Ron Musson's Fatal Crash @ Potomac River 1966
- 6 months ago
The 35th edition of the President's Cup Regatta, held on the Potomac River near Washington, DC, United States, on Sunday, 19 June 1966, was marred by the deaths of three top-level competitors in two separate accidents. The combined deaths of Ron Musson, Don Wilson and Rex Manchester resulted in the deadliest loss of life in a single day, in unlimited hydroplane racing history.
The first accident occurred on the first lap of the preliminary heat 2-B. Ron Musson, a triple American Power Boat Association (APBA) Gold Cup winner, was piloting the radically designed new front drive "Miss Bardahl" #U-40 hydroplane at about 170 mi/h (273.5 km/h) in the straightaway of the 2.5-mile (4-kilometer) closed course. His boat became airborne and skipped into the air, hit flat and went up again, then plunged back into the water bow first. The impact of the water ripped the rear-engined hydroplane into pieces.
Despite Musson's death, the regatta was not stopped. In the subsequent heat 3, Don Wilson was piloting "Miss Budweiser" #U-12, the lightest boat in the fleet. One of the competitors in the same heat was Rex Manchester, the son-in-law of Ole Bardahl of Seattle, Washington, owner of Musson's boat. He was driving the #U-7 boat "Notre Dame" which a week earlier had placed a close second in the season's opening regatta for unlimited at Tampa, Florida, behind Bill Muncey's "Miss US-V". As the two boats roared bow to bow toward a turn, Manchester's boat became airborne, veered and landed on top of "Miss Budweiser". Both boats were disintegrated in a burst of plywood and metal. The two drivers were rushed to George Washington University Hospital in Washington, DC, where they succumbed to their injuries within minutes each other, around 18h40 that same day.
The race was stopped after the second fatal accident and the remainder of the day's racing events were canceled. Two weeks after this disastrous race, Chuck Thompson another veteran unlimited hydroplane driver, was killed during the Gold Cup Regatta at Detroit, Michigan, in an accident almost identical to the one that killed Ron Musson.
R.I.P
The first accident occurred on the first lap of the preliminary heat 2-B. Ron Musson, a triple American Power Boat Association (APBA) Gold Cup winner, was piloting the radically designed new front drive "Miss Bardahl" #U-40 hydroplane at about 170 mi/h (273.5 km/h) in the straightaway of the 2.5-mile (4-kilometer) closed course. His boat became airborne and skipped into the air, hit flat and went up again, then plunged back into the water bow first. The impact of the water ripped the rear-engined hydroplane into pieces.
Despite Musson's death, the regatta was not stopped. In the subsequent heat 3, Don Wilson was piloting "Miss Budweiser" #U-12, the lightest boat in the fleet. One of the competitors in the same heat was Rex Manchester, the son-in-law of Ole Bardahl of Seattle, Washington, owner of Musson's boat. He was driving the #U-7 boat "Notre Dame" which a week earlier had placed a close second in the season's opening regatta for unlimited at Tampa, Florida, behind Bill Muncey's "Miss US-V". As the two boats roared bow to bow toward a turn, Manchester's boat became airborne, veered and landed on top of "Miss Budweiser". Both boats were disintegrated in a burst of plywood and metal. The two drivers were rushed to George Washington University Hospital in Washington, DC, where they succumbed to their injuries within minutes each other, around 18h40 that same day.
The race was stopped after the second fatal accident and the remainder of the day's racing events were canceled. Two weeks after this disastrous race, Chuck Thompson another veteran unlimited hydroplane driver, was killed during the Gold Cup Regatta at Detroit, Michigan, in an accident almost identical to the one that killed Ron Musson.
R.I.P