The 2023 Columbia Cup will mark the 57th time Unlimited Hydroplanes have raced on the Columbia River. This year’s event, like the inaugural in 1966, will most likely have 12 Unlimiteds in attendance. But the modern Unlimited Hydroplane has very little in common with those first boats that churned the waters of the Columbia River. The hydroplanes of today are almost more plane than hydro. They are thirty feet long, with 7,000-pound wings that glide over the water with only the bare minimum of the boat making contact with the river. Powered by turbine engines capable of nearly 3,000hp, the boats can reach straightaway speeds close to 200 miles per hour. Qualifying lap averages in the mid 160mph range are common with the faster boats in the fleet. To put it in simpler terms, at speed, an Unlimited Hydroplane will travel more than the length of a football field in the space of a second.

The 2023 STCU Over-the-River Airshow promises to be one of the best performances ever starring the Air Force F-35A Lightning II, the most advanced fighter jet in the world. It will be flown by Major Kristin Wolfe, the Commander of the F-35A Lightning II Demonstration Team, 388th Fighter Wing, Hill Air Force Base, Utah.The mission of the F-35A Lightning II Demonstration team is to showcase the unique aerial capabilities of the Air Force’s most advanced 5th generation multi-role stealth fighter, the F-35A Lightning II, as well as highlight the history of the Air Force’s service through heritage formation flights.Other acts include P-51 Heritage Flight, F4U Corsair, F8F Bearcat and an A-37 Dragonfly.