Tragic Loss At Merced

[FuelBoat2003]

http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/520/246hippy.jpg
JOHN HIPWELL PASSED AWAY LATE THIS AFTERNOON AFTER A BAD CRASH IN THE MADNESS TFH.
MY PRAYERS GO OUT TO JOANN AND THEIR FAMILY AT THIS TIME OF LOSS.
JOHN WILL BE MISSED VERY MUCH.

[Squirtin Thunder]

Jim

[Kindsvater Flat]

To sad :( Prayers for the family......

[Wildboats]

I'm sorry to hear and my prayers to the family.

[lucky]

my thoughts and prayers- :confused:

[dmontzsta]

whoa, that sucks. I had the chance to go visit Ron and I think that is the guy I saw working around the boat in his backyard, very very sad.

[GofastRacer]

A tragety indeed, thoughts and prayers go out to all involved!..

[1Bahnerjet]

I was Standing down by the Holding rope, Lake was like Glass, Straight Run from my vantage point, then that Left Sponson sticking Up through the Spray...
My Thoughts and Prayers to the Family & the Pit Crew.
(Merced Sun-Star)
Jerry Kutz, a racer who went on to win Sunday's featured event, and his crew closed the ceremony by dedicating their trophy to Hipwell. When Kutz ended his victory speech, they turned around, each member wearing Hipwell's Team Madness T-shirt.
They lowered their heads, raised their hands to the sky and said goodbye to their friend.
(posted at DragBoat Alley by TFH Beaver Patrol)
one last post
i wish we had one last post
to tell the one called john he gave it the most
-
i wish we had one last post
to tell him we all raised our glass's to a toast
-
i wish we could look in the outside lane
to see john hammer down on that throttle again
-
i wish we could look in the outside lane
to see john there on his phone to take away this pain
-
we say goodbye to a man who was always on it
the guy who introduced us to hip-bonics
-
we shed our tears due to sadness
missing a guy who drove a boat called madness
-
i wish i had one last post
to let the man know who he was .....meant the most
-
goodbye john
marc

[Roland the Fisherman]

Very very sad. God Bless the family and everyone involved. :(

[Moneypitt]

Sad day for boat racing. Another of our ranks has been called to the "Boat Races in the Sky". My heart felt sorrow, and condoleses to the family and friends. Just how many boat racers do they need in heaven? May he now find blue skies and glass for evermore.............MP

[CircleJerk]

Sad day, prayers to all family and friends.

[Rexone]

Very sad news indeed. Godspeed John and my condolences and prayers to family and friends. :(

[Brendellaracin]

We got the call last night, :frown: What a terrible loss.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to John, his family
and friends, of which he had many.
Godspeed John, you will be missed.
-Marty & Cheri

[Jbb]

:frown: Very sad news....

[HavasuDreamin']

My condolences to family and friends. Rest in peace. :(

[Cousin Bob]

I got the pleasure of watching John run Rons boat over the years, and they were one of the main attractions.
Boat racing will not be the same with the early departure of such a great combination.
Thoughts and prayers go out to all involved.

[Lady Rat Attack 1]

God Speed John, You will be missed
:frown:
A dragboat racer on pace to set a world speed record died Sunday at Lake Yosemite when the boat he was piloting spun out of control at 201 mph, delivering fatal injuries to his head and body.
John Hipwell of New Jersey was competing in a top class race of the International Hot Boat Association -- a dragboat organization that sponsors races nationwide -- at the time of the horrific crash. The race was part of a weekend event held annually at Lake Yosemite that attracts thousands of spectators.
Hipwell's death was the first in the past seven years of the association's competition, the organization's owner said.
Merced County Sheriff's Deputy Steve Sziraki said Hipwell was pronounced dead at the scene at 2:50 p.m.
The deputy said Hipwell suffered traumatic injuries to his head caused by the impact of his boat on the water.
It took the event's crew well more than half an hour to clear debris off the lake's track. Many spectators, assuming that the rest of the day's competition was going to be canceled, left during the delay.
Sheriff Mark Pazin saw the crash as a spectator. He said the association's diving crews had pulled a capsule containing Hipwell's body to the surface within five minutes of the crash.
The capsule contained enough oxygen for Hipwell to survive for about 20 minutes, Pazin said.
He said it appeared nothing in the capsule had broken, and the racer died solely from blunt force trauma.
"Hitting the water at that speed is like hitting concrete," Pazin said.
Sziraki said the association notified Hipwell's wife, Jo-Ann, and family on the East Coast before any law enforcement agency contacted them.
Charles Fegan, the association's owner, said Hipwell was well on his way to a record setting run before the tragic crash. He speculated something happened in Hipwell's boat to trigger the accident, but the cause wasn't clear Sunday.
"When he left the starting line, he left with a perfect reaction time. From our angle, we couldn't see anything that went wrong; there had to be some small part break. The water conditions were perfect and it happened on a picture-perfect run."
Hipwell began racing boats competitively in 1987 on the East Coast, where he won several amateur points championships.
By the early '90s, according to his team's Web site, Hipwell was turning out quarter mile times in under six seconds, putting him among the sport's elite.
The team's Web site also said Hipwell suffered four crushed vertebrae, a collapsed lung and a broken rib in a 1991 crash.
Some of Hipwell's fellow racers wept at an awards ceremony as they paid respect to their opponent's memory.
Jerry Kutz, a racer who went on to win Sunday's featured event, and his crew closed the ceremony by dedicating their trophy to Hipwell. When Kutz ended his victory speech, they turned around, each member wearing Hipwell's Team Madness T-shirt.
They lowered their heads, raised their hands to the sky and said goodbye to their friend.
"John was a fierce competitor," Kutz said. "I've gotten to know John over the course of this season and I can say he was a good guy."

