0:24

Ruchatel Talk , a podcast dedicated

0:26

to everything related to the sport we all love

0:28

. Hi , jofine Racing , I'm

0:30

your host , david Newton , and it's time once again to

0:32

sit back , relax and welcome

0:34

to Ruchatel Talk . It

0:43

is August 22nd 2023

0:46

, and this is Episode 110

0:49

. Well , race fans

0:51

, I know you're eager , and I am eager as well

0:53

, to get interviewed and talk to some more people around

0:55

the sport . Unfortunately , I've got a few

0:57

people on the line to be interviewed actually

1:00

three or four people right now but due to scheduling

1:02

conflicts , I have not gotten

1:05

an interview in for

1:08

our next podcast . So I decided to go through

1:10

the archives and I found a

1:12

race which , to

1:15

be honest , it wasn't as excited to

1:18

air it , but re-listening to the broadcast

1:20

and kind of going back into the history of it got

1:23

me kind of more excited about the history

1:25

of this race , and I'm talking about the 1983

1:28

Houston World Cup

1:30

. 40 years ago , 18

1:32

boats can you believe it ? 18

1:34

boats from three different

1:37

nations around the world went down

1:39

to Houston , texas , for the Budweiser

1:41

World Championships . It's

1:43

crazy . I'm going to read the names off here in a little

1:45

bit , but before I do I

1:47

want to give a thanks to John Osterberg because

1:50

he provided the audio quality

1:52

of this race . It

1:55

was broadcasted by the Unlimited Racing

1:57

Network , which is no longer an

1:59

active entity . Unfortunately , the

2:02

races are no longer aired on the radio

2:04

. So when all rights expired

2:06

, when the network folded up and

2:08

its principal stakeholders passed away . So

2:11

I want to thank John Osterberg for this recording , which

2:14

he made off of his

2:16

own radio for his personal use

2:18

and preserved it for us to hear and

2:20

listen to today . So

2:23

if you want to show your appreciation for John , he

2:25

is an author , he's an avid hydroplane

2:27

fan and he actually wrote a book entitled

2:30

Dragon Days the story of

2:32

the Miss Bartle and the 1960 kids

2:34

who loved hydros . He was on earlier

2:37

episode 50 . We interviewed him about all

2:39

about his book . It's a great read . If

2:41

you haven't checked it out yet , show some support

2:43

. You can buy it on Amazon or wherever ebooks are

2:45

sold for only $19.99

2:48

. So again , it's only provided

2:50

as an ebook , not a physical copy . So

2:53

hopefully you have an ebook or a phone that can

2:55

read it . Well worth your time . Really

2:58

recommend picking up that book . So

3:01

today this race really

3:03

interesting . Let's look at who

3:05

was there , because there's

3:07

so many different , different

3:11

entities there and so many different things it's

3:13

kind of mind boggling to think about this

3:15

, because 18 boats in the pits . You

3:17

had your heavy hitters , the Atlas , van Lines , the Budweiser

3:19

, but you had so many different

3:22

hydros of different designs

3:24

, power plants . You had no

3:26

turbine engines 1983

3:29

, I believe no turbines ran

3:31

the year the Pay-In-Pack last ran

3:33

in 82 . And you had a year

3:35

before the hydros

3:38

kind of started to gravitate towards turbines

3:40

, with I think three

3:42

boats in 84 that ran turbines

3:44

. So nothing turbine related

3:47

at all in 83 , all piston powered . But

3:49

you had Merlin engines , you had

3:51

Griffin engines , you had stock

3:53

Allison engines , you had turbocharged Allysons

3:56

, you had automotive powered

3:58

. You also had some

4:00

outboard engines at this race

4:02

. So you had six

4:05

different types of engines being used . A

4:07

lot of people were talking about the outboards and the

4:10

reliability and possibly

4:13

looking at how we could use those motors

4:15

in the sport more . A

4:17

lot of questions there . But you also look

4:19

at the designs of the holes

4:21

. You had pickle forks , you had round noses

4:24

, you had cab overs , you had

4:26

rear conventional holes with the driver sitting in

4:28

the back and you had

4:30

a drop sponsored hole without

4:33

lotter back U5 hole . But

4:35

you had not one but

4:37

two tunnel boats

4:39

racing along with the hydroplanes

4:42

. One of them was an

4:44

American craft , the

4:46

U19 Miss USA . It

4:48

was representative , it was from Don Erano

4:51

, so that's a big name in tunnel boat

4:53

racing . Back in the day His

4:55

driver was Jimbo McConnell . Actually

4:57

qualified at 102.970

5:01

. That was a pretty large tunnel

5:03

hole that was actually built and designed

5:06

to be in the unlimited class

5:08

, but one that wasn't designed

5:10

for the unlimiteds . That came over

5:12

from Italy , that's right . There was a boat

5:14

from Italy , sponsored

5:17

by Lewis , on the Lake Bernardo Molinari

5:19

, which I was actually

5:21

surprised looking back at

5:23

the data here . He qualified at 111.940

5:27

miles per hour and that was a boat

5:29

with their stories around it . He showed up for

5:31

the race . The boat was under

5:33

weight and under

5:36

size . He actually had to add some

5:38

things to make it the legal size for the

5:41

race . I believe he added

5:43

a wing lit thing

5:45

on the back and the front to make it the correct

5:47

length . 18 boats

5:49

, though . The other notable , interesting

5:51

one was actually from Australia , the

5:54

VS 41 , miss Baywaters bulk

5:57

. They

5:59

were their Merlin powered engine

6:01

