Per Wayne Baldwin: Paul was on the other side of the race course on the backside, and started to blow over. (Photo courtesy of Wayne Baldwin.)

Looking through the lens at races, I sometimes missed what else was going on. When I snapped the first frame, the runabout was perfectly parallel to the water. Having talked to Paul extensively on a couple of occassions about this, I think he was barrel rolling as the boat got airborne. (Photo courtesy of Wayne Baldwin.)

When the boat hit the water it exploded, which you can tell. Paul took the bottom of the boat out with his back and the weight of himself carried him down to where it was dark. (Photo courtesy of Wayne Baldwin.)

Paul did not black out at this point, and you know how it is.....it's all in slow motion. With his breath knocked out at first, it's a wonder that his body didn't automatically try to breath when the sudden impact subsided. (Photo courtesy of Wayne Baldwin.)

Then, as Paul began to try to take stock of himself, he was suddenly needing air badly since the blow had taken it away. His life jacket was taking him up, but he needed a breath now. (Photo courtesy of Wayne Baldwin.)

Imagine as a kid falling from a tree, hitting flat on your back and getting momentarily paralyzed and unable to breath. You recover and soon you stand up and shake it off. When Paul's paralyzation quit, and his lungs screamed for air....he was still coming up. (Photo courtesy of Wayne Baldwin.)

When I saw all the wood exploding through my lens and looking as if the boat fell on top of him, we dreaded the worst. It wasn't until a couple of years ago that Paul told me he took out the bottom. It was just too fast to see. (Photo courtesy of Wayne Baldwin.)

O.F. (center) and John Christner (far left) inspecting the wreckage of Paul's boat.