boater72
10-04-2004, 10:53 AM
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."
__________________
JBJ 7457
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."
__________________
JBJ 7457