The 2008 Gold Cup

The 100th Running

In 2008 the U37 team pulled out some miracles it seemed. They had a very strong season despite only getting to keep 1 of their first place finishes (I promised no bashing so I’ll leave the ABRA alone). When this team started the season they believed they had the boat to beat. By September it seemed they backed it up. In Tri Cities they dominated and only an equipment failure took them out. In Seattle they dominated but a controversial call took them out. In San Diego they had a very strong weekend and had the U5 been called for the multiple lane change violations in the mill (That is simply an opinion based on every camera angle I’ve ever seen), the U37 would have been able to keep their Bayfair trophy. Instead they ended the season with a second place finish at Bayfair and third in national points, which is nothing to be ashamed of. Unfortunately there aren’t a lot of pics of the actual work being done in Detroit because everyone that could have taken pics was pulled in to work on the boat and the few shots that were taken of the hardware being rebuilt, can not be shared. But Todd Tamayao and Linn Hawley from the U37 team set me up with some pics that should help tell the story.

There was a Gold Cup rookie or two in the crowd but for the most part, this team had been there before and they knew what it was going to take to be the team to win the 100th Gold Cup. The Oh Boy! Oberto team out of Madison had an extremely strong boat and a very good driver who has been wanting to hoist that trophy for many years. J. Michael Kelly and David Bryant were driving the sponsons off of their boats and Jimmy King is ALWAYS tough on his own turf, the Detroit River. And don’t forget those Formula guys or the U50 team. The beauty of Detroit is that it’s not necessarily the best boat that wins. You truly have to earn it. The team that wins this trophy is the team that can rise up and put a solid boat on the water every heat. Your boat is going to take and absolute beating at the Gold Cup simply because of the nature of the Roostertail Turn. So there’s one thing you must keep in mind in Detroit…Get points. Plain and simple.

In the test session Jean Theoret was launching out of the Roostertail Turn. The boat was running very well. However, this team had a few things in the back of their minds. You see in Evansville they won the Thunder on the Ohio but it was at the cost of a gearbox. Madison isn’t the cleanest water to race in and they lost a gearbox there as well. So they were now in Detroit with parts on the way, but only 1 working gear box until those parts arrived. Hopefully they don’t break anything before the parts arrive.

On the last lap of testing things were not sounding right and Theoret was forced to shut her down and tow her in. The worst thing that could happen, happened. The crew has 2 HOURS until heat 1A and no gear box. And no chance of putting one together. In fact the parts were not scheduled to arrive until 1 hour before the heat was to start. It looks like a Gold Cup is not possible for the U37 team unless they can somehow pull out a miracle. The thing is, you can’t really tell this team something isn’t possible. This crew was formed with a purpose and they have some absolute experts in all aspects of the boat whether it’s hull, gears, engines or drive train. Together they somehow believe that they can still figure out a way to win the Gold Cup. Even though literally, mathematically and any other way you can look at the situation, a Gold Cup is impossible for this team. They truly understand the phrase “it is what it is” and when the only option is to rebuild it and hope for the best, that’s exactly what they do.

If you look close at Jean Theoret’s feet you can see the burned up gearbox. As the crew began to tear down the boat and prepare the gear box to be rebuilt, Mother Nature stepped in to help out. The crew needed some HEAVY rain and wind to cause a delay. Well, be careful what you wish for, that’s all I can say. Mother Nature unleashed a fury of wind, rain, thunder, lightning and anything else she could pull together to punish this crew with. She did the favor but they paid the price. What you don’t see in this blog are the guys standing on the deck of the boat with umbrellas IN A LIGHTNIING STORM so that teammates could clean out the bilge and get it ready for the new motor and gear box. When I say a lightning storm I mean that we were almost hearing the thunder as we saw the flash of the lightning. The guys in the back of the truck were tearing down the gear box and getting it to a point where the parts just needed to be slammed back in. 1 owner went to the hotel to wait for parts. Another went somewhere else to get parts. Plus other parts were being delivered to a 3rd location. Luckily they had a sponsor in town that was able to help them out with parts as well.

