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Tom Sheehy was born in Baton Rouge, LA, and moved with his parents to Miami when he was 4 years old. He attended Miami public schools until high school when he was admitted to the first class at Christopher Columbus High School.
After graduating from Columbus High School, he attended the University of Florida for one year, then transferred to the University of Miami for his sophomore year where he joined the Hurricanes football team as a walk- on. He stayed one year at UM and returned to Gainesville and joined a rock and roll band.
After his rock career ended, he returned to Miami and learned to fly airplanes at Tamiami Airport. He was hired by Delta Airlines where he became a DC-9 co-pilot, a 727 captain and then a L-1011 captain. While still working as an airline pilot in the 1960s, Sheehy started racing small hydroplane boats with success.
Miami Marine Stadium was the location of these boat races. The water’s edge stadium was purpose-built for boat racing in 1963. The architect was a 27-year-old Cuban American, Hilario Candela, who designed a beautiful, iconic structure with a 326-foot span of cantilevered concrete, at the time the longest poured concrete structure of its type in the world.
The stadium had 6,500 seats with a floating stage. Concerts were held there for nearly 30 years, including a famous one where Jimmy Buffet arrived on his sailboat, moored it to the stage, and gave a legendary performance. It culminated with him jumping in the water among the hundreds of swimmers and rafters who were enjoying the show. There may have been some drinking involved.
The stadium was damaged by Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and abandoned by the City of Miami. It is still, for the most part, structurally sound. Notwithstanding private pledges of support from celebrities such as Jimmy Buffet, Gloria Estefan and others, as well as many public-minded entities, the City of Miami incomprehensibly has abandoned this historic waterfront jewel.
Based on Sheehy’s success racing the smaller hydroplane boats, in 1971 he was asked to drive one of the unlimited hydroplanes, Miss Timex, during the Miami race. He placed third.
An unlimited hydroplane is so named because the builder can use any size/horsepower engine that will fit in the boat. Hydroplanes are more like airplanes than boats. At high speed, only a very small part of the boat is touching the water.
In the 1970s the engines were mainly surplus Rolls Royce 12 cylinder Merlin and Griffons used in P-51 Mustangs, Spitfires and other very high-performance fighters from WWII.
They were putting out 3,000-4,000 horsepower.
There was a 10 race Unlimited Hydroplane series with the first race of the season always at Miami Marine Stadium. Sheehy raced in this series for over seven years. The hydroplane drivers had the highest fatality rate of any sport or profession. During the 1970s, 40 percent of the drivers were killed. The boats ran 150-200 miles per hour and the driver was not strapped in because it was much safer to fly out of the boat during a not infrequent spin-out or flip. Their only safety features were a helmet and a parachute.
Sheehy was seriously injured in a multi-boat accident in Washington state and, among other serious injuries, had a terrible blowout fracture of his right orbital. As he said “not great for a pilot.” After he healed, he went back to racing for a year. He finally retired from hydroplane racing due to the extreme risk, and his two sons, Patrick and Dan. Sheehy stated the obvious when he said, “drivers are all nut cases.”
Proving his comment on drivers, he then took up racing very fast cars. He raced in 12-hour and 24-hour endurance races such as Sebring and Daytona. During his race car career, he became good friends with actor Gene Hackman (who borrowed Sheehy’s racecar and wrecked it) and Hackman’s running buddies, Paul Newman and Clint Eastwood. Sheehy looks back on those memories fondly.
Sheehy, now 78 years old and married to his second wife, resides in Clearwater.
Erik Courtney was born and raised in Miami. He is an Air Force veteran, graduated from University of Miami law school and worked at the State Attorney’s Office as a prosecutor for Janet Reno for four and a half years. He has had his own criminal defense legal practice for the past 30 years. He is a history buff, especially Miami history.
