When the red flag flies

[oldpitguy]

Some ancient history….

I remember a race…. Lowell, MA? Many moons ago, I was sitting with some friends watching the start of a BSH heat through a pair of binoculars. One of the leaders flipped in the first turn, and it appeared the driver in the water was then struck by another boat. When the driver surfaced he waved his hands over his head (“I’m OK”). One of my friends borrowed my binocs to better see what was going on. “That guys HURT!!” he announced. The rescue boats were not underway…. Apparently they too thought the guy was alright. Blue & white flags were set, but the race proceeded. The next scheduled race was CSR; my friend ran into the pits, jumped into Chuck McCabe’s boat and hollered “Lets GO!!”. Chuck cranked it up and the two of them took of to assist the man in the water. I remember the disbelieving shouts from onlookers as the CU with two guys on board cut across the course, sped to the injured man and then jumped into the water. They pushed/pulled/hauled the guy into the boat, headed for the pits at best speed, and delivered him to the waiting ambulance. The driver’s injuries were quite severe… life threatening, in fact. Thank God, he went on to a full recovery.

The injured man was El Diablo, Clark Maloof. The guy who commandeered McCabe’s CU for the rescue was Billy Allen’s dad, the legendary Racer Allen!

Please forgive me if I have some (most?) of the details wrong…. It was decades ago.
Anyone know the year??


otto

[Kev43V]

Thats one of those things about rules. When situations require implementing a new one, it never seems silly. Yet when you look at a rule by itself, without considering WHY it was passed. The rule cans seem silly or excessive.
Dang rules anyway

[John Howe]

Hey "old pit guy", I too witnessed a similar situation in inboard racing where a boat flipped and the driver waved both arms over head to signal he was okay. In this incident the race, by rule, was stopped and the ambulance boat, with it`s RUNNING MOTOR BEFORE A HEAT CAN BE STARTED, moved to the scene. Well it turns out the driver had a lot of internal injuries and came about this >< close to dying.

By the way, in my earlier post I referred to a Billy Allen (referee) yanking a drivers card FOREVER for being such a dumb arse. The Billy Allen I`m referring to was a long time inboard runabout driver from Louisianna. His son, Mike, is the driver of the Formula Boats U7 Unlimited hydro.

[Jack Stotts]

Waving one's arms can mean many different things to too many people. That is why at the Winter Nationals the referee repeatedly stated that the only hand signal he would recognize was the clenched two hand OK signal. That is why I layed still next to my boat until the rescue folks arrived. I was not sure of my condition and did not want to make any signal that might confuse the situation. Ounce again the referee demonstrated that he knew what he was doing. Thanks Ed!

[oldpitguy]

Jack:
I guess it was realized that an injured man in the water might instinctively wave his arms to signify “Help me!!” I seem to remember that the “wave arms over your head to signify your OK” was changed to “Clasp hands over your head etc etc” around this time, but I may be wrong….

John:
I think I may remember an inboard guy named Bill Allen from down south somewhere… it would have been back in the late sixties (?) I would go to inboard races occasionally to root for my next door neighbor here in NJ, Perry Walters and his 7 liter hydro “Miss New Jersey“. That boat was powered with a Page Gardella built Chrysler Hemi and was the coolest thing I had ever seen! He also ran a Jersey Speed Skiff, but I forget the name.

Sorry about the hi-jack … I’ll shut up now!

otto

[bill giles]

Otto
The year was 1971- Labor Day weekend. And yes- they were very life threatening. A very bad day...
Bill Giles

[oldpitguy]

Bill
38 years ago?? Impossible! Very glad to know that you're still kickin' it & keeping the kids in line. Great hearing from you.

Regards
otto

[L. Allen]

I was there too Otto. I was eleven. Remember?

[bill giles]

Hey Laurie,
Joined AARP yet~!?
THe Ancient Mariner

[JackGlasses40B]

Bill,Laurie and Otto
If we weren't pitted at the boat ramp and the ambulance wasn't right there and the hospital wasn't less than a minute from the pits that would have been a very different result for our friend Clark
Don't let Bill rush you into AARP Laurie. Otto hope you are well
Glasses

[Check-book]

you bet!

Waving one's arms can mean many different things to too many people.

Thanks, Jack - good point. In SCUBA language, it means "I'm in trouble, come and get me". No personal experience in this, thank goodness, just from the book.

[Kev43V]

someone waving their arms constantly over their heads. Has allways meant HELP to me.

[Robert M Keogler]

Hey Glasses, was'nt Clarkie always mean? Or did that just start after his accident? You gonna be at Grass Lake this year with your White Russians. (this younger crew drinks coffee).

[Matt Dagostino]

1971.........

I remember a race…. Lowell, Mass. They pushed/pulled/hauled the guy into the boat, headed for the pits at best speed, and delivered him to the waiting ambulance. The driver’s injuries were quite severe… life threatening, in fact. Thank God, he went on to a full recovery.

The injured man was El Diablo, Clark Maloof. The guy who commandeered McCabe’s CU for the rescue was Billy Allen’s dad, the legendary Racer Allen!

Please forgive me if I have some (most?) of the details wrong…. It was decades ago.
Anyone know the year


otto

I was a 13 year old rookie standing on the ramp as Clark drove my Hedlund BSH boat to a half straightaway lead in that heat race. He was sooooo far in front he relaxed and the ole narrow chine Hedlund pitched him in the water as he began to turn into turn 3.............the sceen from that point on was pure horror. NOBODY except Clark could have survived that 'incident'.

We visited Clark for months in the hospital in the ICU unit. He could only scratch out notes on paper since his face was completly dismembered.

Less than 9 months later he went to Cedar Rapids, Iowa and won the National Championship in BSR once again making everyones life on the race course miserable!! Some would argue young Dave DeWald is the greatest small runabout driver ever, but Clark gets my vote. His BSR was poetry in motion. You really needed to pull the helmet strap tight when competing against the 6-B!

Clark is truly a 'character' and one of a kind!!!

[Jack Stotts]

The referee said that the only signal that would be recognized is the OK signal. Usually, when the referee says something like this it is for a reason. At this particular race (2009 APBA Winter Nationals) there were some racers that don't normally race in APBA. In their organization, one is often given the option by the referee to wave off a previously given OK signal. Waving off the OK signal is given by waving ones arms. To minimize confusion, I elected to follow this event's referee's direction. If the OK signal is not given the rescue force responds and thats what they did. Adding additional waving adds very little. KISS-keep it simple stupid. Not everyone sees each and every move clearly. By having a single signal there is less of a chance for folks only seeing part of a signal. If you don't see a signal then you know that a timely response is the proper and only action. Additional waving should not be necessary to get the rescue force to respond quicker. A timely and deliberate response is what we all are looking for and expect. Unnecessary waving leads to boats hitting things and people.