being used for them . That

6:03

boat is actually still racing today

6:06

, believe it or not , 40 years later

6:08

, down there for

6:11

the Griffith Cup and in their series

6:13

in Australia , still

6:15

running Merlin powered . They have an enclosed

6:17

canopy though for it Still running

6:19

strong . But

6:22

again , 18 boats in the pits . Not

6:25

all of them qualified . I believe one didn't

6:29

even actually get a qualifying attempt made

6:31

, and that was actually

6:33

I didn't say this one , but this actually was

6:35

a step-all entitled Something

6:38

Else . The ZU-4 representative

6:40

owner was Bill Morgan and the driver

6:42

as well . So

6:44

just crazy to think about 18 votes

6:46

in the pits . All these different

6:49

power plants , all these different designs , truly

6:52

unlimited . At that point , right

6:54

, everyone's trying out all

6:56

these different things to make their boats

6:58

stand out and

7:01

win . All

7:03

right other boats that were in the pits there

7:05

actually Atlas VanLine Squirer Shop , miss

7:07

Renault , you had

7:09

the U5 , that was the Lodderback

7:11

automotive-powered one . Ric

7:14

Gunite Special . You

7:16

had the Miss Madison U6 , miss Rich Plan

7:19

, driven by Ron Snyder . U7

7:21

, american Speedy Printing , driven by Jack

7:23

Schaefer . The U8 , executone

7:26

, driven by George Johnson . U10

7:28

, miss Beko , driven

7:31

by female Brenda Jones . U12

7:34

, miss Budweiser , driven by Jim Cropfelt . You

7:37

had the U21 , belair Yellow Pages

7:39

, driven by Mitch Evans . U22

7:42

, this was a round nose , not

7:45

the Turban one Miss Tostiosti

7:47

, driven by Todd Yerling . The

7:49

U29 , miss Industrial Air Tool , driven

7:51

by Jerry Hopp , the Leland-owned

7:54

that Drop Deck , Picofort

7:57

. Miss Houston . U40 , driven by John Priebost

7:59

, and then the U80 Chet's

8:02

Music Shop driven by Ron Armstrong . Another

8:04

round nose with the

8:06

Cabover design with that turbocharged

8:09

Allison engine and those rear wings on

8:11

there . So a

8:14

lot of racing that went on that

8:16

weekend . Well , attrition

8:18

played a huge factor . The

8:20

first run of the final heat actually

8:22

did not finish as the

8:25

Aztvallines just sustained some damage

8:27

and Chip Hanauer jumped

8:29

out into the water to stop the running

8:31

of the final heat . Some

8:34

controversy around that , as

8:36

there was speculation . He did that for

8:38

a specific reason , so the Aztvallines

8:41

had a shot to win the Hyatt points . Not

8:43

indeed for saving his whole , speculation

8:46

goes around about that but regardless

8:50

his boat was damaged in

8:52

that final heat so he did

8:54

jump out to save his craft

8:56

from sustaining further damage and possibly sinking

8:58

. They'll

9:00

talk about the shenanigans

9:03

that went on at the start . There's some wild drivings

9:05

, people getting cut off , which

9:08

caused the boat to be disqualified

9:10

and damaged going to the Miss

9:12

Squire shop . So he was unable to

9:14

run in the final heat . So

9:16

a lot of attrition went on . So

9:19

the heavy hitters and some of the people that you would think

9:21

would have a shot at winning did not

9:23

run in the final heat the

9:26

Aztvallines , as they stopped

9:28

the heat in the first run did

9:30

not get to run for the rerun . The

9:33

final six boats that you'll hear racing

9:36

here today are actually not

9:38

today , forty years ago for

9:40

that world championship is the Miss Budweiser

9:42

with Jim Cropfeldt driving , the Miss Renault

9:44

with E-Milliner Irvin , american

9:47

speedy printing Jack Schaefer , the

9:49

Miss USA , that tunnel boat

9:51

driven by Jim McConnell , and

9:54

the Miss Italy with Renato

9:57

Molinari . That's the other tunnel boat all

9:59

the way from Italy , and then the

10:01

Executone Telephones with

10:03

George Johnson . A

10:06

couple other interesting facts and

10:08

things thinking about this race before I release

10:10

you to listen to this tape

10:13

. Again , with

10:15

Miss Italy , I said that they qualified

10:17

at 111 miles an hour . So that tunnel

10:19

boat from Italy was dual powered

10:21

, outboard engines . Small

10:23

, small craft really had a hard time handling

10:25

the rough water from the other boats . It

10:27

was , that's only see

10:31

, less than about 25 miles

10:33

an hour off of the top qualifier

10:36

, which Atlas Van Lines qualified 138

10:38

miles per hour , so not as

10:41

far back as you would think . Other

10:44

it out qualified some other boats . It qualified

10:47

faster than

10:49

actually about a third

10:52

of the boats that were there . So quite

10:54

interesting that

10:57

that tunnel boat went as fast as

10:59

it typically have a harder time with ovals

11:01

and it's just a such a smaller

11:03

craft . In

11:05

fact , the misexecuton qualified two

11:08

miles an hour faster . But

11:10

also the , the nations

11:12

that represented Italy was represented by

11:14

a boat from Italy . Australia

11:17

had a boat in the race as well . In

11:19

France was actually represented as well , as

11:21

they were sponsoring the Miss Renault from

11:24

Detroit . So four nations

11:26

were being represented

11:28

there at the world championships . Quite

11:31

a big deal back in 1983

11:34

. Alright , that's enough

11:36

of me rambling on . Let's listen to the race

11:38

, sit back , relax and

11:40

let's time travel back 40

11:42

years . It's the 1983 Budweiser

11:45

UIM World Championships

11:47

.

