) & have done demonstrations & exhibitions in the area quite a few times. I'm tempted to do it, but at the same time, that bay in Tacoma is not the cleanest of waterways to be skiing in.

-
Bill