By Hec Hancock
Reprinted from The Tri-City Herald, July 22, 1974
Controversy and confusion, long the trademark of unlimited hydroplane racing, all but obliterated the finish of the $37,000 World Championship Regatta Sunday on the Columbia River.
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| The famous seven-boat start. |
George Henley, a 37-year-old rookie driver from Eatonville, drove Pay 'n Pak to victory in the winner-take-all championship heat.
That much is a matter of record.
It is also a fact there were seven boats, one over the limit, in the final heat and Bill Muncey, hardly a stranger to rhubarbs, was fined $250.
Neither was it speculation that the turbine powered U-95 suffered an estimated $15,000 in damage to its tail section during the first lap of the championship heat.
However, just how the U-95, which set a course record of 113.469 in winning the second heat, was damaged set off a heated argument that surged back and forth through the pit area for more than an hour following the race.
About the only think everyone agree upon was the Muncey and the Atlas Van Lines had no business being in the race.
Muncey's presence came about when, as an alternate boat, he joined the field when he felt the U-74 Valu-Mart was unable to answer the starting call.
"The last time I had a chance to see the Valu-Mart the driver was standing on the deck. That was with a minute and 30 seconds to go," Muncey said afterwards.
As a consequence the veteran driver decided all systems were go.
Meanwhile, Ron Armstrong, Valu-Mart driver, got his boat going thus making it a seven-man field. Witnesses report that was with 1:40 left.
It was the traffic jam created by the seven thunderboats desperately endeavoring to negotiate the first turn that brought grief to U-95. Somehow the boat driven by Leif Borgersen was hit from behind forcing it to go dead in the water.
It was nearly a minute before it could resume under its own power, putting it out of contention.
"You knew something wasn't right," U-95 Borgersen said afterwards. "Everything closed in on that first turn. It was like a funnel. All of the sudden the boat went up in the air. Then it went sideways and whether it caught the right sponson and hooked or took a direct hit I don't know."
Chuck Lyford, team manager of U-95, charged it was Muncey who had clipped his driver's boat. But other than being in the field illegally, Lyford did not blame the Atlas driver as much as the Valu-Mart, which he claimed moved from the outside and caused the crunch.
Bill Newton, race referee, ruled Valu-Mart was in the clear.
"Someone moved from lane five to the inside and that's illegal." Muncey stated. He later felt it was the Pak. Later he thought it must have been the turbine.
"There was no collision, I did not hit it," he said in answer if it had been his boat which had hit the U-95.
"Muncey gets fined $250 and the damage costs me $15,000, I don't think thats right," an irate Pam Clapp, owner of the U-95 retorted after Newton rejected her written protest.
About the only one who wasn't confused was the winner Henley.
"I got a good start and was out in front by the turn."
As a consequence he didn't see any of the confusion that transpired in his wake.
After the "non-collision" Henley sped virtually unopposed to victory pocketing $7,100 for the triumph. Fred Alter in the Pizza Pete earned $4,600.
Commissioner George Byers Jr., chairman of the Unlimited Racing Commission, promised Ms. Clapp he would appoint a four or five-man committee to investigate. "We'll get together a few days before the Gold Cup in Seattle and go over available information and look at any films on the race he stated."
Interestingly enough a protest used to automatically stop the awarding of prizes. Under present rules, the referee has the authority to determine the outcome right on the spot.
The rule as changed largely because of an incident in 1956 when it was 85 days before the winner of the Gold Cup was determined.
Muncey was declared the winner of that race when TV films showed he hadn't hit a buoy as charged.