Spokane Hydro’s Columbia Cup Luck Mostly Bad

Didn’t anyone tell Tom Hindley not to walk under that ladder in the pits?

John Walters, when did the black cat cross your path?

Maybe the bad luck that dogged the Team Spokane unlimited hydroplane at this weekend’s Columbia Cup can be attributed simply to where they parked the boat - space 13.

Problem after problem plagued the Spokane hydro, beginning with a starter motor that blew out in Saturday qualifying, cutting short an attempt to better their position in the field.

Later Saturday, Walters slipped on a wet tarp and had to be taken to the hospital with a hip injury.

And then came Sunday, when Walters directed boat preparations while hobbling around on crutches.

The problems began after Heat 1-B, when Hindley was locked into the cockpit by a malfunctioning canopy latch. Then, after the crew opened the hatch, they couldn’t get it to close again properly, forcing Hindley to withdraw from Heat 2-A.

A glimmer of good luck appeared when the unexpected withdrawal of another boat gave the Spokane team’s U-19 Appian Jeronimo a start in the Last Chance heat. However, the good fortune lasted all of 5 minutes. Hindley became airborne in turns three and four and went for the ride of his young unlimited-hydro career.

Whatever the reason for the sour luck, the U-19 is back at square one. The blowover virtually destroyed the boat and hospitalized Hindley with multiple injuries, including a broken arm, bruised heart and pancreas, two broken ribs and a punctured lung.

With their driver now in stable condition, the team is working on a deal with Fred Leland to buy another boat to race in Seattle this weekend, and in other western races for the rest of the season.

Leland plans to sell Bob Fendler his Performance Mortgage boat that competed in Sunday’s Columbia Cup. The Team Spokane crew will spend this week in Leland’s Seattle boat shop, repainting the hull and prepping the boat for Sunday’s Texaco Cup.

With Hindley expected to be sidelined for most of the rest of the season, Larry Lauterbach will fill in for the 39-year-old Spokane driver.

Hindley’s probably thankful that his canopy latch worked the way it was supposed to during the crash.

Earlier in the afternoon, when he was locked into the cockpit by the faulty latch, he had to exit via the emergency hatch on the bottom of boat after the boat was loaded onto its trailer.

“Now I know what a turkey feel like,” he said. “I’ve been basted for the past 15 minutes.”

As the luck of the draw would have it, the U-19 was picked for Heat 2-A. The crew spent half of the intermission trying to open the cockpit canopy and the other half trying to make sure it would open and close correctly.

A quick test by the crew and an OK from the UHRA safety inspector got the U-19 cleared to run.

Two minutes before the 1-minute gun, the boat was hurriedly lifted into the water. Hindley got the boat fired and on plane heading up the backstretch, but the canopy latch popped loose, and the Appian Jeronimo was done until the consolation.

“Unfortunately, we got the first draw (in Heat 2-A),” said Hindley.