11:58

From Clear Lake , texas , just south

12:00

of Houston . It's the Budweiser

12:02

World Championship

12:07

Thunder Boats 1983

12:12

. Today's World Championship is brought to you by Showboat

12:17

Marine , for the best in performance and

12:19

protection for your boat , by Atlas Van

12:21

Lines , the company that is getting America

12:23

moving , and brought to you locally , in your area

12:25

, by the 24-hour Christian voice

12:27

for the Pacific Northwest , kxa Seattle

12:30

Good News Radio 770

12:35

. And now to the starting

12:37

line in Clear Lake , texas , and Jim

12:39

Hedrick . Thank you very

12:41

much everybody . Jim Hedrick , along with Salmon

12:43

Hill Cole and , of course , down in the areas

12:46

, chet Simon A cat salmon

12:48

, I should say , from KYST , will

12:50

be handling our pit interviews on a special

12:52

walkie-talkie . We'll be calling him in from time

12:55

to time . For those of you who have joined

12:57

us late and did not hear the first part of our broadcast

12:59

, this is a repeat of

13:02

the World Cup , the Budweiser

13:04

Clear World Cup . We had about a

13:06

lap and a three-quarters to go

13:08

when the Budweiser out front Atlas

13:11

Van Lines had sustained some hull damage , slowed

13:14

down , was in danger of sinking , the

13:16

driver chip paneler went overboard into

13:18

the water . That constitutes the stoppage

13:20

of the race . The flares went up and now we

13:22

have to do it all over again . What is more

13:25

important in that going into this final

13:27

heat of 1983 , the

13:29

Atlas Van Lines and chip paneler , by earlier

13:32

performances here today , had taken

13:34

a 131 point lead

13:36

over the Budweiser for the National High

13:38

Crown . Budweiser , even if

13:41

they won the final heat and Atlas had

13:43

to play second . Well , budweiser

13:45

would have won the World Cup but lost the National Championship

13:47

by only 31 points because there's only 100

13:49

points difference between first and second . But

13:52

now that Atlas Van Lines has constitute the stoppage

13:54

of the race by the unlimited commission

13:56

APBA rules , he may not restart

13:59

. All the Budweiser and Jim Cropfield

14:01

will have to do is to finish first to win

14:03

both the World Crown and the National High Point

14:05

Championship . We've had some injured boats . We've

14:07

had a driver slightly hurt . We'll talk

14:10

all about that and recap today's action

14:12

after this , back

14:14

here on Clear Lake in

14:16

Clear Lake , texas , just south of Houston

14:18

or north of Galveston . Take your choice . Let's

14:20

call in Sam Cole for events of the day . Sam

14:22

, yeah , jim , let's talk about that final

14:25

heat . I had the opportunity of going over to our NBC

14:27

TV truck and watching everything back over

14:29

again as the boats came down the main

14:31

straightaway after the start of the final

14:33

heat . Ronnie Armstrong was in

14:36

lane four , tom Deese in lane three

14:38

, jim Cropfeld in lane two , chip

14:40

Hanauer in lane one in the Atlas . Jack Schaefer

14:42

was in lane five , milner Urban in lane six

14:44

, on the outside of the race course . As they

14:47

came down there , ron

14:49

Armstrong started his turn . Tommy

14:51

Deese was pinched between Jim Cropfeld

14:54

and Ron Armstrong . Armstrong cut in front of the

14:56

east . The Squire shop way

14:58

up in the air on its side fell down

15:00

off the rooster tail , skidded out Milner Urban

15:02

and Jack Schaefer avoided him . Armstrong

15:05

was penalized by Chief Referee Lee Shana's

15:08

and fined $100 for that incident

15:10

. As they went on along the Atlas van

15:12

lines Let me say there at this point , the Atlas

15:14

van lines was not damaged in that incident

15:16

. They went on around the race course . On lap

15:19

two or three the right side of the deck

15:21

of the Atlas van lines came off with water , pushing

15:23

it out . We ran four laps of the world

15:25

championship race . Chip Hanauer slowed

15:28

down in the lower turn here , jumped

15:30

in the water . We stopped it . After

15:33

that the referees and officials held a meeting . Our

15:35

six boats buying for the world championship

15:37

here this afternoon Will be the miss

15:39

Budweiser Jim Cropfeld , let me point out

15:41

here . Cropfeld came into the pit area

15:43

, complained of steering problems in that

15:45

boat and they did have some minor hull

15:48

damage but evidently it's all Repair

15:50

. American speedy printing , jack Schaefer

15:52

Jr , out there . The miss Renault , milner , urban

15:54

, miss USA , the outboard unlimited

15:56

. Jim Bo McConnell moves up now . Louise

15:59

on the lake , miss Italy , renato Molinaries

16:01

, our boat , and the executive tone , george Johnson

16:03

. He's already on the race coast of those

