MIAMI — (Special) — Mickey Remund wasn't satisfied with going Bill Muncey one better. He had to rub it in a little.
Remund, getting his first assignment in a "real" unlimited hydroplane, yesterday outgunned Muncey for the Champion Regatta trophy and twice broke a course record set by the defending national champion.
Remund, Garden Grove, Calif., piloted the Seattle-based Pride of Pay 'n Pak to three easy heat wins and a 1,200-point sweep against seven competitors in Marine Stadium.
Remund won Heat 1A with a record 106.867 miles-an-hour average. In Head 2B, Remund zipped around the 2½-mile course even faster, setting the standard at 111.150 m.p.h. Muncey, who won six of last season's seven races, provided Remund a target with a 05.448 heat last year.
In the final, Remund slowed to 102.389 m.p.h., but was not pushed after Muncey's Atlas Van Lines stalled on the third lap.
Remund, who had a "cup of coffee" in the underpowered Van's P-X a few years back, established himself as the 1973 favorite with his immediate success in the new Pay 'n Pak.
Yesterday's regatta was the first for the new Ron Jones-designed hull, owned by Dave Heerensperger of Mercer Island. The last time a boat won it's first race was in 1959 when Chuck Hickling captured the Apple Cup with the Miss Pay 'n Save.
Heerensperger, a fierce competitor, was more than pleased with the win, which earned his camp $5,445.
"We've got one that Muncey's gonna chase all year, I hope," Heerensperger said after his boat crossed the finish line.
The Pay 'n Pak utilizes a horizontal stabilizer bar — a "bat wing" — on the tail fin to smooth out cornering.
"I think we will see a lot of those wings being built in the next 30 days," Buddy Byers, unlimited commissioner, said while congratulating Heerensperger.
George Henley of Eatonville, driving the Lincoln Thrift, placed second with 900 points on three second place finishes. Henley earned $4,095 for Bob Fendler, owner of the Lincoln.
Jim McCormick of Owensboro, Ky., was third with his Red Man (former Hallmark Homes).
Dean Chenoweth of Xenia, Ohio, was a disappointed fourth in the Budweiser.
Muncey's 300 points for a second in Heat 1A stood up for fifth overall.
Bill Wurster, in Bob Gilliam's Valu-Mart, and Charlie Dunn, in the Miss Madison, tied for sixth with 225 points each.
The unlimited fleet now heads for Washington, D.C., and the President's Cup on the Potomic River, June 2-3.
