Turbines Flop; Two Boats Flip

An otherwise miserable Sunday for teams with turbine/jet-powered hydroplane boats at Mission Bay’s Miller High Life Thunderboat Regatta was brightened by two things: the F-16 canopies covering the cockpits of the Miss Circus Circus and the Miss Madison.

By the time George Woods Jr. chugged to first place just after 4 p.m. in his piston-powered Oh Boy! Oberto, two boats had fallen victim to accident and three others, all turbines, were punched out by the saltwater. Woods, who averaged 117.412 m.p.h. laps, was the only finisher in the championship race of six boats.

During the day’s second qualifying heat, Miss Circus Circus, driven by John Prevost, and Miss Madison, driven by Ron Synder, took off like two F-14 fighter planes, flipped and broke apart on the race course after being launched by a gust of wind. The red flag stopped racing and, shortly after, both drivers were brought to shore in rescue boats. Neither was seriously injured. They were taken to UCSD Medical Center, treated and released Sunday afternoon.

“The capsule saved those guys lives,” said Dr. Keith Peterson, the head physician at the regatta. “Neither driver was complaining of pain and their blood pressures were good.”

Prevost had enough spirit left in him to tell Miss Circus Circus owner Fran Muncey to have his teammate Chip Hanauer, driver of the mechanically troubled Miller High Life boat, get in the Miss Circus Circus and drive. Muncey informed him the boat had broken in various pieces.

The outcome of the regatta was mostly dictated by who could and who couldn’t, not who was fast and who wasn’t. All day, the turbines were bested by the saltwater, which caused repeated engine stalls. Woods, of Seattle, Wash., held steady all day with wins in both of his qualifying heats.

Then, in the championship race, Woods kept his pace between 120 and 125 m.p.h. behind the first-place Miss Budweiser, driven by driver-points leader Tom D’Eath. Miss Budweiser appeared to be running smoothly, despite an occasional compression cough, but quit between the third and fourth turns on the second lap, giving Woods his second unlimited victory of the season.

Knowing his biggest asset was the salt, Woods wasn’t elated after the victory.

“I’d have felt better if it was freshwater and everybody had finished,” he said. “Basically what we do is go for consistency.”

And consistency paid off against the fast but temperamental turbines. Just ask members of the Miss Budweiser crew. D’Eath knew his boat wasn’t going to make it when he started the race.

“I was doomed,” he said, minutes after climbing out of the cockpit. “I just tried to keep it running as long as I could. But it was giving up on me.”

Still, D’Eath had enough humor left to congratulate the winners.

“I’m really pleased for the Oberto guys,” he said. “They need the money.”

Budweiser crew chief Ron Brown faulted Miss Budweiser’s inductive system, which he said failed to keep saltwater out of the engine. Also, he said the engine took in too much spray because it was heavily weighted in the front to prevent a crash.

Jim Harvey, Oh Boy! Oberto’s owner, said his crew worked on the boat’s engines until 2 a.m. Sunday and came back at 6:30 to make the final adjustments. He had the feeling a little blood, sweat and salt would make his work pay off.

“It was just a matter of time,” he said. “We need about four more saltwater races.”

As it is, there’s only one other saltwater course on the circuit. That’s in Miami, the site of Woods’ other victory.

All turbine teams had indications of what was to come early in the day.

Hanauer had a better view than anybody of the day’s first heat, standing atop his stalled boat at the south end of the course. He got a little farther in the second heat, but stalled again. Then, as the second alternate in the championship heat, he got another chance when Risley’s, driven by Mitch Evans, wouldn’t start. Hanauer finished just one warm-up lap before his boat quit.

Mr. Pringles won the first heat, averaging 124.905 m.p.h. laps over 12 1/2 miles. But the salt caught up with the turbine boat driven by Scott Pierce in the second heat and it failed to start. It wouldn’t start for the championship race either.

Miss Budweiser had early signs of trouble. D’Eath sputtered his way to second place in the first heat. The second heat he won in dubious fashion, running smoothly the entire way before stalling several hundred yards from the finish line and coasting across.

Losing on this day wasn’t quite as bad for most drivers, who expressed relief that Prevost and Synder hadn’t been hurt. After the crash, competition seemed a little less significant.

“A boat race is like a bus,” Hanauer said. “There’s always another one around the corner.”