In a day where two hydroplanes were knocked out of the race with damage, J. Michael Kelly aboard Lynx Healthcare presents Miss Tri-Cities and Jimmy Shane in Miss HomeStreet came away as heat winners in the first day of competition Saturday in the HAPO Columbia Cup.
The fastest race boats in the world continue racing Sunday on the Columbia River in the Tri-Cities, the third stop of the 2022 H1 Unlimited Racing Series. The first stop was in Guntersville in late June.
The most spectacular event of the day happened at the start of Heat 2 when Miss Beacon Plumbing suddenly went airborne, flipped in midair, and crashed into the river. Driver Dave Villwock, 68, of Monroe, Washington, climbed out of his enclosed cockpit, was checked by medical personnel, and was found to be uninjured. The boat, however, suffered enough damage that it was likely to return for Sunday's second day of racing.
The Griggs presents Miss Ace Hardware also met misfortune earlier in the day during a test run. The boat, a fan favorite that is the only craft in the field powered by a World War II fighter plane engine, lost a propeller blade as it crossed the start/finish line and that flying blade caused enough damage to also end the race team’s weekend.
As for the action on the racecourse, Kelly, 43, of Kent, Washington, drove Lynx Healthcare presents Miss Tri-Cities to victory in the day’s first heat, with Villwock placing second in Miss Beacon Plumbing. After the heat was restarted after Villwock’s accident in Heat 2, Shane, 36, of San Antonio, Texas, drove to a comfortable victory over Kelly.
The “Greatest Show on H-2-O” continued with three preliminary heats Sunday and a winner-take-all final in the afternoon to determine this year’s HAPO Columbia Cup champion.
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