16:05

by the six boats that will buy for

16:08

$55,000 in this final

16:10

heat . And we got word that there was some minor

16:12

damage To the person from Fairhaven

16:14

, michigan , of Tommy D . He has possibly

16:16

a bunch of nose from water . Okay , nothing

16:19

is broken . Tommy , shake it up . Had

16:21

a lot of cuts on his face from the accident

16:23

. But everybody back in Detroit know Tom's

16:25

okay , he's all right . Doc pinched of

16:27

care of him , he's all right . So the atlas and

16:29

the squire , miss Houston , and the U80

16:32

Patterson's boat , which is chest music is out because

16:34

of damage or one thing or the other . We've

16:36

already named the three all tips . We're like Texas

16:38

, let's go down the cat Simon in the pits real quick . The

16:45

three all in it for now . They're running along with Um

16:47

miss Renault , miss Budweiser and American

16:49

speedy printing . That's it for the tips right now

16:51

. Okay , bill Cole , from your end , what

16:53

do you say ? Well , before the last team , jim

16:56

, I said the miss Budweiser had to go for it . Now

16:58

she's gonna afford to play it safe , it's

17:00

burning . Little wants go for a national championship

17:02

. He can finish third . But I think Bernie wants

17:04

to go for the downs . I think you'll see him going all

17:06

the way out from and Jim . One more thing

17:08

the first time in the world championships it's

17:10

1938 we

17:13

have had a foreign boat in the finals , renato

17:15

Malamari , from Lake Como , italy

17:17

, and Louis Lake club special , and it's a

17:19

twin outboard omc , power to hydro

17:21

, very small in the fleet . I understand he's

17:24

taking a look at these big boats and he said Italy will be

17:26

next year with a bigger boat . We

17:28

also have a four um engine

17:30

outboard omc miss usa

17:32

, driven by Jimbo mcconnell , and charlie strang

17:35

is ecstatic about everything . Well , I'm sure

17:37

he is . We're getting close to the one minute gun . We'll

17:39

be back . The

17:41

one minute gun has fired as the boats go

17:43

up to the left of us , to corners

17:45

number three and four for the start , and that's the last show

17:47

we have . There will be no gun at the start , so don't

17:49

worry about that , guys . Now , sam

17:52

Cole , if you will . They're jacking up their corner . Number three what I

17:54

was going to tell you was is the chip man hours on

17:56

the beach watching this . Renato Malamari was

17:58

dug in Jim Cropfeld . As they dive into that

18:00

turn Jim and Malamari , once the inside

18:02

the miss Italy . And as they go in there , let's

18:05

take a look . We're going to have Malamarian Lane one

18:07

Cropfeld jacking for two . Jack

18:09

shape for the american speedy is about in four . He's

18:11

out in everyone . Jimbo mcconnell , executive on

18:13

everybody's in there . Some brown smoke

18:15

up in there . Here they come , bring them down . Jim Hendrick

18:18

, all right , as we go , and he's going to be run out of out of there

18:20

. He wants to lay number one . It'll

18:22

be the Budweiser . Come up in lane number

18:24

two . Over there in lane three is the

18:26

miss reno , 10 seconds and

18:28

10 seconds ago here , because miss usa , american

18:31

speedy , printed on the far outside is the

18:33

executive , don't as they come down very

18:35

close to four seconds . Three seconds

18:37

, two seconds , one second . They're on the

18:39

money without a ballerina from Italy on . But here comes

18:42

budweiser up fast and miss

18:44

usa , along with american speedy printing and

18:46

the executive and a reno is in the inside

18:48

hidden by the rooster tail as they get on the corner number

18:50

one , fam Jim . As they dive in there

18:52

, reno malamari , in there , jim Cropfeld

18:54

and this budweiser put his boat out

18:57

on top . He's about four or five seconds ahead

18:59

pulling away from the field . Jack shape for american

19:01

speedy printing , your second place boat , right now on

19:03

his hip , the miss reno , milliner ervin and third

19:05

, coming around side , malinari . Uh-oh , milliner

19:07

ervin just ate a way of a water from malinari

19:10

as he came out of there and headed up the back Press

19:12

. But jim crop felt the miss budweiser is

19:14

your leader , phil cole . Jim crop felt moving

19:16

up the back Press with jack shape for the american

19:19

speedy printing special , his nearest

19:21

pursuer , ronato malamari from lake komo

19:23

idly is in third a big battle

19:25

for fourth and fifth Executon going into

19:27

fourth reno left in fifth place

19:29

, crop felt in the upper turning good shape in

19:31

the budweiser as he moves around that corner

19:33

. Bit shaper , really them in just a little

19:35

bit . It's a two boat race now . If anybody's going

