Saturday, Jul. 28, 2007

Wreck only distant memory for Kelly

By Jody Moore, hydro.commentator

At last year's Atomic Cup, things went about as badly as they could have for talented driver J. Michael Kelly. In one of the last preliminary heats, Kelly's U-13 Spirit of Detrit took flight in the west turn, flipping over and coming only inches from crashing down on top of Steve David in the U-6 Oh Boy! Oberto.

The call was close enough that Kelly's sponson actually knocked the Oberto's rear wing over. Despite the harrowing experience, Kelly said he learned most of what he knows about the wreck from watching the highlight films afterward.

"I didn't realize what happened during the accident until I got to the hospital and saw it on TV," Kelly said during the first day of qualifying for 2007. "It kind of blew me away because I had no idea I almost landed on the Oberto."

Kelly's accident took place as the boats made their way through the west turn, but he said the cause started to unfold in the previous turn.

"From what I remember going into the first turn after the start, in the start a couple of boats on the inside slid out a little bit," he said. "Steve (David) held his lane, which was legal, and we ended up bumping because of that, so we had some damage to the rear wing and to the right sponson."

Kelly then said the boat flew unexpectedly as he set it into the next turn.

"In the second turn, that's where the thing took off," he said. "I think most of it was because of the damage, but the wind probably also played a role in that too. From there on, it was just a takeoff. I protected my face and closed my eyes, and held on. Luckily nobody really got that banged up."

Kelly and team were able to get the boat repaired for Seattle but didn't make the trip to San Diego after suffering more damage during racing there.

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