One Hydro Driver Is Out With 4 Broken Toes

KIRO-TV’s Chris Egert interviewed JW Myers about the crash at the 2010 Gold Cup in Detroit

One of the hydroplane drivers you won’t see on Lake Washington for Seafair is the U-37′s J.W. Myers.Myers is recovering from a crash that broke 4 of his 5 toes in Detroit. The APBA Gold Cup on July 10 started out like any other race for Myers, driver of the Schumacher Racing U-37.“

I was racing Mike Kelly pretty hard,” Myers said, “Villock had already pretty much checked out on us, it was a race for second and I was gaining some ground on Mike.”

But then on the famed Roostertail turn, the narrowest turn in the entire series, things took a nasty turn for the Burien racer. Somehow the skidfin on the boat broke loose.

“With no skid on the boat, which is up on the forward left, I have minimal steering control. I have the rudder, but without anything to turn against the amount of control is extremely limited,” Myers said.

His Miss Peters and May boat was headed straight for the pits, it was a driver’s worst nightmare.“I see people everywhere and I am like ‘Oh my God, what do I do?’” Myers said, “Had I gone straight, there were people on docks and other racers, other boats preparing for the next heat right smack in front of me.”

He managed to avoid slamming into the pits and shot for a seawall instead. He crashed into the wall at just under 100 miles per hour.

“I just remember seeing that wall get really big. We hit the wall and changed direction, and it was all over,” Myers said.Even before the boat stopped, he jumped out.

Myers said he didn’t feel anything immediately, but soon found out that he broke four toes.”I messed it up. We have multiple fractures in all of my metatarsals. My number one, my big toe, was dislocated, near my ankle was displaced. It wasn’t broken, but the 2, the 3, the 4 were broken up. Overlake rebuilt it, and it feels great,” Myers said.

He said he won’t let this crash keep him away from the sport he loves.”There was a brief time in back of the ambulance that I was thinking maybe I should quit doing this but, I figure out, this is what I do,” he said.

While he’s not racing across the waters of Lake Washington this year, he said he’ll be eager to take the controls back from the U-37′s rookie replacement driver, John Zimmerman in time for the World Championship Oryx Cup in Qatar in November.

Continue reading for X-Ray view of repairs:

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L-R: Jeff Bernard, N. Mark Evans, Jon Zimmerman, Kip Brown, Mike Webster, J. Michael Kelly, Kayleigh Perkins, Ken Muscatel, Duke Moscrip, Dave Villwock, Brian Perkins, Greg Hopp & JW Myers

Jon Zimmerman & JW Myers will help serve dinner tonight at Duke’s Chowder House at Southcenter tonight. Also joining him will be: Dave Villwock, Jeff Bernard, Mark Evans, J Michael Kelly, Greg Hopp, Brian or Kayleigh Perkins, Ken Muscatel, Kip Brown & Mike Webster. They will also be giving some of their customers hats, t-shirts, gift certificates and other prizes.

A portion of all revenue and tips will benefit the Driver’s Fund Charity which aids the families of drivers who are injured.  Dinner starts at 5:30 at Duke’s at Southcenter.

Reservations suggested – call 206-243-5200.

At the BluWater Bistro, of course…

The footage from all three cameras that rode aboard the U-37 in Detroit are synced in this clip

J-Dub's CAT scan

According to J-Dub, he will be scheduling surgery for next week – we don’t think he’ll make it through airport metal detectors when this is finally fixed…

From the Detroit Free Press:
BY MIKE BRUDENELL
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

Injured Unlimited hydroplane driver J.W. Myers rushed to the Detroit River after his release from the hospital Sunday. He wanted to be with his team to watch the Gold Cup final, he said.

Sitting in a lawn chair near his race hauler, Myers said he felt lucky to survive his huge crash on the Detroit River on Saturday during heats of the APBA Gold Cup.

“To walk away from that — it was a big impact. Six-thousand pounds of boat at 100 m.p.h. That says it all.”

Myers, 36, knew he was in trouble after his skid fin broke.

“We were hauling (butt),” he said. “We obviously had an issue. I tried to do a right-hand spin to slow it down. I remember the (Roostertail) wall getting really big. You should have heard the impact from where I was sitting.”

His U-37 Miss Peters & May boat slammed into the seawall of the Roostertail restaurant. The Burien, Wash., native sustained broken bones in his left foot and was taken to St. John’s Hospital in Detroit. The hydroplane was heavily damaged, the cockpit split open.

Team manager Shannon Raney confirmed Sunday that Myers was still in extreme pain.

“But he’s a tough driver,” said Raney. “Don’t count him out racing again this year.”

Raney said Myers fought for control of his boat after the equipment failure sent him skimming across the water in the tight Roostertail turn toward the pits.

“He saw the hit coming, and it wouldn’t have been a good deal,” Raney said. “He manhandled the boat so he wouldn’t hit anybody on the shore. J.W. knew he was out of the race and he just didn’t want to hurt anyone.”

Myers appeared to turn the boat right with the rudder, scrub off speed across the river and deliberately miss slamming into the pits. Instead, he smacked the concrete and steel Roostertail wall.

No one apart from him was hurt.

JW Myers

The skid fin is a long, stationary metal blade mounted behind the left sponson about the middle of the boat. The skid fin helps the boat through turns and keep the hull lined up in the straight-aways. When it breaks or fails, it’s very, very bad because the boat loses it ability to quickly turn or maintain a path.

That’s the situation U-37 driver JW Myers found himself in. When the skid fin on the boat gave way, Myers found himself going through the turn and in the worst possible position on the Detroit River. Headed directly for the pit area, full of docks, boats, and people. And he was headed there in a boat weighing more than three tons and going more than 150 miles an hour.