19:37

to catch budweiser the rest of the way through this

19:40

race it's going to be american speedy special , jim

19:42

indrick . As they come down to complete lap number

19:44

one , bernie little smith budweiser , the owner

19:46

from lakeland florida , the driver from sycinetti

19:48

and the crew from seattle spread out as

19:51

they come down to budweiser Slowing down here . Budweiser

19:53

slowing down here . Budweiser slowing

19:56

down . He's voted jim . He's blowing

19:58

an engine and it's trying to be american speedy . He's

20:00

going to take over . Oh no , he's trying to

20:02

get it going again . He may have gotten it going . He's trying

20:04

to nurse it . Yeah , he's coming out . Jack

20:06

shaver jr From american speedy printing is going

20:09

to head down to you , sam jim . It's what

20:11

we said earlier . The pressure

20:13

was on . Crop felt the finish . He's going to try

20:15

to nurse it around . Jack shaver league takers your

20:17

leader . Crop felt returning to the pit

20:19

and the miss budweiser , our national champion

20:21

of the atlas van lines , jimmy crop felt trying

20:23

to keep it . Nurtain , jack shaver jr

20:25

. The euston boat . Bob taylor out of euston

20:28

, texas , american speedy printing is your

20:30

leader . But here comes millner urban . Jack shaver

20:32

has slowed down . Okay , the Miss Vanolica

20:34

takeover . Jack Shafer's float way down the back chute

20:37

. Here comes Bill Irwin , bam Cole

20:39

. Let's go to Phil Cole , phil Down here

20:41

first . Jim Crossbell is on fire in the Budweiser

20:44

. A lot of brown smoke coming out of this

20:46

Budweiser . Crossbell is just trying

20:48

to get back to the pit area Out here . Jack

20:50

Shafer is slowing down and coming to a stop In

20:52

the American feeding that leads to Miss Vanol

20:54

, a brand new boat this year , out in first

20:56

place , and what a huge upset this would be

20:59

. We've seen all the favorites go by the

21:01

wayside now , and now it's up to the people's

21:03

churse , as they used to say in Brooklyn

21:05

. And the people's churse right now is

21:07

Milner Irwin , who didn't want to race on this water

21:10

, who said it's too rough , but now finds

21:12

himself in first place with the executive

21:14

tone in back of him and in back of him Renato

21:17

Molinari from Italy . So it's still anybody's

21:19

race . Let's watch what happens . Well , the Budweiser

21:21

is down in the pit . They look like the fire is out

21:23

, but Bernie Little and Jim Crossbell

21:26

, after a fine season , could have had it all

21:28

if they got to keep the joint . They had the national

21:30

championship and the world championship and it was all

21:32

blown right there . As the complete lap

21:34

number two , it is Milner Irwin and

21:36

Jerry Shannon , miss Vanol , going down

21:38

to start lap three . Second place is George

21:40

Johnson , the executive tone . Third

21:43

place , from Italy , is Renato

21:45

Molinari in the Louis League Club

21:47

. Fourth place is Miss USA with the rookie

21:49

Jimbo McConnell , as they come off of corner number

21:52

two on lap three Down the back shoot

21:54

. Here's Sam Cole , jim

21:56

, as he comes down there , milner Irwin brings it around

21:58

. This boat , mil , by John Stottiker of Cawcawland

22:00

, michigan , a brand new boat this year , the fastest

22:03

turbo chart Dallason boat we've ever had on

22:05

the circuit . Milner Irwin , a brand new boat

22:07

, jerry Shannon , the owner , out of Detroit , michigan . He's

22:09

on his way to what could be his first win as

22:12

an unlimited hydroplane pilot . And

22:15

what a win there will be . And we've seen Jack

22:17

Schaefer sitting disconsolently out

22:19

on the Balbus boat . He had the world championship

22:21

in his grasp for about one half

22:23

of a lap until it slipped away from him . Jim

22:26

Groffmeld headed his hands for five

22:28

and a half , almost six laps before it

22:30

slipped out of his hands . And now Milner Irwin

22:32

has it in his hands At

22:34

the end of lap number two . Milner

22:37

, lap number three , pardon me , milner Irwin

22:39

in the Miss Vanol , in first place , jim Hendry

22:41

, as they come down to complete lap number three

22:43

. It is as

22:47

they come down to complete lap number three . It is Milner

22:49

Irwin Coming down here in Miss Renault

22:51

, with three more laps to go

22:53

halfway down . And great a good about

22:55

a good 10 second lead over

22:57

Renato Malinari from Italy who , in second place

22:59

, is slowing down . Slowing down

23:01

now , I believe , is the executive tone

23:04

. Executive tone is dead on corner number four

23:06

. That makes it a pre-boat race . Now

23:08

. Miss USA with Jumbo McConnell

23:10

takes over third place . If

23:13

something happens to Renault

23:15

