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By S. Korowitz
Howard Arneson likes to prove a point. The inventor of the Arneson
swimming pool cleaner and Arneson Surface Drive has, in recent years, been
focusing his resourcefulness on gas turbine-powered boats. And to show
just how fast and dependable they can be, the 69-year-old Arneson recently
drove his turbine-powered 32' Skater from New Orleans to St. Louis,
determined to break Bob Cox's Mississippi River Challenge record of 20
hrs.16 min. set in 1987.And beat it he did-by 7 hours and 36 minutes. The
race, with a history going back almost 100 years, is run by the Gulf Coast
Power Boat Association and sanctioned by the APRA. Competing against three
other boats, including another turbine-powered monster (run by Mississippi
Race Chairman Ted McIntyre), Arneson
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averaged 82 mph. Considering his four
fuel stops, Arneson, who was both driver and
navigator, was actually running the boat at a steady pace of between
100-110 mph. Arneson said that with the huge wakes kicked up by hundreds
of river barges, it was like racing in the open sea. For his trouble,
Arneson took home a 90year-old trophy and a $10,000 purse. Arneson is now
working on a 40-footer with two turbines. Whew.