By Joanne A. Fishman
Reprinted from The New York Times, May 22, 1983
Unlimited hydroplane racing is without question a high-risk sport. The light boats are the fastest afloat, propelled by massive airplane engines to speeds approaching 200 miles an hour. Yet, after the death of Bill Muncey and Dean Chenoweth, the sport's foremost drivers, within a year of each other, some wondered whether the risk justified the rewards.
After replacing Muncey as the driver for the Atlas Van Lines team last season in a new boat, Chip Hanauer succeeded beyond expectations, winning the national title. But he, too, had his doubts at the end of the season.
Hanauer decided he would continue driving, but he would seek to reduce the risks. During the offseason, Hanauer, who has been racing power boats since the age of 9, and Jim Lucero, the boat's designer and builder, redesigned Atlas Van Lines, making it aerodynamically cleaner and incorporating unusual safety features.
As a result, a safer and faster Atlas Van Lines will compete today in the opening of the 10-race unlimited circuit, the $100,000 Missouri Governor's Cup Race in Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri.
The cockpit was lowered below deck level to give the driver a better chance of surviving a serious accident. Also, a five-point seat belt system was added, similar to the one used by Indianapolis Raceway car drivers.
Hanauer said that he and Lucero had studied the last few fatalities in the sport. In Muncey's case, he said, the boat flipped, landing on top of him, with his body absorbing the impact. The force of the water then pushed him through the dashboard and cockpit cowling.
Chenoweth was thrown from the boat and then ''got tangled up with his boat as it tumbled across the water,'' said Hanauer, a 28-year old former school teacher.
Two other drivers, Tom Fults and Jerry Bangs, were killed in recent years when they were thrown from their boats. Last season, John Walters, driver of the Pay 'n Pak turbine-powered hydroplane critically injured when he was thrown out of his cockpit in Seattle. In every case, with the exception of Muncey's, the cockpit remained intact.
''That leads us to believe if the driver stays in the cockpit, he stands a good chance of surviving the accident,'' Hanauer said in a telephone interview before a preliminary heat Friday.
The redesigned cockpit affords greater protection. Formerly, Hanauer was sitting above deck level, surrounded by an eighth-inch layer of non-protective fiberglass designed merely for effective airflow. With the cockpit below deck level, the engine and the deck, rather than the driver, absorb the impact. And the fiberglass cowling has been replaced by a strong honeycomb aluminum shell.
Changes to the front end to improve straightaway speed combined with the lower center of gravity caused by lowering the cockpit have given the craft far greater stability and less drag. Atlas Van Lines, 28 feet long, is powered by a supercharged Rolls-Royce Merlin engine generating 2,800 horsepower.
Last year, Hanauer said that he couldn't run more than 135 miles per hour without using ''fences.'' These are plastic pieces directing air flow downward to prevent a blow-over. They also cause drag. In his first preliminary run Thursday, Hanauer said he went more than 170 m.p.h. without needing fences.
Hanauer should face strong competition from Miss Budweiser, driven by Jim Kropfield. Renault, the French automaker, is making its debut in unlimited competition this season with Miss Renault, driven by Milner Irvin and built by Jon Staudacher, whose boats hold most of the current limited-class hydroplane records. The only unlimited race in the northeast is the Atlas Van Lines Cup scheduled for June 12 on Lake Seneca at Sampson State Park in Seneca Falls, N.Y.
As Hanauer seeks to defend his title, he says he has accepted the dangers of the sport. What makes it worthwhile, he says, is ''the concentration, the intensity, the competition. If it wasn't difficult, it wouldn't be worth it. But it's a tremendous challenge: myself against the other drivers and the challenge to reach my own potential, to drive the perfect race.''