now , I guess who's going to be left ? He is

23:17

a lap down . That's what I was being told

23:19

while everyone was worrying about everything else . He's

23:21

a lap down . He's penalized for cutting off the Miss

23:23

Renault one lap down in that turn

23:25

. But Jim Mo McConnell is in second place . Okay

23:28

, that was official word from referee Lee Shiniff

23:30

that the Italian entry , louis , the

23:32

club driven by Renato Malinari

23:34

from Como , italy , is not in second Penalized

23:36

. Next lap for Chopin . A boat is

23:38

now in third . So this is the way it sets up . As

23:40

they're running speeds of about 111 mile an hour

23:43

, your lead boat in corner number three , coming

23:45

down to complete lap number four , with two more left to

23:47

go , will be the Miss Renault

23:49

with Miller , when Jerry Shea is probably jumping

23:51

up and down on that deck right now . Second

23:54

place , jim Mo McConnell in Miss USA with four

23:56

horse power , four outboards , omc horse

23:58

power and third place from Italy , renato

24:01

Malinari . And this race is official . Right now

24:03

it's over three laps . So this race is now official

24:05

. If somebody jumps in the water now , they let them

24:07

swim to shore . The race is official

24:10

. Here's the Renault coming down at the end of

24:12

lap number four . He'll get the green flag the next

24:14

time around . And this sixth lap race on

24:16

UIM rules Milner Urban

24:18

, the only conventional hydroplane

24:20

left out there , along with two outboards

24:22

, and Jim Bo McConnell is one of those in the

24:24

upper turn . Renato Malinari from Lake

24:26

Como , italy , is the other one and he's coming the

24:29

number two corner , as we call . So

24:31

it looks like it's going to be the mr and all now

24:33

, if bill nehran can keep everything going . But remember

24:35

, two days ago he blew a turbocharger

24:38

and had a turbo fire , and that turbocharger

24:40

has been a little bit erratic . Jim , he's got

24:42

a lap and a half to go . He's about to wildly down

24:44

the back shoot and no Erwin from coral

24:46

cables for now can hang it on the hook for

24:48

another lap and a half . He will be the 1980

24:51

world championship driver . And boy

24:53

, I'll tell you what a way to go

24:55

. When the Budweiser with a lap of three quarters

24:57

was out in front , the Atlas van lines

24:59

had a problem with the lap of three

25:01

quarters ago , jumped into the water , stopped the race

25:03

on the restart but led for one lap

25:06

and then had something blowing . The engine went

25:08

to the pit and all of a sudden it was Jack

25:10

Shaver Jr taking over in the American speedy printing

25:12

. He had it all his way . Another half lap

25:14

he was down . Overtaking is a brand

25:16

new boat , miss Renault , coming around to get

25:18

the green flag , sam , as he comes towards you , and

25:21

he has got one more left to go after

25:23

he passes your point . That's right , jim . The green

25:25

flag waiting for Milner Irvin , carl

25:27

Gable , florida . He's driven to miss Madison

25:29

earlier . Jim set out for a year and has

25:31

come back with Jerry Shane , his team , as he brings it along

25:33

the line here . The first win

25:35

for Renault and you know we've got an international winner

25:38

for the world champion . Jimmy holds on because they've

25:40

been passing out French flags all week , and

25:42

that's right . Renault made in France for AMC

25:45

106.132 . The

25:47

last lap for the miss Renault and Milner Irvin

25:49

106.132

25:51

. He's fighting the way down . He's not taking

25:53

any chances whatsoever . His closest

25:56

pursuer is a lap behind him , that's

25:58

Renato Malamari . Then behind him is Jim

26:00

Bo McCombell in the miss USA . So

26:02

one , three , two , that's the way they go

26:04

around this race course Irvin on his last

26:07

lap on the green flag . Lap up the

26:09

backstretch , jim , and it looks like we have

26:11

a total surprise world

26:13

champion here at Clear Lake . That

26:15

we all talked at was that lines . We

26:17

all talk Budweiser and , but the fates

26:19

of that's racing . You're gonna have the miss Renault

26:21

winning her first race in an inaugural season . And

26:23

what a win for Jerry Shadeth and , of

26:25

course , jim Curtin , the rest of that crew , with

26:28

Miller Irwin , if you can keep it together . He's

26:30

just doing a little over 102 mile an hour , about

26:32

a 102.7 right now , and

26:34

he's flowing way down the apex , but he wants to make

26:36

sure , as Phil told you , the turbos hold

26:38

in and our national champion will

26:40

be the Atlas that lines , by a mirror

26:42

, 131

26:45

points because the Budweiser all he

26:47

had to do is finish in women national championship but

26:49

did not went out after one lap and of course

