SEATTLE – Six boats roar around the turn with rooster tails flying. Maybe there’s a bump or two as hell-bent drivers jockey for position.
Few moments in sport compare to that moment. Will they hit? Will one boat flip? Who’ll come out unscathed?
Yet annually, reports are that unlimited hydroplane racing is in trouble, that sponsorship money is short and that most teams are on shoestring budgets. The circuit has a mere six-race schedule.
American Boat Racing Association (ABRA) chairman Sam Cole says the first challenge is clear.
“The key for our sport is that we’ve got to have 12 or 14 of these boats to go east,” he said.
While 14 race teams brought their boats to Seafair, that has been the high-water mark this season. Eleven started the season at Evansville, Ind., but two boats were damaged so severely that they couldn’t make it next week to Madison, Ind., leaving just nine to compete. Traditionally, it’s been a struggle to field eight or nine boats for the Midwest races.
Much of the reason is that the sport is cost-preventative. A boat can run $500,000. The propeller itself can cost up to $20,000. Add $70,000 for the engine and $55,000 for the gearbox. Operating costs during the season can be another $500,000.
Venues have been hard to come by. The cost to promote and play host to the sport is expensive. Cole said since 1949, the sport has visited more than 70 cities. More than 45 played host just one or two times.
Unlimited hydroplane racing has been a part of Seattle since 1951.
“The population is in the east,” Cole said. “When you can’t get more than eight or 10 boats to come east, you can’t call it the world’s greatest sport. You really have to cross your fingers that someone doesn’t break up their boat.
“Seattle’s always the healthiest spot for the sport, but we have to get some of these other teams to commit to the series.”
Once the sport can attract at least 12 race teams to commit to the entire season, then Cole can work on expanding the six-race schedule and later a television package.
“We have to fix what we have first,” Cole said.
Cole would prefer to negotiate with venue officials to break up the existing schedule. Up to now, cities have resisted the idea of moving dates. That has resulted in the series to have five races in six weeks, a difficult task for all but the highest funded of race teams.
Ideally, the schedule would leave at least a full week between races. To accomplish that, Cole would like the season to start in May, but still wants to avoid running into football season.
A future locale possibility is Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. A group from Dubai may attend the race next month in San Diego to observe what’s involved in promotion and other logistics.
It seems the days are gone when governing bodies tried to attract fans by implementing silly rules. Several years ago, HYDRO-Prop tried to level the playing field by reducing fuel flow to the previous race’s winner. The rule was designed to reign in the dominant Miss Budweiser closer to the field.
It only succeeded in making the sport look silly.
Today, three years after Budweiser pulled its sponsorship, the sport is more competitive than it has been in years, although the Miss Elstrom Elam Plus is clearly the boat to beat for the points championship.
Perhaps the element the sport needs most is a charismatic personality. Not since the late Bill Muncey has unlimited hydroplane racing had a visible face that relentlessly sold the sport.
“That guy was like a world ambassador for the sport,” Cole said. “No one has ever measured up to him since. He was the most exciting guy we had going.”
Sports columnist John Sleeper: sleeper@heraldnet.com
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