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Female crew has perfect timing

The two women, first of their kind in offshore power boat racing, waited to make their mark.

By TERRY TOMALIN

© St. Petersburg Times, published November 16, 2000

The Twisted Chyx had been waiting to bust a move.

"We started off running conservatively," said Theresa Eubanks, throttlwoman for the F1 power boat team. "We knew that if we went out there and rolled the boat, there would be people out there pointing to us and saying, "See, those women have no business on a race course.' "

Her teammate, driver Jaci Traver, also thought it wise to start off slowly.

"There were a lot of people watching us," Traver said. "We didn't want to make any mistakes."

But after a half-dozen races, the first all-woman team in offshore power boat racing was ready to put its driving skills to the test.

The opportunity presented itself last month at the American Power Boat Association's National Championships in Washington, N.C.

"We were finally getting used to each other," Traver said. "We were taking the turns faster than we had ever before."

It takes teamwork to get the most out of a high-performance power boat. With one person at the wheel and another controlling the speed with the throttle, timing is essential.

"It is sort of like driving a car with somebody else's foot on the gas pedal," Traver said. "You really have to know each other."

So there they were, going into a turn on the second lap, when Eubanks spotted the hole she had been waiting for. Feeling confident, she hammered the throttle and blew past her nearest competitor, who happened to be her husband, Bob.

"I turned to Jaci and said, "If we don't do anything else in this race, at least we pulled the move on Bob,' " Eubanks said. "It was too much fun."

Traver and Eubanks finished less than a minute behind the first-place boat, Wallace/Fountain, which had been the team to beat all season.

Bob Eubanks, a veteran power boater who also runs a F2 boat called Twisted Styx with Bruce Carter, said he will never forget the race in which his wife's team produced its best finish to date.

"We had the boat set up for a tight turn," Bob said. "But we took the turn a little wide, and I turned and said, "Oh, my God. ... There go the girls.' "

Bob said there have been several conversations in his household about what has become known simply as "The Move." He insists, however, there are no hard feelings.

"We beat them in Buffalo. They beat us in North Carolina," he said. "So we are even. ... That is, until tomorrow."

Bob Eubanks will be at the throttle of the Team Warlock F1 boat today, along with teammate Richard Granville, as the World Championship begins. The two finished 22 seconds behind the Chyx in North Carolina.

Bob, who manages his wife's team, said he offers advice from time to time but added that Theresa, a doctoral candidate in chemistry and owner of a company, can handle herself in any racing situation.

"When we get out there on the race course, we just go out and give it everything we got," he said. "It doesn't matter who we are racing against."

In the evenly matched world of F1 racing -- where it is common for the top five boats to finish within a minute of each other after nearly an hour of hard running -- a race sometimes can be decided by one move.

Traver and Theresa Eubanks said they are now confident they can hold their own in a sport that has been dominated by men.

"We have worked hard to prove ourselves," said Traver, who earns her living as a court reporter.

When they began racing together this season, the Chyx wondered if they would encounter sexism.

But they were pleased with what they found.

"We were treated like just a couple of more racers," Traver said. "We might have better-looking uniforms, but we are still just "one of the guys.' "

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