HYDROPLANE RACING : Hanauer Jets to World Record

In 1982, Chip Hanauer reached a world speed record of 140 m.p.h. at Seattle in Atlas Van Lines, a piston-powered unlimited hydroplane.

Saturday, Hanauer increased that to 168.128 m.p.h. in Circus Circus, a jet-powered hydroplane, on the Bill Muncey Memorial Course in Mission Bay during qualifying for today’s 24th Budweiser Cup.

“I’m in awe of these boats today,” Hanauer said shortly after his run bettered the 167.224 set Friday by Tom D’Eath in Miss Budweiser. “I felt much more comfortable today at 168 than I did eight years ago at 140.

“In 1982 I peaked out at 170 on the straightaway, and now we’re practically averaging that for a full lap. We’re going well over 200 on the straights now. I don’t know exactly because our speedometer stops at 200. It’s flabbergasting.

“The boats are so aerodynamically and hydraulically balanced that speeds are going to keep going up unless they change the rules, but these speeds are putting loads on other parts, loads they’ve never been asked to carry before. Especially the things that are in the water--the propeller, skid fin and rudder. We must be very careful not to take those pieces for granted because they’re undergoing severe stress at these speeds.”

More than speed and stress have changed from the piston era, when power came from converted military aircraft engines such as Allison, Rolls-Royce Merlin and Rolls-Royce Griffin, to the turbine era in which L-7 Lycoming engines out of Chinook helicopters are the vogue.

Hydroplanes in the earlier era were known as Thunderboats, a name still used but a misnomer now that the roar of the pistons has been silenced by the turbine.

“Hair dryers would be a better name today because that’s what they sound like,” Hanauer said.

The qualifying record gets Hanauer’s name in the Unlimited Racing Commission’s record book, but otherwise it is of little value. It counts for no points in the season standings, and when the boats begin jockeying for position in today’s heats, being No. 1 is no better than being No. 6 as far as lane selection is concerned.

“The sponsors love it, so the owners like it, but mostly it’s just for PR and ego,” D’Eath said.

With two events remaining, today’s Budweiser Cup and next Sunday’s Las Vegas Silver Cup on Lake Mead, the 1990 championship is at stake between D’Eath in the red, gold and white Miss Budweiser and Hanauer in the pink Circus Circus.

Last year they split honors, Miss Budweiser winning the boat crown, but Hanauer taking his fourth driver’s championship because D’Eath was in his boat only half the season. D’Eath, whose hobby is racing midget cars on asphalt, leads Hanauer in points, 11,125-10,552, with as many as 1,600 points available for each driver today if he can win three heats and the five-lap championship race.

The two contenders want to face one another in as many heats as possible. A blind draw determines the heat lineups.

Hanauer: “We need to draw Bud in every race, so we can beat them and make up some points. If we draw different heats and both of us win, it won’t do us any good.”

D’Eath: “We want to face Hanauer because we think we can beat him, and the more we beat him the farther behind he gets. Besides, even if he wins, he’d have to beat us six races in a row--and I don’t think that is likely--just to catch up if we finished second each time.”

In 32 heats this year, D’Eath has failed to finish first or second only twice.

Saltwater and Jim Kropfeld, in the Winston Eagle, could be determining factors today in the D’Eath vs. Hanauer battle.

Hanauer’s crew is so concerned about the salt water that it is planning to use four engines in today’s four races. Normally, on fresh water, the team makes one engine change at most.

“The biggest part of the problem comes when we’re leaving the dock,” Hanauer explained. “Salt can splash or spray into the turbine when you’re trying to get the boat up on plane (in the water), and if it reaches the turbine blades it can create a turbulence in the air passing through that heats up the engine and can ruin your day. It can all happen in a few seconds, and it’s terminal.”

D’Eath, who won the Gold Cup here last year, said he felt that the Budweiser’s method of combating the salt was more successful than most of the other boats.

“Essentially, we try to prevent salt from getting to the engine the way an air cleaner keeps dirt and dust from a car’s engine,” D’Eath said. “We sacrifice some speed with our filtration system, but we’d rather do that than let the salt in.”

Kropfeld, a three-time national champion, could be the spoiler.

“If those two guys spend all their time watching each other, we could sneak in and take the whole thing,” Kropfeld said. “And if one of them wins, we could split them up and make a big shake-up in the points. We went fast enough in qualifying to be a factor.”

The Winston Eagle ran 158.590 m.p.h., which would have bettered the world record a year ago.