Michael Smahlik, CEO of Ettore Products Co., Oakland, Calif., got involved in offshore boat racing when a group of friends put numbers on their boats and started racing against each other. When one guy bought a racing-class boat, things snowballed, and the leisure boaters got serious about the sport.

Today you can find Michael traveling at 120 miles per hour, strapped into the seat of a boat cockpit with a 5-point harness, an F-16 pilot’s helmet, and full-time oxygen. The boat is 40 feet long, made of Kevlar® (of bulletproof vest fame), and burns two gallons of gas a minute. The computer system alone, including a GPS (global positioning system), costs around $30,000.

Before this boat, which is in the “Super Vee” class (a V-bottom, mono-hull 9,000-pounder with twin, 825-horsepower engines), Michael had a smaller open cockpit cigarette-style boat. “I like the open cockpit. You have the joy of being on the water and seeing what’s around you. In a closed cockpit boat you don’t experience many sensations. Often, you don’t have any idea of what’s going on unless you look out the side windows,” said Mike.

The romance of an open cockpit boat is one thing, but the danger is another. Michael moved into a closed-cockpit boat because he has lost three friends who were thrown from their boats. “Cameras have shown people, in the blink of an eye, getting yanked right out of an open cockpit and landing 80 feet away.”

You don’t just buy a closed cockpit boat and enter a race. First, you have to be able to perform the escape rehearsal.

“For the rehearsal, you’re in a capsule, strapped in with a five-point harness and an oxygen regulator (as is used in scuba diving). The capsule is flipped into a swimming pool, so you’re hanging upside down in your seat.” Michael said. He continued, “ You have to find the regulator, get it in your mouth, clear the water from it, and breathe from the regulator for one minute.” It probably feels like the longest minute in history.

After the minute on oxygen, you release your harness, pull yourself downward toward the bottom of the pool, open the hatch, get out of the cockpit, swim to the top, and give an “I’m okay” signal to the rescuers. Boat racers, who have to take scuba training, are required to rehearse this escape routine annually.

“You need to feel really comfortable with the safety system,” Mike said. “If a boat takes a turn too tight you can lose control and end up under water”.

At least you’re not alone if this happens. These Super Vee boats have two operators: the throttle man, who is responsible for the boat’s speed and trim, and the driver, who controls the gauges and steers the boat. Michael, his son Chris, and Jim Richardson, an Ettore employee, are three of the folks who share cockpit duties.

In addition, every race requires a team of up to 10 people. Besides the driver and throttle man, there are mechanics, handlers, the truck driver and even rescue people who fly in a helicopter during the race.
Races are 100 miles and 10 laps. It’s a big deal to even finish the race. “Sometimes, a competitor is faster, but you win just because you cross the finish line,” he says.

Without naming any names, I hear that it’s possible to run out of gas right before you get to the finish line in a big race under the Golden Gate bridge. The culprit? An empty gas tank. I’ve also heard that some boaters can even get lost during a race.

“The first time we raced in our closed cockpit boat, I was the navigator,” Mike said. “It was a complicated race with 11 turns. I was sitting in the back with the map trying to navigate, but I lost track of where we were. We had to go back and re-trace our path, even though we had already passed the other boats.”

Mike and his boat won’t get lost again, though. A GPS handles the navigation these days.

Gretchen Roufs, a 15-year janitorial supply industry veteran, owns Auxiliary Marketing Services of San Antonio. To suggest someone you think should be featured in “freetime,” contact her at (210) 601-4572 or via e-mail.




POSTED ON: 9/1/2002