In seconds, Myers made a decision. He needed to muscle the boat away from the docks and the crowds. But he did it at great personal risk. To the right of the pits is the famed Roostertail wall, a roughly 10 foot concrete wall along the edge of the course. As people scrambled atop the wall, Myers’ boat hit the wall hard, sending parts flying off the boat and into the air.

Myers managed to get out of the boat quickly, and laid down on the deck waiting for rescue crews to get to him. Nobody on shore was hurt, but Myers was. He was taken to St. John Hospital in Detroit, where they found multiple fractures in his left ankle.

The Roostertail turn where the skid fin failed is the tightest turn in all of Unlimited Hydroplane racing. It’s tough to manage as it is, let alone when equipment fails. “If you miss, there is a stone wall there on the exit of the turn and it’s going to hurt,” said U-1 Oh Boy! Oberto driver Steve David before the race started.

“JW had to be going 175, 180 miles per hour before that turn,” U-13 Miss DYC driver Cal Phipps told the Detroit News. “He had to hit that seawall at 100 to 120 miles-per-hour.”

U-96 Spirit of Qatar driver Dave Villwock was driving in the same heat, but had moved well past that point on the course when it happened. Still, an accident like that stays in your mind. “I was worried a little after what happened to J-Dub earlier,” said Villwock after racing again.

“I’m glad to hear J-Dub’s OK,” said U-100 Jarvis Restoration driver Greg Hopp. “You think about it when you’re on the course, but you have to just put it aside.”

“You just have to toss it out of your mind and continue to remain calm,” David told the Detroit News. “It does say a lot about the boats though how he got out and escaped injury.”

Some witnesses on the shore called Myers a hero for his actions. You won’t get an argument from the race teams or the other drivers.

Photos: Jim Simpson

J-Dub gets back to the pits for the final heat in Detroit...

JW Myers was released from St. John’s Hospital in Detroit in time to watch the final heat of the 2010 Gold Cup. On crutches and with his left foot in a cast, J-Dub and girlfriend Katie watched the final from the U-37 pits, then was then visited by what seemed like every driver, crew chief and crew member in the pit lane…

The entire team (22 people!) went to visit J-Dub in St. John’s Hospital tonight, where he’s staying overnight in preparation for surgery on his left foot tomorrow.  He’s in good spirits, and considering the damage to the boat, was EXTREMELY lucky to have come out of the accident with such minimal injuries.

The entire Schumacher Racing Team wishes J-Dub a speedy recovery!

JW Myers Autograph Card

When you attend the 2010 Lucas Oil Indiana Governor’s Cup Madison Regatta, or any of the races on the 2010 schedule, stop by the pits and pick up your 2010 JW Myers / U-37 Miss Peters & May autograph card and be sure to get it signed by driver JW Myers!

You can also download the autograph card here.

MADISON, Ind. (June 28, 2010)—Several unlimited hydroplane drivers have agreed to trade in their driver’s suits and race helmets for a BoneYard Grill waiter’s uniform and service tray Thursday, July 1 to help raise money for the Lide White Memorial Boys & Girls Club in Madison, Ind.

The event schedule to begin at 6:00 pm at the BoneYard Grill, 513 Clifty Drive in Madison, Ind. will pit eight unlimited hydroplane drivers against each other to see who can raise the most tips throughout the evening. All tips will go directly to the Lide White Memorial Boys and Girls Club in Madison, Ind. The driver with the largest tip total will receive a trophy for the inaugural event the following night at Madison’s only sports themed restaurant.

Driver’s scheduled to appear include: U-3 Go3 Racing’s Jimmy King, U-5 Formulaboats.com’s Jeff Bernard, U-7 Graham Trucking’s J. Michael Kelly, U-13 Spirit of Detroit’s Cal Phipps, U-21 Albert Lee Appliances’ Brian Perkins, U-25 Superior Racing’s Jon Zimmerman, U-37 Miss Peters & May’s J.W. Myers, and hometown favorite, Steve David, driver of the Miss Madison race team’s U-1 Oh Boy! Oberto.

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Photo: Jeffrey Dahl NW Speedshots

U-37 owner Billy Schumacher has selected veteran Unlimited pilot JW Myers as his team’s driver for the 2010 racing season.

When Jean Theoret was injured in the first race of 2009 in Madison, Schumacher called on Myers to take over the U-37 in Detroit, Tri Cities and Seattle. Myers earned Schumacher’s praise while subbing for Theoret.   “J Dub has the qualities you look for,” said Schumacher.  “He’s a fighter when he needs to be, but he drives smart and listens to me and the crew.  With the improvements we are making to the boat and motors, we think he’ll have the chance to be a front runner.”

Myers called the U-37’s  team chemistry, “The best I’ve ever seen.”  Adding, “This team is committed to winning, and they have the know how to do that.  This is going to be really, really good.  Lets go play race boat!”

Myers Unlimited career began in 2003 with Fred Leland’s U-100 team, where he was fastest qualifier in San Diego and earned Rookie of the Year Honors.  In 2004, he drove the U-8 (now the U-37) for Bill Wurster.  Driving half a season for Erick Ellstrom in the U-16 in 2005, Myers scored the single victory of his career in Madison and finished second twice. In 2006, JW served as crewman and driver for Kim Gregory’s U-10.

John W Myers III began  his racing career in 1982 at age 9, following in the footsteps of his father John, a well known outboard racer. He soon made a name as an outboard runabout driver, scoring four national high point championships and setting 11 world records in a 20-year career.  In 1999, he moved to the Unlimited Lights series, driving Bob Larimore’s UL 23 Pegasus until 2001.  He was also the UL Rookie of the Year in 1999.

Myers is 36 years old and makes his home in Burien, Washington, where he is a roofing contractor.

(courtesy www.abrahydroplanes.com)

• JW Myers bio page