Andrew Tate Secures 2024 H1 Unlimited National Championship
By: H1 Unlimited
Sunday APBA Gold Cup & Heat Recap:
The final heat of Gold Cup Sunday, the Mercurys Coffee Co presents the APBA Gold Cup at San Diego’s Bayfair, certainly didn’t disappoint any of the fans that lined Mission Bay on a perfect afternoon. Six of the fastest race boats in the world lined up for a five-lap feature to determine who would hoist the 2024 APBA Gold Cup.
The U-9 Beacon Plumbing hydroplane for Strong Racing driven by Corey Peabody jumped out to an early lead and while he had his teammate, the U-1 Beacon Electric of J. Michael Kelly within a rooster tail of him for much of the race, Peabody held him off to claim his second career Gold Cup.
And on the final day of the 2024 H1 Unlimited season, the U-91 Miss Goodman Real Estate hydroplane for Miss Madison Racing driven by Andrew Tate entered the day with two goals in mind and before the three heat races were completed, he had accomplished one by claiming the 2024 H1 Unlimited National High Points Championship.
Tate would claim the win in heat four, the first of the morning, following the post-race inspection. Second-place in the championship points, Peabody would win the race on the water, but a fuel violation would negate the finish following inspection giving the points to Tate. Unfortunately for Peabody and the U-9 team, the same issue plagued them for heat five as they took the win on the water but were eliminated following post-race technical inspection.
In heat six, the U-40 Flav-R-PAC for Bucket List Racing with Dustin Echols behind the wheel showed strength as they powered to their first heat win of the weekend after finding some speed in preparation for the final event of the day, the APBA Gold Cup main event.
2024 APBA Gold Cup Results:
2024 APBA Gold Cup Winner: Corey Peabody
| Driver: | Boat: | Avg. Speed | |
| 1 | Corey Peabody | U-9 Beacon Plumbing | 150.044 mph |
| 2 | J. Michael Kelly | U-1 Beacon Electric | 146.739 mph |
| 3 | Jamie Nilsen | U-11 Miss Mercury’s Coffee | 130.218 mph |
| 4 | Dustin Echols | U-40 Flav-R PAC | 120.140 mph |
| 5 | Andrew Tate | U-91 Miss Goodman Real Estate | DSQ |
| 6 | Dave Villwock | U-27 Miss Apollo Mechanical | DNF |
Heat 4 Results:
Heat 4 Winner: Andrew Tate
| Driver: | Boat: | Avg. Speed | |
| 1 | Andrew Tate | U-91 Miss Goodman Real Estate | 153.069 mph |
| 2 | Dave Villwock | U-27 Miss Apollo Mechanical | 143.173 mph |
| 3 | Corey Peabody | U-9 Beacon Plumbing | DSQ |
| 4 | Jamie Nilsen | U-11 Miss Mercury’s Coffee | DSQ |
Heat 5 Results:
Heat 5 Winner: J. Michael Kelly
| Driver: | Boat: | Avg. Speed | |
| 1 | J. Michael Kelly | U-1 Beacon Electric | 135.817 mph |
| 2 | Jamie Nilsen | U-11 Miss Mercury’s Coffee | 132.841 mph |
| 3 | Dustin Echols | U-40 Flav-R PAC | 127.702 mph |
| 4 | Corey Peabody | U-9 Beacon Plumbing | DSQ |
Heat 6 Results:
Heat 6 Winner: Dustin Echols
| Driver: | Boat: | Avg. Speed | |
| 1 | Dustin Echols | U-40 Flav-R PAC | 136.314 mph |
| 2 | Andrew Tate | U-91 Miss Goodman Real Estate | 122.441 mph |
| 3 | J. Michael Kelly | U-1 Beacon Electric | 115.014 mph |
| 4 | Dave Villwock | U-27 Miss Apollo Mechanical | 101.479 mph |
Final 2024 H1 Unlimited Top-Five National High Points:
2024 H1 Unlimited National Champion: Andrew Tate
| Driver: | Boat: | Points: | |
| 1 | Andrew Tate | U-91 Miss Goodman Real Estate | 7,419 Points |
| 2 | Corey Peabody | U-9 Beacon Plumbing | 6,050 Points |
| 3 | Dustin Echols | U-40 Flav-R PAC | 5,151 Points |
| 4 | J. Michael Kelly | U-1 Beacon Electric | 5,080 Points |
| 5 | Jamie Nilsen | U-11 Miss Mercury’s Coffee | 4,377 Points |
