The influence of San Diego’s Bill Muncey is still evident among the ranks in the sport of hydroplane racing. The legendary driver’s record racing performance and promotional strength maintained consistency that rallied a cause, said H1 Hydroplane chairman Sam Cole. “Bill Muncey is the reason I got involved in a marketing and public relations capacity in the early ‘80s,” he said. “I didn’t want to see the sport fade away, so I got involved.” Some may recall that the late champion race driver once mortgaged his Mt. Helix home to put up the money to continue racing in San Diego. It has been said that driver Chip Hanaur retired after 61 wins rather than tie Muncey’s record 62 wins. Current driver Dave Villwock explained that, “like Muncey, long experience has paid off for me. Bill gave something special to the sport. It takes so much experience to drive one of those things just to finish a race, let alone win a race.” Villwock, too, has been an influence by establishing improved safety conditions. What Villwock brought was the mentality of a crew chief to the driver’s seat and the scientific expertise to make unstable boats safer. “We’ve saved a lot of lives,” Villwock said. “We have proven that the science that we developed 10 to 15 years ago really worked.” Bayfair tidbits • Hydroplane Chairman Cole wants to stage six races in this country and four in the Mid-east and China. A delegation studying an agreement package had tentatively planned to be in San Diego. Cole also said that producers of the reality TV show “Deadliest Catch” will be filming a pilot at the races in San Diego and at Daho, Qatar in November for a series. • For the 13th year, Bayfair’s Bob Davies will be Bayfair racing chairman, and with a cast of 800 to 1,000 volunteers, will be dealing with all the emergencies in this complex event. Davies and Jeff Thomas, board of governors chairman, have been on the grounds since Monday. • Included in this year’s event will be outboard cracker boxes, POPRA offshore, Stock Outboard (Fiesta Island), APBA PWC, closed course Western, Formula Lights Series (Ski Beach) and SST-120s. • Also at Bayfair will be the relatively new Grand Prix West, an American Power Boat Association class featuring supercharged big-block engines producing as much as 1,500 horsepower. The 24-26 foot craft routinely attain speeds in excess of 160 miles-per-hour in the straights. • Other notes: Jeff Bernard’s boat is the former Miss Budweiser in which Villwock had so much success. • Cole said he’d like to get the series back up to 15 or 16 boats. • The Oh Boy! Oberto boat is actually owned by the city of Madison, Ind. • “This is not a one-time race,” Cole said of the unlimiteds’ return to Mission Bay. “We wouldn’t have returned if we thought we were going to have the same (sponsor) debate year after year.”