Andrew Tate looks for redemption on the Columbia

Despite it being just the second race weekend of his H1 Unlimited hydroplane career, none seemed any more poised to win the 2016 HAPO Columbia Cup than Andrew Tate.

He had the second-fastest qualifying lap (159.337 mph), just behind Jean Theoret in the U-16 Oh Boy! Oberto (160.000), then looked competitive in his first Saturday heat while running against Theoret and perennial national high points contender J. Michael Kelly, driving the U-5 Graham Trucking boat.

But Tate’s first weekend racing in the Tri-Cities came to an abrupt end when his U-9 threw its prop in the second heat of the day, taking out its shaft log and gearbox.

“Obviously you’re disappointed for the sponsors, the team, the crew,” Tate said. “It was a very quick end to what we thought was going to be a long weekend.

“To lose that seat time sucked from my perspective.”

Despite the set back, the Jones Racing team got the U-9 back in one piece, and Tate won the Albert Lee Appliance SeaFair Cup in Seattle the following weekend, en rout to being named the 2016 H1 Unlimited Rookie of the Year.

Now, the fourth-generation hydroplane driver is looking to prove his worth on the same Columbia River where the worst of luck struck one year ago.

“I think the U-9 boat is one of the best boats on the circuit right now, going into 2017,” Tate said. “I think every race course we go to, we have a chance to win. There’s a good machine under me, so it all comes down to the cockpit at that point.”

After topping a stacked field at SeaFair — which included Kelly, Theoret and four-time defending high point champion Jimmy Shane — Tate was running away with the APBA Gold Cup at Hydrofest in Detroit, winning all three of his heat races, until he hit a buoy during the milling period of the final heat. The penalty gave him a sixth-place finish in the final and pushed him back to third for the weekend.

With the Tri-Cities DNF and critical penalty in Detroit occurring over a four-week span, the talented Tate received a reminder that he still has a lot to learn in his blossoming unlimited hydroplane career.

“You can go from way up here to zero really quick,” he said.

Tate finished third in the 2016 high point standings, beating fourth-place Brian Perkins, driver of the U-21, by a little more than 300 points — a heat victory.

The biggest thing Tate learned from his rookie season?

“A lot of it is the five-minute milling period before the start, lane positioning and who’s going to win that battle,” he said. “Seat time is invaluable. If I was racing unlimited hydroplanes back in the ‘90s, I would be considered a rookie, because four or five races a year is not enough time to really grasp the concept of everything that’s going on and get a full understanding.”

The Jones Racing crew stripped some decks off the U-9 — now sponsored by Delta Gear and Realtrac ERP — this off-season, and got it out to the Tri-Cities for testing in May. At the beginning of July, the U-9 was one of four boats to compete in the new, exhibition-style race in Madison, Ind., (there will be just four points races this season) and Tate was able slip past Shane in the U-1 for a win in the final heat of the Indiana Governor’s Cup.

“Andrew is definitely gaining confidence inside the cockpit,” Shane said. “Winning a race his rookie season, and that race being SeaFair, that’s going to be big for him going into this season.

“Andrew’s a hard-charger, he’s going to run the boat to it’s full potential, and we’re definitely going to have to keep an eye on him this entire season, because they’re going to be right there with the equipment that they have.”

DECK-TO-DECK RACING ON TAP THIS WEEKEND

Gone are the days of David Villwock and Steve David lapping the field in every heat — parity is at an all-time high in H1 Unlimited racing.

Shane (U-1 Miss HomeStreet driver) and Kelly (U-12 Graham Trucking) figure to be the front-runners most weekends — they’ve finished 1-2 in the season standings the past three years — but Tate and veteran JW Myers, driving the U-16, figure to either pass them or be right on their heels.

“Those four boats right there, if all of us get into a heat, it’s gonna be like a final any time throughout the weekend,” Shane said.

Myers, the 2003 H1 Unlimited Rookie of the Year, is back after a five-year hiatus from the sport thanks to the Ellstrom Racing team and Oh Boy! Oberto partnering for the second straight year to keep the iconic red, white and green boat on the water. He had a brief but prosperous tenure with Ellstrom in 2005 where he recorded his only career H1 win in Madison and took second at Evansville and Detroit.

“He’ll always have a chance, especially with that U-16 equipment,” Kelly said of Myers. “JW’s a great driver. I grew up watching his driving style, and he kind of coached me along the way. So I know he’s more than capable of going out there and putting a whooping on us.

“But hopefully that won’t happen. Hopefully I’ll be looking at him in the rear-view mirror.”

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This story was originally published July 26, 2017 at 6:10 PM with the headline "Andrew Tate looks for redemption on the Columbia."