Squire Shop Question

By Fred Farley - Unlimited Hydroplane Historian

QUESTION:

Could you describe the history of THE SQUIRE SHOP team, including the drivers? - Carl Haider

ANSWER:

Bob Steil's Seattle-based THE SQUIRE SHOP team was active in Unlimited hydroplane racing from 1977 to 1986 and accounted for six race victories:

1979 - Ogden, Utah - Chip Hanauer
1980 - Ogden, Utah - Chip Hanauer
1981 - Tri-Cities, Washington - Chip Hanauer
1982 - Madison, Indiana - Tom D'Eath
1982 - Tri-Cities, Washington - Tom D'Eath
1984 - Syracuse, New York - Mickey Remund

The original SQUIRE (U-64) was actually owned by Detroiter Jerry Kalen and sponsored by Steil at the three West Coast races in 1977. The driver was Jerry Bangs who was fatally injured in that year's Seattle Seafair Regatta. (Bangs was thrown from the boat, while challenging Ron Snyder in MISS LYNNWOOD EQUIPMENT during Heat 1-A.) Bangs was the one who had persuaded Steil to bankroll the Kalen team.

Chip Hanauer replaced Bangs in the U-64's cockpit at the 1977 season finale in San Diego. Hanauer would remain with the team for the next four years.

For 1978, Steil opened his checkbook and bought the U-64 from Kalen. Steil expanded the boat's name from simply SQUIRE to THE SQUIRE SHOP to advertise his chain of men's clothing stores.

The U-64 was a 1976 Les Staudacher creation, powered by a turbocharged Allison engine, which had previously raced as MISS VERNORS. The boat posted three second-place finishes in 1978 at Detroit, Madison, and San Diego.

Steil also briefly campaigned a second hull--THE SQUIRE SHOP II (U- 65)--at a couple of races in 1978. The boat was a former LINCOLN THRIFT. The Allison-powered U-65 finished sixth at Seattle with Pete LaRock at the wheel.

For 1979, owner Steil upgraded his equipment and in so doing advanced to the next level of competitiveness. He switched from Allison to Rolls-Royce Merlin power. He retired the U-64 and the U-65 and ordered a new state-of-the-art hull, designed by Dave Knowlen and built by Norm Berg.

The season was already in progress when THE SQUIRE SHOP (U-2) made its debut at the 1979 Gold Cup Regatta in Madison, where it finished an overall third behind Bill Muncey in ATLAS VAN LINES and Steve Reynolds in MISS CIRCUS CIRCUS.

Owner Steil and pilot Hanauer scored the first victory of their careers with a first-place in the Golden Spike Governor's Cup at Ogden, Utah, on Willard Bay. Dean Chenoweth in MISS BUDWEISER and Muncey in ATLAS VAN LINES both jumped the gun in the Final Heat, which enabled Chip to grab all of the marbles.

The U-2 and Hanauer went on to win two more races before being demolished in a test run in late-season 1981. Bob Steil then bought the former MISS CIRCUS CIRCUS--a hull duplicate of THE SQUIRE SHOP-- as a replacement.

The "new" U-2 was itself badly damaged at the 1981 UIM World Championship Race in Acapulco, Mexico. THE SQUIRE CHOP was involved in the fatal crash of Muncey's ATLAS VAN LINES on Laguna de Coyucca. Chip Hanauer fortunately escaped injury.

When Hanauer left the Steil team to drive for ATLAS in 1982, Tom D'Eath was hired as THE SQUIRE SHOP driver. He won two races for the team in 1982 at Madison and the Tri-Cities. D'Eath continued to drive for Steil off and on until 1986.

Other drivers of the U-2 included Earle Hall in 1983 and Mickey Remund who accounted for the team's final victory at Syracuse in 1984 on Lake Onondaga. (This latter victory was won by a former ATLAS VAN LINES hull, designed and built by Jim Lucero, which Steil purchased after the 1983 season.)

With the dawn of the Turbine Era in the middle 1980s, it was only a matter of time before the Rolls-Royce Merlin was obsolete. Steil decided not to upgrade his equipment this time. He sold the boat to his crew chief, Jim Harvey, and retired from the sport.

The final appearance in competition by a SQUIRE SHOP hydroplane occurred at the 1986 Seattle race, where D'Eath and the U-2 finished an overall second behind Hanauer in the turbine-powered MILLER AMERICAN.