1987 Miller High Life APBA Gold Cup
Can Hanauer Win Sixth Straight Gold Cup?
By John Peoples
Last year in Detroit, Chip Hanauer tied unlimited hydroplane racing legend Gar Wood by winning his fifth straight Gold Cup.
But as he prepares for this Sunday's Gold Cup on San Diego's Mission Bay, Hanauer isn't worried about breaking his tie with Wood, who won five consecutive Gold Cup between 1917 and 1921.
"Everyone thinks my main goal in life is to win six straight Gold Cups," said Hanauer from his San Diego hotel. "Actually, it's breaking 100 on a golf course. I've never played a round under 100."
Things have been almost that tough for Hanauer in his Miller American hydro this season. After winning five regattas last year, Hanauer has been unable to break Miss Budweiser pilot Jim Kropfeld's domination of the 1987 unlimited circuit.
If Kropfeld had not jumped the gun at the start of the championship of the Spirit of Detroit Trophy race, he would have won all six of this year's races.
At the seventh stop on the circuit, the Aug. 23 Thunderboat Classic in Syracuse, weather conditions changed that regatta's status to an exhibition.
Hanauer said he faces "a real uphill battle" in his quest for another Gold Cup.
"There are two big obstacles," he said. "One, turbine-powered boats have never fared well in salt water. And two, we have to go fast enough to beat Bernie Little's boat. So far, we haven't been able to reel them."
Although he is the odds-on favorite, Kropfeld speaks cautiously about his chances of winning Sunday's race. "I hate to say too much," he said. "It might be bad luck."
Kropfeld, who has never won a Gold Cup in six seasons as Bernie Little's driver, clinched his second straight national points championship while winning the Aug. 2 Seafair Trophy Race. He also scored the first turbine-powered victory on a salt-water course when he won the season-opener in Miami.
Last year's San Diego race was won by the 20-year-old, piston-firing Miss Bahia.
The Miller camp, which will use last year's boat in Sunday's race, is going all out to win.
Hanauer, whose boat did not arrive in San Diego until this morning, is eager to begin testing when Mission Bay's Bill Muncey Race Course opens today for qualifying.
Fifteen boats, including five turbines, are expected to contend for the Cup.
"We're trying some unconventional things for Sunday's race," said Hanauer. "When the conventional things aren't working, you have to try something different."
In addition to an improved salt-filtration system and alterations to the shape of the boat's sponsons and transom, Crew Chief John Walters team has changed propellers and gear ratios.
"In layman's terms, we trying a bigger prop that turns slower in place of a smaller prop that turns faster," said Hanauer.
"Normally, you'd only try one of those things at a time. But when you're going for your sixth Gold Cup, you have to go for it. We're not here to settle for second. The odds aren't in our favor, but we're going to do our best."
(Reprinted from The Seattle Times, September 18, 1987)