The Detroit crowd really got behind this crew and by the time the rain stopped they gathered to see if this crew could finish what they had started. The parts had actually arrived on time if not a little early. People were driving from different directions, through Detroit to get parts to this crew and they all got it done. The crew was ready and immediately started to put the boat back together. They had now been working for over 2 hours in an absolute downpour and under the absolute worse conditions possible at the time. But to these guys the rain was a blessing and being from Seattle they were used to working in the rain. The problem was that the weather was improving fast but the boat wasn’t done. They needed a little more time. And somehow, they got it. Once the first heat was rescheduled another delay came down and if I remember correctly it was to wait out some other weather on its way.To watch them work was impressive. They had a team of guys on the boat removing the engine and cleaning out the bilge. In the back of the truck 4 or 5 people rebuilt the gear box. 2 or 3 others were fetching tools and as you watched this group you couldn’t help but wonder how these 4 or 5 people at the truck standing shoulder to shoulder are able to work like this. The amazing thing was that they were never running in to each other. They always knew what was going on around them and they could anticipate when someone needed more room. You can’t plan or coordinate that. Each one knows their roll and each one knows that the other is going to do their job. This crew lives by the phrase “failure is not an option”. If they didn’t make it on to the water for heat 1A, every one of them would have felt like they didn’t do their job knowing full well that it was near impossible to do what they had to do.

When it was all said and done it was about a 3 hour delay in the racing action. They were literally screwing down deck hatches as the boat was strapped to the crane. This after a 5 min delay right before the 5 min gun. So this team used literally every second of time they had to work with. And as soon as that crane operator lifted that boat and started to swing it to the water, the entire Detroit crowd got on their feet to acknowledge this crew and wish them good luck in this first heat. In the photo you’ll see Pierre Theoret (left) strapping in his dad and Ryan Mallow (right) who is a big part of this crew, sending Jean off to heat 1A.

And with that the U37 not only got on to the course, Theoret got her in to lane 1 and at the last Roostertail turn before the start, everyone was lined up ready to go. I don’t know if I can do this part of the story justice but the fans are really in to this team. So much so that on Sunday morning a fan presented the entire team with a photo (almost exact to this one) which they took and over night had it blown up and framed. You see this fan was so moved by the effort that this team put out that to show his appreciation as a fan, of what he witnessed, he presented the team with a token of their work. You see, he wanted to capture this moment in time so that these guys could look back on it and really appreciate what they got done. That’s partly how cool these guys are but it’s also how cool the fans in this sport are. I’ve watched every sport available to us in the United States and hydroplane racing is definitely a quirky sport of its own but what an incredible experience it is to watch a race and observe the crews and the fans. By the way, the crew has the framed photo in the engine room at their Seattle shop. I saw it the morning it was presented and I’m here to tell you that I’ve seen it hanging on the wall in the shop.

When it was all over and the roostertails settled, Theoret got back to the dock and I think they heard him at the yacht club when he got out of his cockpit and exclaimed “YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME!!!” What an incredible moment it was after watching this crew for 3 hours battle every form of weather, besides snow, that Mother Nature could dish out, to some degree risk their lives working on this boat in a lightning storm and then to see Jean win that race and put the exclamation point on this team’s effort. Win or lose, these guys know how to be a champion. Now keep this in mind. This in only the first heat of racing on Saturday morning. There was still a full weekend of racing to do after this one heat. But, it earned them the ever important 400 points needed to work toward the final.

On Sunday it was a day long wait for the winds to die down. They never did and the race was canceled. Too bad too because there were a few boats that could have taken the trophy home. During the break on Sunday the U37 crew felt bad for the fans for having to sit through the crappy weather and not know if there was going to be racing or not. So the crew grabbed up all of their autograph cards and headed to the bleachers to mingle with the crowd. And when I say the crew I mean Jean Theoret, Billy and Jane Schumacher, Scott Raney, the ENTIRE crew. It seemed like a pretty cool gesture. I don’t understand how sponsors are so quick to hop on board with the criminals and idiots in traditional pro sports today and then a sport like this with incredible sportsmanship and a group of people always willing to spend time with the fans struggles to find sponsorship. If you’re reading this and you have the power to spend advertising dollars at your company, I highly recommend you look in to this sport. I’m willing to bet that it’s very affordable advertising and knowing how loyal these fans are to this sport (me being one of them), I know that the ROI will be achieved. Plus, in 2009 they’re going international with an maiden voyage in Doha Qatar for the first ever Oryx Cup. Get on the phone and get a hold of one of these teams or the ABRA and get in now. As this sport re-grows you’ll have got in on the ground level and be able to build your sponsorship in to something to last for years to come.It would be a shame to break this team up but 2009 looks to be headed in that direction. Due to the economy they lost their sponsorship and it sounds like the equipment will be sold. What that means for this crew I do not know but as a fan of this sport, for the sake of this sport, I hope they find a way to keep these guys together.Thanks to Todd Tamayao, U37 Photographer, and Linn Hawley for the photos used in this blog.