Hydroplane Racing : Gold Cup: New Turbine Boats Are Ones to Beat

The Gold Cup, unlimited hydroplane racing’s Kentucky Derby, Super Bowl and Indianapolis 500, has had a long history of dramatic confrontations.

For years, it was Detroit vs. Seattle, a war on the water between cities. Then it became a battle of personalities--Bernie Little, the flamboyant boat owner, vs. Bill Muncey, the owner-driver who won eight Gold Cups before his death in 1981 in a race at Acapulco, Mexico.

This year was expected to be the Battle of the Beer Boats, newcomer Miller American vs. the well established Miss Budweiser, six times a Gold Cup winner for Little, a Florida beer distributor.

Instead, the focus on today’s American Power Boat Assn. 81st Gold Cup on Lake Washington is on engines: Piston-powered World War II Rolls-Royce Griffon and Merlin fighter aircraft powerplants against the turbines from Lycoming’s Jolly Green Giant twin-rotor helicopters used in Vietnam.

Chip Hanauer, driving the turbine-powered Miller American, broke all Gold Cup records during qualifying with a lap at 142.586 m.p.h. and a two-lap average over the 2 1/2-mile course of 140.641. The record of 139.633 he broke was set a day earlier by another turbine boat, Miss 7-Eleven, driven by Steve Reynolds of nearby Kirkland, Wash.

The disparity in speed between the lighter turbines and the heavy piston engines is all too apparent. The fastest piston boat, Squire Shop/Brittania driven by Tom D’Eath, is more than 10 m.p.h. slower at 128.852. And five of the qualified boats--half the field--are more than 35 m.p.h. slower than the two turbines.

Last weekend in Tri-Cities, Wash., Hanauer became the first driver in history to surpass 150 m.p.h. with a lap of 153.061. In beating Reynolds in one of the closest races in recent years, Hanauer also set an unlimited race lap record of 143.399.

The distinctive turbines, with their 3-foot-diameter tailpipe, have a power-to-weight advantage over the Merlins and Griffons. Each puts out about 3,000 horsepower, but the piston engines weigh 2,000 pounds and the turbines weigh only 700.

“The difference in handling the lighter boat is like comparing a Porsche to a three-quarter ton pickup,” Hanauer said.

When Andy Granatelli showed up at Indianapolis with a turbine that threatened to run away with auto racing’s greatest prize in the late ‘60s, the reaction of the motor fraternity was to ban the turbine.

There was a move within the Unlimited Racing Commission earlier in the year to adopt similar measures, but instead a compromise was hammered out. Next year the turbines will be limited to 2,650 horsepower.

“We had to do something or the whole thing would have gotten out of hand,” URC Commissioner Don Jones said. “Limiting horsepower seemed a better answer than banning the turbines.”

But where does that leave the name: Unlimited Racing Commission?

The piston side, however, has its proponents, who point to the reliability of the 45-year-old Griffons and Merlins.

Scott Pierce, driving the piston-powered Executone Telephone, is the APBA leader with 4,119 points after six of nine races. He won the season opener at Miami and has been a consistently high finisher. Jim Kropfeld, in Little’s Miss Budweiser, is the only other piston boat winner.

“It’s obvious we can’t run with the turbines,” said Kropfeld, “so our plan will be to run conservatively in the heats and go as fast as we can in the final and hope the turbines break down.”

Little, who has been a power in the sport since 1963, is going to join the turbines next year. He has been stockpiling Lycoming engines and may have a turbine boat in time for the final race this year, Sept. 15 in San Diego’s Mission Bay.

Of this year’s other four races, Hanauer won three (Detroit, Evansville and Tri-Cities) and Reynolds one (Madison). The two turbines are tied for second in APBA points with 3,900 each.

Hanauer, 31, a Seattle driver who has been racing on Lake Washington since he was 12, could make modern history by winning today’s race. He won the last three Gold Cups after replacing Muncey in the Atlas Van Lines boat in 1982. A win today would make Hanauer the first driver to win four straight since the legendary Gar Wood and Miss America won five in a row from 1917 to 1921.

Only four other drivers--Wood, George Reis, Ron Musson and Muncey--have won three straight Gold Cups since the 1904 inaugural race.

The Miller American team of driver Hanauer, crew chief Jim Lucero and owner Fran Muncey, Bill’s widow, is the old Atlas Van Lines group. The change in sponsorship was caused when new management at Atlas dropped its hydroplane program.

They were the first to switch to turbines, but problems have plaqued them nearly everywhere.

The team failed to score a point in the first two races at Miami and Syracuse, and even while winning three of the last four races, it underwent frustrating problems.

On the lap when Hanauer set the record at Tri-Cities, the boat’s rudder was damaged so badly that Lucero, and the crew had to work all night to have the boat ready for the race.

The first time the Miller American took to Lake Washington late last Thursday afternoon, Hanauer was cruising through a turn when a flash of flame erupted from the turbine. A turbine wheel broke, setting the back of the boat in flames. It took another all night of work to ready the 5,100 pound boat for a last chance qualifying run Friday.

“I don’t know why we do it, but we’re the original Perils of Pauline when we get on the water,” Hanauer said. “Sometimes I think Jim (Lucero) revels in the added pressure.”

The purse of $125,000 is not much by today’s sporting standards. A few miles north of Lake Washington, a second string PGA tournament offers $200,000 at the Everett Country Club. But the Gold Cup is the greatest prize in motor boating.

The cup itself is a gold plated loving cup fashioned by Tiffany in 1904 for $800. Last year Hanauer’s sponsor paid $2,000 just to have it refurbished.