After an accident ends his career as a hydroplane pilot, Jim McCormick settles into life as an air-conditioner mechanic, husband and father in a Midwestern town. The population of Madison, Ind., is relatively small, but it has been a fixture of national powerboat racing for years -- although that's in danger of ending. With life in the town being bleak enough as is, Jim, with the blessing of his wife and son, enters the 1971 Gold Cup hydroplane race.
