By Glenn Nelson
Reprinted from The Seattle Times, August 9, 1982
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| Executone driver George Johnson climbs out of the cockpit of his sinking boat, which had just been struck by the Pay 'n Pak (left) during an early heat in yesterday's Emerald Cup on Lake Washington. Pak driver John Walters was seriously injured. Johnson suffered a leg laceration. |
Chip Hanauer of Seattle won the Sea Galley Emerald Cup yesterday, but he had been in a somber mood earlier in the day.
He had taken the Atlas Van Lines for a flighty test run just prior to the regatta and was concerned over rough water conditions on Lake Washington.
Prior to his wild ride in the Atlas, Hanauer witnessed Ron Armstrong's first run in the recently repaired Miss Budweiser, which had been damaged in Dean Chenoweth's fatal blowover-type flip last week in Pasco.
Armstrong provoked gasps of horror from the crowd amassed on the Lake Washington shores when the Bud several times went airborne.
"He scared me really bad," a pale Hanauer said at the time. "I hope Ron just takes it really, really safe. The whole course is really rough. I hit a low roller that knocked the wind out of me. When we get to the final heat, the water will be like an ocean.
"I'm very disappointed about the way we handed out there. This is the roughest I've ever seen it here. But everybody will be all right as long as everybody keeps their heads about themselves."
Well, everybody kept their heads for about one hour. Then, Heat 1B began.
Near the end of the front straightaway, Executone, on the outside lane, hit a bad spot that had plagued the unlimiteds throughout qualifying this week. Executone swerved to the left and went up on its right sponson.
The Squire Shop was heading broadside into Executone but driver Tom D'Eath decelerated and turned sharply to the left. Executone settled, but, according to driver George Johnson, its motor continued running and the boat again spun to the left, into the infield. D'Eath once again turned sharply to the left but was unable to avoid a collision.
Trailing the field, Pay 'n Pak zoomed into the wreckage, swerved left, and ran up onto the Executone, ripping apart the boat's rear cowling. The Pak went airborne, made a complete revolution and crashed onto the back of the Executone. As the Pak slammed right-side up onto the water surface, driver John Walters was pitched out of the cockpit, suffering serious injuries.
Walters, 28, was listed in serious condition this morning at Harborview Medical Center.
The Renton resident had been placed on a ventilator after he was no longer able to breathe on his own and it was discovered he had water in his lungs. A CAT-scan X-ray was taken to check for head injuries and Walters underwent surgery late last night. He has switched to an intensive-care unit.
Walters suffered three spinal fractures but no paralysis, a broken left leg, a broken right elbow, a bruised lung, a concussion and injuries to his left eye. Johnson emerged with a leg laceration and D'Eath escaped uninjured.
Executone immediately sank to the bottom of Lake Washington.
A livid D'Eath blamed Johnson for the mishap.
"The guy should have a sponson up his butt," D'Eath said. "In this sport, we take four boats out of the top flight into the final. Fourth is what you should be racing for, not first. It's a long way 'til 4:10 (the scheduled start of the final heat). I was just trying to stay out of trouble. I couldn't believe my eyes when (Johnson) went sideways and into my lane.
"I know the water doesn't look bad from here but we've had problems with that spot all week. It shouldn't take a book to fall on somebody's head to find that out. A driver should always be looking for bad spots.
"I saw the bottom of the Executone and went into survival plan, cranking hard to the left and decelerating. The boat landed right-side up and instead of regrouping, accelerated like it'd like to continue racing. It went sideways again and sent us into another collision course with me. taking an altogether different evasive action. I was left between the devil and the deep blue sea. Boats were coming up on my left and there was this one on my right. I went left again because these boats don't turn right. Executone was going backwards but still under power and blasted into my side."
Johnson, the Executone's rookie driver, said he knew he was a slower boat and took every safety precaution possible.
"I was where I wanted to be, on the outside," he said. "I was a slower boat than these guys and wasn't on the inside. There were five other boats out there and they were going comparable speeds. The Squire was starting to back down because he was early at the start. I thought I was out of everybody's way but the boat dug in and went to the left.
"I went up and over the windshield but held onto the steering wheel and stayed in the cockpit. When the boat comes up, I'm sure the staff of the wheel will be broken to prove this. The engine was still running and I think I remember reaching reaching down and shutting off the master switch."
Hanauer was in front of the accident but said, "I was George (Johnson) at the five-minute mark and it looked like his boat was out of shape. It seems to me he wasn't listening to what his boat was telling him."
It was ironic that the Pak would be involved in such an accident. According to Pak crew member Tom Bailey, the team's pre-race strategy was to stay away from all the other boats at the start.
"Our game plan was to stay away from the spray of the water and work our way through the pack in an organized fashion." Bailey said. "It was only the first heat and winning the first heat doesn't win the race.
"We didn't want to go out front like we did at Pasco just to get sawed off by the Atlas."
The Pak suffered rips through out its hull and a hole near the right side of the cockpit. The craft reportedly is through for the season. Owner Dave Heerensperger is already in the process of building a new boat.
Squire crew chief Jerry Zuvich thought the damage to his boat could be repaired. The left sponson, which had been rebuilt after damage sustained in Bill Muncey's fatal accident in the former Atlas hull at Acapulco, was destroyed. The frame of the air tunnel was severely damaged and the rear transom ripped up by Executone's propeller.
"It's similar to what happened to the Budweiser," Zuvich said. "You often loose integrity repairing the sponson like that - it depends on how much you want to dive into the repair."
The Atlas had cornered impeccably after several aerodynamic changes, leading to commanding wins in two preliminary heats and in the winner-take-all final. But the victory, of course, was overshadowed by Walter's injuries.
"It would have been more fun it he were out there racing," Hanauer said.
Miss Budweiser finished a surprising second, but even showing up yesterday was a miraculous achievement. The Bud crew worked around the clock to repair the boat's damaged sponsons and set the fiberglass deck just Saturday.
Ron Armstrong, who was hired Friday as Chenoweth's successor, qualified the Bud at 127.298 mph and was seeded in the fast heats.
Despite the Bud's solid performance, owner Bernie Little was not satisfied.
"I don't know what to do," he said. "We have some problems. When I race, I want to race! We were starting to take off at 135. I don't like telling my driver to go 140 in the straights when we have been going 170-180 all season."
