S.J. Teen Makes a Name for Himself in ... Hydroplaning?

He’s a slight 5-foot-7-inch teen weighing 120 pounds, with a soft smile and dusty-colored hair.  

And Matt Henning is a demon for speed. 

Seated inside canopies resembling cockpits used for fighter jets, Matt's been at the helm of 750-pound, 14-by-13-foot inboard hydroplanes while racing against other boaters, for which he has nabbed accolades.

“I just try to think of winning,” Matt, 15, says, when asked what he’s thinking during times he's been clocked nearing speeds close to 90 miles an hour in an unarguably dangerous sport.

The boats—costing upwards of $30,000—are typically raced on lakes and rivers. In a sense, hydroplanes are like racecars on water, clipping across the surface when the boats reach high acceleration. 

For some mothers, the idea of your child—not yet driving age—but harnessed, wearing a fire retardant suit and helmeted with an oxygen mask attached to his face, might create anxiety and a feeling of fear. But Matt was born into a hydroplane racing family.  

Joann Henning’s father and brother raced and were repeat champions, who both broke world records. And, Joann met her husband, Dave, a former racer, when she was working as a pit girl—those crew members designated to hold boats at the starting line—at one of her brother’s races in Dave’s native Ohio. 

“It’s part of what we have always done in our family,” Joann says, somewhat nonchalantly about a sport that has known fatalities. “We really like being part of the whole atmosphere.” 

Two weeks ago, Matt was honored as the Rookie of the Year at the American Power Boat Association National Convention in Chicago representing his class—those participants 14 years and older, who power 1.5 liter inboard hydroplanes. It's quite an achievement for a young boater racing less than a year. 

To prepare Matt for a future in hydroplane competition, Joann says they visited a couple of go-kart tracks to give Matt the feel of steering a wheel.  

“You have to be able to steer the boat straight and get it to turn left while remaining on the course,” Matt says.  

Matt also says that boaters get to warm up for about five minutes prior to each race. During the actual event, the oval raceway or course is usually teeming with up to 12 boats that make five laps, equivalent to one mile. Most races are over in about five minutes. 

Since the boats propel at high rates of speed, the drivers are skilled in safety procedures, thanks in part to training courses that all drivers are mandated to take. 

In a large tank simulating open water, Matt had to master escaping a capsized boat. 

Matt also had to pass a rigorous written examination and clear a physical, before being permitted to enter his first race.

The freshman competed six times last year, throughout a season that begins in the spring and carries through the fall. Among the states where some of the regattas took place were Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina and Virginia. Closer to home, the Hennings visited the Wildwoods New Jersey Governor’s Cup Hydrofest on Sunset Lake in Wildwood Crest.

Matt’s cumulative points reaped him a third-place finish for his novice racing season.

Along with the costs of the boats, Joann admits the sport can be quite expensive, averaging into the thousands, when you calculate all the boat gear, clothing and supplies, plus all of the travel-related fees. Currently, the Hennings don’t own any boats. Matt has raced two Henderson hydroplanes held by a group of owners in Canada.

“Sponsorships help keep costs down,” Joann says. “We’d like to try to get one for this coming year.”

For now, this young athlete is biding his time and anticipating the coming racing season.

“The sport keeps us very busy with the competitions,” says Joann, who also has a daughter, Cassidy, 13, who isn’t a racer. “But, it’s a wonderful experience that we really enjoy.”