[boatslayer]

my thoughts and prayers

[markc]

He was one very talented driver after ron, that is some very,very sad news.
Prayers and thouts go out to the family.

[LUVNLIFE]

Thoughts and prayers to the family. He will be missed by many people. :frown:

[amy jo ross]

Thoughts and Prayers to the family..........
Just remember, he was doing what he loved to do......

[ekimzark]

The following is from dragboatalley.com. John was the lead member/owner over at that site and the following was posted by owner Roxy Seibert.
The following message is on behalf of Ron Braaksma, Robert Mills, Roxy Seibert (owner of dragboatalley.com) and the entire Madness Racing Team.
Bereavement Fund Raiser
In the aftermath of this terrible tragedy, a very unfortunate situation has come to our attention. John Hipwell (god rest his soul) was the sole provider in a single income household. Over the course of his early racing career, his personal finances were more often than not deeply sacrificed in pursuit of his dreams. As such, his wife Jo-Ann currently faces a very dire situation with little-to-no life insurance to cover funeral expenses.
Therefore, we respectfully ask for your support to help us raise enough money to carry her through these troubled times. It is our goal to raise approximately $20,000 over the next two weeks. This will cover the $13,000 required for John’s funeral expenses and provide a small stipend for living expenses over the next 2-3 months while settling her husband’s affairs.
At this time, RESP has already sent $5,000 directly to Jo-Ann, which leaves $15,000 remaining to reach our goal of securing her immediate future. The racing community’s assistance in meeting this goal is needed, and your timely response will be greatly appreciated.
Donations can be made in the following manner:
1. Call Ron Braaksma directly at 909-886-3298 for over the phone credit/debit card transactions.
2. Use your www.paypal.com account to send an electronic payment to me (Roxanne Seibert / RoxWorld Solutions) at this email address: roxseibert@att.net
3. Snail mail a check or money order made payable to Ron Braaksma with the words “For Jo-Ann Hipwell” noted on the memo to the following address:
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hipwell Fund Raiser c/o RB Props
5098 North H Street
San Bernardino, CA 92407
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
During the next two weeks we will be updating this topic several times a day with our progress on total funds received so far, and where we stand on meeting our goal. Ron and I will each personally hand Jo-Ann a check immediately following the funeral services for the funds raised during the first week, and send another set of checks for the remainder after the end of the second week. Please send all donations for this fundraiser by Monday October 18, 2004.
And on behalf of the Hipwell household - Thank you very much for your support and generosity during these dark days.

[DansBlown73Nordic]

I never got a chance to meet John, I only spoke to him on the phone few times. Its hard to believe how fast things can happen. I found this picture on his web site and thought I would post it.
http://topfueldragboat.com/images/Image17.jpg

[Squirtin Thunder]

Are they going to have a both or something set up at Ming ??? Maybe selling shirts or something to help with these costs and expences???
Dammmmmmmmmmm
Jim

[Big Proppa]

Just got off the phone with Ron Braaksma - it took 2 seconds to give my credit card donation.
Come on guys 15k should not be that hard to reach with the number of supporters that we have here.

[Roman 1]

The last word from Ron Braaksma at the race was that he was selling all of his equipment to donate to Jo ann Hipwell to help her with the funeral expenses. Did John Hipwell have life insurance?

[Sherpa]

very sorry to hear about John's passing........ RIP..............
The comment about life insurance: There's no way a life insurance policy
would pay off in such an accident...........
--Sherpa
my .02..........

[stoker2001]

our thoughts and prayers are with john and family.my wife stacie,just got off of phone with ron making our donation.he said he has been on phone all day and the support has been wonderful.Stacie and i were on cloud nine before the crash.we had just won semi final round in mod eliminator and the run before i ran a luck of the draw perfect .000 reaction time with a perfect 10.000 on the same run.in final we treed lipinsky and got to end first but ran 9.96 and lipinsky ran a safe 10.005.stacie and i still have knots in are stomachs and somewhat tramatized.RIP john hipwell

[Dog]

My thought and prayers go out to John's wife and family and the whole Madness crew.
quote from John's signature on another message boardlive for today cause you dont have a clue what is going to happen tomorow!!
i live on the edge how about you?

[ekimzark]

The fund is now up to $15,000 thanks to everyones donations. Hopefully we can reach and pass the goal of $20,000.