Hard, deck-to-deck boat racing often creates bad blood. Plenty of it was flowing between unlimited hydroplane drivers Dave Villwock and Terry Troxell yesterday in the Stan Sayers pits at Seafair.

The two, who declined to sit next to each other at a drivers' autograph session earlier this week, did little to heal the relationship yesterday.

Troxell jumped the start of Heat 3A in the U-13, then cut Villwock off, washing down the Miss Elam and knocking the canard off the front of the boat. That forced the Miss Elam crew to make emergency repairs to get ready for the final.

Villwock said the canard linkage was only "90 percent" in the final and it kept him from taking the preferred inside lane. He stopped short of blaming Troxell for costing him the race, but he made it clear it would have been a much different race had his boat not been damaged.

"We threw everything we had at it we could," Villwock said. "It's just too bad we had that earlier tussle with the No. 13."

Troxell was penalized one lap for jumping the gun and penalized a lap and fined $500 for not giving Villwock the required seven boat-lengths before cutting in front of him.

"We're just lucky we didn't crash the boat over it," Villwock said. "There wasn't enough room when he started over and I got out of the gas to get out of the way and couldn't do it."

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Villwock was able to finish the heat without the front wing and said he wasn't surprised Troxell seized the opportunity to spray him down with a damaging roostertail.

"He has a nickname and a history and you can look it up," Villwock said. "He doesn't have that nickname for nothing. I expect that kind of thing from that one particular guy."

Troxell's nickname is "Chopper," and he was unrepentant about any violations that may have occurred.

"The nickname goes back to the '60s," Troxell explained. "I got it because I'm a hard, aggressive driver and I'm not going to change because Dave Villwock gets upset about it."

Troxell claimed it was an innocent mistake and not something he did after the frustration of jumping the gun.

"I wasn't going to risk a penalty because all I needed was a second to get into the final," Troxell said. "To me, it looked like I have enough boat-lengths to move over. I wouldn't have washed him down on purpose."

The two also had words here last year. Then it was with Villwock driving the Miss Budweiser and Troxell in the Elam.

Troxell was fined after the two tangled during a heat race on Saturday when Villwock cut through the infield and took the inside lane away from Troxell just before the start of the heat.

"I let him in because it wasn't the final," Troxell said at the time. "If he tries it again, he's screwed because I'll take him out."

In the final, Troxell jumped the gun and was never a factor.

Even before Villwock finished the heat yesterday without the canard to take third, the crew was already unbolting a backup canard from inside the truck trailer.

"I was where he was going and I tried to back off," Villwock said. "When a guy jumps the gun by that much you think he'd let you by, but he has a history of that."

Troxell said it isn't anything personal with Villwock, at least on his end.

"I don't pick on Dave," Troxell said. "He just takes everything personal and likes to bitch and moan about every little thing."

Troxell said with most racers, the incident would be quickly forgotten.

"The nice thing about racers is we can have a problem this week and all go out and have a beer and start over next week," Troxell said. "Everybody, that is, except Dave Villwock."