Here is another picture of the boat on the water.
Also, I had saved this information from a question and answer session with Fred Farley on the old Hydro-Prop website.
Question:
How about a retrospective on the ARCADIAN, which showed up a few times in the late 1980s? - Joe Rood
Answer:
The ARCADIAN (U-86) was an interesting "what's-it" from 1986-87. It was owned and driven by the late Jim Hauenstein of Lakewood, California, who had a background in tunnel outboard racing.
Designed and built by Marcel Belleville, the U-86 featured an unusual hull shape with one short sponson and one long one. It was powered by eight Mercury V-6 outboard powerheads, mounted inboard, rated at approximately 300 horsepower each, connected to one propeller shaft. The thing must have been an engineering nightmare.
The orange-painted craft was reportedly clocked at over 150 miles per hour on the straightaway in testing. But none of that was apparent in any of its appearances on the Unlimited rircuit. It showed up at a total of six races but never started in a heat of competition.
The ARCADIAN posted the following speeds during its qualification attempts:
1986 - San Diego, CA - 91.158
1986 - Las Vegas, NV - 74.056
1987 - Miami, FL - 72.061
1987 - Evansville, IN - 94.032
1987 - San Diego, CA - 110.254
1987 - Las Vegas, NV - 96.722
The boat was in development for several years following its last appearance. But it must have failed inasmuch as the U-86 never attended another race.
Fred Farley - APBA/HYDRO-PROP Unlimited Historian