Lee Edward "Chip" Hanauer (born July 1, 1954, in Seattle)[1] is the third most successful Unlimited Hydroplane racer in history.
He grew up with a poster of the international Grand Prix auto racing star Jim Clark of Scotland on the wall of his boyhood bedroom.
But finances and his home in Seattle, Washington – a major center of boat racing – dictated that he start in small hydroplanes.
Hanauer worked as a teacher of emotionally disturbed children, but became a full-time hydroplane driver in 1978, first winning a race in 1979 in Ogden, Utah.
He also developed a serious condition called spasmodic dysphonia which caused him to lose his voice – only to regain it several years later after learning of a treatment in which botox is injected directly into the throat.