26:51

, loses the world crown too . But here it comes

26:53

the checker flag for Jerry Shadeth , miss

26:56

Renault from Carl Gabriel , florida , the

26:58

driver , miller Irwin . And what a surprise

27:00

and what a victory here in Houston

27:03

for the Budweiser Clear World Cup

27:05

, renault the winner . And they work very

27:07

hard . You've got to say that , sam . Oh

27:09

, definitely , what a win . It was there . You know , jerry Shadeth

27:12

was talking this weekend down here . He said

27:14

he was gonna have to spend about the next six months

27:16

working on his sponsorship package for next

27:18

year . But you know , renault , with a world championship

27:20

in Formula One racing and a world championship

27:23

in hydroplane racing , I think that's gonna keep

27:25

them around for at least another year or two . Okay

27:27

, as the second place checker

27:30

flag comes out of Jimbo McConnell , a rookie

27:32

driver in four OMC outboard

27:34

powered , unlimited hydro , that'll

27:37

make Jerry Carbreck buddy happy for a second place

27:39

finish . And third , we'll go to the Italian entry

27:41

up right , not to Malinari and Louis

27:44

Licklub , jim Hendrick along with Sam

27:46

and Phil Cole back here , clearlake , texas , just

27:48

south of Houston . A final race of 1983

27:51

is over . Let's quickly go down . A cat

27:53

climbing in the pit cat all right , we're

27:55

getting some interference

28:01

from cat there , cat here all right , we're getting interference from

28:04

the Coast Guard or somebody in our frequency

28:06

, so let's go right quickly to Phil Cole . The third

28:08

place finisher just went across the started start

28:10

finish line , renault Malinari in the Louis

28:12

Licklub . Both the boat from Lake Como , italy , executon

28:15

, has restarted and will try to finish within

28:18

the 15 minute time limit from the start

28:20

of the race to pick up a fourth place . But

28:22

he's already picked it up now . But the fact that he's running again

28:24

, so they may flag him off , and so we have a complete

28:27

surprise winner the miss Renault as

28:29

the miss Budweiser , the Atlas Bandlines , the

28:31

Spire Shop of the Miss Houston as they call it . All

28:34

the other top runners went out with one reason . Another

28:36

left only the miss Renault , the American speedy

28:38

special running . It looked for a moment as though American

28:41

speedy was the world champion , but that too

28:43

died a glimmering and the miss Renault just kept

28:45

running for the last two or three laps to

28:47

solve the way the world championship and start

28:49

a celebration down in that scene of pits that

28:51

probably won't end until next May . And

28:54

a checker flag is going out to the executive

28:57

with George Johnson for a fourth place finish overall

29:00

. Fifth will go to American speedy printing and six

29:02

to the Budweiser , jim Hendrick

29:04

, along with Sam and Phil Cole . Let's see if we can reach cat Simon

29:06

, the pit area again . Cat , nope

29:12

, we can't hear you . Cat , I'm sorry you're being cut out

29:15

. You either got to hold that hammer down or whatever

29:17

interference you're getting right now let's call in Lee

29:19

, shaniff Lee , your brother , jerry , winning

29:21

his first victory as an owner and unlimited

29:23

playing racing . But Jim was the most unusual

29:26

win . I'm very happy to see . There were no team win

29:28

it . They've worked real hard this

29:30

summer . They have a new boat . Milner Irwin's

29:32

done an excellent job driving the boat

29:34

all summer and Jim kerth is a crew chief , and

29:36

they've done a lot , I

29:38

think , for the sport , and this is going to probably cat mop

29:40

to have a bigger year next year . Well , I'll tell you , for a new

29:43

spot to come in the sport , to win the world title , they've

29:45

got to be walking out air at AMC in Detroit

29:47

, that's for sure . And now , what about

29:49

? What a surprise all I'm . You have to feel sorry

29:51

, though , for Jim cropville and bring a little team . They

29:53

won a lot of otters . It's great win for Renault . That's racing

29:56

and that's what makes it all happen . But

29:58

boy , all they have to do is finish any position

30:00

to win the national high point

30:02

, and if you went first he'd wrap some both up and

30:04

it looked like it was a shoe in till something . Let go . Well

30:07

, jim , you know you've got to finish to win and that's both

30:09

. In any sport there is , I know Bud

30:11

Tritehardt they look good . Atlas

30:13

Tritehardt had problems , it just

30:16

was the whoever was the fittest today won the race . Sam

30:19

, when we stop that final , that heat before , do you

30:21

think Chip Hanauer had that in mind

30:23

when he went in the water ? I really

30:25

don't know why Chip went in the water . I'll have to talk to him

30:27

. I don't believe the Atlas boat , the way

30:29

it's built in the construction , that it would sink anyway

30:31

. It's not supposed to . Why Chip

30:34

jumped in the water , I really don't know . But our rules

30:36

are very clear when a man goes in the water we

30:38

will stop the race for safety sake , and that's what we did

30:40

. You know one thing I went to the TV truck

30:42

between the two races and saw the replay

30:45

of the incident down there . Your officials were

30:47

right on top of that and they don't have the benefit of a lot

30:49

of TV cameras . Well , I want to compliment my

30:51

officials today . Don Jones was up in back of me

30:54

when I called two boats jumping the gun

30:56

that one heat . The videotape showed I was

30:58

right . So how about that new system ? That's

31:00

something I'd like to see at all races next year , sam

31:02

. It's an excellent system . We have used

31:05

here today as a backup . Now

31:07

you know it's by my back to

31:09

call it . Let's see if we can catch up the

31:11

Cat family when we're having problems with our walkie-talkie

31:13

Cat . You there , yeah , I sure am Jim , and

31:15

right now with me I'm the Otherwise

31:18

the real champion for racing on a limited level

31:20

. Congratulations , thank you . It's a pleasure , no

31:23

matter how you do it . I'm sorry the other boats weren't

31:25

running with us . Well , there's a heck of a

31:27

day today and you and Mr Dillon are the problem with the top

31:29

of the water and obviously this time you didn't have a

31:31

whole lot of problems with it . We didn't have any

31:33

problems with it . We didn't really just have to run too fast without the

31:35

other boats there , so that helps a bit . Well

31:37

, a lot of damage done to a lot of boats , but

31:39

it was certainly an exciting race today and once

31:41

again , congratulations to you . This evening

31:43

was on this for now and this week for a

31:46

whole hour . There's an awful

31:48

lot of excitement as you cross the finish

31:50

line and a big yelp of excitement went up some , mr

31:52

Dillon . Thank you , sam , and congratulations once

31:54

again , miller . Thank you very much . Thank

31:57

you , jim , back to the booth . Okay , we're having problems

31:59

with the walking talking interference we didn't have earlier

32:01

today , but we can make it out . Miller

32:04

Irwin very happy . Joy Shannon very happy . We thank Cat

32:06

Simon for that report . All right

32:08

, quickly , sam , if you will wrap up the final standings of

32:10

World Cup 1983 , budweiser

32:12

Clear Cup . Our winner , the Miss

32:14

Renault , miller Irwin , coral Gables , florida

32:16

, the

32:19

first outboard powered unlimited hydroplane

32:21

ever . Jim Bo McConnell . Third , renato

32:23

Molinieri and Louise on the lake , representing

32:25

Italy . Fourth place will be Executon

32:27

George Johnson . Fifth place , american

32:29

speedy printing , jack Schaefer . Sixth

32:32

place , miss Budweiser , jim Cropfeld . Renault's overall

32:34

speed 105.986 . And

32:37

one quick thing before we sign off . Everyone in unlimited

32:39

hydroplane racing would like to wish the best

32:41

. There's wife Carolyn who's critically

32:43

ill in a hospital in Madison , indiana , bob

32:45

, unable to be with us out here , but everyone here is

32:47

praying for and wish her a very speedy

32:50

recovery . Amen to that . And we thank , of course

32:52

all the gang that helped us so many times

32:54

, our security guys down in Seattle that

32:56

helped us so much , and all around the

32:58

network . We thank Eddie Bush , of course , our producer

33:00

, engineer Patrick Sam

33:02

Cole , phil Cole , cat Simon

33:05

, so long . Today's

33:13

Budweiser World Championship has been brought

33:15

to you by Atlas Vent Lines , getting

33:17

America Moving , by Showboat , marine

33:20

Topson Performance and Protection for

33:22

your boat and brought to you locally , in your

33:24

area , by behalf of the Unlimited

33:26

Racing Commission . Our boat crews and

33:28

sponsors , we thank you for joining

33:31

us this summer for Thunderboats 1983

33:33

. Until next season , this

33:36

is Hank O'Neill and this is the Unlimited

33:38

Radio Network .

34:04

On the website , you can sign up for an email subscription list

34:06

to get notifications on upcoming episodes , hydro

34:08

news , podcast updates and much , much

34:11

more . Finally , this

34:13

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34:15

if you're really enjoying your experience and want to help

34:17

us to continue to grow and expand , please donate . You

34:19

can find a link to donate through PayPal on our website

34:21

through the support tab . So until

34:23

next time , I hope to see you at the races

34:25

.